Heyaaa! Long time, no write..right? Right. I have the same feeling. This blog might not have happened and I would have maintained a distance from the 'Pensee' page if my cousin had not asked me to write something on the topic - 'Trip with friends' for some vocal test he had to undertake. I was wondering, since the request was made, whether I've drafted something regarding the trip I've had with friends and memories of which I cherish a lot. Some of trips that are close to my heart are -
a) To Manali during college time,
b) To Solan for college placements, and
c) To Lonavla during 1st year in office.
Now, as happens always, I'm recalling more and more trips from the past and God! they were all awesome! The one that I originally intended to write about was the trip to Manali but that idea got trumped by the one to Lonavla. Wait, now Lonavla has a couple of contenders - one where we went to Guhagar and another is the one where we went to Kashid beach. I'm unsure about which one to write..ummmm..let's do Lonavla, a trip that had a lot of 'firsts'.
Monsoon 2010 had arrived in Mumbai. It wasn't my first encounter with Mumbai rains, which have a special place in my heart ever since I stepped in maximum city in 2009. My project team had many "new" recruits and we built a special bond very quickly. I think that was primarily because Project was still new and there were lot of things to learn so we struggled equally. Also, we're all of same age, almost. Team had 7 members - Sudhir, Mohnish, Reena, Shuchi, Aastha, Divya and myself. One Friday, a plan was made impromptu and we decided to rent a Tata Sumo and drive to Lonavla and from there to a fort named Koraigarh. It was one of the fort of great Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Mohnish and I were flatmates and we left our place at 7 AM to reach the designated pickup point. Sudhir was the wingman since he was a localite and he had prior experience of trekking to many hills and forts in Western Ghats. Soon after we boarded, we were joined by Reena, Shuchi and Aastha. Divya boarded last. Everytime someone boarded he or she was welcomed with a loud cheer from the occupants of the car. Boarding completed and we finally set off the journey. We were on the Mumbai Pune expressway sooner than we expected. We're told that this highway is notorious for the accidents, especially in monsoon season. We cared a little since we had an experienced driver and we had instructed him against over-speeding. It had only been half an hour since we touched the expressway rains started and our joy doubled. The scenery around the expressway was breathtaking. There was greenery everywhere, mountains were laden with thick green cover, streams came down the hillocks like a waterfall. I was overwhelmed with the beauty outside and company of friends inside. Rain stopped however overcast remained. Thick black cloud cover suggested that heavier rainfall is imminent. We sang songs, played games and pulled each others legs during the journey. We made couple of halts midway to click photographs and make videos. It all looked serene and picturesque. In 3 hours time we reached 'Tiger Point', one of the famous tourist attractions in Lonavla. Clouds touched our faces. For me, these were all new experiences and I was thrilled. It was cold out there and it rained for a while so we're soaked. Hot cup of tea and Parle G biscuits were a welcome relief. We stayed there for about an hour and clicked lots of pictures. Girls made lot of poses and we did not miss any opportunity of photo bombing, It was fun!
From 'Tiger Point' we started our drive to the fort and in no time we reached the point from which we had to start the trekking. Trekking was a first for me, before this I had not even climbed a tree let alone climbing up the hills. I was wearing a pair of sandals - not an ideal gear for trekking, but who cared. The fort looked quite high at the start of the journey and I was wondering if the climb to the top and descend back to the car would be possible in 4 hours, but we're bunch of enthusiastic youth riding high on adrenaline rush. We took off and in about 50 minutes climb we're at the entry gate of the fort. Each step in the stairs were quite high. These must have been designed for horsemen, Mohnish, brainiest among us and civil engineer by education, reckoned. We were welcomed at the gate by a small waterfall, spell of rain and a gang of monkeys. We soaked ourselves in the waterfall, clicked more pictures and went inside the fort. God! the place was magical! Although in ruins now, with a little imagination, we could establish the magnanimity of the place in its time from whatever was left. There was greenery everywhere. Mosses were grown on the rocks owing to the rain and made them very slippery. We roamed around, had a round of refreshments and enjoyed the scenery around. Amitabh Bachhan pose, Titanic pose and James Bond 007 pose were quite famous and lots of groupies and selfies were clicked. Everybody wanted to capture as much of the nature, surrounding and the moment as possible. While we're still at the fort, we discovered that there is a narrow walkway to the farther end of the fort which had a beautiful view and had a well. Our curiosity grew, but we're aware of danger as well so we looked up to Sudhir to decide for us. He decided to go there and check the claims and place, if is is approachable for us newbies, were correct.. When he came back, response was affirmative. We decided to explore that corner of the fort as well. With little difficulty we're in the not-much-visited part of the fort. It was the good decision and we're in front of the most beautiful view I had ever seen. I wished if time could stop and I remain in this place forever.
We started our descent and were at the bottom of the hill right on time. There was smile on everybody's face and not a single person looked tired. We could have stayed longer if the time permitted. I think we might have climbed the mountain again, if anyone had floated that idea. We got into our car and drove towards Mumbai. It grew dark by the time we entered Mumbai. When Mohnish and I got out of the car we realized we had developed cramps and could barely walk. I think the cramp and the pain were because we walked too much in a single stretch without being in any habit of walking, owing to our sedentary lifestyles in corporate job. Although the pain remained for couple of days it was all worth it. When the pictures of the trip were shared, every other team in the project wished if they were part of this trip. Snaps were all captured perfectly by Sudhir, the photographer, the planner and the wingman.
It has been a pleasure moment and remembering it after 9 years was a good blast from the past! I hope I get into habit of blogging more often. Let's see. I've the first and one for 2018 at least.
a) To Manali during college time,
b) To Solan for college placements, and
c) To Lonavla during 1st year in office.
Now, as happens always, I'm recalling more and more trips from the past and God! they were all awesome! The one that I originally intended to write about was the trip to Manali but that idea got trumped by the one to Lonavla. Wait, now Lonavla has a couple of contenders - one where we went to Guhagar and another is the one where we went to Kashid beach. I'm unsure about which one to write..ummmm..let's do Lonavla, a trip that had a lot of 'firsts'.
Monsoon 2010 had arrived in Mumbai. It wasn't my first encounter with Mumbai rains, which have a special place in my heart ever since I stepped in maximum city in 2009. My project team had many "new" recruits and we built a special bond very quickly. I think that was primarily because Project was still new and there were lot of things to learn so we struggled equally. Also, we're all of same age, almost. Team had 7 members - Sudhir, Mohnish, Reena, Shuchi, Aastha, Divya and myself. One Friday, a plan was made impromptu and we decided to rent a Tata Sumo and drive to Lonavla and from there to a fort named Koraigarh. It was one of the fort of great Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Mohnish and I were flatmates and we left our place at 7 AM to reach the designated pickup point. Sudhir was the wingman since he was a localite and he had prior experience of trekking to many hills and forts in Western Ghats. Soon after we boarded, we were joined by Reena, Shuchi and Aastha. Divya boarded last. Everytime someone boarded he or she was welcomed with a loud cheer from the occupants of the car. Boarding completed and we finally set off the journey. We were on the Mumbai Pune expressway sooner than we expected. We're told that this highway is notorious for the accidents, especially in monsoon season. We cared a little since we had an experienced driver and we had instructed him against over-speeding. It had only been half an hour since we touched the expressway rains started and our joy doubled. The scenery around the expressway was breathtaking. There was greenery everywhere, mountains were laden with thick green cover, streams came down the hillocks like a waterfall. I was overwhelmed with the beauty outside and company of friends inside. Rain stopped however overcast remained. Thick black cloud cover suggested that heavier rainfall is imminent. We sang songs, played games and pulled each others legs during the journey. We made couple of halts midway to click photographs and make videos. It all looked serene and picturesque. In 3 hours time we reached 'Tiger Point', one of the famous tourist attractions in Lonavla. Clouds touched our faces. For me, these were all new experiences and I was thrilled. It was cold out there and it rained for a while so we're soaked. Hot cup of tea and Parle G biscuits were a welcome relief. We stayed there for about an hour and clicked lots of pictures. Girls made lot of poses and we did not miss any opportunity of photo bombing, It was fun!
From 'Tiger Point' we started our drive to the fort and in no time we reached the point from which we had to start the trekking. Trekking was a first for me, before this I had not even climbed a tree let alone climbing up the hills. I was wearing a pair of sandals - not an ideal gear for trekking, but who cared. The fort looked quite high at the start of the journey and I was wondering if the climb to the top and descend back to the car would be possible in 4 hours, but we're bunch of enthusiastic youth riding high on adrenaline rush. We took off and in about 50 minutes climb we're at the entry gate of the fort. Each step in the stairs were quite high. These must have been designed for horsemen, Mohnish, brainiest among us and civil engineer by education, reckoned. We were welcomed at the gate by a small waterfall, spell of rain and a gang of monkeys. We soaked ourselves in the waterfall, clicked more pictures and went inside the fort. God! the place was magical! Although in ruins now, with a little imagination, we could establish the magnanimity of the place in its time from whatever was left. There was greenery everywhere. Mosses were grown on the rocks owing to the rain and made them very slippery. We roamed around, had a round of refreshments and enjoyed the scenery around. Amitabh Bachhan pose, Titanic pose and James Bond 007 pose were quite famous and lots of groupies and selfies were clicked. Everybody wanted to capture as much of the nature, surrounding and the moment as possible. While we're still at the fort, we discovered that there is a narrow walkway to the farther end of the fort which had a beautiful view and had a well. Our curiosity grew, but we're aware of danger as well so we looked up to Sudhir to decide for us. He decided to go there and check the claims and place, if is is approachable for us newbies, were correct.. When he came back, response was affirmative. We decided to explore that corner of the fort as well. With little difficulty we're in the not-much-visited part of the fort. It was the good decision and we're in front of the most beautiful view I had ever seen. I wished if time could stop and I remain in this place forever.
We started our descent and were at the bottom of the hill right on time. There was smile on everybody's face and not a single person looked tired. We could have stayed longer if the time permitted. I think we might have climbed the mountain again, if anyone had floated that idea. We got into our car and drove towards Mumbai. It grew dark by the time we entered Mumbai. When Mohnish and I got out of the car we realized we had developed cramps and could barely walk. I think the cramp and the pain were because we walked too much in a single stretch without being in any habit of walking, owing to our sedentary lifestyles in corporate job. Although the pain remained for couple of days it was all worth it. When the pictures of the trip were shared, every other team in the project wished if they were part of this trip. Snaps were all captured perfectly by Sudhir, the photographer, the planner and the wingman.
It has been a pleasure moment and remembering it after 9 years was a good blast from the past! I hope I get into habit of blogging more often. Let's see. I've the first and one for 2018 at least.
