Whoa...life is crazy here in NIMHANS. We work endlessly in the weekdays from 9 am to 8 pm. So it is imperative that we must chill out in the weekends ala software pros. Like last week we went out to a buffet with all our unit colleagues. This week we thought may be it is time for something more daring , more adventurous & more thrilling (than convincing our patients for a mental status examination or doing a ward side night duty..!).
Our choice for the occasion was Skandagiri mainly because our seniors recommended it that it will be ideal for beginners like us since it has a very easy course for night trekking .So we started from our hostel by about 12 midnight blissfully unaware of the things to come. With a borrowed sweater from my friend Mahavir i embarked on my journey along with 3 others – Mahavir – the perfectionist & the mentor of the gang , ever smiling & ever balanced Kapil & Shivkumar – the son of the soil & the man for all seasons.
Half way through the journey we realised that we have forgotten to bring any torch & contemplated returning to hostel to get one. Just then i realised that i my mobile phone had a torch which has light powerful than any torch that we use in our clinical practise. (apparently that model mobile phone Add used to show a sardari lorry driver using the mobile torch for his malfunctioning head light..!)
After getting stopped by police twice & paying Rs20 after informing them that we are doctors from NIMHANS finally we reached the foothills of Skandhagiri. After bargaining with the so called contractors of the bike stand (if there was one ) we started on our adventurous trek upwards . Unmindful of the “warnings” of the guides whom services we shunned as their demand was too high (as else ware here too the software pros have made their presence felt..).
Amidst their ridicule & petty warnings we started our trekking on a wrong foot not knowing where the path to the hills starts. Shivkumar suggested us one route which we studiously followed only to know that we were in a no man’s land no where to go stranded in the middle of the unfriendly terrain .
Just then we noticed a dark figure approaching us......
was he our saviour or our nemesis ....????
