Taking on Thadiyandamol - Part 2

The foothills is the spot where the whole plan changes at times. There is a big rock there which serves as an elevated platform, far from the reach of the leeches, an excellent spot to take rest or have some lunch. But that's the catch. The view of the mountains and the sky from this rock is so magnificent that a couple of times we decided to spend the rest of the day on top it and drop the plan for any further hike. The contrast of lush green and sparkling blue is so magical that it can cast a spell on you, making you immobile and breathless. It is usually during moments like these that we hear statements like "For a view like this, I am ready to work for half the salary" and "Oh God, make me a leech here, in my next life", the second being more of an 'alcohol-enhanced' soliloquy. But this time we were clear of our target and to be frank, there was not enough alcohol to keep us there all day. We had our lunch and realized we could have had another 15 pooris. It was afternoon but not a trace of sunny boy anywhere, it was all misty with drizzles every now and then. We decided to start the climb without wasting much time as the visibility was getting poorer. Visibility will become a problem as we had a small stretch of forest to cross halfway through the top.

We came across couple of other groups who were climbing down. They were sad that the mist ruined all the beautiful views from the top. Suja was the only one who was happy to hear this as walking through the mist was one of the motivations for this trip. We decided to go ahead and see whats in store for us. The climb is steep at times and gets flattened out in between for short distances. We had to climb across a few hillocks before reaching the forest. There is a good view point just before we enter the forest but all that was visible then was the mist. The trail through is forest is about half a kilometer or even less, but gets slippery during the rains. It was not so dark inside and finding the trail was not difficult at all. At the end of forest trail when you see the light you will feel like you are on top, but once you climb out in the open, you can see another hillock ahead. In fact there are two more small peaks to climb after the forest to reach the highest point. Venky was the first to reach the top, followed by Suja. Soon we all joined them for some 'been there' pictures. Nothing was visible except the mist and person standing next to you.

As we waited there enjoying the chill and the mist, waiting for the sun to come out and clear the mist, Venky got an idea. He started waving his hands, shaking his head and moving his feet as if dancing to an invisible beat. He was doing the 'sun-dance', the time tested African dance to please the sun god of 'Orang Utan'. Though we were amused by the moves, we lacked one basic quality - belief - to participate in the ritual. It just didn't seem logical for our clouded minds. He continued the dance for a while and we remained spectators. Minutes passed and nothing happened, it was still misty all around. It was already 5 in the evening and we wanted to get down before the nightfall. We started climbing down cursing the mist for not blocking our view. But then something happened; as if by miracle the mist started clearing out, the sun came out from behind the clouds and awesome views started appearing all around us. Venky had a smile on his face, he knew the power of his dance and its effect on the Gods. We all nodded at Venky in unison, acknowledging the magnanimity of his gesture. Soon the cameras were out and we did manage to capture some of the landscapes in pixels for posterity. All along the return journey the skies remained clear and the mist was kind enough not to play spoilsport.

For the third time in four visits, I came across the so called 'worm-snake' this time as well. This one was thinner and had a shining blue scales. Undoubtedly this one belonged to the same species but I am yet to figure out what it is. It might be some variety of Sand Boa or even some limbless lizard as the ones I have seen were all short in length. This was the only interesting animal sighting except for the numerous leeches. We left the guy alone and continued our journey. We did manage to get to the tarred road before it became pitch dark and also avoided further leech casualties. We were soon on our way back to the house. After a minor detour, we reached there ready to gobble up a baby elephant if available. Aunty was all prepared for the assault with two varieties of pork, chicken cury and some assorted vegetables for Venky. The tamarind fried pork was so yummy that we were almost full when the rice and rotis arrived. After a bath, good food and couple of pegs of Brandy, the only other visible thing on the menu was 'SLEEP' - Arial. Bold, 24, Caps.

We all slept like babies that night. I am not sure what wake me up the next morning - the cacophony of birds or the snoring competition between Veny and Saad. Later aunty said she heard the snoring and came out of the house to make sure its no animal attack. The morning was beautiful with a lot of birds flying around - the red and yello miniverts, the chirpy seven sisters and a few more. It was good to watch their enthusiasm as we sat in the balcony sipping some hot Coorgi coffee. Breakfast was ready by the time we took bath and done with the coffee - Rice rotis and idli with bamboo shoot curry and pumpkin seed chutney. The pumpkin chutney was a delicacy and a hit with all of us. Soon after breakfast we embarked on a walk along the estate. There were some ponds with lot of flowers and butterflies all around. We did spend a few hours before it was time to pack up and move. Our next destination was Chelavara falls on the way to Virajpet.

By the time we reached the falls it had started raining. The waterfall was looking good this time of the year with all the rains. Ahilash could not resist taking a dip and so did Saad. I tried to reach the top of the fall through a different route but could not quite make it. After spending about an hour at the falls we resumed our journey towards Virajpet. I was traveling with Venky and Saad and we had some interesting discusions on music, much to the terror of Venky. 'The Best of Judas Priest' was blurting out of the stereo and Venky had to put up with it and my drumming for about an hour. I almost mistook Venky's face for the symbol at the end of a rolls and he is yet to have a straight look at me after that!! We had our much delayed lunch at Virajpet, had a stop over at the cafe Coffee day at Mandya and were back in Bangalore by late night.

We had decided one thing - we will be going back to Thadiyandamol on a full moon day in October/November to see the sunset and rising moon from the top of the hill. When I hit the sack to sleep, I tried to think about that trip and not to remember the next day is Monday. The thought was comforting enough!!
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Taking on Thadiyandamol - Part 1

When the going gets tough, the tough goes places... climbing mountains, getting drenched, feeding leeches and taking insanity to new levels. Thadiyandamol is not a new destination for me, it was my fourth trip there. Every time I go, there is something fresh, something new, whether it be the company, the weather or the places we visit. The only thing that remains unchanged is the charm and beauty of the place. It is not easy to slip away from everyday life or escape your problems and worries, but there is no better way than getting out of the house and running towards the mountains and the hills, getting lost in the wilderness. Nothing soothes your soul better, nothing rejuvenates you more, nothing else makes you feel like a better person. That is probably why I did this trip again, with Abhilash, Suja, Venky and Saad. A few more were expected to join us, but "unavoidable" circumstances forced all others to skip. I have learned off late to respect sentiments and leave them unquestioned.

The five of us started on a Saturday morning in two cars. It was 2:30 AM and the roads were pretty much empty, an unusual opportunity to get out of the city in a few minutes, not hours. So we decided to get lost in the city to negate the time gain. Notice that I used the words "decided to" and not some foolish sounding combination like "happened to". After half an hour of frantic 'road searching', Abhilash skilfully got us back on the Mysore road. (I told you I will be commending on your effort in the second paragraph). This 'getting lost' phenomenon was a trademark of our trip this time. We managed to repeat this a couple of times more in two days. Anyway, once we got back to Mysore road, it was all cake walk. Venky and Saad had covered some distance by then and we decided to meet up with them at Virajpet when we stop for breakfast. The only hotel open at Virajpet at 7 in the morning was 'Hotel Plaza'. We had a quick breakfast and resumed our journey towards Thadiyandamol.

I knew the route and was the navigator, but missed a turn and we ended up at Napoklu. So we had to drive back towards Virajpet and this time managed to find the place. We wanted to stay at 'Kings Cottage' in the foothills of Thadiyandamol. I had tried to contact them to book the cottages but could not reach them. By the time we reached there all cottages were full. We did try at 'Palace Estate' but it looked like an auspicious day for all the world to come down to Thadiyandamol, of all the places!! It was then that the King's cottage owner suggested homestay at his sister's place, about 6 kilometers from the foothills. We had no other options and soon left for the place. Mr. Dorai Somanna met us on the way and took us to his house, a double storied home in the middle of an estate. Though the place was little far from our destination, the hospitality and food was amazing there. We unpacked our bags, grabbed our cameras and were soon ready to embark on the trek.

So after all the starting troubles, we started our trek from Nalknadu palace by 10:45. The weather was pleasant and it was still too early for the sun to show its fury. We progressed without much sweat as it drizzled occasionally, just enough to wet our hands and face. The climb till the foothills of thadiyandamol is partially through tarred road which gradually gives way to a mud trail. There is also a small stream which we cross a couple of times before reaching the foot of the mountain. It was a comfortable walk till the view point with Venky cracking up every now and then about how he found this trip 'kid stuff', compared to the Kodachadri trek he did with us. Little did he know what lies ahead and it took only a few minutes from the view point for him to get a taste of things to come. Venky was the live wire throughout the trip, charging us all up with words and deeds. We got the first glimpse of the mountain ranges from the view point and it was breathtaking even with the misty cover.

View point also gave us the first glimpse of leeches - armies of them marching hungrily towards us from all around. The rains had brought them back to life and there were far too many this time. There is some beauty in watching them march, its more like a symphony. They all stand up still with their heads stretched, trying to sniff out the prey, much like the violins and C playing out the opening moves of a Beethoven sonata - slow and smooth. Once the prey is located they all march forward in unison, wasting no time, showing all the urgency, swift as in the climax - the drums rolling, trumpets and trombones at their highest pitch. Most of the times we run in panic, stopping short of noticing the synchronicity and coordination. As we stand there lost in the music, it dawns on us that the music is over and blood starts 'ooozing' out of the wounds. Enough of 'Leech Puranam', else Venky will kill me. He doesn't really consider glorification of leeches 'sexy'.

So as it happened, a few minutes away from the view point, Abhilash suddenly stopped and rolled down his socks. There was a leech hanging on his leg, blown out of proportion with all the blood it managed to suck in. A little salt got rid of the leech but it took a while for the blood flow to stop. Venky's fears soon came true as he found one inside his socks as well, sucking blood from a vein on his ankle. He could feel the blood "ooozing" out of the wound as the leech was removed. Once they are full with blood, the leeches drop off and cannot move fast with all the load inside. So Venky took the pleasure of squashing the life and blood out of the helpless leeches. Thus started the by-now-famous hatred between Venky and the leeches. As written in the Vedas and other ancient religious texts, time had come for the "dreaded leech fighter" to take life and"save the clueless earthlings from the ruthless attack of the ones not to be spoken about" and eventually "bring salvation to the people of the world and lead them to aplace where flows milk and honey, and crawls no leeches". As if to fulfill the prophecies about the leech fighter, Venky got bitten twice on each legs at the same spot. But in spite of all the bites and 'ooozing' blood, victory was Venky's, who fearlessly fought them every time and squashed all of them to death.

By the time we reached the foothills, from where the actual climb starts, all of us except Suja had experienced the hospitality of leeches. Looks like even they have a gender bias!!
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From Gokarn towards Honnavar - Part 2

By the time we reached the village of Agnashini it was getting late already and we wanted to get to Kaagal beach in time to watch the sunset. So instead of walking across the beach, we decided to take a bus to some place near Kaagal beach. After a short journey of 15 minutes we were once again in the beach, a long one this time. Kaagal beach looked so serene in the evening, all empty except for a few kids playing around. Our plan was to walk across the beach, watch the setting sun and then reach Kumta for the night's stay. The beach and the sea puts on a very special attire towards twilight as if to woo the sun. The sky who doesn't want to be left out in the race stages an equally stunning performance, spewing color all over the horizon. According to the Hindu mythology, when twilight took birth, even Brahma (her father) and the Saptarshis (her brothers) were tempted by her beauty. Looking at the sea and the sky at twilight, I could not really blame those poor souls. After a long walk of about 6-7 kms we reached the other end of the beach. There was a huge rock on the beach and we decided to climb atop for a better view of the sunset. Nothing humbles you more than watching the setting sun by the sea. Soon after the sunset we walked out of the beach to the main road and took another bus to Kumta. After a good bath and sumptuous dinner we hit the sack pretty early.

Next morning after breakfast we took a rick to Vannala beach. This was the longest beach we came across and was empty like the other ones. There was a small stream joining the sea on the beach and we had to walk across it. The water flows upstream during high tides and all the water flows back to sea early in the morning; by afternoon there won't be any trace of water in the stream!! The beach was looking pretty in the early morning sun and the herons were busy catching crabs - an interesting process to watch. They will take the attacking stance and wait patiently in front of the burrows by the shore. As soon as the waves hit the burrows, the crabs will come out to feed on food crumbs brought in by the water, but fall prey to the waiting herons. A very thin line separates life and death here and there is no way of distinguishing one from the other.. someone's death means life for someone else. Interesting how nature conducts its business. We also came across a couple of dead Dolphins on the beach, victims of extensive fishing perhaps.

By early afternoon we reached the other end of the beach with a cliff blocking our way as usual. We ventured into a small fishing village nearby to get some water and rested a while under some trees by the shore. Motorable roads were being built on the slopes of the cliff, probably to build some kind of hotel or resort on the top. We realised it would probably be the last time we get to watch the majestic sea from the top of that hill without paying for it. Its sad to see beautiful locales like this getting cordoned off as private property, but thats how the world works. "Nobody gets too much heaven these days, its much harder to come by, I am waiting in line.." - The BeeGees. It was quite a steep climb but the views from the top were more than worth the strain.. miles and miles of sleepy blue ocean with boats and ships visible as tiny specks all along the horizon. The blazing sun gave the waves an extra sparkle and shimmer. We spent some time there watching the majestic site in awe and trying to figure out a way to get on the other side. One visible route along the edge of the cliff looked a little dangerous with the rocks beneath. One wrong step could put a premature end to our adventure and even to our lives. Though we are crazy at times and won't mind taking risks, this one looked a little out of our league. So we decided to hunt for an alternate route along the other side of the hill. We could make some progress in moving towards the top of it but did not find a way to get around it. No beach was also visible on the other side, except for more rocky cliffs with angry waves lashing against them.

Unable to find a way through, we decided to climb down back to the beach and find a way out of it. By this time our stomachs were already crying foul with hunger. After a long walk through the beautiful village we reached the road and found a hotel. With our stomachs full with some rice, pooris and lassi, all we wanted was a place to lie down and take a nap. The raised ground under a tree by the road was just perfect for the siesta and in no time the bed sheet was out of the bag and we were enjoying the gentle breeze. An old woman sitting across the road was singing some bhajans and fortunately that kept us awake. Even Robzz who can sleep in any chaos could not help but pay some attention to her songs!! As we had to get to Honnavar by evening, we decided to move on and took a bus. Honnavar also got a few beaches around it. Though our plan was to visit the Kasargod beach, we decided to scrap it due to unreliable ferry service. Instead we took a walk towards the Honnavar lighthouse.

Something interesting happened there; Spooky would be a better word to describe it though. The lighthouse looks kind of abandoned now. The place and surroundings were all empty and there was some sort of a hospital functioning on the premise. The whole compound looked like a mini jungle with bushes and garbage thrown around. There was a lady lying behind one of the bushes, mumbling something to herself. She looked like a person with some kind of mental trouble, dirty and scary due to her long exposure to the elements. We tried to ignore her and sat down on the cement bench there to take some pictures. We did not have any picture with all three of us in the frame and so we set the camera on timer, by the nearby wall.When we viewed the picture on the LCD screen, we were in for a surprise. There were not three but four people in the frame!! The sunlight seeping through the leaves had created the image of a girl/woman on the bench next to the three of us. The image was so well formed and convincing that we were stunned at the odds of something like that happening. To spice up the situation Robzz said he always felt that 4 of us were on this journey, not just 3. How crazy that can be.(see the right bottom corner of the snap)

Without speculating much on the fourth person, we quickly vacated the premise and went insearch of a place to take a bath before the journey back home. We got a small lodge near the bus station and quickly took a much needed shower. With about half an hour left to catch the bus, we walked around the town, visited a church nearby and feasted on some goby manchurian and noodles. It was time to grab our bags and run for the bus, happy to have done what we did and sad thinking about getting back to monotony!!
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From Gokarn towards Honnavar - Part 1

When Tom, Robert and myself reached the temple city of Gokarn that Saturday morning, the only fear was of the rains. Monsoon had already hit the southern coast a week before and we were literally on collision course with it, just 200 kms off Mangalore. We had heard that it was raining cats and dogs the previous two days. But the rain Gods seemed to be in retreat that morning with the sun confidently showing its glowing face amidst the thin clouds. I am not sure whether it was out of sympathy on the three crazy souls from Bangalore or sheer disrespect towards the renowned meteorological department of the country which had predicted monsoon a week or two early this year. Eitherway we were quite happy with the state of affairs. Our plan was to walk all the way from gokarn to Honnavar along the sea shore. To be precise, the idea was to have fun walking from Gokarn "towards" Honnavar, not necessarily "to" Honnavar, except that we had to catch our bus back to Bangalore from Honnavar Sunday evening. After all it is the journey that matters, not the destination.. right?

Without philosophizing much, lemme get to the story. After a quick breakfast at the bus station we walked towards the Gokarn temple. The temple is 10 minutes from the station and the beach is another 5 minutes from the temple. The narrow street that lead to the temple still had the old world charm all around it... old houses with courtyards, priests walking around in dhotis, stores on the street-side selling flowers and prayers echoing from the temple. The beach was almost deserted except for a few fishermen. This was the case with all the beaches we walked; rarely found tourists anywhere. It was quite a feeling to have the beach all for yourself, the only commotion around being the playful rambling of the waves.

Beach walk is like taking part in a quiz like 'Who wants to be a millionaire'. Once you walk across the beach and reach the end of it, you have a hill or rocky cliff blocking the way, like a question. You have three options as answers - [a] stop the walk and go home [b] climb the hill and get down on the other side [c] get around it through the sea. If you choose the right answer, you reach another beautiful beach and get to face the next question at the far end of it. For us the correct option was always [b]. Option [c] was too dangerous and we were anyway too dumb for option [a].

So we climbed the first hill and eagerly looked to the other side. We were disappointed to see level ground all around. There was no beach visible in the vicinity. We had to somehow get to the other side and kept walking along the rocks. Soon we came across private property with electric fence blocking our way. We did not come all the way to get intimidated by metal wires wrapped arrogantly around lifeless sticks. So like civilized cultured homo sapiens do, we jumped across the fence and in a short while rewarded with the splendid view of Kudle beach. The first sight of the beach from the hills was the highlight of the whole trip; viewing things from an unusual angle giving you a different perspective altogether. Probably a fresh look from a different plane is all that we need to breathe life back into routine, monotony.!! The climb downhill was little risky but we touched down at Kudle without any damage. We had a nice walk on the empty beach, chasing flies and appreciating 'Crab-art' on the beach.

Another hill, some breath taking views, few gulps of water and we reached the famous Om beach. There is a well defined walkway from kudle to Om beach with white arrow marks showing the direction from half way up. Om is the most famous beach (infamous in fact for the drugs and other niceties in life!!) and had the only functioning cafe during off season. We took a break, had a few rounds of fresh lime soda and refilled our water bottles. The beach is in the shape of the sacred symbol 'Om' and hence the name. The beach is beautiful and has got quite a few resorts along the sea shore. Our next stop was a small beach called the 'Half Moon beach'. An old fisher woman made some nice tea for us there and while we were enjoying our tea we met Craig. Craig was from Yorkshire and was also on his beach walk. He wanted to cover as much distance as possible in two hours and was literally running in that scorching heat. We resumed our walk and after crossing a rocky terrain and interesting vegetation, reached the Paradise beach.

Paradise is yet another small beach where Mr. Ramakanth lives. (didn't find GOD anywhere; looks like he fled paradise learning about our attempts to regain it) Ramakanth stays in Paradise with his 3 cats, 2 goats and 1 dog. He also got 3 boats, 2 hammocks and 1 Djembe. He offered to make us lunch and we could not resist the offer seeing the hammocks by the sea. It was time to have some bread toast and tomato omlette and take a short nap under the coconut trees. We soon got pampered by laziness and comfort and even thought of staying there for the night. But considering the distance to cover we left Paradise after an hour's rest.

Our destination was a fishing village called Tadari. This is where the Tadari river joins the sea. Boats are available to take you across the river to the village of Agnasini. Tadari is a small and beautiful village and we soon reached the port which was kind of noisy with all the fishing trolleys bringing in loads of fish and the vendors bargaining for it. Soon came the boat to ferry us across and it was a short 5 minutes ride.
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To be continued....

Going Nowhere..

Life is much like a train journey, every stop some faces get down and a few new faces get on board. You really don't have a control over who travels how long with you. Sometimes people come into your life like a storm, uproot everything around and exit as fast as they came, leaving you to take stock of the destruction and damage.

The new person changes life as you knew it, destroying everything old - dreams, ideas, relations, perceptions and outlook. You are transformed to this new individual who sees the world and future with a fresh pair of eyes. Everything suddenly starts revolving around this person and you are mesmerized by the charm. Relations built over time are pulled down and new structures and bonds created. Things around you are refurbished to suit the new world view of yours. Everything seems to be working and working well for that matter. Little do you realize that all the changes happening around you are irreversible, irreplaceable and irrevocable. But you don't care about reversibility because the 'good life' is there to stay and why should you unnecessarily worry.

Earth completes another rotation, HE plays another game of roulette and before you even realize the person you were holding on to is gone. You are stranded in the middle of nowhere, as confused as a baby in a topless bar, too numb even to make a move. Slowly it dawns on you that all that you dreamed of, all that you trusted, all that you wished for doesn't exist any more. All around you are familiar faces, worn out places and reminders of what struck you. You realize that you are left with a punctured heart, broken relations and only yourself to blame. Times you wish you had a pair or hearts; at least you can manage to stay alive with one, when the other is broken beyond repair. The world that looked so beautiful and promising a while ago starts to look hopeless and wicked. The dreams that died were your best... the hope that got squashed were the only ones you had... you are going nowhere.

Very few survive these situations; still fewer without side effects. It is not easy to get up and run when the whole world collapses on you without warning. Where will you go when you don't even have the earth below your feet and skies above your head? Who will you call for help when you only see ghosts around you? (Ghostbusters ??) You feel the weakness creeping into every bit of your body, your mind had surrendered long back. You get a sniff of the darkness that's fast closing in on you. It stinks especially when its cold around. A slight flicker, a melancholic note, one last shudder and its bliss !!

You cant even turn to anyone and share your sorrows as long ago you had tuned all your communication receivers to her exclusive bandwidth. She was the only beacon shining in the darkness for you then. Silence seems to be a cruel scavenger who pulls out all the half decayed memories once again into the open. Nowhere to go as you had locked yourself into this cocoon and thrown away the key. Shutting the door against rest of the world seemed so normal and right when she was around. The thought that life has come to stand-still is painful and soothing at the same time... soothing as there are no more tomorrows that you eagerly wait for, no more eventualities you carefully plan for, no more bright light at the end of the tunnel to run towards. you look at the mirror everyday and see symptoms of age finally catching up with you.. that drooping eyelids, bulging cheekbone, the scary stare.

A part of you is dead, the part responsible for dreams, content and hope. What is left out after this untimely demise is just a shade of what you used to be, a pretender of sorts.

(Image courtesy : http://www.gapingvoid.com)

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Now playing: Deep Purple - Soldier Of Fortune
via FoxyTunes

Meet God online..!!

Religion is my pet topic to bitch about... not because I am against religion, but mostly because I don't agree to the way it is being preached and practiced. It has in fact grown into such a menace, perhaps a bigger one than AIDS (which just affects your body and not the mind). Anyway my intention here is not to emphasize how this monster has gone out of control.. but to laugh at how we have adapted religion to suit our needs.

I received an SMS the other day titled 'New Service' from my service provider. Thinking this might be one of those regular 'internet over mobile' or 'Reduced ISD charges' intimations, I looked at the message. But what I saw was beyond my wildest imaginations.. Now you can make an offering to God through an SMS and the service is called 'Reach the Gods'. Send an SMS with the 'temple/church-Code' and the amount you want to donate, and the same will be done by your mobile operator and charged to your monthly bill.. Amazing..!! And if mobile telephone companies still follow the marketing funda of studying the potential of a service before offering it, this should mean there are enough takers for the service.. Ridiculous..!!

I think its high time the courier and cargo companies get into the business, acting as transporters of holy-bribes and divine blessings. There are numerous possibilities in there... You can collect money from devotees for various ceremonies at places of worship, deliver it to the temple/church, get the rituals done and bring back some 'prasaadam' or 'holy water'. You can collect things (vehicles/flowers/statues) from people, get them blessed at the temple/church and deliver them back. Not a bad business idea..!!

This is not a totally new trend. There are sites which allow you to offer online prayers. These sites become active during festival seasons with facilities to offer incense, flowers and fruits to the God of your choice.. all by clicking buttons. In short, we can get the rituals done on the computer screen.. quite convenient..!! This service can also be extended to online telecasts of rituals at famous places of worship. Or think about a 3D animation of your favorite place of worship on the web, allowing you to take a virtual walk all around the place and to the sanctum sanctorum to see the God himself... without standing in queue.. without traveling all the way..!! Add a dash of virtual reality into it and you can even get the 'Webxperience' of it..!! What if God becomes easily accessible through e-mail.. like something shown by Jim Carry in 'Bruce Almighty'.. just type in a mail and send it to God@whothehellcares.com.. and you shall be heard. mmm there are some wonderful possibilities out there.

All the God-men who used to make big money by branding God will now have some stiff competition and will find it difficult to attract people to their 'Aashrams'... unless they catch up with this new way of 'weblessings'. Not far are the days when we get an "@" God who lives in the "dotcom" world and another stupid religion made around it.