Waterfalls and an African Tribe

Western Ghats, in the monsoons – the verdant greenery, the numerous waterfalls and the overflowing rivulets. Every year in August, we do a “Waterfalls Trip” – seeing them when they are at their roaring best. This year we went to Yellapur, 70 kms from Hubli on the Hubli Karwar highway (part of the Karwar-Hampi road that connects the iron ore mines of Bellary to the west coast). This is a part of the Sirsi-Karwar-Shimoga section of the Western Ghats, a part of what is locally called the Malnad area.
The Hubli-Karwar road has some interesting significance in the area and in the country. I first went to see this road about 12 years ago (1996) as the first example of a modern, international quality road built in India. Great surface, perfectly banked curves, road markings and road signs, as I had seen outside the country. People talked about this road in Hubli and wanted you to see it! Seeing such a road in India at that time was both an assurance that it can be done and a hope that other highways in India would soon be of this quality. I have traveled on this road 5-6 times since then and am glad that the surface has remained the same - well maintained, smooth surfaces. This well built road is complemented by matching scenery - thick forests, great mountain valleys and numerous waterfalls..

Magod Falls
This waterfall, amongst the best known in the area and one which has the best access ( in this otherwise inaccessible area), has the Bedthi river hurtling down 675 feet in two steps. Seen from across the valley from quite a distance, through a misty haze that clears for a couple of minutes to give you a glimpse of itself. The approach to the view point of this waterfall has got better over the years – starting from needing to trek 5km+ to this place a few years ago to being able to now drive right upto the view point, park your vehicle, see the waterfall and have a steaming hot cup of chai. Look out for leeches in this area, amongst the wet rocks, ferns and grasses.

Sathodi Falls
This is another waterfall that needed a 10kms+ trek earlier and is now approachable by road upto 1 km away from the waterfall. A bunch of streams hurtle down @ 50 feet over a breadth of 25 meters. The stream then flows into the backwaters of the Kodasalli Dam, into the Kali River. We trekked around 5 kms each way with our brave kids, to reach the waterfall. Our vehicle, got stranded; stuck in a small, bad and sticky stretch of road, until 10 young people (a group of classmates in various IT companies in Bangalore, Mumbai who were on a picnic/trek) helped us out of the quagmire. Thinking its just a 2 km trek to the waterfall and back we ended up trekking 10 km. The trek itself was well worth it, to see this waterfall right there in the wilderness.

Jog Falls
Jog or Gersoppa – the most spectacular and famous of the waterfalls in the region and at @ 900 ft. believed to be the highest waterfall in the country (although the Barehipani Waterfall in the Simplipal National Park in Mayurbhanj, Orrisa is the highest at 1309 feet). On several visits here ever since 1977, I have seen this in various moods! Sometimes seen it a trickle, other times never saw it in the heavy mist, except for a few minutes during a stay of a few hours. My mother saw the waterfall when she was in school and used to tell us that they could hear the roar for more than 25 kms. This was before the Linganmakki dam and Mahatma Gandhi Hydroelectric project was commissioned upstream from the Jog. It probably attracts 50,000+ tourists on weekends and had a huge heap of garbage going down the steep valley a few years ago. Thankfully, this has all been cleaned up and work done by Karnataka Tourism to spruce up the infrastructure including the British and Mysore Bungalows that offer different views of the Falls.

Another well-known waterfall in the area is Unchalli Jog also called Lusington Falls. The districts of Karwar (North Kanara) and Shimoga have over 60 waterfalls in the area, seeing just a few is itself a treat to the senses.

Bamboo Shoots, Areca nut & Mushrooms
Yellapur is in the heart of Malnad territory or the Western Ghats that have amongst the highest bio-diversity in the world and you can find some interesting culinary exotics here. The heartland of the betel nut trade (along with the North East area of India) this tropical palm that needs the shade, moisture and rains of the Western Ghats has created many local fortunes. Raw, un-roasted Betelnut Fruit is sold here in the markets along with pepper, cardamom, forest mushrooms and bamboo shoots! Bamboo shoots pickle is a delicacy in this area and so are Yallaki Balehannu (Cardamom Bananas) those small 2” bananas that are famous as the South Indian bananas.

Siddhis - the lost African Tribe
Situated as it is in the midst of the thick forests, this region is home to a number of tribes. The Siddhis are one such lost African tribe that inhabit this area. The kids were amused to see Afro-Negroid faces amongst the village folk here, well settled that they are after being here for over 300 years. Their ancestors are believed to have been brought here mostly from Mozambique by the Portuguese and were bought by the erstwhile Maharajas as slaves. They escaped into the forests of Gir in Gujarat and Yellapur in Karnataka about 300-100 years ago and number around 50,000. Around 10,000 are in the Gir National Park area of Gujarat. Some of them became famous generals or rulers themselves – best known among them is Siddhi Johar of Janjira.

Melting Point – several cultures at the top of the ghats
The top of the Western Ghats seem to have been some kind of tiny melting points of various cultures over the years. These places are equally influenced by the culture and cuisine of the West Coast, the bio-diversity of the forests and the Deccan Plateau. Trade existed between the coast and the plateau in equal measure. This can be seen right from Pune, Kolhapur, Belgaum, Dharwad/Hubli. Yellapur is one such place influenced by the culture and cuisines of Karwar, the Yellapur forests and Hubli. A meal at a dinghy local restaurant revealed just that – cuisine ranging from from fish, banana, chicken to languages heard there amongst 10 people having dinner – Konkani, Kannada, Marathi, Siddhi with Hindi songs blaring on the radio!

Sagar - rosewood and sandalwood arts
On our way back to Hubli, we took a detour to visit Sagar, the place known for its betel nut/areca nut markets and its famous sandalwood, rosewood and ivory carvers. Sagar has a concentration of the Gudigars - families that for generations have been engaged in sandalwood and ivory carving. Idols, figurines and knick-knacks like pen-holders, agarbathi stands, cuff links, photo frames and paper clips and garlands and wreaths made out of thin layers of scraped sandalwood can be bought here. We visited a well known shop in the town – Sri Venkatesha Fancy Art Works (Ph: 98441 01369), where you can place orders for exquisitely carved rosewood furniture with intricate designs inlaid with ivory (its white plastic that’s used now)

Children's Advice to Parents

Indian parents are known to be amongst the most pushy, globally!! (checkout all the feats of Indian and NRI kids on Youtube published by their parents). Until the 80s and in the ration economy, Indian parents pushed children into doing well academically so that their kids got through into an engineering or medical college and they had some hopes of landing decent jobs or go away to America to get a decent future. In the 90s as education and the economy was liberalized, and the number of seats at professional colleges increased manifold and so did the number and range of jobs, it would have been expected that Indian parents would start to relax and let their children grow up without their pressure and just let them be!

However, expectations from children just dont seem to have changed. Infact it seems to be increasing, with parents showering all their time and money on the one or two kids that they now have, inturn demanding that their kids excel and be "first in class" in everything they do. This is expected of them in academics (getting into IIT, IIM or AIIMS) as well as extra-curricular activites such as debating or playing the piano. As Kapil Dev, famously said after India's early exit from the last cricket world-cup, when the press and the middle class was comparing the non-performance of the Indian team with the solid performances of other teams "We cant compare ourselves with Australia, South Africa, West Indies. There parents take their kids to play football, to do white-water rafting or to play cricket. In India parents take their kids for Tuitions"

Recently read a National Geographic article about China's Parents putting pressure on their kids - dont know which country's parents are worse! Several other stories in the Indian press on exam pressures, student suicides and the great Indian Debate on the right way to bring up kids and give them a Wholesome Education continue to appear, while we continue to bringup our kids with the same pressure that we endured in the 70s and 80s.
Advice on bringing up children from philosopher-poet Khalil Gibran (via Tarun Malviya) is perhaps the best advice that we can get as parents. Here's some advice from Children to Parents on how they should be brought up - (via Krishna Mokhasi whose work in Hubli has been described in - Small Town Ideas: Wholesome Education in Hubli in one of my earlier posts)

Children's Advice to Parents
Some of the best advice parents can get is from children themselves. A fourth grade teacher asked her pupils to pretend that they were Ann Landers giving advice to parents on how to raise children. Here are some of the precocious bits of wisdom that resulted:
"Dont always be giving orders. If you suggest something instead of giving a command, I'll do it faster."
"Dont keep changing your mind about what you want me to do. Make up your mind and stick to it".
"Keep your promises, both good and bad. If you promise a reward, make sure you give it to me. If you promise punishment, make sure I get that too"
"Dont compare me with anybody else, especially a brother or sister. If you make me out to be better or smarter, somebody gets hurt. If you make me out to be worse or dumber, than I get hurt"
"Let me do as much for myself as I can. Thats how I learn. If you do everything for me, I will never be able to do anything for myself"
"Dont scream at me. It makes me scream back, and I dont want to be a screamer"
"Dont tell lies in front of me and ask me to tell lies to help you out. It makes me think less of you and less of myself even if I am supposed to be doing a favour"
"When I do something wrong, dont try to get me to tell you why I did it. Something I dont know why"
"Dont pay too much attention to me when I say I have a stomach ache. Playing sick can be a good way to get outof things I dont want to do, or going places I dont want to go"
"When you are wrong about something, admit it. It wont hurt my opinion of you. It will make it easier for me to admit it when I am wrong"
"Treat me like you treat your friends. Then I will be your friend and you will be mine. Just because people are related doesn't mean they can't be polite to each other"

Meeting Beneficiaries of Liberalization

2008 has so far been a year of nostalgic memories, meeting old classmates, talk of days gone by and discussions of global wisdom to solve India's problems!! Our batch mates, Loyola Batch Of 82 got together at Pune in April this year, followed by one in North America where our classmates based there got together. The get-together numbers were quite impressive, over 80% attendance of the possible attendees.

Getting Together after 25 years
Meeting after 25 years and at an important milestone in all our lives, just after we've turned 40! We had classmates flying in from Canada, Dubai, Germany, Bangalore, Hyderabad. There were the usual no-shows, surprising its always the same few who are always busy or otherwise unavailable!
Several discussions followed on the reasons for the success of the get together. Was it?

1. Timing - 25 years after school, 40+ age, mid-life crisis
2. Technology - email, internet, phone, etc. that helped almost 95% of batch mates from Australia to USA to be traced and contacted
3. Efforts of a few - connectors and mavens (as they are called by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point (http://www.gladwell.com/) of the batch to ensure all were personally contacted (in addition to the emails that went out to all)
4. A bachelor get together at 40+ with the prospect of belly dancers, booze and more.
5. One batch mate even suggested that the success was due to the fact that India, USA and the world are going through a tough time and all of us at our wise middle ages are searching for collective solutions.

I personally think its a bit of everything (from 1-4) and not limited to pt. 2 which many (especially in the IT sector) think is the reason for this successful get together.

What did everybody end up doing after school?

Our batch was divided by training into the engineers, doctors, accountants and a few who dared to think differently and joined hotel management and commercial art. The majority were engineers (mainly due to the new engineering colleges that sprouted in Pune at the time when we passed 12th standard) and many ended up in IT and in the US, irrespective of the engineering discipline they had studied (the herd mentality or the money?). Around 20% went to the US to study for their MS/PhD and continued working there. A few went into the hospitality sector working for hotel chains or airlines.
No one in the government sector, NGO space and just two in public sector corporations. No one joined the IAS, IPS or IFS. Maybe due to the heavy private sector and engineering influence in Pune where we grew up. Most joined the private sector in India, US, Dubai and a few other countries. Some, especially in the IT sector started their own companies (through VC funding) after working for a few large IT companies and made their exits. Most who came from a business family or took early risks started small businesses in construction, engineering,trading or started their own design agencies. Many classmates who studied medicine went to the US for further studies and stayed back, while a few started their own practices in Pune. Surprising exclusions - no lawyers or architects in our batch!

What are their 40+ plans?

Now that most of us have spent 20+ years in the industry, have had global exposure, solved corporate problems, designed and executed business plans, worked for major global MNCs, what do most of us plan for the second half of our careers? Well, not many who are planning any big career switches. A few have ventured out on a new course, some are "planning to" and most are not even thinking they need to change anything. The talk of their careers, bosses, money earned remains the same. Many though do want to either come back to Pune where they grew up or "plan to" do something meaningful for Pune. Being early beneficiaries of liberalization - both educational (1983-84) and economic (1991) I would have expected many more to be ready to take the risk to do something different and more meaningful or plain giveback to society. However the cliches of kids, financial security, careers, cars and houses still abound, although most would have the financial security to take a few risks and still maintain decent lifestyles.

Meeting men of valour

About 5% of our batch mates went into the armed forces. Don't know what global numbers are, but I guess this is a representative percentage for any group anywhere in the world. Sick of hearing corporate talk and the limited vocabulary of the corporate sector, I was glad to meet with some of them and hear stories of their careers. Fresh from the visit to Ladakh/Kargil where you see the work of our armed forces every kilometer, I could relate to a lot of the valour stories.

Army is as professional as MNCs

A batch mate who went through the IMA into the army, and has done well to rise up in the army ranks enthralled us with stories of the cold borders. We met him at sharp 7:30 pm at the RSI club (actually three of us did, most others didn't show up, much to the chagrin of the always on time army host). Stories of walking continuously for 3 days, waiting two hours seeing a soldier with rabies die in front of his eyes in his cell, of having one of his soldiers die in his arms in a border skirmish. Or of flash floods in Ladakh that killed some of his unit members in a matter of minutes or finding the body of one his soldiers after 9 months, frozen under a avalanche and still in perfect condition. His impressions of the movie Lakshya and Mission Kashmir and also the "royal traditions" of the army including immaculate,protocol based dinners, farewells and welcome parties. We spoke about the promotions in the army and how evaluations are done. For all those in the private sector,fairly and professionally much like in the MNCs! The only crib was that he would like to be back in Pune and wished the remuneration in the army would be much better, especially the hardship allowance in the high reaches of the Himalayas, from the present princely sum of Rs. 150/- per day!

To check what the 'Loyola Batch of 82' did in their middle years, check this space in another 10 years. A group that has seen the ration economy era, until the age of 18 and then been the first beneficiaries of educational and economic liberalization. In many ways, we are probably the torch-bearers of the new age in India and are in a position to act with lots of global capitalistic knowledge and exploit the opportunities while we temper our actions and avoid wastage and excesses by applying the wisdom of the ration economy.