Camping fun, off the record.

I must take you back to March 2008 to a forest stay which we NCC guys enjoyed off the record. When I say off the record it means we went on our own. It was a plan we were having to implement right away after Republic Day 2008. Never did we know that a new ANO (NCC officer) would take charge on January 24 2008 just two days before RD and frame rules for every little thing. He certainly may pose restriction on our trip and that was evident. What is the fun if you don't break any rules? Moreover we were all thick friends earlier to even listen to an officer who recently took charge. Two days fun in March was made. We guys left quietly to Chenji forest near Tiruvannamalai without informing anyone in the name of NCC. The rest blog is all about the fun.


It was mid of March 2008 on a weekend. I don't remember the dates. Thanks to Shiva my NCC junior who is the host of this party. His father is a cop and he knew people in STF and other police people and how they used to camp and stuff. Good for us, he was our guide for camping. We planned to start at night and reach the place early in the morning and start camping. We were a total of 11 guys camping. I can't recall all the names, sorry. Our travel would barely be 4 hours and entering into a reserved forest at 3 AM or so would be risky. So Shiva said we stay in a room in Police Commissioner's office and start quiet early to take a bus to Chenji. We guys packed our camping stuff and some 50 packs of Maggi noodles and boarded train at Tambaram.
We reached Egmore station where Shiva and his father were waiting. I greeted his dad and there was a Police van waiting for us. Quiet exhilarating experience to travel in a cop van. We reached Commissioner's office at Pantheon road and the entry was in the name of "Sport's Party." Since many sports people from police department coming to Chennai stay there. We were allocated a small corner room in a police barracks. We entered at about 10.00PM and were to leave at about 03.00AM to CMBT bus terminus to board a bus to Chenji, actually Dindivanam. Before entering our room we alighted from the van and were to walk into to our temporary barracks. One room was cops stay I suppose. It had some neatly pressed uniforms all in a single row hanging. Simple amazing to see so much Khaki which I am always delighted about. Then we got see some real police stuff. Cars that were booked and ceased and on which cases were pending. One such car was with a lot of bullet marks in it. It was probably some encounter case which later was taken into custody. That was again an amazing sight like what we see in the movies.
Alright, so were in the room later and it was locked from outside to avoid any enquiry or questioning. The only demand for us was to be quiet and not make ruckus. All the 11 of us in an average room had to talk in whispers and bare the mosquito bite. Ofcourse we did a lot of fight and fun making a hell of a noise, controlling ourselves then and there. Some cops from the other end would give sound to ask us to be quiet. Time passed a few slept, few awake. I was among those who were sleeping. An urgent thud was heard on the door. It was one of our duty incharge who had to drop us at CMBT bus stop. I couldn't believe it is already 3AM. We all jolt woke up and within a few minutes checked our belongings in the room and left to the van. It was probably the same van. I sat right behind the driver and to my right near the window was my good old crush. Walkie Talkie! It was checking time I suppose and I could hear patrol checks going on. "Ambattur Patrol" "Vanakkam sir, Ambattur Patrol, " so and so forth. They were doing their duty and it was interesting to listen to the huff and puff and activity of Police. The van started and we reached CMBT. Shiva's dad also accompanied and he dropped us and returned to his work.

The bus was to Thiruvannamalai and we all took our tickets to Dindivanam. The moment ticketing business was over, all of us were asleep. Four hours simple flew away and we were there. We crossed the adjacent road to Chenji and took another bus to head to the fort. We were to stay at some small village upon which was a hill top and our stay. Once getting down from the bus, we went to a fire wood shop and bought some chopped wood for lighting fire. One of the smart locals after seeing a bunch of guys wearing trekking bag asked us where we were headed to? Luckily there was a small temple at the bottom of the hill. Shiva said we were headed there and cleared his question.
With the fire woods bundle, bags, vessels and so many things in our hands we all were walking towards our home for two days, a hill top. We had to walk through a partially dense thorn forest which had a swamp sluggish pathway. The road headed to a small village and it was clear that those villagers would notice us. We were carrying a white flag that we hung over temporary sheet tent to denote and STF police force or any other anti social element that we were not of any threat. We reached the village opposite to which was the path to our hill. We were at the village by some 12.30PM. We had to climb all the way up to first base our tent and then go for bath, look for water and other stuff. The village people already saw us but didn't call out at us or even scream anything. They must have thought we were police, I suppose. We climbed a few 100 feet on top of which we found a plain even surface. We had to survive two days there and then head back to our homes.

The base of our tent was made behind a rock which was sitting properly and we pitched poles opposite to the rock to form a triangle in which the tent can be tied. Our tent covered only the top and the either sides were open, welcome any snakes, frogs or even animals. We still found the home quiet nice since it was our own made. Once the tent was laid, we went on with looking for poop, pee and other things. A few went site seeing and many others in and around. We all had whistles on our necks to alert anyone if they were lost or in trouble. It was an assurance that someone is still nearby. Then by about 4 PM with the water available we started to cook noodles and all of us enjoyed the spice-less tasting food with utmost joy. After all we are cadets and relish what we get. After that we went down to the hill where there is a small lake. We took our purse, mobile and other important belongings and went down. We put a sentry with our belongings and then replacement, which is a typical cadet habit. We had some real fun in that little lake and started to climb up at 5.30PM since it was starting to get dark. As we reached up by 6, we were experiencing some real National Geographic, Discovery Channel sound effect. We would hear monkeys screaming and running past above our base in a far forest. Slowly owl sounds and other sounds started to come in.
The lovely Darkness:
In a matter of minutes darkness set in. We could see the sky and the stars glittering so bright. It is not the same view in city where there is lot of light pollution which hinders sky viewing. It was a phenomenal sight. We then used our fire woods, kerosene that we bought and lit a camp fire. Wow, the fire was joy! A true cinematic effect. The camp fire was only for sometime until we prepared food, made some tea and then took up duty. Duty was to patrol the tent while others sleep. It was three hours rotation job. Say, 8.00PM to 11.00PM, 11.00PM to 2.00PM, 2.00PM-5.00PM. The duties were assigned and those who were not occupied could sleep. We were all scattered here and there talking stories and making fun. Amidst all of that we could hear howls of wolves, monkeys screaming and many forest sound effects. We were expecting to witness black panther which is a resident of the forest. Shiva was telling that was one while we were sleeping, not sure. Ok, as a few were sleeping me and others were talking. We were given tools like plates, spoons to keep tapping such we scare away wolves that don't come close to human activity. I still remember Enoch was on duty late night that day at about 2 and heard some animal come nearby. He banged the plate so hard and loud that he didn't just wake those sleeping, but also dented and bent the plate completely. The day went off and once again we got into another day of activity in a similar way.

The next day was quiet fun too. We were running out of wood and so started to chop our own from the nearby trees. We went down took bath, cooked ate and so on the other day passed as well. One more night to pass and then we leave to our destination. A total surprise delighted us the second day which was rain. It was raining so nicely that we all rushed into our little shelter and loved seeing it pour. Those smokers had something to keep them warm, the rest like me had nothing. We just had Parle G biscuit which we ate and kept warm. After the rain it was tent re-pitching time. Again we spent a whole day of activity and the next night arrived. This was again a great night, but we had to be careful since the rocks were slippery after rain. Apart from that it was great joy totally.
Another day of camping got over and it was time for pack up. We had to pack our stuffs, head to Chenji fort spend some time there and board our bus and get home. We were walking down all the way out and could see trails of cats, may be panther. We headed out of the forest and went to Chenji fort. Before that we had some coffee, samosa and other snacks to fill our empty stomachs. We were questioned by many that are we army trekkers at the shop. After that we headed to Chenji fort which is a tourist spot. We had some fun and pictures there and then boarded bus to Chennai. Started at 3.00PM at Chenji we reached Chennai by 8.00PM. It was certainly a great weekend spent. It was a bundle of experience and fun. Thanks a lot to Shiva. He was a great host and guide. The one thing we missed at our camp was Rajesh. He had gone somewhere for his work. It must have been even more fun with him.

I look forward for such an adventure quite soon. Thank you for reading patiently.
Love and Care,
Naren Pillai.
07/01/2014.