I am Harshita Srikanth, studying in VI B, Vel's Vidyashram School.

We started our journey from Madipakkam. My father drove the car to Guindy and picked up Kevin. We stopped at Koyambedu to pick up other trekkers.  Kevin went to another car, Akshaya, Gokul, their father  Senthilnathan uncle and Balaji uncle joined us .  We had Idli, Sambar rice and Chips in front of a house on the road side. It was very nice.

We reached Nagalapuram at 10.30PM. Aunty cooked Paneer butter masala, roti and rice. We played till 1'O clock and was not feeling sleepy. In number games I got a friend. Her name is Shradha.  

In the morning we had boost and chocos, rusk with milkmaid. It was so sweet and delicious. We started walking , after some time we reached the stream, where we played in the water. The water was tasty so I filled my bottle. We ate glucose. I got a friend while walking, her name is Mable. We shared bubble gum and chocolate. My father was walking in the last with Chellababu uncle. 

After some time, we reached 2nd pool. My father was so late, so a girl gave me a swim tube. My father reached then,and gave me the swim tube. In the pool I got 2 more friends Brinda & Harini. We played in the pool. There were fishes in pool, which did a free pedicure and cleaned our legs.  We were swimming happily. There was a waterfall near the pool and Rakesh uncle helped me bathe in it. 

They cooked Maggi Soupy noodles. It was very tasty, but hot. After that my father, with other uncles went to the 3rd pool and I continued playing in pool with my friends. When they returned, we changed to dry clothes and ate Biriyani.

After lunch, we walked so much, I got leg pain, and reached campsite at 6PM. We took photographs, introduced ourself, and packed everything. We reached home at 11.30PM. The next day I was not well, so I did not go to school. I miss all my friend and also miss Chellababu uncle. Thank you uncle for this nice trip.

Harshita Srikanth

TREK TO NAGALA WEST WITH KIDS

A year before on reading a news that featured in the newspaper, I just browsed thro' the website of CTC. Some interesting facts & the power of imagination (Karpanai Kudhirai)  taking me thro many hills, as if  I had enough time and energy to achieve great things with CTC made me register, at last to find myself for the past 12+ months just receive  and read emails about each & every event, the post trek experience.  Thou I luv to travel, do something adventurous, as all common human beings would do, found it difficult to move the ass from the regular routine. 

But,  I used to share all that I read about the Post trek, Invitations and activities at CTC with my family.

Thus on April 4th when I told my daughter that Kritish (S/o Mr.Chellababu) is organizing  "the first Kids Trek to Nagala", she was very particular about enrolling into it. Sent our registrations, and got confirmed on 8th. The real fight started then, when my sweet-heart (wifey) started pricking about not including her in the trip. Explaining (Frightening) her about the difficulty involved we pacify her.

Excitement, high spirits, anxiety , eagerness....everything rocked our mind. With a 3 day long week-end, more assignments were to be completed within this 4 days, thus days galloped  at great speed .

D-Day : 14th,

14.00 Hrs : I return from a personal work in the city and my daughter asks me to open my mail INBOX, to check what should be carried. As I had told her the previous night that Peter had posted the details with picture. She reads thro both Peter's & Krithish's mail,  packs up everything in 2 back-packs and put them on the weighing machine to check if they are below 4Kgs (adult) & 2Kgs (Kids) as recommended.

 4.45PM is the scheduled time @ Toyota Show room, Guindy. Running late by 10 mins....with a thought....will I be black-listed ? No ways.  My Opel Corsa Sail  rushes to spot & makes friendship with  Muralikrishna's I10 and Guru's Baleno , Inigo's Alto and Shanmuganathan's mighty Scorpio.

5.30PM : Our second meeting point.  The 1st set of cars were even more excited to see Biju's Honda City, Rakesh's (?) whiteSWIFT & Nagarajan's Zen Estillo.  Sasikumar informs the route pattern and thus all the cars move like a battalion to conquer the Nagala and thus the JOURNEY starts.

With few shuffles in the seating arrangements, Harshita (my daughter) got 3 new friends - Akshaya, Gokul and Balaji. Word building games, sharing thoughts about their school,  Memory games continue till we stop in front of a lone house at Pakkam- for KID's 1st Dinner.  

Balaji was in the rear seat and was juggling between the games with the kids and the talks me & Senthilnathan(F/o Akshaya & Gokul)  had. Post Kid's dinner Balaji and Senthil swap seats. I & Balaji started conversing.  Till such time he was in the back seat he was saluting me as "Sir" , when occupying the front seat, I couldn't guess what made him call me "Uncle". May be a few years younger to me, Balaji, saw those few grey hairs & mistook me as an uncle.....ha ha... 

The army of cars zip thro Periyapalayam, Othukottai, Nagalapuram, Pichatur and into the small village named "Aerai". Its a tricky right just  a kilometer after Nagalapuram arch. Few cars which missed this junction were traced (the only mess-up that happened) and we rushed up till Pulimgunta the first village,as the road resembled race-track, then on the drive was on non-existent roads for nearly 3Kms.

At 10.30PM, when we reached the Parking lot (under a mango tree), a well-built man in half-trousers and grey T-shirt with a whistle around his neck (& a gold chain...eye catchy) started commanding. And Balaji says that is Mr.Chella babu (CB). He has been waiting in the dark for us with veg.biriyani. The moment everyone gathers, CB calls the kids for games and started entertaining them and other volunteers involve themselves into many activities like, installing a flood light (1 tube light with the help of an inverter), collecting wood for fire, cooking patties& Paneer Butter Masala, making roti.

Excellent team work makes things easier and cooking is done in just 50 mins. The deliciously awe-some food fly of the vessels in no time and CB calls all the kids and parents for another round of games. The game "Bone & Dog" entertained everyone, right from cute kids being deceived by smart one and so did the adults. Kids wanted more games, and so did CB entertain them by playing with them SKIP number game. 

At 1.30AM all of them retire to bed- a single large mat that accomadated nearly 24 pax, and the light switched off. Some of them had their own mats. Few of the CTC volunteers (Balaji, Arjun,Ajay, Alaika,Rakesh, Shanker - BAAARS) along with Nagarajan decide to attempt a night trek and they set-off. After a while, Karthik Rajagopal, the celebrity Photographer of CTC arrived in his Sumo. I get introduced myself & happy seeing him, I sleep.

The next morning at 5.30 CBs movement & cell-phone alarms started disturbing everyone. What a surprise, the kids who do not  arise from bed on school-going days are up at 6. Everyone is given a neem-twig to brush, a nearby stream helped those who had to attend nature's call.

Chennaites are used to see the Sun rise out of the ocean every morning, but it was a different experience to  see light emit behind the mountains and slowly the sun emerge. A stroll up the bund to see the huge lake hiding behind it , the clouds kissing the mountain top and sheer silence made me enjoy NATURE at its best. 

 After piping hot black tea and boost with chocos for  kids &  rusk soaked in milk-maid,  things for break-fast and lunch are packed and shared among the trekkers. A thoughtful CB, unpacks his pandora-box to pamper the kids with loli-pop, chocolates, a orange color CTC cap, Kerchief, Glucose, etc. Kudos to CB for an out of box thought to entertain and boost the morale of the kids. 

  

Rakesh & Arjun explained the kids few details about mountains, streams, & topography.

The TREK starts: With Rakesh leading the kids, I plan to stay with CB (to understand and learn his experience with CTC) to sweep the team. Venkat, another trekker who had registered for this trek is in with his kid, all the way from Hyderabad. I make Harshita join the kids so that I am not disturbed and she could do the trek with her new set of friends. A neat walk for a few meters, stumbling hops on the pebbles, we start gradually climbing the hill.  Soon, we reached the stream. Seeing the crystal clear, sweet, cold  water, everyone jumped in the air, stepped into the stream and started splashing water. 

The merriment made the kids run to the 1st pool, but were not allowed to jump in and they kept trekking to the 2nd one. Crossing boulders, admiring mini-falls in the nearby stream, listening to the sweet songs of birds, we cross different terrains with the help of hanging roots, branches and woods. Chennai should be 37 Deg on Sunday, but we were enjoying the trek amidst the greens at a very low temperature. Clicking photographs, talking tales, admiring nature, we reach 2nd pool without feeling any heat or much strain. By the time we reach 2nd pool, the kids are already into it swimming. 

CB unpacks all the ingredients to cook and sets up the stove, while volunteers run for dry wood. As I lit the fire, Shanker gets the water and  the cooking process gets steam. In next (15x) 2 mins, delicious soupy noodles, ready just to see the vessel get empty 5 mins.  Meanwhile, I go for a dip, swim for a while, get drenched in the falls, enjoy the foot-trickling fish massage and return. The ladies who were in the water, join CB to cook , and I say bye to them to join BAAARS, Guru, Biju, Senthil, Shanmuganathan, Ghiya & few kids to trek to the 3rd pool. 

  

The third pool or three side covered pool, is a wonderful place to swim and relax. The 40+ feet deep pool has artificial edges to relax, a waterfall to get massaged and fishes for pedicure. The chillness of the water makes the hot sun feel pleasant when we relaxed on the rocks like Crocodiles do. Unfortunate that I left my camera at the 2nd pool. Except Balaji & Alaika, rest of the BAAARS, exhibited their skills of diving, under-water photography and helping others dive. 

At 2.30PM, when we reached the 2nd pool, aroma of  the food cooked - Veg Biriyani, Gobi 65, Mushroom-Methi Gravy. It was nice to see Radhika & Baggya arrange vegetables- Cucumber, Tomato and  sprinkle pepper and salt. Was the attraction due to the high degree of appetite ? No way, The women's team had really done an excellent job by cooking delicious food. Exhibiting culinary skills at home is different from what was done here in a fire wood Aduppu. "Kudos".

After having a sumptuous lunch, we pack up our bags and start our return trek to base camp site. The same trail, the flora , again the sun on the opposite side, no big change, except for the temperature and  the heavy stomach. The decent was quick, covered in just 90 mins. The assembly point  on top of the dam. Photo session with new friends.  

Kids jumping in awe- having completed the trek successfully, having played in the water for so long, having got new friends, having had good food, and on top of all, having had an excellent (chella) organizer with a lovely set of volunteers (BAASRS), who played, swam , carried, helped, not only with the kids but the adults too. Thanks to Mr.CHELLABABU and the team.

Can't find words to explain the JOY that arises on thinking of this awesome trip.Looking forward to join future treks. Kids learnt the Go-Green policy of CTC and kept away from breaking twigs while trekking, and collecting  trash .Thanks to CTC, which up-keeps the Nagala's serenity. Hope more trekkers join CTC (www.chennaitrekkers.org) and uplift the policy and be environmental friendly atleast for a day in their life. 

K.Srikanth

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