Gokarna Boys!

It was the eve of the 60th Republic Day of India, when night had started to fall in. The day was Monday, squeezed between two holidays, the other being Sunday. To make the most of the holidays, we four friends, decided on an outing. The place of outing was unknown. And since we did not want to miss our labs and lectures on Monday, we decided to leave on Tuesday.

The plan was put in place, and our trip to the beach-town of Gokarna (Karnataka, India) was on the cards. The plan was to leave at 7 in the morning on Tuesday, and return back at 5 early morning Wednesday. The four of us were Priyank, Rishabh, Sarthak and myself. Priyank and Sarthak were busy playing FIFA on LAN, while Rishabh was trying to ward off his cold by applying Vicks Vaporub. Priyank, meanwhile was on a losing spree in the virtual world! :P

However, as the clock turned towards 10.30 in the night, Sarthak came up with an idea, why not leave tonight itself. All of us agreed in a jiffy, and we set out into the chilly night, at 12.30 AM! Some of our other friends had warned that campus patrol officers were inquiring each and every person going out of their blocks, but we were fortunate to have walked past them, without any trouble.



Image: At the Udupi railway station

We reached the Udupi railway station at around 1.00am, where the Netravathi Express was scheduled to arrive at 1.32am. We had borrowed a camera from our friend Anuj, who was very optimistic about the batteries not getting exhausted. And lo, the camera’s battery exhausted at the station itself. We immediately called up Ebin, who along with Suhail were bringing us a spare camera (Pushkar’s) in their rented car. But alas! Our fortunes were so great that, their car had a flat tyre, and the poor souls were left stranded in the middle of the night, repairing the flat tyre!

In the meantime, the Netravathi Express chugged in the station, and we ran towards it. We were confused as we didn’t notice that it was already 1.35am. However after confirming the train, we ran towards the other end of the train, into the general compartment. But the compartment was the penultimate bogie of the train, and by the time we Usain Bolt’ed to that part, the train had already started moving. All four of us somehow managed to climb into the compartment in Jab We Met style! The next best thing, waiting near the door, facing the chilly winds as the train rocketed past stations, in the passenger-filled bogie. There were absolutely no seats to sit, and it was a unique experience for Priyank and Rishabh as they were travelling in the general compartment for the first time, that too WT (Without ticket)!!! Wherever you are in the world, there is bound to be a first-time experience. We sat on the floor of the compartment and half-slept (It may sound dirty, but believe me, the sleep was just too awesome :P)

The train does not stop at Gokarna Road station, so we had to get down a station earlier at Kumta, which it reaches at around 4.30AM. Bus services usually start at 0530 hrs, and the autos were charging a mammoth 600 bucks to the Om beach at Gokarna! So we decided to sleep at the station for a couple of hours and then proceed. That sounded good, but where to sleep?! Another of a first-experience, sleeping on the benches of the platform at the station! We had towels to cover us up in the chilliness of the dawn! Hardly had we slept, when a super-fast train zipped past us, freezing us there and then itself!

A couple of hours worth of amazing sleep, and we were off to the Kumta bus station, where we ate (urghh) Dosas and caught the direct bus to Gokarna. The route from Kumta to Gokarna, is mesmerizing, with hills and rivers at every corner of the road! We were woken up by the bus conductor who shouted on top of his voice to announce the arrival of Gokarna. The autos at the bus stand charge anything between 100 and 200 to the Om beach (one of the four beaches at Gokarna). But a bit of passion, and that vigour inside you, will make you trek to the beach on these two lovely legs we are blessed with! A localite, who we named "Gokarna Anna", helped us in trekking all the way to Gokarna’s most famed beach, the Kudle beach. It was a long trek, covering almost 3 hills, and a distance of 4 kms, not to mention observing the fantastic panorama from the hill-tops!





The localite was very polite and erudite in nature! He explained to us that Gokarna means Cow’s ear and that Lord Shiva is believed to have emerged from this ear!





Huffing, puffing we reached the Kudle beach. It is by far the most calm and pleasant beach at Gokarna, making it the centre of attraction to foreigners who outnumbered the Indians easily. However, we were more enthusiastic on visiting the Om beach, which as the name suggests, takes the shape of an ‘Om’. The old man then, took us through a tricky route, beside the steep slopes of the hills, to the point from where on the front lay, the huge and endless Arabian Sea, and to left lay the Om shaped beach. It was a fantastic sight, a moment to cherish in this lifetime.






The Om beach is a one-of-its kind beach in the whole world. The waves start and end abruptly here, making one listen only to the ‘chasshhh-shusshhh’ with no inputs, apart from the occasional shouts of the tourists. After having a light breakfast at a sort-of-hut, we then plunged straight into the salty water (which was extremely salty). We splashed and splashed becoming those kids once again (Ironic isn’t it: Give me another chance, I wanna grow up once again)! We enjoyed ourselves for about I-don’t-know-much-time, and then proceeded back towards the Kudle beach (where the sea was much calmer, cooler and less salty).





We again trekked back to the Kudle beach like Bear Grylls, and saw something, well... ahem ahem... Boys, What happens in Gokarna, stays in Gokarna :P !! We then borrowed a flying saucer from a hotel owner, who was so kind in giving it! We four played with the flying saucer’s in the sea. To be frank, I went the deepest into the sea, for the first time! The time was simple awesome! Out of the lousy lectures in class, we were into a world beyond our imagination (at least when you compare it with lectures, where instead of pens, you have flying discs, instead of those unending slides, you have the unending sea of water!!).





A couple of Israeli foreigners also played flying discs with us. They said we’ll show you how to throw, and their throws were like throwing a shot-put :P!! After completing our game, we retired back to a restaurant at the beach, where we ordered pizzas. The pizza came after an hour, and our stomachs were growling for more. However the waiter said, that any other delicacy will take at least an hour’s time to prepare. So we trudged our way back to another hut where we got instant food! After filling ourselves, we then trekked back again through the hills, to the auto stand who demanded 300 bucks to the railway station. We said good-bye to them and trekked another hill to reach the Om beach auto stand. Alas, they demanded 400 bucks from us, and we were left in a spot!






A person told us that the main road is just 15 minutes from the beach, so we started to walk. Just about a dozen yards away, there was a TATA-sumo. We requested him like anything to drop us at the station, but he was so selfish to demand 500 bucks only to drop us at the main road. Just then, an auto was returning back to the town. We argued with him, and he agreed at 200! However the route from the beach to the main road is miles away. It would have taken us at least a couple of hours to reach the main road, through the hills and trees. The railway station is about 22 kms from the beach, and its a long journey! Actually barring me, all three slept off and woke up on reaching the station!





We bought tickets, again for the general class, and a whole lot of crowd from Manipal was ready to board the incoming passenger train. We somehow fought our way in and spent three hours standing in the compartment, playing name-a-movie-with-the-last-letter game, the whole time. We never knew when Udupi railway station arrived. We squeezed past to get down the train, hired an auto back to the 9th block, where sleep and my next day’s assignment awaited, though I didn’t study for the assignment :P!

The trip to Gokarna was an amazing experience, having to encounter almost all first-time experiences. It was physically exhausting, as we did so much of trekking in those few hours we had done never before (climbing of stairs in the hostel is excluded). In spite of our primary camera failing, my cell-phone’s 2 megapixel camera clicked 103 pics, and it’s battery somehow managed to survive (like Bear Grylls in Man vs Wild) till the end. My trip to Gokarna has been one of the most memorable outings I’ve ever had, and I thank Priyank, Rishabh and Sarthak for making this a wonderful and incredible journey!

After all, we are the Gokarna Boys!