I thought, I shud not feel guilty about not penning any thing since my first blog in Yahoo-360. But when Iam actually writing this, Iam being prone to the "guilt pang". Hmm let me try to escape from it with some reasoning... "I have been so busy all these days, I could not find time to write...I know how work and other things ate up lions share of my time." So does that look like a good reason? May be ..May not be..Anyways...now that I have actually started writing again, Iam happy :-)

People plan out so many things, as the new year end nears. So it was no different for so many of my friends. One of my friend's mailed to the group, enquiring us all about what plans do we hold for the year end. On the menu were things like "party", "boooze", "long drive", "imax" and blah blah blah. I would have almost given in for these usual un-interesting tempations, but for my friend's (Venkat Asha Reddy...fondly called Asha) stupefying idea of trekking in the western ghats. The destination was "Kodachadri peak" in the western ghats. So we packed our bags and we set out for an exciting trip to "Shimoga" in karnataka. I along with Asha, Badri and few of their collegues totalling 8, reached there on 28th Dec. We then saw some interesting places around. The best thing on that day was the "Sunset at Agumbe". Agumbe is in the western ghats, and is also the birth place for river sharavathi that feeds the Jog falls. Incidentally it is also the place where the famous "RK Narayan's Malgudi days" was picturised. The next day we set out to see some places that included, a wild-life sanctuary, Jog falls, Murudeshwara beach and a few temples around it including the famous Kollur Mookambika temple.

The most electrifying thing was to be experienced the next day, when we set out to trek the Kodachadri peak. We got down the bus at a raw trail at the base of kodachadri and started off trekking at around 9:15AM. We had carried all our luggage with us, so it was quite difficult. After a 15 mins walk, we found ourselves lost in glory of nature...we were seeing mother nature in its most purest form...the gentle breeze, the echoes of the birds, the rustling of the dead leaves, the sounds of gushing streams all this amidst the stillness of an amazing slience, an amazing congregation of paradoxes. After an hour and half's walk, we found a lonely hut (kaka hotel), who served us with some neembo pani. After getting refreshed, we started to trek ahead. Little did we know, what was in store for us. Being out of excersizing regime for almost 6 months, I along with all others, found the ascent, exteremely ardous and physically demanding. We saw different kinds of landscapes during our ascent. Some of the landscapes were lush green, thick rain forests, allowing little/no sun light to penetrate, while some landscapes were devoid of trees, completely covered with golden yellow grass (rememeber African Savanna's). Trekking through the latter kind, was the most difficult, as were completely exposed to the scorching sun. Nevertheless, after a painstaking trek of 6.5 hrs, we reached a govt guest house, where we could rest for the rest of day. We were ofcourse not still at our destination, the Kodachadri peak.After taking a break at the guest house for a few hours and having some edible stuff called as "Lunch", we setout again for the trek to the peak, this time sans- the "luggage". It was relatively easier trek. On the way to the peak, was a small Ganesha temple inside a cave. Finally after an hour's trek, we reached our destination, the "Kodachadri Peak". That is where is the photo put up for this blog has been taken. We reached there just before the sunset. There was a temple for "Adishankaracharya" which was in a delapidated state. As per history, Shankaracharya used to come to this place for medidation. When we saw the sunset at this place, we forgot all the pains that we took to come to this place. It was such an amazing view, we could see the Arabian sea on our left and the western ghats aligned on the shore. I started to feel "What a way to say good bye 2006".

Life has been offlate, very very lethargic and un-interesting for me. Don't know the exact reason. But seems like Iam getting succumbed to this tactile sensation. As a typical s0ft-wear engineer, Life (atleast in other's view) for me seems to be full of fun, week-end parties, late night movies, occassional booze, opulent life-style.  But do all these really give me happiness? Now, I think as an earnest s/w guy, I do have to define what "Happiness" is all about before actually validating and verifying whether what I percieve to be "happiness " is actually "Happiness" or not?

Some one said "Happiness" is more of a state-of-mind and less of any tangible possessions. So then how do I achieve this so called elusive "state-of-mind"? Does a "handsome" salary give me this? Does job-satisfaction give you this feel? Does the much yearned-lifestyle of a typical s/w engineer give me this feeling? Iam afraid NOT. I know I have to first know what I feel "Happy" about. Only then can I do something about achieving that state-of-mind and strive on continuing to be in such a state. But how do I know what makes me really "Happy"? There are lots of small and big things in life that bring about this feeling in your life. Most often than not, they only give you temporary happiness. Dont you think so?

I come to office, did a great job, recieved an appreciation from my boss. I'm happy

It's appraisal time, I know I got good ratings, which directly convert into a good hike. I'm happy

In a conversation with my collegue, she tells me I got great brains. I'm happy

Made a new girl-friend. I'm happy

It's friday evening. I'm happy

I had a great dinner and booze and watched a pulsating movie in my fav home theater system. I'm happy

I met my good-old friends and had a gala time. I'm happy

But the sum-total of all the happiness I felt in all the above occassaions is not the "Total Happiness" I was searching for. Definitely there is some thing more to it, than the mundane moments of "faux happiness". I'd be lucky if I find what is it.

God save me from this ho-hum moment.