Jog - Yana - Murudeshwar - Marvanthe

Sharath, Siri, Sneha, Bhargavi and I went for this trip in October 2008.
Day 1:
We left early in the morning to Tumkur to avoid the heavy traffic. It was a Dussera weekend and the buses plying between towns was packed with people both inside and on top of them. The road to Tumkur was bad with pot holes and fly over construction material everywhere. Siri drove touching speeds upto 150 kms once the road got better. The car's technology was tested to its edge and it did not dissapoint us.

After eating tatte idli we moved towards Shimoga. Siri's relatives in Shimoga served us delicious food and took great care of us. After the heavy meal none of us wanted to drive to our next destination - Jog falls.
Jog Falls would have been a sight had it been rainy season. The lack of water takes away the beauty of the height from which the water falls. The place was extremely crowded as it has become a major attraction thanks to the Kannada movie Mungaru Malle.We left Jog falls quickly ignoring the touts who promised to show some wonderful sights which I am sure never existed. We stopped on our way and played in the river under a bridge where there was no crowd.
After tea we left towards Sirsi playing word games, 20 questions game to identify the celebrity, etc. On our way conversations ranged from Gucci to GNU and Open source. Whenever we discussed technology Bhargavi dozed off. If it was about shoe or clothing brands it was my turn to sleep. Sneha slept irrespective of the topic under discussion.
We reached Sirsi in the evening. In the night we discussed philosophical things over dinner and drinks. We slept well as most of us were tired and had to wake up early.

Day 2:

We decided to drive towards Yana where the majestic rock formations is a place worth visiting. We climbed the sharp rocks without shoes. Siri and Sneha had enough of it and Bhargavi had to get shoes for them while they both sat like queens. A person called Raj Anna took our snaps and we could barely control our laughter.
The girls were trying to pose for a snap on the car bonnet and the local crowd looked at them as if they had seen super models on a Ferrari. Fearing the mob we drove away and stopped again to take snaps near the field with the girls posing again like super models.
After checking out we left towards Murudeshwar. On our way we visited the temple in Sirsi.
Battling bad roads and ghat sections we reached our destination in the evening. The temple town suprisingly had bar restaurants. After worrying about the hotel cost and food cost we ate and left towards an unexplored beach. The entire beach was for us and the sea bed being soft allowed us to enter deeper into the sea.
We were put up on the 6th floor of RNS Residency which itself is built a little into the sea. One can see hills, the coast and the sea from the balcony of the room. After a good meal and bath we all decided to sleep and wake up early next morning and go to the beach.

Day 3:
None of us woke up early. We decided to go to the swimming pool and wave pool which were located adjacent to the sea and Sneha was dressed up in her swimsuit for the pool. The former was crowded and the latter was closed so we had only one choice - Beach.
We got inspired by a few people and tried to drive the car right onto the shore. The car got stuck in the sand and we had to battle for 45 minutes by using jack, stones, wood pieces and help from two guys to take the car out of the sand and Siri's mind.
After lunch we left towards Marvanthe - Turtle Bay Resort. On our way we got the car washed in a small service station. The weather was extremely humid and the place just had a shed where the girls sat as Sharath and I played carrom with some boys.
The resort is a small place with hammocks, a place to play table tennis, snorkelling equipment, etc. We almost spent the entire evening and night on the beach sitting on a rock. It was either the beach or the hammock inside the resort. Sharath tried his luck with some girls and helped them click snaps. But the girls vanished suddenly. Later in the night Sharath, me and Bhargavi went for a walk near the fishing boats. Sharath was at his emotional best while me and Bhargavi laughed at him.

Day 4:
We had to drive a long way back o Bangalore. On our way we visited Kollur temple. It was one of those ancient temples and famous one too. There was a huge crowd and wading our way in and out of the temple was tough. Waiting in the queue the girls got compliment from some elderly people about their looks which made them feel good.
The journey back was basically driving, driving and more driving.

Generally when I return from a trip I do not have trip hang over but the last week trip to Northern and Coastal Karnataka has left a hang over in my head. I want to reverse time and get back there. It has been a memorable trip not just because of the places but mainly because of the company.
We were three girls and two guys in a Hynudai Verna driving 1200 kms across hills and coast trying to see every single place. The company was great because the girls adjusted very nicely. They ate anywhere, sleep anywhere, traveled despite the hot weather. The only condition they had - good toilets. We were lucky to have good toilets.

Cricket Scores

Cricket @ Picket

I had written this blog about a decade ago. It was not called a blog then it was just a write-up for my English class.

June - October 1998

KV picket has had a great tradition of cricket and I had a chance to be a part of it. The KV Sangathan had decided for some reason that 1998 will be a year where the KVS Cricket National Tournament would have the winning team of each zone qualifying for the next round instead of selecting players from each zone.
We started practicing for this tournament from early June. A lot of players, sports teachers and opposition teams felt we could not make it to the National finals as we never had good players. Most of us played to bunk classes during practice, get free sports attire, and most importantly impress girls near the playground. But all of us loved and lived the game.
As we kept practicing our skills improved. Our fielding was class apart from the other schools and some people used to actually come down to watch our fielding sessions. During these drills where we would take slip catches, high catches, have run out simulations, relay throw simulations, etc. Later, we would have sprint sessions, running between the wicket sessions and so on. After all this we would have net sessions.
By the time we selected the final team, fine tuned our strategies etc it was time for the SUB REGIONAL tournament. Picket had played some three practice games before this and won them. We won this tournament beating schools like KV Trimulgery and KV Begumpet. This meant we would get a chance to visit Vizag where the REGIONAL tournament was being held and in the process bunk some more classes. We played good cricket and reached the finals and in the finals we were over confident of beating a tough Vizag side which had players from the sports hostel. We lost to a very strong side and in the process made some enemies on the field. A few players from this team would meet us in a big match later.

However, we qualified for the ZONAL tournament in Chennai and won the tournament convincingly thus making our journey into the National Level Tournament at Chandigarh. We got into the final and faced KVS Sports hostel which had some of our old foes (some players) to whom we had lost in the REGIONAL round. They started out as favourites in the final as they boasted of some strong players and had already beaten us before.

I still remember the cold morning – overcast conditions, green top and we debating whether to bat first or second. We won the toss and changed the idea of batting first and instead put the opposition in. After getting them out for 130 it was our turn.
I used to open the batting for Picket and have always preferred opening as it is always nervous to watch others play. But on this day I was down with viral fever and decided to bat down the order.
It was 112/7 when I walked into bat with three sweaters and still shivering. I guess it was cold and my nerves were also not holding on. Amidst opposition abuses, jeering, and a breaking wicket the 19 runs that me and my partner at the other end scored is something I will never forget in my life. Every run was followed by a prayer and I still remember running a double by just pushing the ball into the infield. I have never run so fast since. I have never been so desperate to win since. I have never played cricket so passionately since. We finally needed two to win and when the winning runs were hit we ran three instead of two just to be sure.
The entire team ran into the field and we celebrated as though we had won the world cup. I guess everybody cannot play for India and that moment was definitely my world cup.

Things I hate !!!

• action item
• pilot project
• low hanging fruits
• value add
• innovation
• mission statement
• growth
• areas of opportunity
• visibility
• customer impact
• process
• vision
• learning
• improving skill set
• return on investment
• aggressive
• growth driver
• mentor
• Team spirit
• When people say "Cheque" or "Check" (not sure what) instead of telling the waiter "Bill please".
• When people pronounce "coupons" as "coopawns" instead of "coopuns".
• When people say "I need to fill gas" instead of "fill petrol".
• At Subway when the guy asks me "with extra cheese" without mentioning that it costs more.
• When someone uses the word "Like" in between words. For ex:- I was like pissed, What i mean
• is like cool, etc
• I hate it when people say "yup", "nope".
• Some people use the word "Math" instead of "Maths".

Current mood: annoyed

Designations in the Software Industry

A lot of hue and cry goes about in IT industry about designations. Senior Architect, Principal Architect, Senior assistant developer, Staff software engineer, etc. Sometimes these designations are hilarious because they have no meaning whatsoever. I can't talk about designations in other departments but as far as the software development is concerned I think there are just three designations.
Software Developer, Senior Software Developer and Architect. At any given time, place, team, company I feel the developers fall into one of the three categories.
I feel that one has to spend at least 5 years in the engineering department to be called senior developer. Another 5 to get to even think in terms of design, architecture etc of a software and another 3-5 years to become an architect. There might be exceptions but a normal software professional needs to spend at least 12 years in the industry to be called an architect.
I have completely stopped asking people in the IT industry about their designation.

Sandakphu Trip

We (Sneha and I) had decided to go to Sandakhpu almost four months in advance. Our tickets were booked, our trip itinerary finalized and even the food for the trek was finalized. But, Sid alias Bunty had not finalized anything. Bunty had not booked flight tickets, neither did he have proper clothing, nor did he know where exactly we were going for the trek.

Day 1:

Sneha and I took a flight from Bangalore to Calcutta. The airline crew served us evening snacks and we thought dinner will not be served to us but to our luck we got dinner too. We landed in Calcutta at around 22 30 hrs and were happy after the sumptuous meal. Our happiness came to an end suddenly as the weather was humid, the place was dirty and the best part of the night was yet to come.

I booked a hotel called “Rumati Bunglow” and the hotel authorities promised us a free pickup that excited us. This ride however took us to “Rupasi Bunglow” and not the original place. It was nothing less than a dance bar with jarring music and each floor having a different coloured light. First floor was green, Second floor was blue and so on.

We were shell shocked and decided to sleep quietly.

Day 2:

Jaideep, my roommate during hostel days, had earlier in the week offered to book a hotel near his house but I had refused. I learnt a bitter lesson and should have taken his help earlier. I called him early in the morning and told that we are coming to his house. We skipped breakfast as we did not want to try anything new in the hotel and reached his place by noon.

After the initial hostel talk we decided to visit Victoria Memorial. The memorial has lovely architecture, paintings and interiors. I also clicked a snap of one of the flood lights of the Eden Gardens, the great cricket stadium, from the memorial.

We then went for lunch to a Bengali restaurant where Farhan and Shreya joined us. Lunch was great and I gorged on the Bengali fish especially a dish called “Patoli” or “Patori” (not sure what the exact name was). It was a dream come true eating such a lovely dish.

We decided against going to Park Street for shopping and spent some more time in the restaurant as it had A/C and later went to the City Centre mall with six of us squeezing inside a car.

Later in the evening we reached the railway station and caught the Darjeeling Mail to New Jalpaiguri (NJP. In the train we ate some junk food and tried the authentic “Mashla / Jhaal Muri”.

Day 3:

I love train journeys. It is my “second home” according to Sneha. During our journey we met an old couple and their grand children traveling to Sikkim. Sneha was reminded of her grandparents as the grand mom kept fussing around with food with everyone including us and the grand father kept talking about the world.

At around 08 00 hrs we reached NJP where Sunil Gurung and Bhutia picked us up. Bhutia was a thirty seven year old Kargil war hero who looked like a twenty year old. Over breakfast we decided to wait for Sid, who was joining us finally. Sid was taking a flight to Bagdogra and we decided to go there. I used to stay in Bagdogra as a boy and as we drove to Bagdogra I could recognize the route to the airport, the Air Force station, the railway track, the over bridge, the road to Bengdubi Army camp, not to mention the place where four of us (parents, sister and myself) met with a scooter accident while going to Mirik, etc. I felt nostalgic and happy as even in my wildest dreams I never imagined to go there again in life.

Seeing Sid in the Airport was a joyous moment for us as we waited for almost six hours. Finally, our journey to Maneybhanjan began amidst evergreen trees, thick fog, and beautiful tea estates which no snap can ever capture perfectly. We stopped at Mirik, a picturesque place with the famous lake, for tea and snacks.

After a three hour drive we reached Gurung’s house. The house had wooden walls, nicely decorated rooms with lots of Chinese and Tibetan show pieces. The food they gave us was delicious and we ate for almost an hour till we could no longer squeeze food into our stomach. Keshav Gurung gave us a briefing about the trek which was to begin the next day after which we slept talking cricket.

Day 4:

We thought we woke up at 08 00 hrs but the time was actually 05 00 hrs. The early sunrise in eastern part of India can be a menace but not when you wake up amongst chirping birds, hills and lovely weather. We took snaps on the terrace which had a small nursery with pretty flowers and one could see the entire town and the path towards our destination ‘Sandakphu”.

Our bath was the last bath for the next four days and we headed towards the lovely breakfast. Once again we ate for an hour squeezing food into our stomach. There was some last minute confusion as Sid and I did not have proper raincoats and we had to wait for the tailor to give us plastic raincoats. We met Sunil, Galjee and Dorjee who would be our leaders for the trip. Each of us got trekking sticks to walk and a bag with water, chocolates, raincoat etc. Never underestimate the trekking stick. Sneha got a special camel bag which had a pipe protruding out to sip water.

Our trek begins……..

The first two kms of the trek was the toughest as we walked on a steep road and our legs were complaining till we got used to it. The trek was mainly on Nepalese soil and we saw bamboo shoots which cost ten times more in cities as compared to the hills. There was moss in the hills that is sold in cities as a decoration item. There were pine trees, rhododendrons, creepers everywhere. Apparently there are thirty six varieties of rhododendrons in the hills.

We stopped for tea at Chitre Gonpa, a village with three houses and a monastery. On our way Sunil tried catching toads from a pond and Dorjee told his love story while he sang lovely songs. We stopped for lunch at Lamaydhura and had to do with the food served by a small hotel because our special lunch went away in a Land Rover to Meghma. The foreign tourists who were trekking were fast and they moved at brisk speeds unlike us. We took the short cuts which were tough but fun. After tea at Meghma we proceeded towards Tumling. In all we trekked 12 kms which seemed like 20 kms.

At Tumling, we saw railway protection force conducting a camp for children who live on the platforms. We spoke to the kids and took snaps with them. The evening was not the quiet evening that we expected to have. There was a Bengali family with noisy kids and even more noisy parents. There were Spanish tourists who tried learning Nepali, Sid was playing Table Tennis on the dinner table with some tourists and guides; Sneha was running away from the kitten that kept coming next to her.

Later in the evening beside the fireplace we had Thumba, a local drink made up of wheat and millet, with our feet soaked in hot water as Dorjee sang some songs. After dinner, we kept contemplating whether to use the toilet or not as it was freezing cold and a small drop of water on the body meant piercing pain.

Day 5:

Sneha and Sid woke up early and ventured out in the cold. They froze. We had a lighter breakfast which constituted of Pita bread and Tibetan bread.

The trek started and the first six kms were a little difficult. After a tea break at Garibas we had an uphill climb and it made things tougher. During the trek Sunil kept making bird noises and when the birds responded he could identify the bird but he was confused between Sid and me because both of us call each other Bunty.

We stopped for lunch at Kaykyata and the weather deteriorated. It started to drizzle and Sunil wanted us to take the Land Rover to the destination because in the hills the rain is accompanied by hail stones. Sneha did not want the ride and we trekked at a brisk pace avoiding the rain which we could hear falling a few kilometers away.

Kalapokri looked like a ghost town with deserted houses covered in fog and moss. We reached there in the afternoon and were put up in a tree house like room and served hot chocolate. In the evening we had Thumba, salt water for legs, hot water bags for the body pains and great food once again with our favourite food item - the tamarind chutney.

We trekked 12 kms in the entire day. The noisy Bengali family met us even here and one particular lady was the noisiest of the lot. I thought the best way to make her quiet is to strip her clothes off in the cold. Unfortunately, she was not pretty.

Day 6:

This was the toughest day of our trek. It was just a seven km trek but the weather was bad and the climb steep. The previous days leg pain troubled Sneha but she did not give up. The climbs were at sixty degree angles in some places. The height was getting on to my head and I had mild mountain sickness. Sid had leg pain too. All of us were struggling a bit. The last one km was never ending and when we reached the top we felt as though we had conquered the world. All of us were excited and took snaps, shook each others hand and felt satisfied. We even gave Sneha a guard of honour for battling the conditions by raising our trekking sticks.

We had finally reached Sandakphu.

We stayed in a VIP bungalow with a fireplace. Thankfully it was nothing like the “Rumati Bunglaw” that we stayed in Kolkata. None of us had the guts to go outside or to the toilet because of the cold and all we did was to talk the whole afternoon and evening. In the night, it took us a lot of guts to go to the toilet.

Dinner was simple relatively - Dal, papad, noodles, chicken, Gulab Jamun, etc. For all those who worry about food this trek is a treat as none of us lost weight instead we might have put on some.

Day 7:

Kanchenjunga and Everest are two peaks one can see from Sandakphu. But the weather was cloudy and we did not see anything. There is a temple in Sandakphu which is considered to be powerful and we decided to visit the temple. Sunil was telling that people who ask with a true heart get whatever they want from the lord of this temple so we decided to visit the temple. We bought some incense sticks and lit them in the temple and prayed sincerely though none of us had the hope of seeing Kanchenjunga. The weather could never change so easily.

I am not a great believer in these things but that day was special and a miraculous thing happened. While we were returning from the temple Sunil shouted at us to come fast and we saw something amongst the clearing clouds. It was Kanchenjunga. Out of nowhere we could see the great mountain which is considered to be god. The clouds cleared as though it was a special screening of Kanchenjunga for us and in no time it was cloudy once again.

We started our downward trek towards Srikhola. On our way we parted ways with our Bengali friends. One of our Bengali friends was upset that the Kolkata Knight Riders had lost their game. Our legs hurt more than they did when we went uphill. On our way we saw strawberries growing in the wild, small villages with every house having a pretty garden outside, etc. We had lunch in Gurdum and continued our journey as Sunil told us stories about an invisible soldier in Nat hula, the Gorkhaland independence, etc.

We reached Srikhola after walking for around 15 kms. It looked like a European village with a river on the side, a wooden bridge, houses with flowers, pathway made up of stone, etc. In the evening we took Thumba & its recipe while we spoke, spoke and spoke. I think the Thumba made us talk more.

The temperature was around ten degrees and we felt it was not cold. We were used to lower temperatures by then. We had a good dinner and used the toilet without any fears. The toilet had a pipe which never had a tap and the water continuously came from (from the river) and whatever you did in the toilet went back to the river.

Day 8:

This was the last day of out trek and we walked to Rimbick with the river flowing by our side and a dog following us hoping that we would give food to it. We compared the dog with a bunch of cricketers as it showed resilience and persistence. Suddenly we started seeing people, dogs, vehicles, etc. We saw kids going to school where some of them had Tiffin boxes and bags bigger than them.

Our trek came to an end finally. We walked 53 kms in all.

From Rimbick we took a ride back to Maneybhanjan where we had our great lunch once again. This time it was “Momos” and we ate till we could not breathe. After bidding adieu to Gurungs who took care of us like their own family and gave us gifts we drove through Darjeeling, Teesta and reached Delo House which was situated on top of a hill. The place looked like an old English castle. We finally had bath after four days and saw television and range for mobile phone. In the entire journey we never bothered about these things.

Day 9

Delo House is located on a hill top from which you can see surrounding mountains and rivers. We got up and walked around the lovely gardens of this resort. After breakfast we visited the local market in Kalimpong where we purchased Thumba container and some other trinkets. On our way to the foot hills we went to a Buddhist Monastery which was next to a Helli Pad and Amry School. Monks and Kids were playing football in a huge playground on a hill which I felt was weird because it is hard to imagine a plain flat surface up so high.

The drive to the foothills was both exciting and disappointing. We were heading towards the Teesta for rafting but it also meant that our trip was coming to an end.

We got into our rafts after wearing the life jackets and hearing the instructions. The water was not very rough but it was rough enough for us and as the rapids would come closer Sneha would bend down as per the instructors command and some more water would splash us hard. As we enjoyed ourselves in the river a photographer kept clicking snaps at every moment from a bike on the road which flows alongside the river. Sid and I even jumped into the freezing water which comes from the glacier not so far away. For a moment the breathing stops because due to the cold water. It was an adrenaline pumping ride for us.

There were tiny shacks where we changed our clothes and after lunch in a small but good hotel we headed for NJP. Sunil bid us adieu as he did not want to enter the plains due to the Gorkhaland agitation which could have turn violent. Sunil took immense care of us at every stage of out trip. It was nice to have him with us throughout.

We got dropped off at NJP railway station which was as isolated, dirty, mosquito-ridden and under-developed as it was maybe sixteen years ago when we lived there. No wonder people in that part of the world are upset with the lack of government efforts.

We met the same family as we did during our onward journey. After eating the bland but decent train food it was time for us to sleep.

Day 10

Kolkata was a different world as compared to what we had experienced in the last five days. Sid left to his friend’s house and we finally took Jaideep’s advice and stayed in a hotel called ‘Green view”. It should have been called “clean view” because everything was nice there unlike our earlier “Rupasi Bunglaw” experience.

Later in the day we went out with Jaideep and Shreya to a restaurant called “Peter Cat” where the food was different and delicious and then to a place called Swabhumi which had goods produced by the local craftsmen.

We drove around the city roads to wile away time and reached the airport on time. Sid came from his friend’s place and took his flight to Hyderabad. Sneha and I had to wait longer as our flight was delayed.

Finally, we reached home and slept at around 03 00 hrs.

Maybe someday Siliguri will have a technology park and I would get a chance to visit that place again J

Maharashtra Trip

After planning for almost four months we decided to go to Maharashtra. Siri and Deepak could not attend the trip and Sharath shortened his trip, but none the less it was a wonderful experience to travel and visit places in Maharashtra.

We caught Udyan Express from Bangalore and we knew that Sharath and KC would be late so Sneha gave them a time earlier than the original departure time. While Sharath thought the train would leave at 20 00 Hrs and was stuck in a jam at 19 30 hrs, Sneha called and scared him that the train is at 19 40 hrs. Sharath eventually ran to the platform with his baggage.

Till these two arrived, Sneha, Suhas and I discussed about other travels and travel plans. In the train I made myself comfortable by putting slippers, using the dirty train toilet and locking the baggage with chain to a hinge. I was boasting about my chain lock system security just to realize the next day morning that the hinge was broken. We slept that night in the fear of “Bunty and Bubbly” who were traveling with us, they looked weird and we felt that they were thieves.

The next day in the train we had the usual tea, lousy train food, and fake mineral water. The best part about the journey was the eunuchs torturing Suhas and Sharath by touching them and asking them for money. The two guys were so scared that they covered their private parts with luggage and gave around 40-50 rupees to the eunuchs throughout the journey. I still remember the way Sharath would make a face and give away 10 rupees each time the eunuchs approached him.

We reached Lonavala after extending our ticket from Pune. The station was filthy. We took two autos to reach the MTDC resort in Karla which was clean and decent. After the usual food and drinks we all slept.

The day two of our trip began early. We decided that a fine would be imparted on people who delayed and surprisingly all of us were on time. The fear of loosing money seemed to have worked and no one was ever late in the trip again. Walking across the early morning mist covered river and grass we reached a filthy shop to have “Vada Pavs” for breakfast. The taste of the dish made us forget the filth so we packed some for the trek along with the tasty chilly pickle and not to mention the “Lonavala Chikki” packets. I wanted to tell Sneha not to buy the “Chikki” packets from this shop but she did not listen and blasted me just to realize later that she had wasted money on stale “Chikki” packets.

We continued our walk via “Mallvali” over the Pune-Mumbai express way on an over bridge. The express way had cars zipping past at speeds of more that 100 kmph and it felt as though we were in a foreign country. We trekked up the “Lohagad” fort by taking a diversion from the usual route and climbed a steep hill and saw a deep gorge. Along the way we had “Nimbu Paani”, ate energy bars and spoke in “Shivajinagar Urdu Baa”. The view from the fort was beautiful and we clicked lots of snaps. On our way down we called and wished Siri on her birthday.

After reaching Karla we moved to Lonavala and ate like pigs. We ordered more than 10 butter milk glasses to keep ourselves cool as the trek was tough under the surprisingly hot winter sun. Suhas and I spent about an hour planning the travel to Matheran after getting a hundred different advices from one single Sardarji who didn’t want us to take a taxi for reasons known only to him. . In the meanwhile, KC bought around 20 “Chikkis” packets which all of us wanted to secretly throw because we already had excess luggage.

Finally, we took a taxi to Matheran for 1500 instead of 1200 rupees. We were ‘Penny wise Pound foolish” as we earlier discarded a taxi for 1200 rupees thinking we would get a better deal. The drive was comfortable and the experience on the Mumbai-Pune express way is one of my favorite memories during the trip.

From the foothill of Matheran the Taxi union makes sure that you travel by their vehicle and we could not avoid that. Matheran is a very commercial place which smells of horse shit. The MTDC rooms were in a dilapidated state and one room had unclean toilet. The girls naturally took the better room by pushing the boys to use the dirty toilets. The first night at Matheran was a shock for all of us with the monkeys jumping, the gloomy rooms, dirty conditions, etc. We were dead tired after the trek and the travel to Matheran, so we felt more miserable about the rooms. Sneha had a muscle pull and KC’s body ached but the girls & Sharath in his bright yellow jersey (Shining Sun) did a remarkable job by trekking/walking around 22 kms in a day without major hassles. We ate in the MTDC stinky restaurant and slept very well. Our spirits (not to mention the Spirit without Sprite) were back the next day.

On Day three Matheran looked good. We were accustomed to the rooms and horse shit smell. It was KC’s turn to dress this time, she wore a whitey white (The dress had a belt and looked good for a Hindi song around trees) dress amidst muddy horse shit filled path which took us to the market. Her dress was ruined. In the market we bought small items, tried our luck at throwing ping pong balls to win a prize and shooting balloons with an air gun. Sharath wanted to buy an air gun but kept quiet after hearing the price. We ate Gujrati food and took a toy train ride towards the “Panoramic view” spot.

The spot was a good 30 minute walk into the jungle covered with trees. Luckily the place was not crowded and the view from the spot was spectacular. Suhas missed his girlfriend and was reminded of her every time he would see a good location for a snap. Sneha and I took this opportunity to behave like married couples and took snaps. By the time we started returning from the spot it was getting darker and darker and we stared walking faster and faster. I took this chance to fantasize about me being in Kargil war with a stick which represented a sword. The walk back was spooky but we wanted to take some snaps of the path covered with trees. Suhas, the camera expert struggled with the camera but could not take a snap in the dark. Later, when we reached civilization he shouted out loud and cursed himself for not opening the lens cover earlier. KC and Sneha whacked Suhas and he accepted the punishment like a man. Matheran was not so bad after all. Once again we ate, drank and slept. We ate 420 Pan. I got a kick out of it but the others seemed unaffected. KC suggested that we get her 840 Pan instead but the next day she learnt a bitter lesson.

It was day four, Sharath had to part ways with us and get back to work. The morning was exciting as the monkey tried snatching away our food. I fought bravely with the same sword from the previous evening and saved our luggage. Heart in heart we all hoped that the monkeys would take away KC’s “Chikki” packets. After smelling the horse shit place for one last time we bid adieu to the place and reached Bandhardhara. The route was an experience of a lifetime for all of us. We took a cab (Fiat) from Matheran to Neral and on our way KC learnt her bitter lesson by vomiting near the litter station. From Neral Sharath took a train to Pune and we took a train to Kalyan and then to Kasara. We got a dose of Mumbai Local trains. These trains were jam packed and we didn’t have place for our legs. We had baggage and KC’s “Chikkis” just to add to the fun. I was stuck near the train door with one bag on my back and one on my stomach. At every station I had to get out and get in. Eventually, I pushed myself into a safe zone. Suhas however was not so lucky he got stuck at the wrong place – between a Muslim lady’s legs. She was wearing a synthetic burkha and the dress material rubbed against his bare legs as he was wearing shorts. All of us were over dressed and looked like hippies.

Once the train crossed the suburban areas the crowd lessened and we got a chance to eat Khakras and Dhoklas which we bought from Kalyan. In the train we saw a man with the whole world in his mouth (Like Lord Krishna’s mouth). His mouth was full of pan and was shining in red.

From Kasara we took an express train (Chapra Express) to Igatpuri. We stood near the toilets but enjoyed the tunnels and the hills we saw during the short journey. From Igatpuri we took an ambassador taxi ride to Bandhardhara in Mr. Salim Salahuddin’s taxi via small lanes of Ghoti which Salim sahib took to avoid the traffic. KC was bitten by bed bugs in the taxi. We reached the MTDC resort and again feasted on the butter milk and food. The MTDC resort was right beside the lake on a small hill.

We did some sight seeing in the evening in Mahesh’s taxi and were happy that we decided against climbing the so called highest peak in Maharashtra – Mount Kalsubai. The region seemed to be poverty stricken and all of us felt bad seeing kids eat food thrown at a peacock. In the evening we decided to have a camp fire beside the lake but chickened out later when people told that it was frequented by leopards and foxes. Instead, we had the camp fire a little away from our rooms. We played dumb charades and Suhas ritualistically enacted CJ’s movies in an innovative way.

The dogs kept barking continuously to keep the wild animals at bay and suddenly when the barking became loud the girls decided to call it a night. Sneha did not allow me to even douse the camp fire and KC did not even dare to come out of the room. We were tired and slept comfortably that night.

The next day we went for a boat ride on the picturesque lake. It was an 8 km ride one way and it took us around an hour and a half to reach the other end where an old temple built by Pandavas awaited us. Now, one can rubbish off such myths but it is these folklores that make a trip exciting. On our way back, Sneha and I kept talking about religion, spirituality and speculated mythology.

Later, Suhas ran behind a chameleon for a snap which left the security man in total awe. We then proceeded to Nasik where we checked in our hotel and finalized on the taxi to Mumbai. It was time to visit the vineyards that we were eagerly looking forward to since the trip started.

Four of us got into an auto and reached the secluded Sula Vineyards. The auto had an USP of having no headlights which we realized on our way back. A tour was conducted in the vineyard about wine making and tasting. The bar opens to the vineyard and we decided to relax and pretend to be connoisseurs of wine for a couple of hours. It was a perfect way of ending the last evening of the trip.

At dinner we met VT (Sneha’s friend) and discussed about cars, treks and trips. In the night we packed our luggage and were all geared up for the journey next day to Mumbai. The ride to Mumbai was fast as the driver broke all possible rules and gave us a rollercoaster ride. After reaching Mumbai CST we had one last adventure – We did not have confirmed train tickets. While the girls decided to visit the “Fashion Street” for shopping, Suhas pulled strings to get our tickets confirmed. We boarded the train and pulled a bluff on the girls about tickets not being confirmed. Our journey was comfortable except in one station where a monkey got into the compartment to steal food. The eunuchs did not trouble and the food was better than we expected.

After reaching Bangalore we took one last snap and left for our homes.