Journeys to remember: Live to RIDE; Ride to GIVE: Nallaguttahalli

The ThROTLS team came up with yet another donation drive, this time for a Government Higher Primary School in Nallagultapalli Gram Panchayat. We had received a request from school for school bags & notebooks for the kids through a friend of VJ.
A big thanks to all the friends who came forward to help with this drive and made it a success. Thumbs-up to those who made it to the drive and a big hug to those to contributed to this initiative.

Start of the ride

One for the kids

Early morning ride of 75kms with a breakfast stop, we reached the school. The ride was scenic with green farmland on either side of the road. Upon reaching the school we were welcomed by Raghu who has adopted this school to ensure betterment of the school. Surprise surprise...we were welcomed with a welcome speech from the school Headmaster, a senior teacher and then a thank you note from Raghu. The welcome speech was followed by handing over a Rose to each one of us who had come. Post which the handing over of the school bags and sports items were given out to all the students of the school by us. The excitement in the eyes of the students was more for the football, throwball & badminton rackets we could see. So the teachers declared that the kids could play with what was given to them. Back in the staff room we were served hot tea and some snacks, completely unexpected. Some chit chat with the teachers and Raghu suggested that we have lunch with him & his Guruji.

Shetty & camera with curious kids

Excited to receive their bags

Riding team

Staff room

Keen listeners

We were requested to head to the temple which was atop a hill in Nallaguttahalli. It is believed that this temple has a pond which never dries. Amazingly you can walk on top of it; probably because of the weeds that have grown over it. The water in the pond has healing properties and all the villagers nearby use the water as their medicine. Raghu himself claimed that he & his family haven't taken any medication for ailments and the water from this pond is consumed whenever they are ill. Also the weed growing on top of the pond gives out some kind of seed which they call it the beads, given to ladies in the village who are getting married to add it onto their wedding chain. The color of the bead varies from white, grey & black. I got some of it home :) supposedly good luck for married women. There is also a natural cave which has a door constructed now to ensure there is control on who goes in and comes out.
It didn't end there, it happened to be Guruji's birthday that day and we were offered a good home cooked meal at the temple premises. The team there took care of us like we were their personal guests serving food with patience and inquiring on anything that we needed. Hospitality at its best. Guruji sat down with us for lunch too. Post lunch a cup of coffee for all and we rested at the hill top to enjoy the cool breeze. Some bit of chit chat and we decided to ride back to Bangalore. All in all a ride worth the effort.