Aparajito- The Unvanquished

Aparajito- The unvanquished is the sequel of pather panchali written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The story is about a small town boy Apu and his thirst for knowledge and an insatiable desire to see the world. This book takes us through his childhood, teenage, college days etc. He fights with not only poverty but also human relationships and other harsh realities of life. This book is simple yet complicated but good to read and have it in collection. One can definitely fall in love with this book. It remains truly the story of an unvanquished spirit that rises through all sorrow and grief like a phoenix, triumphant in its ability to retain hope all times. .

Luminous Day, Twinkling Night, and Incredible Six

Since the last trek that is in the month of October, we had not been anywhere. We all got bored by sitting at home so we planned to go for one-day picnic atleast. We searched for the destination, which could have been completed in one day. The most suited name, which strikes me, was Karnala or Rajmachi. We all zeroed down to Rajmachi, which is simple walking trek. Rajmachi being a hill station experiences very pleasant climate. During summers (April-June), it is temperate, and in winters (November-February), it is a bit colder. June to September is the monsoon seasons. It offers medium to heavy rainfalls. Best time to visit is any time in a year; monsoons may be avoided, as the rugged mountain roads can be slippery. Summers and post monsoons are good for trekking.

Manasi, Minal and Madhavi (new member in our group) started their day early in the morning coz they have had to reach Karjat on time. We (Pranav, Abhijeet and myself) met at Karjat station at 7.45 am. This may had been early morning for Abhijeet who has habit to sleep until late. We kept talking (let me correct myself guessing) about our new member in the train from Karjat to Lonavala. At last boys are always boys! We gathered at Lonavala station, had some breakfast, and collected some food for afternoon. Thanks to the Abhjeet's friend – Nilesh who dropped us till the bottom of the hill. Journey so far was brisk. We were aware that this trek was simple but a long walk involved in it. We kept walking on the plain route enjoying the site seeing and tittle-tattle. Madhavi - An aspiring trekker who is not used to for such a long walk got tired very soon but hats off to her elation that kept her motivated. Minal was very much excited; this helped her to move on. The sun was hot and we were all sweating. After a long walk, we reached at a temple, took a small break there, and had Kokam Sarbat- desi enery drink, which helped a lot in further way. After almost five hrs of walking, we reached at top of Rajmachi. A cool breeze helped us to coup up our fatigue. At the top nothing to view, accept the Sahyadri lines. There are only destroyed parts of Rajmachi, this made Manasi very annoyed. She showed her anger in words, "Kutrasarakha Chalun kay bhagital tar bhagna awashesh" (we walked like dogs to see this destroyed parts). We took a small break of half an hour and started our return journey.

The second half of this journey was more excited. The clock stroked 5.00 pm when we reached at the village at the base of the fort. We had very little time left in our hand coz we have to cover atleast half a distance before sunset. We do not have torches but we kept faith on our gut feelings and on moon light so we moved on. Unfortunately, we have very less photographs of return journey. The expressions on everybody's faces were amazing, fear, curiosity, excitement, all mixture of emotions. We reached at a plateau from where the setting sun was looking astonishing. We could not resist our selves and stopped their in spite of lesser time. We enjoyed the sunset with some food.

The sun dipped behind the silhouette of the hill leaving a crimson glow, while the lapwings cried out on their way home "did you do it did you do it". The jungle as slowly settling down while the creatures of the night took over the realm of the dark. As the time kept passing, the surrounding became darker. At last, the rising of the crescent moon broke the darkness. The solitude in the air and nocturnal calls of the wild synchronized with the darkness bringing out a passionate feeling for both heart and mind. The jungle was communicating with silence of the dark. When we experienced life reverberating in physical, chemical and biological domain of Rajmachi, we were forced to judge as to what is a purer form of life; is it the shimmering water or the blue sky or the green expanse spread in the region!

To roam around the dark jungle was my long wish, which had fulfilled as I got a change to stay in the Rajmachi jungle in night. I am frightened of neither darkness nor the other things like bhoot, night creatures etc but I am very much frightened of snakes. However, I have to extol myself because I made efforts to come up this fear while walking through the dark jungle. I have to confess that at one point I was afraid when I got confused between the ways. Many thoughts stroke my mind like are we on the right track. What will happen if we do not find the way? Do we have to stay in jungle? in addition, many more. However, I swiped all the thoughts from my mind and started moving ahead as we do not have any other option. We were all walking keeping our fingers cross so that we can get the right way. We kept all our faith on arrow marks so when we were unable to find an arrow for long time, then Minal became anxious but she was fighting her fear with her tittle-tattle. At the same time she was very much ecstatic, thrilled about all happenings. Pranav was helping Madhavi and Manasi with the way. He himself kept falling many times, which made us laugh numerous times. Manasi and Minal were so scared that they just kept quite all the way until we reached at village. We tried to make them speak, chuckle many times but they did not even respond. Only Abijeet was intrepid and took decisions judiciously. After lots of struggle in the darkess n with each other's help, we manage to reach down in the village. That was the exact time of our relaxation…the mind, body and soul was pleased by seeing the people around.
We left Castle Rock with fond nostalgic memories . as the road ahead beckoned us .. for ahead those riding days and jungle nights will live on forever. There is something in the air that brings you back to the jungle again and again.

thats y a poet says:
I I took a walk through the jungle and what did I see -
Here was a swinging monkey right in front of me -

I took a walk through the jungle and what did I see -
Here was a roaring lion right in front of me -

I took a walk through the jungle and what did I see -
Here was a slithering snake right in front of me -

I took a walk through the jungle and what did I see -
Here was a racing cheetah right in front of me -

I'll never forget my walk through the jungle -
But now it's time to go home and just be me –

Please Vote…..

Since last couple of days, we all had witnessed the most horrifying attack on India aka Mumbai, which said to be the biggest one compared to all other attacks. Our national heros really fought bravely and won the battle. To conquer this battle many people scarified their lives. Because of these fighters, we are/were safe in our homes. Truly salute to them and their families.

The shadow of terrorism is not new for Mumbai or mumbaikars. We all are witness of many man made and natural calamities. However, this attack made everybody traumatized. People will overcome and start their routine life soon but my question is - is these memories are so weak that we can fade them easily? Can we forget Mr. Hemant Karkare, Mr. Sandeep Unnikrishnan and others?

These brave soldiers gave their life for nation. Think what we can do for our nation…atleast we can vote properly…we have right to vote a genuine person who really want our country should do progress, it should free from all terrorism etc. so this time please vote and also make others understand the importance of elections. We can arrange blood donations camps regularly so that their wont be lack of blood in emergencies. This is the time when we all have to move hand in hand, instead of blaming government and police. Everybody has to fulfill his/her duties.

DADA's Exit.

Sourav Ganguly is one of the best left-handers we ever had. His two consecutive centuries on his debut defines his class and quality. Although the later half of his career was engraved with the number of controversies, one should never forget that he was the most successful captains India ever had.

I truly felt that the selector committee should treat me respectfully. His exit from the game is disheartening; I wish him a successful life thereafter.

The Zoya Factor- All’s fair in love and Criket

The Zoya Factor- All’s fair in love and Criket, this is book is written by Anuja Chauhan. The author is from Delhi and an advertising agencies creative head. When I bought this book, I thought this was a real story of an author but later I came to know that this is fiction. The writer put some personal experience in it as well.

The book started of very well. The story line is outrageous, but what really makes this a good one time read is that quite often one can actually relate to the language they speak, the scenarios in a working environment and the absolute madness that exists during an ongoing World Cup Tournament. This book help to understand the kind of pressure each player faced during the matches.

This is a story about a mid-level advertising executive, who get fascinated by seeing Shah Rukh Khan and irritated when came to know that she has to leave the assignment and move on to the Indian cricket team’s project. The story revolved around the luck factor of girl’s presence and the win of Indian Cricket team, the clashes between the skipper and the girl and ofcourse, there is the budding romance between the skipper and girl which goes on and off………on and off…..

The book is good one time read. I enjoyed reading each moment of it. The narration of Nikhil Khoda’s character is fabulous. The other characters also extremely well etched. The flow of the language and use of Hinglish (Hindi + English) words are perfect. The idea of putting newspaper’s cutting is good but reading that whole thing is very boring. Use of page 3 columns and bollywood to narrate the story is ultimate. The writer uses this platform to present the cricket, bollywood and ad world.

Mumbai soon will be a terrorist hub!!!

After shooting of the shikh protestor Balka Singh (50) by one of the body guard of Dera Saccha Souda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at Nirmal lifestyle Mulund on June 20, 2008, the shikh mob got wild and they block roads and commuter trains. All these men were armed with wooden staff and waving swords. With the help of these weapons they started insurgence in the Mulund.

People from Mulund were so tensed that they immediately shut their shops and went back to their homes. Passengers from trains were unnecessarily became victims of the angry shikh community. By stopping the trains and blocking roads what they exactly want is the big question. The reason of the riot was unsubstantiated, firing on a protestor was wrong and after that the act of fuming shikh mob was very shameful and immaterial.

The Shikh community took their Morcha back when the police had declared that they had arrested few people for investigation. This whole activity (by blocking roads, trains) helped to put pressure on Govt to fulfill their demand. People who were arrested by police really have any involvement in this issue? Are they criminals or Government want some peace so that they arrested those for time being. The real cause of this whole scene Baba Ram Rahim had flew back to Delhi on the same day with Government’s permission. He should hold back till the issue gets solved. But he flew back like a free bird.

The mob with weapons in their hands can easily become a cause of riots in this Metropolitan city. What does this mean? This means Mumbai will become a terrorist hub soon. Is there any law sustaining in Mumbai? Can common man be safe here? Any disaster which is man made or natural, the sufferer is common man only – all the time. What was State Govt’s duty? The state Govt is failed to take any immediate action against it. This riot last for two days, nobody in this metropolitan city is able to control the situation.

The state govt. had offered 2 lakh financial help for the family of deceased and 25 thousand for injured ones. As a common man my question is – why did govt take this responsibility on its shoulders? From where did they get money? It’s all common man’s money which Govt is distributing easily. Dera Saccha Souda sect Chief baba ram rahim has property in Khalapur- Raigad in spite of his livelihood is all in Punjab. This means he has enough money to take responsibility of the decease’s family. There are lots of problem present in this state which govt has to tackle like electricity, water, food- malnutrition etc. Then why they want to add extra responsibilities in their kitty.

Few years back shikh community is well known for its good behavior. But because of this act they also showed their grey side. To control the situation and make the communities behavior transparent some shikh leaders and parties had started taking initiatives, which is a good thing.

One thing I would definitely like to mention that when Mr. Raj Thackrey had announced that he will distribute swords to the Marathi Janata, the media gave him overnight publicity. He immediately became a terrorist, top priority of Maharashtra Govt was to control him. State Government is giving step mother treatment to Raj Thakarey by showing sympathy to shikh community. My opinion on this issue is not because I am the MNS follower but as I am a common man too.

But as a common man there is only one request to all existing political parties in Maharashtra that don’t try and take advantage of this situation, but come together and solve the problem peacefully.

A Dream come True Journey

College days, friends are most memorable in everybody life’s. Like every one, I also had a nice group of friend who were full of enthusiasm. We did many one-day picnics. However, night outs were strictly prohibited coz as being a girl; it was difficult to get permission. It says that after college, the group get scattered. In our case, this was partly true. We still meet but not all, few of us are in touch till date. When we were in college that time we decided to visit Rajgad - the king of fort. We were dieing to visit this fort but that time finance was the problem and more than that a one night stay at fort was the big issue.

As said by Paulo Coelho “when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Our dream is also on its way to fulfill after 4 yrs. Abhijeet, Pranav planned the picnic, and I immediately said yes to it. In the excitement, I committed to them but now the problem was there, how to take permission from family.

First, we decided everything like when to go, how to go etc etc. Then I asked my mom in presence of my younger brother. Because I was aware of the fact that once, he said yes then mom will not argue much. Moreover, my guess was right. I got the permission for night out, but I did not tell her that we are going on bike.

Oct 18, 2008 was the decided date for the trek. It was two days trek, so we have to collect food, shelter etc. I took the responsibility of food and Manasi decided to bring sleeping bags. Abhijeet and I did all the planning. We were very much excited. Abhijeet took the responsibility to be a leader for this trip. He used his leader ship skill in every step. “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.” Moreover, Abhijeet has this attitude.

Pranav, Manasi and I met at Karjat station on Friday night. They went to pranav’s place and after that, I joined them. Pranav came to pick me up from my house. We did the packing and after little talk, we went to bed. However, because of excitement I was unable to sleep. After sometime, I do not know when but I slept. I woke up when I heard some noise from kitchen. Pranav woke up before us. It was 4.30 am in the morning. Then Manasi came, we took our bath and got ready for our trek. Abhijeet came at 5.30 am. We loaded our baggages on both the bikes. Pranav did all the hardwork. Finally, we were all set to leave. Abhijeet remembered the MTV Rodies show…we were actually looking like that.

We left from Pranav’s place at 6.30 am and took first halt at Palasadari- Swami Samartha matha. We did our prayers and moved ahead. The highway was as usual amazing to drive. It was always a fun on bike with Abhijeet but this time excitement was more as we had companion Pranav and Manasi. We were driving safely overtaking each other.

We took halt at lonavala and then did not wait for anything. We reached at Vajeghar- the base village, at around 12.15 pm, freshened up at nearby well and had our lunch in Hotel Suvela. It was hard to climb after a meal. The fort was very much stiff. Nevertheless, we were making the efforts to climb. Manasi was becoming restless as she was suffering from cold. The route was very confusing. We were breathing like dogs. It was difficult route. However, giving –up thought did not touch us as we made our minds already. We kept moving ahead. Meanwhile, when we took a short break, I lost my fastrack sunglasses. This disturbed me a bit but it was time being. The Sahyadri Lines were amazing. It was challenging, tiring, sometimes scary, crazy, and very historic trek, all the way to the top, nearly. Nearly because even though we climbed the fort, there was a small fort (Bale Killa) inside Rajgad fort which is even higher and it involves rock climbing.

We reached at Padamavati machi through Chor Darwaza at around 4.30 pm. It was a short cut and toughest route among the three. We quickly kept our luggage at Rameshwar Mandir, took a glance at padamawati Machi which includes Padamavati Mandir, Rameshwar Mandir, Sadar, Darugola Kodar and moved ahead towards Sanjivini Machi. We heard that, Sanjivini Machi is the Sunset point. We were rushing towards it, as we have short time in our hand. The road was very narrow, there was wall of Balekilla at one side and other side was open- deep valley. We saw few monkeys over there, huge honeycomb. This gave us a double thought, should continue towards the Machi or return. Because in sunlight it is quite safe but while returning, it would be our testing time. Abhijeet asked us to return but I wanted to go and see. I wanted to take a risk. So we moved ahead. After a long walk we reached at Vaghra Mukha, this was not exactly Sanjivani Machi but still able to watch sunset. There are many rocky seats on the hills, from which calm and charming scene of the setting sun could be conveniently seen, on the plains beyond horizon. It is awesome! In addition, the sunset is quite pretty! Abhijeet was little upset because of me. Still we all enjoyed the sunset. We did photography. We returned to Padamavati machi and rested on the rocks for a while. It was only 7.00 pm but darkness had covered the whole fort. Humming of bees was very rhythmic. Some clouds had roofed the moon still the climate was awesome. We were waiting to see the Moon out. Finally, it arrived; the moon light spread all over the place. We were listening gazals of Gulam Ali Sahab, Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udas, marathi-hindi soft songs. It was like a live concert, all of us were very involved in all the songs. The silence took hold of the place. Nearly two and half hours we were in that state only. In addition, guess what, it was a surprise birthday party on fort for me. I cut the cake; they sung Happy Birthday song for me. I was very much grateful to all of them. It was marvelous night at fort. We cracked jokes on anything and just blast into laughing. At last, we put alarm of 5.00 am to see the sunrise and went to bed.

Next day we got up at 6.00 am, like previous morning, he was the one to wake up first. At last, we woke up, finished our morning stuff, had breakfast, and moved towards our next destination- Mission Balekilla. It was little difficult trek coz it involves rock climbing. Abhijeet warned us previous day only, that Manasi and I have to climb. The rock climbing was astounding. This rock climbing gave us full satisfaction of trekking. It was thrilling experience. The nature divinity has given all his blessing to this fort. It was flooded with different coloured flowers. The surrounding had different shades of green colour. We waited there for some time, roamed around, and had our breakfast. “It is safe though climbing but will it be safe at the same time as coming down,” this thought just cross my mind while climbing. However, this is a fraction of second’s thought. We enjoyed the rock climbing and came down in 15 min.

Then we moved towards the Suvela Machi, this is bit easy coz of parallel road. After one-hour walk, we reached at our destination. From that point, one can see Balekilla and Padmavati machi at a time. This gave you the proof of expertise of those people who build this fort. The fortification is amazing. After this, we return to Rameshwar Temple. We freshened up at Padamavati Lake, had our lunch, and got ready to walk down. It took only one and half hour to reached the Vajeghar- village. We gave last glimpse to the fort, saluted its owner- The Great Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and went towards our bikes.

We again tide our luggage on both the bikes and Rodies were ready to rule the roads. We reached at karjat at around 8.45- 9.00 pm. Beyond doubt; it was a Dream Come True Journey for all of us.

K-Cube Fun

I had been to Lonavala at kumar resort for three days (Friday, Sat, sunday). It was fun. Dont think that we been to resort means what fun????????? We actually stayed at that resorts but we been to Kondana (near karjat) on Friday, Kune (one of the remote village of Lonavala) on Saturday and then Kambre on sunday.

Thursday night we started from Culaba to our surprised offsite destination. We all were unaware about the place till we reached there. When I saw it was lonavala. I was so depressed.. My reaction is like ohhhh no lonavala and that to a resort… in this nice climate is there any need of artificial experience? Then I thought let it be whatever it was…. let us enjoy.

We actually hired experience trekkers from Mumbai. The leader of there team is Santanu. In his team, few people were from karjat like sampada phulzade Parag & Raju dandekar name of the few. First time I had an experience of rock climbing and rappelling... it was thrilling.

On Friday morning, we had a session on rock climbing and rappelling by Shantanu (the instructor). In the afternoon we moved towards karjat to Kondana, there we made nine groups named as A B C D E F G H I, then four groups went towards east and remaining five teams moved to west. There was a game. The trackers already kept coloured tags with above initials in that jungle. Each team has to collect there own team’s name as if we have to collect C tag, as my team’s name is C. The colours of the tags are white, red, green, black, and spread all over the jungle. The jungle was divided into four parts I II III IV. We have to search for that tags. Each colour has the value like 100, 200 400, 500 respectively and there was a yellow tag with 500 points that was a bonus, but for this bonus point we have to find out the pair of yellow tag. We started climbing at 6 pm in the evening before that we did a plan that how to search the tags. There was four hrs time for this game means until 10 in the night and we were searching for the tags in that pitch-dark night without the fear of snakes, Scorpioes etc… we finally collected 50 tags out of 55 tags. It was thrilling experience roaming in jungle that too in a pitch-dark night. Apart from this, it helped to increase your presence of mind, crisis management, teamwork efforts, and communications. The day ended with lots of learning and we finally go to bed at 1.00 am.

Second day morning we have to gather at conference room at 9.00 am and 8.00 am the breakfast was there so we got up at 6.30 am. After finishing the morning, stuff we came to coffee house had our breakfast and gathered in a conference room. There was a small session on Botox (one of our client). After the lunch, we took our sags and moved out for Kune,- the atmosphere was amazing - thick fog, strong wind and heavy rains...man unbelievable. For one minute, the fog was so thick that you cannot even see each other but in a next minute, everything is clear, waterfalls were astonishing. Shantanu’s team thought us how to use marker (gun) and then he divided us in two teams and there were amos that we have to collect. It was like a war. He set up a Tent called head quarters for both teams. There was a river, which was actually a boundary line for both of the teams. This game also required lots of planning. There was CEO, EX-O, Commanders, and soldiers. Each team has 12-12 guns among 30 people. We suppose to follow our CEO’s instructions. We wore helmets and took our guns and finally our battle starts. Though we did all planning for it, still there was lots of confusion actually. Because besides planning you never know how the things turn up. You have to plan accordingly. After lots of Zip – Zack there were no results. Finally, my team won. At the end of the game, my team has 18 guns. That was the sign of win. I am very much afraid of snakes. However, the way I was moving, I was so surprised about myself. Then I came to know that it was all my mindset. I was not afraid about snakes at that time because my focused aim was different. I have to find out enemy and have to kill for my team’s win. So if your mind is free and you have focused aim then no one will stop you from success, is the learning from this experience.


On the last day of our offsite, we reached at kambre village. This is again one of the remote villages of lonavala. The beauty of the village was unpraised. After few instructions of Shantanu and team, we started walking towards the mountains, at that time rain was showering very slowly. We went from thick forest…huge trees, wet leaves below the feet, humming of bees and birds, wind.. Then we came across a big roaring waterfall. It was superb; mind blowing...it was pouring loads of white water with roaring voice. It has wide stream. We spent few minutes over there. We cross it and start walking towards our destination ... and we came to the tiny way and we saw some people are tying ropes, ladders to the tress & rocks and our heart starts beating fast because we have to climb up and reach to the ancients buddhist caves. Team members of Santanu started wearing their full trekking kit to us. They locked us with ropes, hooks, helmets etc...They kept telling us that trust us you will not fall. But it was first time and to be very frank I was little bit afraid.. First mouli sir went and then I started climbing … I stepped up and at a middle point I came to know that my legs are shaking.. The rocks was slippery.. the instructor kept telling me, “give all your pressure on your feet and climb” but what to do my legs were shaking and I thought no alternate way available so I have to go up or down because I am in the middle of that giant, slippery rock and then I started climbing up and finally I reached… I was not in the state of mind to believe myself that I did this alone.. Then at up we waited for others to come … after a long two hrs wait all of them climbed successfully with some scratches. Then we saw the view from top, caves, carvings, everything was excellent. After spending half an hour there we again started to go down, we were in a hurry because the weathers turned up very bad. Suddenly the water level increased. While rappelling down I took little time because I was so afraid to push my self back and without doing that it was impossible to come down. The instructor kept telling me, “go down …pournima… you have to do it … do it… it’s easy”. He showed me how to give pressure back and stick to the rock… but it was very hard to do that…after 5 min of my drama he said “ pournima, listen to me, even if you want to commit suicide now you won’t do it right now because you are in safe hands” I made him so frustrated. Finally, he pushed me and I came down. It was an amazing experience. Our 13 members are still at that caves when winds starts blowing badly with heavy rains.. Water level increased suddenly and the worst thing was rocks started falling… shantanu stopped them at the top. We were so worried that if weather did not turn up nice then what will happen. They have to stay in that caves throughout the night because there is no other way to come down. There is no food, no water nothings… and finally rains stopped shantanu started it immediately, and all of them came down with sie of relief. Its was adventures, fun, and good learning experience …then we came down at that village where we started our journey in the morning and had our after meal at 7.30 in the evening then moved to Mumbai. I reached home at 10.00 at night.


,___

A catastrophic experience

Bike riding is always a thrill. I enjoyed bike ride every time. I and Abhijeet are so confident about each others company on bike that we enjoyed every movement on the bike. I roamed on bike so many times with him. I like the tom boy stylish bike riding. Its always fun with him on bike. Since he had the bike we forgot to walk. Our small bike ride was acceptable but first time we went to pune on bike- almost 200 km journey to and fro. It was a safe and nice journey. Then we got the second chance to go to Pune as our last installment fees date was due. And as usual we planned our second visit to Pune on bike.

We started our day at 8.00 am instead of 7.30 am coz I was late. It was fun to be on bike but to drive in Pune’s traffic is terrific. Here I must say that it is quite a bit of a problem, in fact quite a pain in Pune to drive coz no one bothers to follow the traffic rules. The bus drivers respect nothing and no one. The four wheelers overtake another with other vehicles coming in front. The road at Pune was horrible as usual. Very crowded, uneven tarmac and little or no place to overtake, specially for Abhijeet who was just in his 8th month of driving bikes, with hardly 9000 kms to his credit. That is where we thought that we lost our way to college but finally we found it and reached the college on time. We finished our work as fast as we can and then rested in the Symbiosis’s canteen. He was recollecting his college day’s memories in the canteen. And I started realizing the pleasures of motorcycle driving in the hills, the winding roads, the greenery, the mountains, the fabulous gorges, the ravines, the waterfalls. It was a great drive; we finished our quick snacks break and started our return journey.

We looked at the sky but it looked to be not on our side for the moment. But Driving in the rains brings with it its own set of nostalgic feelings. Green as much as the eye can see, Fog, mist and lovely scenery. Abhijeet was in very good mood…he had sung songs …we had butta (corns) ..Weather was pleasant …it was thundering and lighting but not so badly…we were very happy n enjoying the unplanned rainy picnic but suddenly climate had changed…rains were so bad that it became difficult to negotiate the ghats. That day it was pouring heavily, raincoats were of no use….lighting was also very horrific. ..Suddenly a ray of light occurred in front of him and bike slipped. We fell…in a fraction of second everything had happen. I didn’t even get time to know that I was not on bike but on road…. But I remembered Abhi’s reaction ….he fall and got up to look at me…he wanted to know where I am? His movements were so quick that I still remembered his reaction as fresh as it was that day. He got hurt on his knee and hand. I was completely fine except some scratches on hand. But trust me after that the rains and lighting were worst that it became hard to drive for him. So we waited there for some time. We passed almost 10-15 mins in the middle of highway but rains didn’t stop. It turned out to be worst. So we planned to move slowly….he tried again ..but not able to see in front … so again we stopped. …meanwhile he kept asking whether I was afraid or not… I was but didn’t tell him coz that was not the time ….I wanted him to concentrate on his driving so that we can reach Khopoli safely. It was a very thundering experience….thankfully for few minutes there were no vehicles on highway…we fell..got up and waited at the side of the road …then a big container passed… I said “ think ..if this container was there when we fall…”. Abhijeet shattered coz if that was there then today I won’t be writing this …J J but God was with us and still we alive for more bike ridings in nearer future.

Expect the unexpected things in life

Every one is waiting for August 15, 2008 this year as it was the long weekend. Everybody has their own plans. Planning for this weekend was done a month back. Hotels, resorts were booked. In my office also everyone was talking about the weekend plans. Among all this mess, I was like what to do. Three long days at home with no electricity (because of load shedding), heavy rains etc. There were no plans of outing as I don’t have any company. I was just thinking about what to do…suddenly I decided to call Abhijeet. Wanna check his availability for Friday to visit TMC at Shirse- Aakurle. What luck…He said yes to visit TMC. So we planned to go there at around 10.30 am – 11 .00 am. He came at 11.00 am at my place to pick me up from home. I was waiting for him. As soon as he entered rain had started so we waited for a while and then left from home. We went to TMC… but it was really a sad place. So just be there for 15-20 min. The entire day was empty. Again there was a question mark ….what to do??? The climate was good and surroundings were also nice so we both decided to take a ride on bike. While riding on bike we planned a picnic to Kondivade caves. We were not at all prepared for any kind of trek but still manage to reach some height of the hills. We were in search of caves so walking the regular path but the road was never ending. It’s like the way ahead………. So at some point we thought to take a break and return. It soon began to get windy and rains started when a long winding route came. I have to mention here that the weather was awesome and rains were like blessings of God. It was pouring in Kondivade. It was raining so heavy that rain drops hurt you when it hits your skin but I enjoyed the rains for entire season as if like from tomorrow there were no rains coming for a year. We crossed mountain streams on foot, climbed rocky routes, crossed jungles and made way through slippery paths. We saw lots white crabs, heard birds crippling. I really felt that I must have a camera to grab these moments. We enjoyed a lot but still I wanted to see the caves coz that was the end result .. for this we joined a unknown but very decent group who were also in search of caves. Again the journey was from slippery paths and hurdles of tress etc. In this journey the waterfalls were amazing. Shower of rain, flow of waterfall … everything has it own rhythm. We couldn’t find the caves but we enjoyed rains and waterfalls. At last we sat under the beautiful waterfall. We both were talking on different topics while lying down in the water. I was amazed with myself because at that particular movement sometime I was full of emotions and some time completely blank. After sometime spending in that waterfall we took a way back to home. My hearth is full of mixture of feelings. We didn’t find the caves… but we were not sad as our rhythmic journey was full of joy and happiness. We said last bye-bye to that group and left for home. We met Pranav to plan Lohagad’s picnic. We planned to meet next day at 7.45 am at karjat station for Intercity Express and dispersed. We both had the unplanned but very nice picnic. This was the most memorable day in my life. Here I just remember the line “Expect the unexpected things in life”. I was so surprised with myself because we were wondering in the jungle like we were used to for the path. But there are words in the Bhagwad Geeta “on this path, efforts never goes to waste and there is no failure. Even a little effort towards spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear”.


As decided previous day, Pranav had come to my place but I was not ready to leave. My mother had fallen sick so I did some work to help her. I got ready meanwhile Pranav purchased some food for us. I met Abhijeet and Pranav at station directly. We boarded into train but Sanyogita, Manasi and Minal preferred to be at ladies compartment as train was crowed. We didn’t get place to sit but didn’t felt tired as we were chatting, gossiping and making comments on others. It took 40 min to reach at Lonavala. Its beauty with all its natural water falls, streams rolling out from mountains crevices. Thanks to Pranav- the organizer J J J. But Lonavala was not our destination. It was Malavali but next train to reach there is after one hour. We were wondering here and there in Lonaval to spend that one hour. We had breakfast, took some medicines. Photography session had begun as soon as we reached Malavali Station. We reached at Bhaje village. The waterfalls were breathtaking. . When we started seeing the lovely wild falls we could hardly wait to get there. That was just the beginning of our travel because Lokhagad was still a way ahead. But as Buddha said “You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself” so it was like chale chalo. We reached at the staircase of the fort. Sanyogita and manasi wanted to have roasted corns. So waited for them to buy it …meanwhile we read the history of Lohagad which was printed on the iron board at the bottom. We finished that and started towards our destination- Mission Lohagad. We just climbed few steps and we saw a crowd of monkeys coming down. They were looking like a huge family with all generations. It was really scary. Every one was scared I think but kept telling to everyone don’t panic, don’t scream ...just ignore them and keep walking. But Sanyogita was exceptional for this. She was panic and kept screaming…monkeys were towards Manasi and her coz they had corn in their hands. Manasi threw the corn towards other end of staircase to get rid of monkeys. This helped all of us to escape from the scary site. It was really funny that we scared of monkeys and escape from them. Fort is the symbol of bravery, people used to fight with enemies but we were escaping from monkeys, isn’t it funny??? J J J. It is but more than that it was scary, If they would have attack then that might be the end of our journey. Thanks to God that nothing went worse. Manasi was very sad for a while as she had to throw the corn which she just took the bite. Then Sanyogita shared her corn with Manasi broad heartedly. Then we went ahead..this time Minal, Pranav, Sanyogita and Myself were ahead and Abhijeet and manasi were busy taking snaps. We just heard Sanyogita screaming…..no wonder there was another monkey…but this time we were lucky that we didn’t met the ZUND OF MONKEYS. Sanyogita kept screaming and that horrible monkey kept moving towards her…Now what as she was not listening to us and there is no other way to handle the situation…thanks to Pranav’s presence of mind as he threw the chips packet and monkeys mind get distracted. We just ran from the place and monkey ran with packet of chips with some chips on ground. It was really funny scene. With all this scenes and beautiful site seeing we reached at Lohagad Fort. It was amazing. It’s a huge fort. I really want to salute those people who build that fort. Amazing architecture!!! There were lovely wild valleys. We were to be on top of a plateau above the valley. The road was narrow, rocky and full of potholes. We walked a hell lot of distance but still it was a beautiful place and we had lots of fun. We met a nature lover person Mr. Mosin who has snake, chameleon and scorpions in his pocket. We had lots of knowledge about nature and animals. He showed us some places on fort and described some history as well. It was nice that we had some one who has knowledge about the fort. As like Kondivade, at Lohagad also we went through the slippery and muddy path. Most of us fall, slip in between but it was small break to laugh. We clicked pictures, did almost a photo session of every body. Manasi is very beautiful and got a very photogenic face. This time I was also interested in taking my snaps though I was not so photogenic. We enjoyed each others company and had fun with known – unknown people in a group. Then finally we started coming down as we have to catch a train. Overall it was a nice trek and all’s wet that ends wet.

Two out of three days went well… really amazing. Saturday night I was wondering I have one more day to enjoy so why to waste the single day as well. Abhijeet and I decided to go for a movie- Jane tu…Ya Jane Na. I caught a 12.12 pm train and he boarded from Neral in the same train at 12.30 pm. We met at Thane. The movie was at 4.40 pm we had almost two hours in our hand to spend. We did some shopping and took a rick to Mulund. As per my geographic knowledge the Nirmal lifestyle was near by from Mulund Check naka so I made him to walk. But I was completely wrong as it was very far. We walked some distance but I was not at all sure about the road so finally we took another rick to Nirmal Lifestyle mall. We took tickets of movie and again did some shopping as we still have 20 min and don’t want to waste that also. Movie was ultimate. We enjoyed it a lot. As if last two days given a feeling that we were in college and this movie was like cherry on a cake. After the movie we were laughing on each and every scene from the movie. While coming back in the train we discuss some topics; actually I was listening Abhijeet’s memories. He really had lovely moments with her. I was very much there but my mind was like “Nagme hain, shikwe hain Kisse hain, baatein hain, (Baatein bhool jaatihain Yaadein yaad aati hain, Yeh yaadein kisi dil-o-jaanam ke Chal jaane ke baad aatihain Yaadein, yaadein, yaadein..” Neral had come and he had to get down. He left and I sat near the window. Cool breeze was blowing my face and different thoughts were revolving in my mind. I was thinking something and Abhijeet called … I was so confused that I couldn’t understand a single statement so I told him that I will call you later. After that phone call I was trying to link the thoughts together but as usual confused to recollect everything? Every time I was unable to express myself. But nonetheless we had a grate time together. These days are really unforgettable days in my life. I really want Abhijeet as my best friend always. Before this weekend I was so puzzled about spending the holidays but at the end of that I wished that I could have one more day to have fun with friends . It was amazing, unforgettable days in life.