And it conquers all..

dated 10th June 2006

Inspired by one of the posts on MngLeisure (that’s our office bulletin board) and the lovely rains in Mangalore, I longed to visit the Jog Falls- the highest waterfall in Asia, about 6 hours away from here. Pramod was planning to spend the weekend at Mangalore and so we decided we’d make a small trip to Jog- our first trip after our honeymoon in Manali. We met at Mangalore and our relationship bloomed from an acquaintance, to friend, to a good friend, to my fiancé to my better half. After my trip back to India for good, we got married in April 06 and are still continuing our long distance relationship successfully…!

On the crisp Saturday morning, we set out to the Hampankatta bus station to board a bus to Shimoga district- where the river Sharavati breaks into Jog Falls on the Western Ghats. The long journey to the closest place near Jog was pretty uneventful with both of us dozing away most of the time. On reaching Sagar, which is 27 kms from Jog, we took one of the local buses to the falls. It was a fairly crowded bus filled with mostly vendors, school kids and the localites traveling to places between Sagar and Jog. Famished from the day long journey, which was thankfully blessed with a pleasant weather owing to the calm monsoons, in an otherwise hot area- we had our lunch of biscuits, bread and other snacks in the bus itself. Odd enough, the bus took about 2 hrs to cover the cruel 27 kms to reach its final destination- making stops at every single kilometer to pick and drop off the passengers at settlements strewn across the entire stretch. Add to it the long wait at a weekly market in one the villages midway, for loading and unloading the produce. It felt like this local bus was the only one this route ever saw…for it took ages to reach the most awaited destination. I wondered if they mock when they say “Happiness is found along the road and not at the end of the journey”…!!

And finally at 4:00 pm the bus drove into the Jog Falls tourism area and dropped us off at the falls. A slight drizzle started and I cringed at what the weather was turning out to be… Pramod patiently took out the umbrellas and gave one to me with a smile- I like the calm he usually displays…we walked towards the regular view point to catch the breathtaking view of the tallest falls. And lo- I could see just 3 streams of water!!! Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket are the nicknames to the 4 falls that comprise “Jog Falls”. For some reason the water level was not that great and one of them was near to invisible. My heart sank and wishes dwindled. Within minutes a guide came running towards us and offered to give us a ride to 4 scenic viewpoints to better appreciate the beauty of the falls. We decided to go for it and got into an old ambassador with another couple- as the car bumped through the hills, I was praying we get a good view and trying to raise my hopes. After a short walk we reached the highest point from which we could see the dip and feel the spray of the waterfall on our faces- ok, it felt a bit better. After enjoying the view points, the guide left us at a restaurant where we both relished idlis and steaming cups of tea. We were so hungry and tired, and add to it the disappointment of a feeble waterfall.

After our early dinner, we walked out and came to the regular view point. Cleaned the stone benches and made some place to sit. It was past sunset but still bright, the air smelled fresh and I could feel a mild chill on my skin. Clouds were desceding down on the valley and covered the area before us. Through the clouds we could got a faint view of the falls. It was suddenly very refreshing- felt good. Slowly the clouds started rising and cleared up, we could see a full moon- so complete and beautiful. We walked back from the viewpoint towards our bus gazing at the full moon, hand in hand. We never spoke anything- yet everything was so perfect. Way back home I slept in his arms- and nothing mattered- the tiring journey, the boring bus, the feeble waterfall- they all vanished away in my dreams.