Papikondalu

PAPIKONDALU 22-02-08

The plan to go to Papikondalu started in June 2007, when Vasanth showed us the pictures which his friend had got. But in September, we went to Leh, so the program got postponed. However, the plan was doing rounds all through 2007.

A mail from Raja Choudhary in Feb 2008 set the plan rolling. Me, Ravi, Hrishi and SV readily agreed, with 10 other people from Dev. After a lot of pestering, 6 more from our team joined. There was a flood of people from Dev and finally, the count came to 29! Just imagine 29 people for a 2 day trip! Never had I heard about such a huge number.

I wanted to go to Papikondalu after watching the hit movie ‘Godavari’ by ace director Shekhar Kammula. I believe that movie truly captured the essence of Andhra Pradesh. Godavari is the life line of AP and it is due to Godavari that AP has become the rice bowl of India. I had heard a lot about the lush greenary of the Godavari basin due to the omnipresent paddy fields. Trees like coconut, nungu add to its beauty.

Being in Andhra, I wanted to visit Araku valley and Papikondalu. At last the wish had come true. About 150Kms from Papikondalu is Bhadrachalam, a famous temple of Ram

We started at 8:30 PM from Madinaguda. We had booked the tickets, the 8 remaining tickets were with other passengers. We really pitied their situation. We were a bunch of mischief mongers shouting our heart out throughout the night. We played English, Hindi and Telugu versions of Dumb C, Antakshari etc. The last thing on our mind was sleep.

We got down at Kovvur, where our travel agent Thaatha Rao was waiting for us. We boarded 5 ambassador cars and reached Pattesam. The road from Kovvur to Pattesam was beautiful with paddy and banana fields. The air was fresh and clean, the road was good.

Here we got down at a house which had a superb garden with lots of flowers. The house had an orthodox look with pillars. The floor was decorated with Rangoli. Our launch was waiting for us. We finished our bath and set off to the launch.

The launch had a lower section and an upper section. In the lower section we had chairs to have lunch and breakfast, and space to keep our luggage. In the upper section, we had beds where we could sit, sing, dance, play etc. We started off our journey. Breakfast was Upma and Manglore(Mysore) Bajji, served hot, I had never enjoyed Bajji so much, let alone in Bangalore.

This was going to the longest boat ride ever. It was in the pure and saintly Godavari, the mother to crores of lives. There are hundreds of hills surrounding the river, and the river flows between them. The depth can vary up to a max of 100 feet, the width was about 200 feet.

The most beautiful moments of our ride was when all of us put our legs on to the river, and the water was splashing across us with great force. It was just amazing to see the river change its direction.

We arrived at our bamboo huts by evening. The moment we stepped out of our boats, we were into the water. We had carried along basket ball, tennis ball and we played and had a lot of fun, getting wet competely. We just did not want to come out of water.

After this we played Kabaddi on the soft sand. It was crazy, I was so hyperactive. We got tired and went in for another dip into the river. The sand on the banks had different texture. Closer to our hut, it was smooth, near the water it was coarse, the size of the sand bigger with stones in them. It was nice to walk on the fine sand, the flip side was it used to get hot in the afternoon and you cant step out bare footed, you legs would just burn.

We made 4 groups, each singing Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam ( Jay was the solo fighter, but we can call him a group, he doesn’t mind). We were just singing along our favorite songs. Dinner arrived (along with a fully drunk Thaatha Rao, our tour organizer).

The camp fire was ready by the time we finished dinner. We played a number of games – truth or dare, singing, guess who etc. It wasn’t cold, so it was fun. We slept by around 11:30 PM, with a full moon. We were hearing the splashes of water, insects humming and nocturnal birds calling out. The fire was still on, and it was getting a bit cold. I used my travel bag as pillow, which I had to share with Krishnamraju and I made a deal with him in my mind that I will use his blanket. In the night I found myself fighting with him for space, pillow and blanket.

I got up at 4 AM unable to bear the cold. Anchal, Hrishi, Abhijit, RC, Ravi were all up. I remembered Coorg, where the same thing had happened we lit the fire up again and sat near the fire. Up on a mountain in front of us, we heard a shank being blown along with some drums. We were wondering how the pundits would have woken up so early and manage to take a bath in the cold. The sound of the shank was mesmerizing, soft on our ears. Faith takes people a long way in India.

I slept for another hour near the fire. This time I had a pillow and bed for myself. 5 of us went for download in the morning. It was a beautiful experience. You are in between huge mountains, with the Godavari moving silently before us. There is something special in attending nature’s call amidst nature!

The Sun was rising behind the mountains. The reddish orange Sun was rising rapidly, filling blue sky with colours.

We went to the other side of the bank where the ladies had to go for a bath. Thaatha Rao owned these pucca buildings, which had a few rooms and bathrooms. Me, Satish, Raju, Ravi, Thyagi, Sakthi, Santosh, Dinesh, Prahalad and Vasanth decided to go up the mountain adjoining the rooms. We set off an a trail we guessed was mostly taken by the locals. Soon we found that it leads to nowhere. So we made our own road, climbing up the small rocks with the help of shrubs and trees. We decided to get down reaching about half way up the hill. On the way back, we completely lost the way and we had to rely on Satish’s direction. He is always good on treks, so he made sure that we reach down safely. He acted as a bulldozer, clearing off the shrubs and thorns for us. At the end of the trek, his black T-shirt was full of flora. We really were dirtly, so we wanted a dip in the river again. We got onto the launch, had Puri for breakfast and took a dip in the river. We started off for Papikondalu.

I had never seen a huge river change its direction. The way to Papikondalu had many. I tried my luck to steer out launch but the sailor would always say take left/rught, rotate more etc., you need strength to turn the wheel.

Papikondalu is an island where even today the tribals live. The river Godavari flows between the two mountains which a rakshas used to block her flow. Ultimately the river reighned supreme and she flows from Bhadrachalam towards Rajahmundry. We went a little further ahead for the Parentalpalli waterfall. There is a small Mutt here. We trekked along the stream of water to reach a spot where the water was falling from reasonable height. The next thing I remember was I was in the water.

I cannot count the number of water falls I have been to, but I have been in the water in each and every one of them. Everytime you feel the gentle caress of mother nature in you hair. And everytime I look up to the sky and say ‘Thank you very much’. It is an amazing experience. I made sure I dipped my head in every waterfall and every stream.

There are a thousand ways to feel happy in our life. It is just that our attitude must be such that we recognize these moments.

We started our journey back from Papikondalu. We had our lunch, the specialty being Andhra Vankai. Post lunch, we were back on top of the launch. Godavari was glistening in the Sun. the wind was blowing gently, the evening was perfect, the mountains were bidding adieu to us.

We reached Pattesam and decided to go to the 11^th century AD Shiva temple built by the Cholas. We hired boat to take to the temple, we had to walk 1 ½ km to reach the temple, and climb some more steps to finally reach there. In Suvarchala’s words, we were on a ‘Temple Trek’. The temple is beautiful with huge gopuram and a spacious temple complex.

We hurried back to catch our bus at 8:30 PM. We ate whatever we found at a local hotel. All of us were hungry, so it tasted great.

Overall, the trip was just amazing. Just imagine 29 people going on a trip! OK, it may happen in schools and colleges, but the so called ‘Software Professions’ seldom find time you see.

We had people from all parts of the country, yet there was no groupism. We had people from two different teams, but we got along so easily.

River Godavari was at her best in Papikondalu, flowing away silently giving a means of livelyhood to thousands - Thaatha Rao, the guys maneuvering the boat, the head cook, his two lady helpers, the guy who was monitoring the engine - all of them survived because of Godavari. I felt me coming to Hyderabad turned into a full circle after seeing the river. The water tasted so sweet at the waterfall. A 1000 namaskars to the pure, serene mother.