Saavan Durga

My trip to Saavan durga is an example of how bad starts could end up amazingly well. It all started at a very short notice (unlike our other treks where we plan for months before it finally happens) I still cannot figure out how the idea of trek originated , but we(Smrithi and Charu with Andy and yours truly shaking our heads like bulls) had zeroed in on Saavan Durga. This time our around Adith was not able to make it as he was starting for US (the Use no Sombu land). As is the tradition the plan was simple, we go, we trek and we return. (we dint bother to ask how we go wat we eat and such mundane stuff)

Andy had some prior business so he kicked off to Banglore ahead of Charu and me. Smrithi , who was in Banglore , planned to join the 3 of us there. We decided to go trekking on a Saturday which meant that people from Madras had to be in Banglore in the wee hours of Saturday. So Charu and I decided to catch a bus on Friday night. I returned from work (ya people it was yet another very long day at work im a hard working citizen you know) and came home and immidiately started for Koyambedu. Our first mistake was to underetimate the number of people who would be mobbing Banglore during the weekends. We being noobs were lost in the crowd. We finally allowed ourselves to be mugged by a conductor so that we could get a couple of extremely uncomfortable seats. Charu (who was a Kumbhakarna in his previous birth slept like a log) while I was not able to bat an eyelid.(this is what will befall all those who dont book themselves a ticket, when travelling to Banglore in the weekend) We finally reached the Sleepy city of Banglore. We alighted opposite to the Total mall (and Andy heard it as Dodol mall :D ) Smrithi and Andy picked us up from there (in the car which Smrithi had managed to hire somehow)

We started our road trip , in the dark and desolate land of Banglore. We we plagued illegible road signs and confusing roads. We finally managed to make it to the Old Mysore road. From there we enquired our way to the trek spot. The trouble was Smrithi (who was our Kannada expert) dint know if people were actually abusing us with bad words or giving us directions (though she did try to convince us by telling couple od kannada words). Somehow we did reach the trek spot.

As usual we started the trek with high spirits and energy. The weather was extremely pleasant. We initially walked following the Electric cables (this time it was neither the stream nor the white rabbit). 10 mins into the trek we discovered a bunch of signs directing us through an easy path to the top. Some good samaritan had painted it for others to follow. We happily followed it and kept trekking. Apart from Andy's nuiscane to take his pictures in every possible position and angle the trek was simply marvellous. The view was nothing short of mesmerising. The only unfortunate incident would have been Charu's trouble with his asthma, which he eventually managed to overcome.

We struggled hard and manged to make it to the "mandpam" at the top and we took a few minutes break there. After that we managed to reach the pinnacle(marked by a Nandi) amid great difficulties (required us to do some miniaturised rock climbing) , If we had thought that the view from the mandapam was amazing then the view from the Nandi was breath taking. It took us a good amount of self determination to pull ourselves out of that place. It was nothing short of legendary. I can still remember that view even though im writing this post after almost 3 months.

We uneventfully managed to reach the base of the monolith after spending about half an hour at the top. If you had thought our adventure ends here thats a mistake. Just like Shahrukh said "Picture Bhakhi hai mera dost" our adventure starts from here. We (due to a twist of fate) decided to trust in the driving skills of one Ms. Smrithi. That would have been the last mistake of our lives had it not been to twist of bad luck (or probably good luck to us) After witnessing 10 mins of road rage (I can remember a streak of fear even in Andy's face imagine that!!!) due to a leg cramp Smrithi was not able to continue driving. Charu took over from here and it aws an un event ful trip till we reached the outskirts of the damned city of Bengaluru. I thought Chennai traffic was bad , after seeing BEngaluru I tahnked myself for being in Chennai. Blore is chaos. It took us some 3 hrs to traverse some 5 kms!!

We were starving and all of us were eagerly looking out for a decent eatery. Finally we spotted another Total mall and we jumped into it (Charu was so eager to eat that he came without slippers as well (hunger is a bad thing u know) ) We finally had some pizzas and we moved on to first drop Smrithi in her place and then the plan was to take the car to Andy's place and then after refreshin ourselves Charu and I planned to start for Chennai taht night itself. The traffic in that crazy city was so bad that after dropping Smrithi we were already really late and we decided to drop the car first and then catch an auto to Andy's place. Unfortunately for us it was raining (not very heavy) and the orads were flooded. The auto drivers of that city dint bother to even stop when we waved!! after getting immensly pissed off and havnig cursed Blore t o our hearts content we did finally get an Auto (they use meters there!! that was the only good thing i noticed abt Blore) we finally go to somewehre near HAL. By then Charu and I decided to catch a bus to the Bus terminus and find our way to Chennai. So Andy parted us there and we finally found a bus (the buss tehre dont have proper boards conductors shout like in some moffusil bus stands) we got a bus. With great difficulty (we were totally tired hungry and our legs were tearing apart) we found ourselves in a proper bus with a decent seat. Finally on SUnday Morning we managed to reach the beautiful city of Chennai.

I would like to include a comical incident which Andy was telling us. Andy had gone to pick up the car on Friday night, from the travel operator's place. Andy had caught an Auto and the Landmark given to him was that the place was 2 buildings from a prominent looking rock on some road. Andy and the auto wallah had reached that road and Andy was struggling relly hard to translate rock for the auto driver. After having failed to do so in Kannada and HIndi he was vexed and muttering to himself when the driver asked "neenga tamilaa??" (Andy facepalm!!!)

This trek I will remember for many reasons. This was among the last treks with a group of amazingly awesome gang. This trek marked the culmination (and the end i should say) of one of the best ever summers! I woudl always look back at it with nostalgia. Thats one reason I took it upon myself to write this post even though its 3 months since I actully went for the trek. I dont want to forget one single moment of it......

All That glitters is not gold. The only thing that gold does is glitter.

After the recent surge in gold prices I began wondering what made gold the last bastion of hope for all investors. Not even crude oil earned this respect. First ill start off by analyzing about gold. What is gold? Its an element with an atomic number of 79. It shows metal like properties. Its highly malleable and ductile. Its lustrous and its chemically nonreactive with most common chemicals and its quite rare (probably these might be its greatest and only virtues). It has no other worthy properties to extol about.

So what made this such a sought after commodity? Probably to answer that question we might have to go back in time. Since time immemorial man has been fascinated by gold (dont ask me why its been only gold and not anything else) Basically this fascination led man to start decorating himself with gold. Gold started to become a commodity of desire for mankind. The kings and queens of long gone dynasties began fancying gold and diamonds. Since they were like the rockstars of that era there was no questioning about the beauty or the awesomeness of gold. This fascination simply started to grow over time. Its rarity and chemical inertness ensured that it continued to be out of reach (hence the aspiration) of the common man.

This made gold (and silver) the choice of kings for minting coins ( with all the royal paraphernalia stamped on it) . We might recall how valiant attempts, by ingenous idiots like Muhammad Bin Thuglaq , to mint coins with copper caused serious counterfeiting problems. This made the sovereign(the monarch to be precise) to loose control of the economy , which means they loose a lot of tax and they have no money for their opulence and to fund their armies. Thus as previously stated its rarity proved to gold's greatest asset.

The practice of gold coins were prevalent in many civilization based on the amount of trading they did and the availability of gold. For instance if gold was a very very rare resource (even by normal standards) then the people saw it fit to use paper currency which was backed by gold. If the particular area relied a lot on foreign trade then gold continued to be a standard medium of barter (which is quite evident from the amount of gold which was found in the Padmanadhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala being one of the most ancient trading posts of the world which traded with almost every civilization in the world)

Finally due to a huge restriction in the number of gold coins that could possibly be minted with gold and the huge trouble of transporting gold for minting caused governments to move to the gold standard. Where in the government holds gold backing and prints currency equivalent to the value of the gold it holds. This system allowed people to redeem their cash to gold when ever they choose. The value of the currency in gold was fixed by the government. This caused huge problems of smuggling (legally smuggling , you could take with you a thousand pounds from London to Hongkong or Singapore which was a part of the British Empire and exchange the cash for gold, this was as good as smuggling) . Due to the this countries kept switching on and off the gold standards during war and peace times.

Then finally after to WW2 the Brettons Wood system was introduced by US among the Allied nations in order to build the accelerate the growth of the ailing economies. This is essentially like all the economies of the world will not back their currency with gold but with US dollars while US while follow the gold standard. (once again gold)

This put such a huge pressure on the US economy to maintain gold reserves. Nixon during his presidency kicked out the Bretton Woods system and made the dollar a FIAT CURRENCY. A fiat curency is a type fo currency which ahs no backing in gold or anything but just the promise of the federal government to honor the currency. (thats why there was a huge huge furor when S and P downgraded US treasury bonds (which is as bad as downgrading the dollar) ,its just a question of trust)

Well you might wonder to what purpose this boring lecture on economics serves. The bottom line im trying to drive is that Mr.Gold manages to survive and sustain as mankind's most favorite muse for the entire period of human evolution. Well I can understand it if the folks back in the bronze age admired gold the fact that people continue to admire it is simply amazing (given that currency is completely decoupled from gold). This admiration is probably forcing investors to still see gold as a very safe investment. (as gold has no other intrinsic value)

Think of it, money which could be used by investors to fund R and D and to fund new industries , because of the uncertainties in the economy is being transferred into GOLD!! What is adding value to gold?? not its use in the industry, not its ability to generate electricity, not its ability to feed the millions of starving people and definitely not its ability to be beaten into wafer thin chips. The thing which is adding value to gold is the fact that human beings covet it.

After having said all this, what I still dont understand is WHY IN GOD'S NAME DO PEOPLE STILL GET ATTRACTED TO GOLD? ! Can someone please tell me why?