10 Degrees Off, the perfect getaway in Bandipur!

For some its beaches, for some the mountains, most city weary traveller friends of mine have over the years found that one place which they call their true hideaway. A place where they can hear themselves think, a place of serenity and reflection. 10 Degrees Off is my special place.

Bandipur National Park, one of the most popular weekend destinations for the residents of Bangalore, is known for the incredible wildlife that it supports including magnificent tigers, leopards, Asiatic elephants, gaurs, dhole (wild dogs) and spotted deer. The park, covering a massive 874 square kilometers, is predominantly a dry deciduous forest.

The reserve forest that surrounds the main national park plays home to resorts like the Serai, Windflower, Dhole’s Den and a few others. Many of these are located about 4-5 kilometers off the main road that passes through the park. Most people who visit for weekends end up staying in one of these resorts and all of them assure you of a fantastic experience that includes a relaxed time, an unforgettable safari experience with the possibility of encountering the ever-so elusive tiger and comforts that set really high standards.

I have had the chance though to experience Bandipur, time and again, in a completely different way altogether. A friend of mine, Santosh, a known biker, traveller, an ex-river guide and founder of a few travel-based organizations like GetoffUrAss, PhotographyOnTheMove, Travellers Meet and the Motorcycle Travellers Meet, had built himself a dream getaway on a 3 acre site deep inside the Bandipur reserve forest. He named the property, 10 Degrees Off. A little after we met, in 2010, a few friends and I were invited by him to spend a weekend there.

I don’t know about the others, but the first visit itself had a profound influence on me. This was the first time that I had visited a place and had felt comfortable almost immediately. I knew this was going to be the first of many trysts that would gradually develop into a deep connection.

I have now visited the property many times over the past couple of years. Nestled in the shadow of a hill to its north-west and with the grand Nilgiris creating the perfect view to the south, the place has an energy that seems to wash all the weariness away and establishes a kind of therapeutic calm within me. Santosh, with great patience and perseverance, has spent many years carefully nurturing the property and I have been lucky enough to share the wonderful joy of seeing the place grow. Every time I visit, the trees seem to be taller and the house has slowly started merging with the beautiful landscape around it.

For company, you have chicken, birds splashing around in the bird baths, a few reptilian visitors and occasional sightings of elephant herds passing by on their way to the watering hole nearby. This beautiful place, also played home to Kencha, one of the friendliest and most affectionate dogs I have known and his beautiful girlfriend, Kenchi/Kaanchi. A dog with phenomenal personality, we lost Kencha recently to a suspected leopard attack recently. His presence most definitely added to the charm of the place and he will be missed.

Though in the words of Santosh, this place could only extend basic comfort, the caretaker Chandra and his family ensured that every need of mine was taken care of.  The food is simple but absolutely delicious and the house isn’t fancy but guarantees warmth that you might find missing in resorts. Every now and then, Santosh would put in a bit of extra effort and make things special. Whether it was taking his friends to EP, the viewing point overlooking the plains, to spend a quiet evening or making beetroot halwa for dessert, he is a great host to his friends who have visited 10 Degrees Off. Having known him for some time now, I know for sure that he genuinely wants others to feel the same joy that he experiences when he spends time here.

All in all, with the rustic stone house, the comforting fire place, the verandah that has played such a generous host to the interesting conversations that friends have shared over a drink looking out into the horizon where the earth reaches out to touch the sky, the ledge around the tree allowing for those magnificent evenings under the dramatic purple twilight sky, 10 Degrees Off is that one place where nature plans every moment and detail just to make you feel good.

Here are a few photographs from my last visit to 10 Degrees Off, my perfect getaway.

Brilliant dawn sky.

The landscape towards the east.

Santosh, the man responsible for 10 Degrees Off, spending a relaxed afternoon there.

Lazy afternoons are the norm.

Kids explore their building skills in the outdoors.

Colourful flowers dot the landscape at the property.

When motorcycle travellers meet, discussions can be pretty intense.

Magical evening sky.

The incredible view overlooking the plains with the Nilgiris in the background.

Quiet evenings are spent viewing the vast plains of the Bandipur reserve forest.

The electric fence that stops wild animals from crossing into farmlands that lie just outside the reserve forest boundary.

A Lifelong Guest, Wherever I Go!

A little background information might help create a context to this. I am a Malayali who was born in Gujarat and is presently living in the city of Bangalore. This might not be a unique situation as there are many like me who might be blessed with a similar life. The reason I say blessed is because for a decent part of my life, I suffered from self-inflicted wounds of confused identity crisis only to later realize that I was living a life that a lot of people could only dream about.
Born in the cosmopolitan city of Vadodara in Gujarat, I did my schooling in a Syrian Catholic school where almost 60 percent of the students were Malayalis. Being a Malayali who didn’t speak Malayalam was not that much of an issue, most of the time, but every now and then there would be a situation that would arise and make me realize how I was a ‘non-Malayali’. One incident that has stayed with me was when a senior priest visiting our school asked all the Malayalis to stand up and identify themselves. When asked which part of Kerala I belonged to, my saying ‘Tellicherry’ instead of ‘Thalasseri’ turned out to be a massive mistake. The visiting priest and the 60 percent that understood my ‘gaffe’ had a good laugh and I was asked to sit down after being said that I was an ‘English-boy’! Being hardly 12 then, I assumed that this was a massively embarrassing mistake and that it would serve me best to never talk about it again.
Later I moved to the small educational town of Vallabh Vidyanagar to join design school. Through the eight years that I spent living there, I slowly but confidently mastered the language of Gujarati so that I would not feel like an alien in unfamiliar territory. But then this town was predominantly Gujarati in its essence and I was quite regularly referred to as a ‘Madrasi’ (a term that generalizes and refers to all South Indians as belonging to the erstwhile royal state of Madras!). All my attempts at explaining that south India today consisted of five different states and that ‘Madras’ wasn’t one of them went in vain.
In 2008, I moved to the city of Bangalore which is well known to be a melting pot of a variety of cultures and peoples. In the beginning it was all fine as long as I met and hung out with ‘migrants’ like myself having a great time in the city. But as time passed, there have been quite a few incidents which forced me to think of ways to make myself feel like a Bangalorean. I have had traffic cops talk to me in Kannada even after I had explained to them that I had trouble understanding the language. This would generally begin after they realized that the address in my driving license was from Gujarat. A lot of people I’ve met during my time here, some of them friends, have pointed out that I was part Gujju – part Mallu and completely origin-less!
When visiting my parents in Kerala and as a travel blogger, I make it a point to explore as many new destinations and experiences that the beautiful state has to offer. I have also slowly started learning and speaking as much Malayalam as I can every time I have to interact with a stranger whether it is while asking for directions or for simple tasks like buying groceries there. I admit my grasp over the language can at best be described as amateurish but I am trying. I have an immense admiration and affection for the absolutely stunning state of Kerala but even here I constantly am reminded that I am only a visitor.
From the experiences that I have mentioned here, it probably would be reasonable if you assumed that I hold a lot of contempt for these towns and cities or for the people who made me feel like an outsider wherever I went. This might come as a surprise though that I honestly harbour no such emotion. In the last few years, travel and reading about the travel experiences of others has taught me that I would rather be a part of the larger picture than be harrowed by these insignificant happenings. At best, these experiences have only made me want to know more about why people hold these beliefs and why there are so many lines drawn that separate us.
Over the years, I’ve learnt to enjoy being the guest. A quaint feature of the common man in India is that we really appreciate it when an outsider puts in effort to speak the local language or tries to adhere to some small cultural nuance that showed respect. The popular Indian belief ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guests are like God) is an absolute reality that is accepted all across this diverse nation. It has become obvious to me now that looking like a visitor putting in an honest attempt at learning the local way is better than trying to fake being a local wherever you go.
This realization has brought about an epic shift in the way I now experience new destinations or even the city that I live in. Exploring my own backyard has become an exhilarating process and surprises thrown up every now and then make it even better. I have even registered myself for a course in spoken Kannada while I try and improve my Malayalam. Everything now is an attempt for the sheer excitement of learning something new rather the result of some desperate need! Another absolutely fascinating development thanks to this realization is that I am now a traveller wherever I am or go and I now look forward to finding something new about every place. It is fantastic being a lifelong guest!