Choudi Gundi

Before you start reading,

I would like to thank my dear friend Venkatesh Channal who volunteered to spare his valuable time to describe one of the smallest places “Choudi Gundi”. This is small pond in mid of the forest with clean and refreshing water. Best time to visit is June to November. Not many people in UK or kumta know about this place. This place is very near to Kumta. From Kumta bus stand reach the “Muroor cross” which is around 2 km from bus stand. After the “Muroor cross”, walk towards “Siddana Bhavi”. From here ask any one for the local people about how to go to “Choudi Gundi”.

Here is how my dear friend Venkatesh Channal shares his experience

I would like to share one of my experiences as a boy growing up in the residential school of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Kumta the place where JNV used to be before it got shifted to Panchavati.

Swimming at Choudi Gundi

Being part of a residential school known for its discipline didn’t stop the boys from enjoying to swim in the natural waters of Choudi Gundi. As the expedition was not authorized and being caught in the act would lead to severe punishments it was one of those things that needed very good planning and execution.

The Choudi gundi happened to be a pond amidst the nature for which the district of Uttara Kannada is well known for. Reaching the pond required a trek across a couple of hills and a journey of around 3 KM each way from our hostel. The time best suited for this swimming experience was our study period which would commence from 3 pm till 4:45 pm. Soon after completing our lunch which most of us would do in a hurry so as to not lose any of our swimming time J, it was time for us to sneak out through the back doors after having made suitable arrangements to cover our bases incase one of the duty masters came around taking attendance for each of the students. These arrangements would be usually studying in the classrooms or in some other room as students were allowed to study in either of the places.

As the swimming could host around 15-20 people at a time it was usually the matter of first come first serve so reaching the place early was paramount. The locals had so got used to seeing boys from Navodaya going to the pond at around 2:30 to 5 every day that they would reschedule their timings accordingly. So once we had our lunch it was time to get the necessary clothing and start to run through the hill to reach the place. Though we used to have cross country trek regularly I must acknowledge that this particular running exercise through and fro to the swimming pool gave us as much stamina as any of the regular exercise drills. One of the difficult passages was getting across the top of the hill not as much due to traveling difficulties as it was due to leave us vulnerable to become visible from the school premises which was to rest assured that a grand punishment would be in the offering once we were backJ. But us boys being boys we usually took it as part of the challenge. After making across the hill it was comparatively easy sailing with it requiring just crossing the slopes and a rough path of the forest and then the getting to the actual pond by having to pass through the slippery stones along the way of the water bed. The beauty of the place was certainly worth more than all the effort and that is why it was such an attraction for all of us. No season was a barrier as if there was water to swim we would be there come rain or sun.

The water was flowing so it avoided the risk of being stagnant and dangerous in terms of us getting infected by germs. Being in that place was a way to be totally separate in our own little world was all we did was have fun and enjoy. No study, no routines, no worries. It was just plain old fun. We had rocks inclined at various heights giving us an opportunity to be adventurous to take a dive from heights. The greenery, the calm, the serenity of the place is something that I still behold dearly.

The place was called Choudi gundi as it was widely believed that it was place where Choudi would roam around in the night. Folks from UK would be well accustomed to hearing about Choudi I guess and for those who don’t know Choudi is sort of village deity who is known for playing pranks. There used to be bets among boys for going to Choudi gundi during the new moon night and I remember once where a couple of my friends took the challenge and went there only for their battery to go down on the way back. How they made their way back is still a mystery for me as traveling in the forest and the hill in total darkness is not an ordinary skill and it does require lot of courage.

Now coming back to my experience, after spending around 1.5 to 2 hour swimming and having fun it was time for us to head back. If we found any fruits along the way in the forest it was a bonus else we had to go hungry and exhausted to our (official) play time. And being as exhausted as we used to be still we had to reach our dormitories by 5:15 as that is when the PT period would commence and attendance would be taken compulsorily and if were late, the less said about it the better.

This was an experience that I wanted to share with all folks from our group hope you got a glimpse of it and yeah happy sharingJ.