ROTTIKALLU – A Journey Memorable

The planning to this trip started with a strange unfolding of events in office. The much hyped about reorganization of certain departments was just round the corner. There was uncertainty about who’s going where and we all suspected that our team would probably top the list of donors (read human resources) to other departments. Reorganization being a recurrent process in our organization, this one too didn’t come as a surprise to most of us. Some things under the sun are perennial and this one, without an inkling of doubt, can be classified as one of them. It was very apparent that this was the last opportunity to go out together as a team and of course, use the company budget to fund the expenses. What more could serve as a motivation to get started?

Rottikallu was decided as the place to visit due to a couple of influencing factors. One that it had garnered quite a reputation for being an ideal place for a team outing and secondly, it fit our allocated official team outing budget pretty well. Although we could have funded the extra expenses from our earnings in case the need demanded, the team was reluctant. Why should it be called an official team outing if we sponsored ourselves, we demanded and questioned. Of course, we are well paid individuals from the take home point of view, but once the creditors start laying their hands on our money for the debts undertaken, we look more like blood sucked mortals trying hard to get a gasp of air from the abundance of it available in the atmosphere. So, it was fair enough that we were officially funded rather that being self funded.

We headed towards Rottikallu from Bangalore post dinner at ‘The Vil’age’. The name of the restaurant is 'The Vil'age', but once the bill landed in our hands it appeared like we were buying a village. The exorbitant bill was settled and we started our expedition. We reached Rottikallu early in the morning after a night of unabated singing. A couple of tea breaks in the middle of the night meant that we were trying to keep the sleep at bay. We did get a nap before the day dawned and the destination amidst the mountains arrived. We were greeted by trekking dogs at the home stay and it seemed like we knew them since ages. We were later informed that they were trained to be with the guests so that we didn’t lose our way on the mountains while trekking. We were impressed.

As any curious visitor to a new place would do, we started inspecting the place to figure out if it had any uniqueness about it. It had one. There was a small stream of water that seemed surprisingly still and it failed miserably to create any ripples of enthusiasm to the weary travelers. There were some ropes across the stream but we couldn’t figure out the activities that could be done with these. We returned back to our dormitory pondering whether it was a wise decision to have selected this place for an outing. Then, a glimpse of the cricket field at a distance stirred up the lost motivation and it was like we had found water in the middle of Saharan desert. We had a game of competitive cricket with lot of allegations of foul play. Explanations were sought for a missed catch or a misfielding and clarifications were given. Sometimes the disagreement is so resolute that even if God tries to convince, He’d perhaps give up. Nevertheless, the game provided as a great refresher and we were invited for breakfast by the folks in the home stay.

Malnad style idli and coconut rice was served and it tasted delicious. We devoured it like hungry wolves and headed out for some water activities. This was when the fun started. Vijay, the owner cum guide of the home stay introduced himself first and then the introduction to a host of water activities followed. All of a sudden, the stream which appeared lifeless till then, came alive and indicated that our initial assumptions about it were obnoxious. The first of the activity was water crossing.

[Pic: Leon testing his water crossing skills ]

We all managed this fairly well except for Chaitra and Suvidha. With lot of difficulty and relentless screams they crossed the stream and when they landed safely, their facial expressions indicated it was the end of a long, intense and grueling battle. Perhaps, to them, crossing the stream over the ropes seemed like eternity.

Then followed the most interesting activity- Tarzan swings. A rope tied to a tree branch at one end and a short log at the other, you swing across the stream seated on the log. 

[Pic: Jharkhand boy Ajay sets an example on the Tarzan swing]

Vijay demonstrated this first and it looked very interesting. Arvind was the first from our gang to take the swing. We all appreciated his courage and encouraged him to GO FOR IT!! Normally when a person gets into water, it’s either his head, his hands, or his legs that get wet initially subsequently followed by the rest of his body. But what Arvind demonstrated defied all laws of nature. His forward swing landed his bottom first in water and the backward swing too was no different. Wet got wetter and he was clueless as to what was happening. We all had a laugh of our lifetime looking at his exasperation. It was not his fault though. The swing was bit longer than the rest and it was intended to be that way. We all took the plunge on the same swing and experienced the wet pleasure of a different kind. However, the standout performer in this activity was Mayank. The swing went terribly wrong for him and he actually jumped into water rather than swinging on it. In a hypothetical situation, if Tarzan was alive and Mayank were to be his son, the father surely would have disowned his son for his skills. Thanks for the fun dude. You were undoubtedly exceptional. Three cheers!!

Few other water activities like the water gliding followed. This one looked more intimidating than it actually was.

[Pic: Gopal on the slide with a life jacket believes a four-feet-deep stream can be life threatening]

I guess the number of times few friends screamed “mummy” during the 2 hour activity would definitely be greater than the number of times they’d have called it during their lifetime. Exaggerated of course, but it’s a point worth made. The games were fun and sent the adrenaline pumping for it was the first time we experienced something of this sort.

Lunch followed and we had it sumptuously. After an hours rest, we tried to reach Rotti kallu(rock on which people used to have akki rotti in olden days- hence the entire place is now called RottiKallu) on top of a mountain. We hired jeeps to help us reach there, thanks to the limited time that we had to accomodate a 16 km trek. We couldn’t reach there due to a tree felled by a wild elephant on the middle of the road (we had seen this only in movies till then). We settled with a small hill nearby that offered a picturesque view. We clicked a few snaps and headed back to the home stay.

[Pic: The team(bottom to top), Sandeep, Sathya, Mayank, Gopal, Suvidha, Sashi, Chaitra, Leon, Arvind, Ajay and the trekking dogs]

We hit the bed after enjoying the campfire and a wonderful dinner. We started back to Bangalore the subsequent morning after enjoying a stint in the water falls near Rottikallu. The trip was amazing and we all had a wonderful time. The hospitality and the attention to subtle details made the stay very pleasurable and fun filled. ROTTIKALLU, you are etched in our memory and will be reminiscent of a fascinating team outing experience.

(Team visited Rottikallu between 16-17th April 2010)

-Sandeep Mahagaonkar.