Gandikota & Belum

5 Lads packed into a hatchback on a Friday evening.

We left at 6.30 PM  and by the time we scraped out of Bangalore, it was 8.00 PM. Rain and Traffic pulling us down and making sure we had a red eye drive. We all felt hungry at around 9.00 and decided to stop at a local hotel that we found by the highway. The dining experience was nothing short of forgettable and  my friends decided to hold me responsible for choosing the place.

My persistent efforts in pushing my friend to get the booking done in advance failed miserably, my friend wanted to make the trip much more adventurous 

We arrived at 1.00 AM at Jammalmadgu which is where our Telugu-speaking friend had assured we would get accommodation. To our misfortune, half the hotels had been shut and the remaining half told us they were full". My friend had to listen to a earful for his brave deed. Talks of sleep in the car went on in the background. We then decided to try our luck at Gandikota which was our original destination. We reached Gandikota in about 20 minutes and having reached Gandikota, we went to a Andhra Tourism hotel. 

The place looked deserted. We looked for the hotel manager or any executive who could give us a roof to sleep under. We saw a few cars parked outside a couple of cottages, which gave us some assurances of this place being still inhabited by Humans. 

We followed a trail and read a board that said reception. We reached the reception and found a couple of guys resting on wooden benches. My friend blabbered something in Telugu and the one of the two blokes woke up and in slumber, tried to shoo us off saying, there are no rooms. My friend used all his negotiation skills to convince him otherwise. There was some nagging and finally, he directed us to meet his boss. We followed him to the Boss's chambers where the boss was napping too. My friend mumbled a couple of lines in Telugu again and the boss replied in slumber, my friend looked at me and gestured a thumbs-up with a wide grin. I let out a sigh of relief. We returned back to the rest of the group with an air of success.

There was still a catch. We were asked to vacate the rooms by 6.00 AM the next morning. That literally meant, a 3 hour nap and an hour to get ready and leave, we reluctantly agreed to this. One of my friends suggested, we lock the doors and dose off till we want to get up. But we didn't have much time to sleep anyway, We had a whole of lot of things to cover the next day.

The room was not much of a room, but more of a dorm, although to me it looked like the general ward of a hospital, beds lined in parallel, the only thing missing was an attendant's chair and nurses to serve. We couldn't complain either, what more can you expect at 1.00 AM In the night.

My Telugu speaking friend set an alarm for 5.00 AM, he promptly woke everyone up and we sequentially got ready like inmates in a jail.

The three of us headed out to look around and see if we could get some coffee while the remaining two got ready. We caught hold of the guy who helped us with the room the previous night and asked him to get us 5 cups of piping hot filter coffee, meanwhile we were exploring the area. He returned with cups of coffee in a tray and I quickly took a cup in my hand gulped it down, I did grumble about the flavor of the coffee being inferior to the one I was used to.

After the shots of morning coffee, we loaded the car with our luggage and rode off to Gandikota. On our list that day was, the fort, a temple in the interior of the fort, the canyon, Belum caves and finally Yaganti.

We started with the fort which was 10 minutes away. The fort dates back to 16th Century, built by one of the subordinates of the Chalukyas of Kalyana. A naturally protected fort with river and a valley acting as a natural defence. Not much of the fort is seen as of today. Part of the  fort walls dilapidated and part of it covered with vegetation etc and part of it brought down to house the villagers. It looked like any other Indian fort. Nothing fancy. We spotted a beautiful Chameleon which surprisingly was not trying to blend with the surroundings but was trying to make itself extra visible by showing off a beautiful orange colour in a green background. I went close and it ran away. And that brought the fort visit to an end.

Next we headed to a temple which was a few meters away from the fort. The temple tower had only half of the original structure remaining. On going inside, we discovered it had a huge corridor and a brilliantly crafted inner sanctum with intricate carvings. However, there was no deity inside. We then headed to the master piece, the canyon with a 300 foot drop.

We enquired the localites, they said it's just by the mosque. We went till the mosque and saw a trail and assumed the trail was the route to the canyon. We went on and on for nearly for 20 minutes without bothering to ask anyone. Our arrogance gave us a tight slap. The trail that we followed went nowhere. Our incessant walking lead to us a deep valley which we couldn't cross. We were hungry and tired. A friend took out a packet of peanuts and that to us was the best food we had had in ages. The packet was emptied in a jiffy and we all felt like Men who had earned everything there is to earn.

We rested there for a few minutes, everyone to themselves not a word uttered. There was peace and quiet all around. The wind blowing to a tune that seemed so melodious.

We all then headed back to where we started, our foots covering more ground every second. We were in a hurry to get the real view of the "Gandikota Canyon". 

Having got back to the place where we had originally started, we found a few village souls going about their jobs. My Telugu speaking friend, ranted a few words in Telugu and the villager pointed to a direction that we had previously ignored. There was a clear sign-board which we had missed. We all cursed each other and finally put the blame on the Telugu speaking friend. We walked about 200 paces when we were welcomed by a 300 foot canyon, a parrot green coloured river flowing at the bottom.

The weather was just about right, not too sunny and not too overcast. We settled at the edge of rocks looking deep into the river. We spent a few moments quietly and then a friend pointed to another hill another group was trying to find. We all contemplated if we should climb the hill or not. We had lost a lot of time and we had a lot more ground to cover. We decided against climbing the rock. Spent some more time by the edge of the canyon, taking in the view. River Penna flowing beneath peacefully and the canyon guarding the river. It seemed like the Canyon was the protector with it's chest held high and standing tall in all it's might and the river flowing ever-so majestically. The river was "The Royal Highness"  and the Canyon, " The Noble Knight".

The ice was broken and we headed back to the car. Our next destination was Belum caves, a 3 kilometer long underground cave formed naturally centuries ago. Belum was 60 Kilometers from Gandikota, about an hour and a half drive. Hunger was killing us and yet there was no hotel to save us throughout. Huffing and Puffing, we reached Belum. Upon reaching there, we had only one thing in mind, FOOD. We headed straight to a cafe and ordered them to give us everything they had. Munched down a plates of rice and a gulped down bottles of juice.

After satiating our hunger, we moved over to the ticket counter and began our journey into Belum. Derived from the Telugu word "Bilum" meaning an underground hole.

The cave was warmer and humid, it was mystique and the air around gave strange feeling. The cave was dimly lit with lights being lit in patches. The scant light added to the mystique and awe.

We walked along, observing the many natural formations of stalactites and stalagmites. We bent, we crawled, we crouched all along the cave. It's hard for me to describe beyond this. Belum is a must-visit. 

We came back soaked in sweat and our lungs so happy to get a breath of fresh air. Spent another half an hour there indulged in friendly banter. Next on our destination was Yaganti, a small holy town which is above a tiny hill and is home to quite a few deities. The thing worth seeing is a cave of the Sage Agastya, which is located so beautifully amidst two hills. Light seeping through at an angle of 70 degrees lighting the cave so perfectly. The climb to this hill nearly vertical and quite literally takes your breath away. There is a certain unexplained calmness and tranquility to this place. Again a must visit if you happen to be close by. 

With that, the must visit places were over. We headed off to Mantralaya that night and paid a visit to the temple, next morning. We then headed back to Bangalore after a very brief stop at my friend's village. 

Two days well spent, 2 more new places visited in my bucket list of wanting to visit ten new places this year. 

Relationship is everything

Recently, a video of Vijay Shekar Sharma addressing his team in "Wolf of the wall-street fashion". . The whole world has been divided, one side,he has been condemned for his emotional burst and the other-side has rallied behind him strongly.

I think that's the coolest thing a founder could do. Often, people who are higher up the food-chain are often perceived as Androids or Hitlers. They tend to give the image of being dispassionate and nearly Vulcan. But, is that what is needed? Does your team actually needs this image for them to do their work ? for them to build a great company.

What really drives a human being to give out every ounce of energy for his leader/for his company? This has been a question that I have had countless debates with myself, my peers and my friends, and I am yet to get an answer that is firm and fair. Maybe I never will, only time will tell.


In one of my previous roles as a project engineer, I was extensively involved in the automation of the various manufacturing lines, whose end goal was reduction of manpower and increase in throughput.  Having spent some-time studying concepts in lean manufacturing, time and motion study,I really was convinced that automation was the way to go and always felt there is a limit to a human-being's potential. But, then came a sweet-surprise to me in the form of one of my colleagues who became a dear friend in the days to come. He was thin and a highly-energetic maintenance engineer, spearheading the maintenance efforts. A calm and an affable bloke, a few years elder to me.

We had a unionised work-force in the factory and getting work from them was a skill. Of all the engineers in the maintenance department, this light-hearted engineer had a reputation of being the magic man with a midas touch. Any problem in the plant, pick up the phone and call this dude and he would get work done in no time. Whenever, I got a chance to work with him, I would grab that opportunity with both hands, Observe him closely and understand how he would get work done from a workmen who were not only much older than him but also carried with them a big bag of  ego. For starters, I thought he was lucky that his team of workmen were all affable and easy-going folks, it seemed as though only nice guys were in his team. Always listening to him and always supporting him through the good and bad times. But then again, I found other engineers who would struggle to get the same work done through the same set of guys.  What was the magic formula that this guy had that the others lacked. This question haunted me for a long time.

One fine day, I mustered all my courage and pulled him to a side and asked him, "Dude, what's your magic formula? it's as though the world dances to your tunes!". Perplexed by my illogical question, he jokingly asked me if I was drunk. That's when, I threw everything there was in my mind and he looked a bit taken aback at the weird observation which could have been perceived as borderline stalking. He brushed me aside and told me to stop giving him the star-status, but I wasn't going to let him go without getting an answer. Inspite of the pile of work I had to complete, I decide the answers to these questions were important than anything else that day. He began by giving me his philosophy of life, I was like a curious child sitting with my ears wide open and he started off like seasoned story teller.

Rome wasn't built in a day my friend and like Rome, this so called magic took time. Initially, when I was a newbie in the company, I struggled like everyone else to deal with the workmen. But, thanks to my earlier bosses who had told me that life is all about relationship building, I began to employ techniques and tools that my earlier bosses had drilled in me. Whenever, I was called from any of the plants, I would hold the tools in my hand and take the workmen along with me, I would be the first one to get my hands dirty. Instead of directing them, I would jump in and solve this issue myself. I would lead by example. I spent a lot of time on the shop-floor and won their hearts. Along the way, if one of the workmen in my team would give me a solution/get the problem solved, I would appreciate their efforts and genuinely call them out during the team meetings. This motivated them, made them to work hard, win my appreciation and get the spotlight. Slowly and steadily, my visits to the plants reduced, my team would tell me to not come and assure me they would get the job done. This was an old-school trick, but it had a guaranteed result. I stuck to it and it paid off.  This was not all, whenever, they needed a personal favor, I would go out of my way to help them. I would make sure they had what they wanted and that strengthened the camaraderie that was already there. Lastly, I will give you an icing on the cake. whenever, they asked me leave, I would give them without a second's thought, however difficult it was for me. With that, I had tied all ends of the relationship knot. Thanks to that, my off-days were never interrupted with calls. He concluded with a line saying, " "Relationship is everything", just when I got a call from my boss and had to leave.

Walking back alone, I took it all and said Aha!

For me some, this was one of the best pieces of advice I could get on leadership of people. I have tried to follow this since then.

To sum it up, "Relationship is everything".