Hoggenakkal trip
Posted on August 18, 2023 • 9 minutes • 1901 words
Great times make great stories, but good times make great memories. This Hoggenakkal trip is one such great memory that I will cherish from the VN lab. “But why do you want to go to Hoggenakkal?” a seemingly disengaged Abodh asked me two days prior to the trip. Well, why not? Hoggenakkal is called the Indian Niagra Falls and the road trip from Banglore to Hoggenakkal is on the radar of many riders. It must be fun, I thought. And the first to think this was Faheem. Faheem inspired Niladri, or should I say, has been inspiring Niladri for a long time, and he inspired everyone else in the lab. So, the foundation for the trip was laid when Niladri asked Aditya about the trip. Aditya seemed joyous to go on a long (rash) drive in his car. He insisted he’d come by his car, and was also ready to bring his dad’s car for the voyage. And yes, I too was joyous to be the pirate of the other ship. And slowly gathered everyone, making the number of total sailors 10. And yes, Abdoh was a part too. Rather, he was the most exhilarating sailor on board.
Just the day before, something happened to the crew captain. Good things take time so to come at the right time; so did the infection on the left eye of Faheem. Alas, he could not make it to the trip, and I just wished I did not have to wear the pirate eye patch. The single-day adventure was to begin on the next day, the 13th of August. The ships were mended, the course was set, and the alarms rang by 4:30 a.m. early in the morning (or so I thought). Abodh and I got up early and went to Aditya’s home by 5 a.m. and got the cars to the lab. While I guessed asking the lab to assemble by 5 would mean starting the journey by 5:30, I did not anticipate the journey to start at 6 a.m.
While all the boys hopped in a car, and the long-haired people went into another (yes, including Aditya). The journey to the waterfalls began, and so did the journey of food into our stomachs. We boys mindlessly ate the snacks as we proceeded. “You drank Maaza when you halted at a traffic signal,” told Abodh, but I barely remember drinking.
Talking about Maaza, Aditya wanted none of us to drink it in the car, just in case it spills. But here we are, a group of indifferent young men childishly dancing to loud Bhojpuri music in the car. The girls’ car might have been a decent one I thought. Probably not too decent suggests the WhatsApp messages. Bing! A photo with Aditya literally hitting his head appeared in the group. Yeah, the rock fan is now listening to probably boring Hindi music.
While the music continued, we admired the vrooms of some astounding bikes, and our stomachs started to vroom too. The destination was set to an eatery where both the cars would meet. Aditya, probably driving rash, reached 10 mins earlier by 10:40 am. This place was beside a petrol bunk and has McDonald’s and a Sri Krishna Inn. “That’s intelligence. You first ordered vada that comes early, and then wait for the main item” told Meghna to Mourifat while most of us were waiting for the fresh Masala dosa to arrive. By the time Masala dosa arrived, we also packed lunch from McDonalds, just in case veg food was not available near the falls. After fueling our stomachs, we filled the air in the car tyre and set course to the Niagara of India.
Time passed, and we reached a very exciting road. The ghat road. While we were charged a hundred rupees, I would say it was worth every penny. The road had heavy twists and sharp turns with U-bends and oxen often blocking the road. This seemingly treacherous road then led to our destination, the Hoggenakkal Falls. We knew that the destination was one of the ideal weekend hangout places, but little did we know that a few thousand people felt the same. There were a thousand people in hundreds of cars, and parking the car itself took about 30 mins. Probably, the Tirupati temple would have a lesser density of people. Aditya’s car reached by 10:42, and by 11:30, we all met near the parking trying to figure out our next move. Soon came a boatsman, and led us forward. “Do you know Tamil?” Inchara asked me during breakfast, and no wonder, I did not know. However, the boatsman knew Kannada and we had two native speakers, Aditya and Inchara. They did further tourism dealings. We then reached the government ticket collection booth. “Cash only!!? This is Scam only” I said. While each boat accommodated 4 people, the boatsman agreed to take 9 of us in 2 boats, but the ticket collector insisted we paid for 3 boats, but we were given only two!
Accepting these terms, we entered the boat boarding area and lo and behold, the drainage? Or the buffalo bathing pond? Or, the Niagara of India? We were wonderstruck. First the number of people taking a bath, the amount of water, and the cleanliness. Yes, I regretted the journey, but not for long. The boat ride was yet to begin. The boatsmen took us through this mess and left us at the other side where a narrow road took us to the scenery of the legendary falls. The falls had a might that of a lion cub, trying hard to roar. We stood on asymmetrical boulders witnessing the beauty, which was an adventure in itself. These are called the cini falls and there were many fall streams across a large mountain range. The view was scenic and surreal as the tiny falls gave huge mists when the wind blew hard. We took a couple of photos and then headed to the actual adventure.
We then headed to where the crowd were. A stairway of rocks led into the water where Boatsmen were picking up tourists. Although the queue line for tourists was not long, the boatsmen had a very long queue. I must add a detail on the boat, and the boatsmen here. The boats are circular bowl-shaped with a radius the size of a human. There were several boatsmen dressed in blue shirts and a traditional lungi. In this queue, each of them carried their boat on their shoulders, as if carrying the responsibility of the tourist gig they found that day, but in fact, I could see them carrying a livelihood for their families. They stand in the queue, and once they come downstairs near the water, the tourists board the boat, and the journey begins.
While we were waiting for our boatsmen to reach the deck, the blazing sun showed us no mercy as if it wants to drink the whole water in our bodies. While some tourists had umbrellas, the proud umbrella owners in our group went looking for our boatsmen. Seconds seemed like hours in the wait. I, Mourifat and Muzammil were the trio sitting near some rock crevices. After a while came Abodh, and despite the blaze, living his nature, started picking on a girl which did not go quite well. “That was expected”, I thought. The boatsmen arrived, and something strange happened. While the sun was excited to witness our boat ride, the generous clouds covered the sun giving us peace and solace. We entered the boat, and they first took us near the cini falls, and the lion cub now looked like, well, a magnified lion cub. The boat riders of Hoggenakkal have a hallmark move, and we just experienced it. The circular boat is rotated on its own axis at a high-speed, making the passengers experience a centrifugal force while they feel all the beauty spinning around them.
From cini falls, we were then rowed to a bath area. On the way, Abodh shouted, “Free?”. We saw a few more boats delivering fruits and snacks (not for free). The journey itself was very refreshing. The river water was bordered by mountain boulders. The waterfalls behind, vast river ahead, a few native people throwing nets to capture fish beside. It felt like living in a movie. The boat rider then told that the epic movie Roja was shot here, and also Ra One. We moved ahead, and we found all the boats parked at an end. To the left was a huge mountain of sand, and to the right are the rocky mountain ranges.
The river silt was removed and kept aside, giving a lot of space for bathing, or swimming in the river. The silt looked like a beach beside the river. A strange sight to see lush green mountains behind the beach, and a water body without waves ahead. Mourifat, Muzamil and I were the first to jump into the water and then followed Abodh. “Wait, let me adjust my pant,” I told after Muzamil tossed me into the water. The land was steep and the water was deep indeed, after a point. Muzamil and Abodh managed to bring Niladri into the water. Others enjoyed the beach shore while we spent about half n hour in the water swimming across. On the way back, the non-vegetarian boat took fresh fish fried and delivered right into the boat. As we were about to depart this part, we found a small stream of the waterfall, and Abodh, Niladri, and Muzamil went right under it the waterfall hitting right on their heads. This sort of made the trip complete. On the way back to our cars, we ate some fish, and drank soda; a generous treat of Abodh and Prakruthi.
We reached our cars and took out our packed lunch which was even more delicious due to our hunger. Our journey back began around 3 p.m. While one car had left, the other had to stay. Abodh lost his phone, and luckily, some girls picked up the call after many tries. Abodh and Muzamil went to the ladies’ waterfall area (a smirk by fate) to collect the phone, and we started our journey back by 4:20 p.m. in the other car. The return journey was through several small villages and the car barely hit 80 kmph, but the ride was fun. There were fields across the road, and the road itself was curvy like a capricious lady. One car took a halt middle in anticipation of Prakruthi’s puke, and the other halted to refresh and drink nourishing coconut water. “We should have taken this road in the morning, and the highway during the evening”, told Niladri, and all of us agreed. Although we all lost significant energy, the road view was calm and invigorating. This route was a blessing in disguise, and we all were glad to have taken this path. Mourifat on the other hand was worried about his preparation for the presentation he had to make the next day. By 8 pm, we were in the city, cursing the traffic, and by 10, I reached my home and closed my eyes to see all the bright wonderful colours, reminiscing the sweet memories we had.
PS: This might be the last VN lab trip I would attend, and Mourifat did not give the presentation the next day.