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Special Day Special Person

Since a long while, have been thinking what to pen,

About this maiden who's made my life a zen,

It's so easy to say in two words,

Yet so difficult name the experience inwards,

With you this whole passage has been so sublime,

That I shut and open my eyes, I have lost track of time,

With you every possibility begins to rhyme,

That every outcome is a chime,

Remember that life was stuck in a rut not so long ago

Since you come, the burden that you made me forgo

We had our series of up and down,

You dont show an iota of frown,

These days of gloom will be in the past, we will hold on to the very last

All our fears will we cast, once in sunshine we will have a blast

I know that bygone was your special day

Hope that this scribble makes that special stay.

It is all that I can do to the least .

To the person who makes every day of mine a feast

 

 

The Love Maker

On the night of love I lay awake with my beau
As on the thin blade of grass, mounts the shiny dew
The moon as the lamp as the light afar from it skew
A zillion stars in sky yet these seem very few
One is my body and my beloved’s soul
The nature’s blessings are about to dole
In each others arms we cohere as magnetic pole
We climb over one another as in a love roll
The river of love reverses its current flows
The wind makes its presence as it blows
There are huffs and puffs and so are the shoves
Our souls are connected finally as love billows
This union rings peace and joy in synonymity
In solitude I realize that my beau is divinity

 

 

The Hurt

I hurt her, not that I wanted,
I hid a thing from her; that was unwarranted
She was hurt, I heard her cry,
The fact I did this made her insides fry,
I wanted to tell her at the right time,
Just that, she got to know before my clock chime,
It dealt a wound that ran deep,
The sight of it, I couldn’t sleep
I wanted to do a time travel,
Tell her so that this moment shouldn’t unravel
Alas now it is so much late,
Guess even the calendar’s lost the date,
The good moments seem to have gone off the plate,
I just hope somehow I can go back to  a clean slate,
I felt deep inside that everything’s gone so cold,
I hummed a prayer and a flick of glow made me bold,
Though she was far from me that I could hold,
Sorry was the first word with all emotion I told,
There was a silence I could tell,
Irony isn’t it, that the doubts could quell,
All the courage, truth and love is all I need to dope,
She will listen, she will forgive was the hope,
More than that I never want to hear her heart squeal,
She needed time, She needed me all the more to heal,
Such is the joke of life so cruel so much that it can tear
That we hurt the people whom we love and who are so near,
Yet you dont tremble on the situation, lest you fear,
Not matter we take the hit, we must not shear
It is a burden, it is a mighty load,
It is a tough road you never rode,
Takes a few moments until you got to hang, till you get the drift,
Feel the good moments again, use them and the this one will sift,
Make her feel that she will get more than her due,
The love for her, the crave for her is deeply true,
I held her so tight, will all the mind had the might
We gave the bad moments all the fight, never again will such a thing arise in our sight.
The bonds of love grew bolder,
The thin strands of string became stronger,
Never before I felt a strong halo within of love
The peace flew in, the care for her I shall behove
We both heaved a sigh of relief, let out a sigh,
Looked each other in the eye and kissed all the bad times good bye.

 

 

 

The Love and the Lover

Late evening in the month of June
The soil is moist and sands in dune
The twilight June, the time of love
Meltingly called the turtle and dove
The flowering tree on the hill would sweetly say
Where the rich and sweet pine woods lay
Grasses whisper love with the mosses frail
In rhythm to the love songs of the nightingale
In the shadowy woods was the burnished lake
As the heaven’s clean sun leaned down to take
A breeze blew so low as if it sighed
To which the rose’s fragrance replied
The waves darkly complained of a secret pain
By circling, waves and shores embraced again
A road goes astray as afar the azure get deep
Gleaming tears as a greeting the love and the lover weep
Deep from her eyes happiness and love drops
The lover is filled, and no more any doubt crops
Realization dawns only now, that he loves her so much
So much that he is enlivened with her every touch
It’s this very moment, he experiences The Grace
It’s just a moment long in her warm close embrace
She is on his chest hearing the music of his heart beat
He feels her smile and her joy with her every breathe
The contact parts into a long pause of a kiss
They depart only to meet again into the moments of bliss

 

nO SCAR

O man with no scar,
Have you really lived so far?
And the man replies…
The ones that you don’t see, have no par…
Over time a lot of them have healed
eons gone, a lot have got sealed
A long time back there were scars forming a chain
Many moments in between happiness and pain
Those were the days of men, when tongue weighed more than yen,
Difficulties always stopped by and there were people to help by,
Yet it is never a life, if it was too easy without any strife,
There were many many days I have had, a few free and a few mad,
Time makes it all balanced, the good with the sad and bad,
There were times of lull, desperation, anger, anguish and fear,
Not always you remain there, a bright sunshine makes it all disappear
I listened patiently to him when I felt a breeze blow
The man not once was in a pause, was in his flow,
This life is based on what you sow,
The fruits you never get but only the time in which you must glow,
Something always fills you, but alas we always remain hollow
Then I realized that as time goes we need to get deeper within and not remain shallow
I was rapt in attention to the old man, for these were pearls of wisdom,
Learning, experience and life it is, I realized I was a bum
I saw his entire life in a flash,
My ignorance had taken a slash,
The me who thought too much of himself had taken a smash,
I felt this virtual world around crumble and crash,
It was as if someone gave me cleansing, my mind had a complete wash,
This was new me, resurgent from my own ash,
The old man saw and smiled when the dawn in me was rising and awake,
Perhaps that’s what he wanted from his tale to rake,
He bid farewell, knew he was going to someone awaken him and give him a shake
He turned back, with glowing eyes and a smile as if he realized it was my turn to give and stop the take.

 

 

Where were you???

I was all pinned when she just plunged into my arms
I looked up to the sky thanking for the alms
In gratitude I muttered prayers and psalms
It was a warm embrace, soothing than any of the balms
I stood stoic with nothing to say,
It was such a moment on this very day
Until this moment, each hard second, I had so much to pay
It was as if in darkness I saw a light ray
She filled me with so much that I sensed a rush of blood
Tears were unstoppable as if it was going to flood
I felt my world stop by
No thoughts in mind to pop by
Till then my chest had so much to bear
I had so little strength and all fear
It all got dispelled when she got so near
It was that all was gone and my mind so clear
This cuddle, it were mere seconds only very few
My mind kept ringing the question: Where were you???

 

Oscillator

One evening, with his charge at full capacity, Micro Farad decided to get a cute coil to discharge him. He went to the Magnet Bar to pick up a chip called Millie Amp. He caught her out back trying self induction; fortunately, she had not damaged her solenoid. The two took off on his megacycle and rode across the Wheatstone Bridge into a magnetic field, next to a flowing current , to watch the sine waves.
Micro Farad was very much stimulated by Millie’s characteristic curve. Being attractive himself, he soon had her field fully excited. He set her on the ground potential, raised his frequency, lowered her resistance, and pulled out his high voltage probe. When he inserted it in parallel, he short-circuited her shunt. Fully excited, Millie cried out, “ohm, ohm, give me mho”. As he increased his tube to maximum output, her coil vibrated from the current flow. It did not take long for her shunt to reach maximum heat. Now with the excessive current shortening her shunt, Micro’s capacity rapidly discharged – every electron was drained off. But that was not the end of it. Indeed, they fluxed all night, tried various connections and hookings until his bar magnet weakened, and he could no longer generate enough voltage to sustain his collapsing field. With his battery fully discharged, Micro was unable to excite his tickler, so they went home. A few weeks later, they were merged forever and oscillated happily ever after…

Courtesy:- rskumarsid

 

 

 

ENNUI

At times life gets mundane, there is boredom and monotony in the boom
In spite of all the lull and dull, fun will find its way to the room
It’s an effort to beat all the gloom
At times all it takes is a swipe with a broom
Not that all bore and dull leads to doom
A nano moment of fun is enough to zoom
These days are not going to loom
Moments of merry and happiness are about to bloom
In These moments of dull and bore, laziness must you never groom
A spark of enthusiasm and a moment of fun is all it needs to vroom
You must get into the mode of run
It’s getting near to all the fun
All the ennui has disappeared as the smoke from a gun
It’s fresh and fills joy like the morning sun
It’s a nice moment of mischief and joy to be,
Know it’s not going to last, this time of all merry and glee
Am aware life is, of dull, boredom and glee all in a home,
They keep visiting but you will await the time of glee to come.

 

 

 

The Enigmatic Her

As the rays of the sun fills my room, I have the first look of her
I walk to her, close my eyes, sense her and completely get lost in her
I feel as if her love flowing, filling my heart
She gives me the optimism for a new start
I get more closer and her smell is dense
I continue to drown in all sense
She leaves me with a promise to meet me later
I am lost in her dark brown eyes and will miss her
I want to announce to all about her in my life
She’s been there all through my life
She’s the one on whom I thrive
She’s the one who makes me strive
In lonely times I keep staring at her, no one else I see
A moment with her, drops the sorrow and brings glee
Every time I think of her, I am like this child who is mad for a toffee,
What were you all thinking, she’s my hot morning coffee..

 

The Twin Whirls in a Life Cycle

I was criticized
I was chided
For I did not have a skill
I always thought I never fit the bill
For a few days, I was in frown
It was time I had come into my own
I tried to get one by people close and by the book
I was desperate, had to have one hook or by crook
Try as I would things did not work out
Every time I tried things went flat out
I was headstrong, took the reins in my own
Had to keep going, alone on my own
Turned on my terminal and went online
My eyes caught something written inline
Did not waste time, immediately gave a call
The next day finalized the deal in a large hall
A decision that I had to quickly make
It processed to something which I will take
Was eagerly waiting for the end of the day
Soon it was driven all the way
The next few months were days of struggle
I bore it all though born a muggle
Something in me had transformed into will
With all force and energy I moved in for the kill
Dark days ended, I saw sunny days
Paths had changed, in many ways
Finally the day came, it was a test and I could not falter
I had the skill, it was time to show my caliber
Sachin still had the jersey ten
I had raced him to hundred and ten
Few months it was time to move on
New challenges, had to put on a new gown
Of the old, I know, I dismissed you
Remember, always I will miss you
I knew this huge leap made me look only weird
I had to face it, ride the thunder on a huge bird
Sachin ended on song with a last fifty
Again I raced him to a three hundred and fifty
Switched it on, turned it on, it mightily roared
Gave me a kick, with it I also soared
My legs apart, hands stretched, thoughts croaked
Immersed in these feelings, got myself soaked
Lots to learn, lots to gain,
as they say no pain, no gain
It was this feeling that was hard to find,
All I had to do was to make up my mind
I am happy to no ends,
Thankful to my dear three friends
I still have a long long way
Hardwork and will is all I have every day
In this world where a lot is frailty
Yes, yes dreams do become a reality

 

Like The Flowing River (Dedicated to Godavari)

With blue morning skies and the horizon, the day began,
Walking on the dusty road and through the muddy path , the trip began
On the water stood the Punnaami afloat,
Yo man, this is my first time on the boat,
The boat turned and with an attitude set sail,
The captain rolled and steered the rudder at its tail
This is it and it’s only water I am amid
I want to jump, hop and clap like a kid
That’s when I collect and control my emotions putting a lid
The river is welcoming and nature is placid
I have a liitle fear, but it is cheer which is about to bloom
I slip out my camera and do my zoom
All my fears vanish and I have no gloom
My insecurities have been cleaned with a broom
Calmly I enjoy the ride,
Keep staring at the dancing tide
Seems the water has nothing to hide
My dear river, you have my bonafide
I glance far and near
The waters are crystal clear
Feel inside something is changing gear
Oh lovely river, your are getting dear
The mountains echo, the banks sing and the waves dance
I am amazed, awestruck as if in a trance
I get the feel, get the vibe,
There is lot to learn from you, lot to imbibe
I keep on the travel, you don’t seem to end
In what seems like a timeless travel, you are the only friend
I don’t talk, I don’t say, I don’t speak
You only hear not even think I am a freak
Not once you show you are mighty and I, meek
My words are lost, and I feel a geek
I ask: People don’t have a heart, pollute you, abuse you, don’t you bother
I hear you say, they are all your kids and you their mother
Kids are fools, but for their mother, they are always smart
No matter what, you embrace us all, with a loving heart
I realize, you enjoy and with us you make merry,
On your waters, you make countless people ferry,
On your sandy banks people have chicken and curry,
You allay our fears and leave us with no worry,
We are inconsiderate, thankless, you don’t seek  our sorry
You are the one and only one, mighty yet calm, Ganga of the South: Godavari.
You give us fields, water, life and food
However we humans behave, you are always in a nice mood
Never in you has anger raised its ugly hood
Whatever bad we do, you do us only good
Coming to an end, I sit and introspect
All emotions rush, the one that stands out is only respect
I did learn: life throws everything that you don’t expect
Some you absorb, some you distribute, some you deflect
Enough songs, enough poems, enough has been said
What I write, I put down is very small instead
My last words are thus:
At the start your mightiness made me quiver, your cold waters made me shiver,
You welcomed me, comforted me, you are the deep, long and ever flowing Godavari river

 

 

The Complex of File and Compile

I remember the times before we parted ways
I was so happy to see you running on those sunny days
I kept my promise and haven’t changed a word in your file
But now just before the deadline, why wouldn’t you compile!
Thought on it, added in it,  all that would is only pile
But seems it might go down the Nile.
How much i wish it go the mile..
Aahh, I come back to very same file
Somehow to make it work is the itch
How much ever I want to, I don’t want to ditch
The easier thing is to another file I can switch
But just cant wonder leaving the damn bitch
I keep changing, modifying and keep running you in batch,
Somehow you did compile, shit the results don’t match
Think as I might, try as I might, I don’t get the catch,
You stupid file, I can’t even think of starting from scratch
Time is running fast and out
I have burnt half the midnight out
With this file I am in bout
Exhausted and tired, this file has had me in a rout
Too much, as I get up to take my mind of things
It’s early morning when my alarm rings
Outside it’s as usual, a little bird sings
I am done for, not me but you files and the tools, are the kings
All is done, all is lost, my way back, I am tired
At least I tried, I am self-biased and I am mired
Just going through the motions, as if I am not wired
Having my bath, that’s when, something strikes and gets me all fired
Now to my work I must run
This is one last shot before I am out of fun
No time for breakfast, all I grab is a bun
I am cheered, like the morning sun
So there I am making the last change
If this does not work, this is out of my range
Then I remember, this patch no need to cement,
The old code: few lines need to uncomment and comment.
Lo behold, glory to the lord, finally I smile,
A missing switch, file, you finally compile
In a jiffy and no time, all the results I wrote,
When I look back, I came out of a deep moat,
For a long time, this file made me only to dote,
In all the happiness, I still don’t make the note
People who read this will say my mind is idle and fickle
You goddamn fool, without that note, you will again visit this cycle.

 

 

 

The Chosen One

What to wish this guy on this very day
Don’t know what and all to say
You are close and stood by all
You are never too far to give a call
You are all for the one and the one for the all
You shared the grief and happiness for friends and all
To whom, one never had a glitch to ask
Before words, you help in our task
You does not care if one has no dime
You stay by everyone giving your time
You are a friend so dear, that when you are not near, I shall miss
But you make it clear that when you are near, you make me feel bliss
Anywhere one goes from this end to that end
To no end can ever one have such a friend
Not only this day, but on all days
Wish and pray that you meet success in all ways
God, not every day your magic wand may swish
But on this very day grant my friend’s each and every wish

 

The Star

pushed into a corner , i found myself
no light , but only shadows to stare at
all my knowledge seemed to have surrendered
and the might of fear seemed to overwhelm my faith
for my defeat looked inevitable even to a fool
and my existence one with darkness
for a volcano of emotions burst out in my heart
a few of anger , lots of hatred for those who gave this dark gift
i burnt in my anger , and hatred; one with the gloom around me
i was transforming into the very same darkness i disowned
a rude awakening one may say when my broken knowledge woke me up
it was astonishing how far i had walked away from where i wanted to be
with a pat on my shoulder ” lets do it, not try ” said my knowledge
from that day till time bid me bye , i stare the darkness in its face,
for that’s why they call me a STAR
Genius, they say, is infinite patience. But it is first of all an intuitive grasp of something beyond the scope of will – or, for that matter, skill.

 

Mission I’M’Possible

What more is to be done, so that in the glory I bask,
Is it a hurdle or challenge or a task, I ask,
It is none, said I, don’t be crazy,
why rake in so much effort, when you can be lazy,
So this is the road I took,
without even bothering to look,
It was never right, was always wrong,
till I got shaken up by the sound of a deadly gong,
Then realization took time to dawn,
It was not the time to yawn,
Wake up, get up, sit upright,
Dont you worry, I will hold you tight,
Who said this to me, was it you God, my Lord,
Or is it myself to me, who gave this word,
Is this a motivation, an idea or a thought,
Is something there really so much for me to be sought,
Yes said myself to me, there is so much to rein,
Get all your energy and blood in your vein,
You are not erudite, that you first acknowledge,
Only then you see light and the road to knowledge,
Yearn always to learn, unlearn and again learn,
For it is best that in light you burn,
Set a pyre in you and put your
laziness, anger, envy, fear, hatred, pride, obsession, sadness, selfishness
Ignite all these to a huge flame,
For then after you will never be the same,
Then you will see in sight,
Only a bright white light,
That’s what will always be your vision,
Intellect and knowledge is my only mission,
Whatever I endure, whatever I materially gain,
Whether I succeed or fail, no matter what my pain,
Never will I be in darkness or despair,
But myself be in light and always emit flare,
Myself will prod me and tell,
All you needed was to ring inward a bell,
May you be always be on path of knowledge is my blessing,
Thanks I say, for this is what myself to me will always sing,
From now on, this will be my karma,
With time this will be my dharma.

Random Verification Entries

General Verification Topics
1. Difference between byte and bit
2. mailbox & queue
3. $cast, $root
4. bidirectional constraints
5. solve before
6. UVM phases, phases in uvm-run_phase.
7. p_sequencer & v_sequencer
8. DPI's

Good Verification Questions

1. What is the communication channel from testcase to driver.

2. What are the communication channels between classes. how are these achieved.

3. Type pf port declaration in monitor.

4. Abstract class in SV.

5. Virtual and pure virtual

6. dynamic array: declaration, creation, assignment and deletion.

7. Static variable in class.

Illustrations

1. simple pkt class:

   8bit data field. 5 bit length field, 4 bytes fcs.
  

    soln:

    - declare addr, length & data as rand vars.

    - data as a dynamic array.

    - constraint for size of dynamic array = length; use solve before for length randomizing before data.

2. monitor1 -> puts (pkt) -> monitor2 -> puts (pkt) -> monitor3

    -If monitor2 processes the pkt, same changes are reflected in monitor3. So how to avoid it?

    Copy the pkt object in monitor2.
   

    In general whenever you get a pkt from some one else do a copy, also when you give a pkt to someone else, also do a copy.

3. Use of Public, local and prot variables in class.

    pkt_cnt within  a monitor can be a local variable. A task can be used to read this variable externally. This variable cannot be modified.

4. inp: req; op: ack

    ack has to go high within 64clocks of req going high.

    ack has to go low within 64clocks of req going low.

    What would be the basic checks

   - The first two givens should be obvious checks

   - The toggling of ack even though req is not present is an important error condition check.

Gokarn

It was a typical mundane routine till the long imminent weekend. I was just back from a tiresome earlier Nov month with lots of activities in professional and personal space. Mentally I was fine to take a break but was worried on the physical exhaustion it might bring. So in an indolent manner kept procrastinating with lame excuses which ever struck my nervous system avoiding any excursion.

On such an occasion, came the long weekend and just a few days before an invite from Sachin, who I am sure was hellbent on doing a trip over the long weekend. In a rather impassive, incurious and a detached response, I affirmed the availability for the trip more so out of  concern of landing up doing nothing over the long weekend.

Sachin with sheer alacrity went ahead with booking all the tickets and the necessary itinerary. It was all up to me to just give him company till the end of the trip. The D-day did arrive and I dropped my vehicle back home after office and gathered a rather inappropriate backpack and arrived back at office. Sachin drove over to his home through the rather claustrophobic traffic @Mahadevpura, towards his house. We had a quick pit-stop and  gathered the necessary stuff and were on our way to Hebal; luckily we could get another tempo to GovardhanTheatre. The wait kept getting impatient since the bus was late. It was loathsome time we were spending with expletives fulminating from  our tongues (for once we would have beaten ViratKohli at his talent), just when it was beginning to peak, the bus arrived and we settled down not realizing what was to follow.

The bus had a weak seating architecture, to top it all, the Windows were open sourced; somehow we had a somnolent few hours before the bust halted for an early morning breakfast only to know that we were just 300kms from our source, any dog could calibrate the reaching time. Post breakfast the bus began this rather arduous journey which should make even senior citizens proud; well they could amble faster than the bus {There was some technical problem}.. Time just seemed as to not pass at all; Sachin was determined to quench his sleep appetite. A few forlorn hours went past by, with fellow commuters getting restless and irritated. Somehow at some point, barely 50kms before destination, the driver saw a garage, somehow had a temporary fix done, in the meanwhile Sachin was up fresh from his soporific state, we had tea to awaken our fallen spirits. The bus began its final stint before conclusion, until it missed a turn and headed in another way; luckily one of the passengers happened to be alert and observant and apprised the driver early of the incorrect route. It was the tip of the point, and the latent heat of all the passengers was awakened, all the anger was continuously converted to chides and reprimands with the external temperature being constant.

Finally the bus dropped us off at the bus stand and we took a rickshaw to Kudle beach. Since it was the eleventh hour, it was tough to get a shack. We roamed a lot until we found a hut, left with no options we had but no choice zero in on the availability, paid up the shack person (we felt it was expensive) albeit with no trumps up our sleeve, we quickly settled our backpacks. Enough time lost, there was no more left to be expended; we had our lunch quickly and decided to trek as long as we possibly could.

We trudged to the end of Kudle, kept hiking and we reached Om in no time. We just kept up our pace till we reached a gorge which slowed us down. We took a handsome break taking a few snaps and kept moving till we reached HalfMoon beach. Sachin got into his mode having a few selfies and clicks while I was still reeling in exhaustion. Finally we got moving towards Paradise beach. This trudge was uneven with moving stones and slippery rocks; we didnt mind since we got a taste of some trekking. En-route we found people returning since it was time and the Police were clearing the beach camping. It was here we got to know that camping was not permitted at Paradise beach. We kept treading along till we were confounded on the path, we found two foreign girls returning and we asked for directions; they shared that we were close-by. One of the girls had a minor slip and yours truly took no time in giving her a firm hand lest she fell. Pleasantries exchanged we moved on and reached the otherwise desolate beach with a 5 policemen and a few people waiting for the ferry. We decided on our options quickly, we would have to trek all the way back to Kudle in a failing light, which was not advisable. The policemen were fine with us sharing the boat to Om. We waited for the ferry and the light had faded enough for the evening to apparate into night. The ferry returned and dropped us at Om. From Om we decided to take a rickshaw to Kudle but our efforts to bargain with the rickshaw guys failed and we walked our way to Kudle on the well laid out road. At Kudle we had some initial difficulty in locating our shack, but somehow we managed to lock in on the GPS co-ordinates. We freshened ourselves to re-invigorate our drooping energy levels with a handsome dinner. Having our fill, we had a night walk all along Kudle. The beach was welcoming, with a nice breeze and chilled moon light. We returned to the shack to rest ourselves for a long next day.

The next began with us walking and doing a light sprint at the beach, collecting ourselves, packing stuff and clearing the shack. We had decided it was time for us to be aquatic marines for the day. We trekked forward along the known trail towards Om. Sachin familiarized with a couple of girls on the way and we had a company to trek on the already familiarized trail. Exchanging pleasantries and chit-chatting along we kept trekking till we reached Paradise. Once there Sachin and I wasted no time watsoever in running into the welcoming ArabSamudradev's arms. It was high tide with the previous day being full moon day. Not venturing deep we dipped ourselves, the water tasted too saline as is always the case. Sachin tried his swimming skills: floating, paddling, submerging et-al; your's truly had his own methods, was into his own ritual. Enough time spent, having our fill of water, we caught a ferry back to Om. We proceeded to NamasteCafe for lunch, but heard for the first time that the restaurant was out of resources. Anyways disappointed we hired a rick to the main bazaar and the driver was kind enough to drop us next a hotel so that we could have food. I decided to fill my empty purse and was on the recourse to discover an ATM, but the day was such that not a single ATM was left with any cash cover; too much time gone I walked back to the hotel; We ate our fill and decided to visit the nearby Ganesh and Mahabaleshwar temples. Mahabaleshwar temple had too much of queue that we would have missed our bus getting into the barricaded darshan queue.

We ambled to MarutiKatte the pickup for our bus, where Sachin made a few quick calls to confirm our pick up. We caught up with the familiar faces with the erstwhile trekking company who were also waiting for their buses. Buses were on the way, exchanged farewells, we boarded our bus. This turned out to be better journey and thankfully no surprises and we were back in business no time lost, which is the reason that the blog turned up. It was a nice trip on an account barring the to-way jaunt.

A quick rejoinder would be to book rooms (especially if families/couples are bound), that way it gets convenient. The rest all is fun guaranteed.

Mission I'M'Possible

What more is to be done, so that in the glory I bask,

Is it a hurdle or challenge or a task, I ask,

It is none, said I, don't be crazy,

why rake in so much effort, when you can be lazy,

So this is the road I took,

without even bothering to look,

It was never right, was always wrong,

till I got shaken up by the sound of a deadly gong,

Then realization took time to dawn,

It was not the time to yawn,

Wake up, get up, sit upright,

Dont you worry, I will hold you tight,

Who said this to me, was it you God, my Lord,

Or is it myself to me, who gave this word,

Is this a motivation, an idea or a thought,

Is something there really so much for me to be sought,

Yes said myself to me, there is so much to rein,

Get all your energy and blood in your vein,

You are not erudite, that you first acknowledge,

Only then you see light and the road to knowledge,

Yearn always to learn, unlearn and again learn,

For it is best that in light you burn,

Set a pyre in you and put your
              laziness, anger, envy, fear, hatred, pride, obsession, sadness, selfishness

Ignite all these to a huge flame,

For then after you will never be the same,

Then you will see in sight,

Only a bright white light,

That's what will always be your vision,

Intellect and knowledge is my only mission,

Whatever I endure, whatever I materially gain,

Whether I succeed or fail, no matter what my pain,

Never will I be in darkness or despair,

But myself be in light and always emit flare,

Myself will prod me and tell,

All you needed was to ring inward a bell,

May you be always be on path of knowledge is my blessing,

Thanks I say, for this is what myself to me will always sing,

From now on, this will be my karma,

With time this will be my dharma.

Belum Caves, Light in Darkness.

 Belum Caves, Light in Darkness.

It had been a while since, a venture into nature had happened and the restlessness was growing; it then gave way to frustration, partly because of my health deteriorating and more so due to prolonged procrastination of an excursion.

To begin with there were long weekends in the offing, and the moment was perfect for an adventure. It was mid March, and the mercury was slowly rising, bidding farewell to the cool winter. This phase is tricky physically since it especially brings in common-cold virus which till today no antivirus pill can quarantine. The bug got stuck in me and it was sickening and an annoying phase. It was one such Wednesday morning when I was in a prickly mood that a familiar voice fell on my ears: Hari Sir, enna pannindrikungaa (what are you upto). It was Arul at my desk, with his face beaming and in a tone full of alacrity Hari Sir oru trip podunga (plan a trip). Well that was it, for a moment my queasiness and weariness was gone and his exuberance had its immediate effect; Enge porudhu (where to go). He had the solution to that also, how about Belum Caves was his next question. The next few instants were spent on Googling and I had my research about the place satiated, Belum Caves it is. I walked upto Sachin, who was about to go for lunch and asked him if he was interested and he was affirmative; his excitement knew no bounds and he instantly put out an event on FB requesting guys in office to confirm their presence. The date was decided to be on 29th March, which was Good Friday.

As luck always had it, most people were reluctant, partly due to their work obligations, tight deadlines, personal work and for me it was health. Two weeks passed by (weekends too :( ) and it was soon the Ugadi weekend, which i knew was never possible since I was traveling home. Belum Caves kept ringing like a bell in my mind and it soon lost its echo when I was home. I think this weekend was good for all, since it gave people some time off work and especially for me it was rejuvenation. Ugadi weekend passed by and the imminent Monday was as usual routine day with work, specs, scripts and mails. The evening turned different with Sachin organizing a conference in the Cafeteria about the long forgotten trip. I think if ever there was a turning point this was it,( the captain leads from the front in Sourav Ganguly's words.) there was a long deliberating discussion on where to go, should it be Belum or somewhere else may be Srisailam. ChandraSekhar gave his opinions, and a lot others who did not make it to the trip also suggested places. Well it is always the captain's call and a unanimous decision to go to Belum was decided on the imminent long weekend.

So the itinerary finally, finally made its way, the next day noon: 

                                Thursday departure from office and travel to Kurnool.

                                Stay the Thursday night and Friday morning travel to Belum.

                                Roam the caves, visit adjoining places: Yaganti & MahaNandi.

A quick meet at the Cafeteria again around the evening coffee time confirmed the platoon of 10. Wednesday gave way to mode of travel, and after all options Mahesh and Srinivas took up the task to finalize a tempo-traveller of 12 seater that would see us through the excursion and drop us back at office. The wait to Thursday was getting impatient and minutes seemed like hours to pass and finally the day dawned.

 Most of the Belum-10 (that's what i termed the gang) had brought their backpacks from home directly to office; the rest would get their packs from home and join at the office campus. People had their task cut out, and yes it was an infallible mission, complete your work hook or by crook before we travel and yes no hassles means no hassles. With digital clock displaying its LED readout at 17:45, it was time to leave. There was a last minute discussion on an imminent project (the details on the project cant be divulged in public space), and it involved 40% of  team: Sachin, Mahesh, Chaitanya and yours truly. Our senior Sridhar got to know of our trip just when we were about to leave, 4 guys of a project team off to an excursion into an underground cave, he was worried of our well-being,  that we make our returns in one piece. With all jocular farewell bids and amidst frolic, the gang made its way into a 12 seater traveller. After a few glitches and wading our way out of the Hyderabad traffic, we had a pit stop @Gachibowli, in order to collect water-bottles and some snacks. I must mention the Captain's strategy, he had made 3 groups:-

Group1: Finance Group:- Balaji, Srinivas, AndHari, (will come to the prefix And Later)

Group2: Event Management Group :- Mahesh, ArulRaj, Ravi, Avinash

Group3: Itinerary Group: Sachin, Chaitany, Yours'Truly (OrHari).. (Will explain the nomenclature later)

Well as it happens in any trip, these hierarchies are never followed; actually who listens to  the captain; this is democracy we elected the captain. Anyways going ahead and after crossing Jadcherla we decided to halt for dinner. All of us had settled into a round table conference, had our fill and headed for Kurnool. Then rounds of Dumb-Charades started, began with everything from vehicles to people to movies. When it started getting out of control a unanimous decision was taken to emote only English movies. That's when Chaitanya got up for his turn and in his skit began pointing to HarikKrishna, it was tough to comprehend when Srinivas exclaimed And Hari!; the whole group burst into a laugh riot courtesy Sachin with his ever ludicrous comments; and then even Your's Truly was christened as OrHari: taking a cue from logic circuits. The dumb-charades was fun since we lost track of time and reached Kurnool by 11pm. Thanks to Mahesh, who had booked the hotel rooms in advance, it was so comfortable that we could crash in our beds. Sachin, Balu and I shared a room, while Ravi, Avinash, Srini & AndHari jostled into an other room; Mahesh, Arul and Chitanya calmly settled down in their cosy beds. Guess was it was good but it was the summer in Kurnool and yup it was hot; somehow our tired bodies had rest. It was morning and the alarm duty to give everyone a wake-up call belonged to Mahesh, who undertook this arduous duty. People had to get up and have their ablutions underway and leave soon for breakfast. A few poses and experiments with the cameras were undertaken, partly to check the cameras and also to wait for the other people to get ready. Once done, we had a team snap before leaving for breakfast.

We enjoyed the breakfast, it was a simple place but served good food at very economical rates unlike the city culture. Then journey began to Belum, we had antakshari rounds to pass our time. It was in 3 hours that we were at Belum. Well to give a brief description about BelumCaves:

Belum Cave lies in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Belum Cave is 3.5 km in length and the second longest cave in India next to 21km long Krem Um Lawan cave in Meghalaya. Only 2km of the Belum Cave is opened for public. To enter inside the cave one should be accompanied by a guide and freely wandering in the cave is strictly prohibited. There are three entry points to the cave out of which one is converted to a main entrance. There are passages in the cave where one will have to crawl to pass by. There are some streams inside the cave. There is a chamber inside the cave where a lot of stalactites and stalagmites (horn like formation of limestone) can be seen. The chamber is called Kotilingalu and the entrance to chamber is called Simhadwaram. There is a chamber inside the cave called Saptasvarala Guha or Musical chamber where the limestone formations make metallic sounds. The deepest point in the cave is called Pathalaganga where a perennial stream is found.

We had to purchase tickets at the ASI counter, and soon found our way into a ring of steps that went underground leading us to the mouth of the caves. Cameras made their way out and soon the photography buffs were found clicking anything interesting that came by. It was complete exploration, since there were lot of narrow pathways that branched, not that anyone would be lost finding their way back, but it was nevertheless a good exercise. Each one was lost into his own climbing up the rocks, posing for the photographer counterparts; it was left to photographers to capture their subjects in various poses, styles and genre. It was breathtaking to see the stalactites and stalagmites, the limestone rocks, the natural etches and rock layers, would keep the geologists enthused. We kept going along the different trails, had our brief halts for our hits on the shutter button. The good thing was there were air blowers for air circulation at various points in the cave without which there could have been suffocation. We have been attuned to see nature's marvels on and above the planet's surface but never had much of an opportunity to see and therefore imagine the magnum opus that nature's been carving right below our feet. We treaded to the various chambers in the cave, especially to the abyss in the cave the Patalganga, had our clicking sessions and made way back to the exit. The conservation work by the ASI and the various institutions were very appreciable but equally appalling was the lackadaisical attitude of the visitors who would carelessly dispose off the plastic bottles to the darkest corners of the cave, lest respecting the efforts and the heritage of our nation.

Once at the exit of the cave, the team proceeded to the Andhra hotel inside the campus for lunch. The lunch was in traditional Andhra style; in no time we were into gorging the food and gulping barrels of water. After a few team snaps, as per the itinerary marched into the traveller to proceed to Yaganti.

 PS: For cynics who say that India is undeveloped, we found a Google product in the heartland of our nation.

It was afternoon and the sun was at its peak and in no time the heat was beginning to  get unbearable, upon which the complete realization dawned that the AC was not working at all. All this while the travel was during the calmer evening, a windy night and a cooler morning: the noon drew upon us to unfold an evil truth about the AC. Obviously it was tough and the guys got queasy and restless; it was through these moments of latent heat, Mahesh and Arul got together in their act to obviate people's senses. Hat's off to Mahesh, that he had googled the lyrics, rehearsed a tamil song just to play it in live performance; Arul gave him the much needed company. In no time the two of them had the entire team in spirits, which rubbed on the captain forcing him into a small jig.

This got us going and did not realize that we were at the door step of our next destination. Yaganti has a beautiful temple of Lord Uma & Maheshwara in one stone. This temple is inside a cave. Adjacent to this temple there is cave that homes a very old of  Lord Vishnu. The main temple has a ShivLinga which is broken as per legend. The statue of Nandi is known to grow, which is scientifically confirmed by the ASI also. Once can google for more on the legendary mythology of Yaganti. Yaganti is also home to a few springs which flow as streams down from the hills. It was astonishing to see these streams in peak summer, since, going by the normal expectation these would have been defunct and dry.  We had our darshans, ate our prasads and satiated our thirst from the spring waters. There was one last place to visit on the itinerary plan Mahanandi.

All of us made a tired gait to the van, Mahanandi was not too far from; we reached our final destination by evening. Chaitanya guided us that was a flowing waterhole within the temple premises, where a much needed dip can be taken. In an  instant the team got ready with the essential baggage: towels, inner wears etc and got in the queue for darshan . Chaitanya led the way into the temple and we were soon at the snactum santorum of the temple. All of us had our silent prayers and in no time accelerated to the waterhole. We had to keep our impatience in check and had to wait for a few precious minutes which seemed like eons; the never ending wait in no time transcended to exuberance and we got into the waterhole, immersing our burning bodies in the cold water. Water had its calming effect which was evident from everyone's relieved face. The water was chest high, crystal clear that one could see his feet at water bed. Every iota of a moment was imbibed, and people were lost into themselves. This very moment metaphorically drew a flashback on the poem in ZNMD movie. It took a lot of effort for the team to pull out of water, the credit goes to time, since it was getting late.

Fresh and energetic, it was a dash to Kurnool and checkout from the hotel. There was a quick unanimous decision to have dinner on the way back to Hyderabad. Sachin kept on vociferously iterating on a Punjabi Dhaba by name GuruNanak Dhaba which he claimed to see en route to our  way to Kurnool the previous night. A few halts here and there were made to check the same name, but it was futile and soon we did find a Punjabi Dhaba by a different name. It was a exhaustive wait for our dinner, though it was delivered in 15-20 minutes. Dinner rejuvenated the gang only to find Sachin exult and show GuruNanak Dhaba barely a kilometre from our dinner pit stop. In no time the exhaustion paved way to a much deprived sleep. Most of us were in  khayalon mein" when we were broken from our slumber by a sudden braking. There was nothing just that the driver had gone into his "khayalon mein" . The effect was startling, enough to jolt us from somnolence, when Chaitanya read 9kms to Jadcherla on the milestone. In 15 mins we had our tea time, especially for the driver to get his senses back since it was still a good 90 kms to our resident city. The next events were dull and boring that we kept looking at milestones aimlessly and dozed off to sleep. As the time had passed we found ourselves in HitechCity and soon at our office premises. After settling accounts with the driver, the gang meted to bidding farewells.

It was 3am in the morning and the much needed excursion was realized; not that it satiated my lust for a trip, but nevertheless it drew me closer to new people, people who were strangers: in terms of knowing them, their likes, genre of music, movies they frequent to, the principles they adhere to; most importantly the effort they put in to keep the person next to them comfortable. This was the people with whom I would have had project and technical discussions, it had a different bend from this excursion. There will be more trips to come, that's a deal.