A Trip to the Vellaiangiri Hills

It all started with a trip to the Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore. While I was there I came to know that there was a yatra being organized to the nearby hills called Velliangiri. I never heard about the hills and the prospect of going for a trek was exciting.

After convincing the family that I will make it back in one piece, I signed up for the trek at 1400 hrs, we were to assemble at 1530 hrs for the briefing. I was told that I need to carry some warm clothing and a torch light (both of which I did not have). I improvised and instead took my LED camera lighting (very bright) and a thick blanket with an extra T shirt to keep me warm. 

 I was told to walk as light as possible since every gram would feel like a ton of weight. Contrary to the advice, I decided to take my SLR Camera in addition to the essentials.

 

We started walking towards the mountains from the Isha Yoga Center with some good dvice from the Swamis. Anticipating that I would be sweating a lot, I sprayed extra deo and perfume. During the briefing I learned that people were off deodorants and perfumes for two weeks since these smells attracted elephants and other wild animals in the forest.

The evening presented some beautiful scenes including this silhouette. We were told that there would be two groups - a fast one and a slow one. It was advised that there be no medium paced group since people in-between are prone to animal attacks. I stuck to the slow group knowing my fitness level. It mainly consisted of elders and I decided to go slow and steady.

The trek consisted of 7 hills accenting to an altitude of 6000 feet and 6-7 kms one way. At the middle of the first hill, I started having second thoughts about my fitness levels and was not sure if I was going to make it. A little while later I was questioning my decision to bring my swiss army knife and my camera (read as extra weight). At that point of time, I saw a wild cat walking on a tree, he had a 3 ft bushy and colorful tail, I did not have the energy to pull my camera out to take a picture but I cherished the moment and decided that this was one of the many moments to come, which turned out to be true.

As we walked along hill after hill, darkness came, at the end of the first hill I was pleasantly surprised to see a shop selling panner soda (last time I had this was in school). I indulged myself and had two bottles and took a break. I was determined to push myself to make the trip and thought about how my daughter would enjoy listening to my story.

 As we walked along, there were several shops, the people running the shops were local villagers who got permissions from the Panchayat and sold fruits, herbs found in the hills and some refreshments like biscuts, chips etc.

Water was available in a few points at the end of hills 1, 3 and 5 near by the shops. The water was natural and was coming from within the hills, pure and tasty. Locals say its  Siruvani water, I had no problems drinking it and relished every drop of it.

The hills presented several challenges, each hill had a different terrain, the first hill had steps made out of sharp granite stones that were structured irregularly. Other hills had small steps (vallukai parai), flats and steep rocks. Of all the hills the 7th hill was most challenging since it was steep and slippery with fine sand and rocks.

After several breaks and halts, at 2.30 am we finally reached the top, The story of the hills goes as follows from what I heard. "There was a lady called Kumari who wanted to marry Lord Shiva, she vowed to kill herself if Lord Shiva declined. Impressed by her true love, Lord Shiva agreed to marry her. However certain anti social elements did not want them to be married. Lord Shiva wanted Kumari to meet him before sunset, the anti social elements mimicked a eclipse before she met Lord Shiva and as a result of which Kumari gave up her life. In grief, Lord Shiva is believed to have come atop the Velliangiri hills and performed penance here, hence the significance of the hills. Kumari was eventually worshiped as Kanya Kumari Amman after whom the southern most spot of India is named"

Here are a few pictures of the temple atop the 7th hill.

 
 On my way back, as the sun was rising, I witnessed some breathtaking colours that no camera can capture, but the eyes. Here is an attempt to capture some of these views.
 

Dawn Colours ...

As one guy called me "AC le velai seiravan"

A Sadhu Watches the Sunrise

4/5 th hills

Sun Rise

A Sadhu Walks

3Shul

How some educational institutions kill innovation in India

A post I wrote in 2012 but did not publish for some reason....


Recently, I have had the pleasure (or should I say nightmare) of meeting some young minds who are going through the grind of studying Engineering across India. On speaking to these people, I realized that there was one thing common between them that swept me off my feet.

They all came to me for a common purpose, "assistance for college project". They all walked up to be and told me boldly to my face that they had bought off projects from other people or other institutions. While telling me this, they had no shame or regret and told me as though they were taking a walk in a park with a straight face.

This left me wondering if it was me who did not understand what they were telling or it was a common and acceptable felony (like littering in public places).  I then went and spoke to some of my friends who more senior and had the pleasure (or pressure) of having to study Engineering / MCA (Masters in computer applications) courses. They explained to me that it was a very normal thing for students to outsource project work and several colleges encourage students to outsource work rather than experiment on their own.

I also found out that some of the most common projects that are done are in the field of HRM, Security, Healthcare. Obviously when you ask questions about these projects, they have no clue about it and are happy to admin that they plagiarized the work (it is highly unlikely they know the word  Plagiarism though).

It also dawned on me that when students go to their lecturers and tell them about an original idea, they are strongly discouraged (probably because of the fear that the guide is incapable of understanding the work that will be done). I also had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing several people who are struggling to get into IT companies who work as lecturers in colleges right after finishing their studies.

Putting all of the above together, I can reasonably conclude that many and probably most (not ALL) engineering colleges across India are run as businesses (without morals) and not as educational institutions. This also probably answers to some extent the question "Why India does not produce as many innovations as the west in-spite of having one of the largest number of educational institutions?".