Wadi Parla

Well, this one is from last yr. Just a little late in updating this but the memory is still quite fresh.
Monsoons bring respite to Mumbaikars and brings a lot of cheer to the locals in the villages surrounding Mumbai. This year was no different. I decided to enjoy the monsoons by talking a walk around Wadi Parla village. The village is on the outskirts of Mumbai. Jeeps carry locals for work from the village to the nearest town areas.

I decided to ride along with these locals and had a tough time trying to adjust with 17 people in a single jeep.The village offers a pristine view with lush green surroundings. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for these villagers. The village also boasts of primary and secondary medium schools. The joy of going to the school can be easily seen on the faces of these young kids from the  village. The locals are quite surprised to see my roaming around the village with my camera and backpack.

The villagers also have a handkerchief tied around the mouth. I showed a little curiosity to understand the reason behind it and got to know that Swine Flu is quite prevalent in the village. I quietly wonder about the impact that media can make even in a remote village and the role it plays in framing people's perceptions.One of the villagers tells me about the Vaitarna River and the huge dam built over it and offers to accompany me to the dam site. The humble old villager walks through the tough terrain with ease and I am left behind struggling to catch up with him. We walk through the forest and cross a muddy river. The fresh air and surroundings offer the most breathtaking view.I am happy that there is no sign of tourism here and hence the pollution levels are at its minimal.

After an hours walk we reach the dam. The magnificent dam is worth all the effort. Lachniman, the villager bids goodbye and walks the other way. The calm and serene surroundings makes this place the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of town. I take back memories of the helpful and cheerful villagers and hope that these self sufficient villages can continue to prosper and spread joy in the future.

Ajanta and Ellora Caves

The rain gods have played spoilsport this season and it has become really difficult to get out during the weekends. This weekend, instead of sitting at home and staring at the dark clouds I had decided to get out of Mumbai along with my roommates Shyam and Naveen.The Ajanta and Ellora Caves seemed to be an ideal option and we started planning for the trip a week in advance. Jalgaon and Aurangabad are the nearest cities/stations to Ajanta. Although Jalgaon is closer to Ajanta, we decided to go to Aurangabad since the city itself has a lot of places of historical significance.

The train tickets were not available for the journey from Mumbai and bus is the next best option. We reached the bus stop just in time and were eager to get on board and sleep peacefully till next day morning.

We reached Aurangabad by 630 in the morning and felt a chill in the air. Aurangabad is a very well planned and developed city with wide roads and somehow reminded of the good old days in Delhi. We directly headed towards Ravi Kiran Hotel where we had booked a room over a week back on phone. It turned out that the room had been given to someone else and we decided to look around for a place to live for a day. Aurangabad offers a lot of budget and luxury hotels.The rickshaw fellow helped us check out a few hotels before we checked into Hotel Royal Palace. Having rested for a while and eaten the quintessential breakfast - Poha we started out for Ajanta which is 120 kms away from Aurangabad. We had hired a taxi for the day and were quite excited to visit the magnificent sculptures and paintings at Ajanta.

The rain gods had taken the day off for a change and it offered me a great chance to click pictures freely.We reached Ajanta by 12 noon and were surrounded by locals trying to sell stones, jewels etc. I was awe struck by the expanse of the caves and the beautiful waterfall behind the caves.

Ajanta has chaitayas (place of worship) and vihara's (place where the monks lived) from 2 different eras - Hinayanas and Mahayanas. The Hinayanas didnt believe in idol worship but made exquisite paintings depicting the life of Buddha. The paintings depict the lavish lifestyle and fashionable clothes which were prevalant during King Suddhodana's reign. The blue colour in the paintings stands out and was specially brought from Persia for the paintings. The vivid colours and intricate details in the paintings are still visible despite the wear and tear over the past 2000 years. Cave 1 depicts the most popular paintings of the disciples of Buddha.

The rest of the caves portray important events from Buddha's life like renunciation of kingdom, dedicating life to alleviate poverty etc. There is one painting where Buddha's brother is alluring him with the luxury of the kingdom and Buddha appeals to him to renounce kingdom and live a life of austerity to meet apsaras in heaven. Another painting depicts Buddha's return to his kingdom and his wife pulling back his child so that does not get influenced by his father.

The caves from the Mahayana era contain sculptures which were built in 6th century AD. The sculpture is in the form of a stupa or a statue of buddha with the hands in various formations depicting sacrifice, pain etc.

Cave 26 is one of the most beautiful caves in Ajanta and it contains a sculpture where Buddha is lying down depicting a state of Nirvana. This is one of the very such sculptures still present in the world. Another beautiful sculpture depicts Buddha being enticed by angels from the heaven and the devil from hell but Buddha is at peace with himself and does not get distracted.

We were quite tired and hungry by evening and feasted on kakdi. We reached our hotel by 8 in the evening and decided to go out for a drink. The food in Aurangabad is very spicy and oily for my taste. After eating chicken wings when I had ordered Chicken Barbeque, I realised that Dal tadka and rice is the best possible option here.

We left early next morning and took a rickshaw to take us to Ellora and other near by places. We stopped at Daulatabad fort on our way and had breakfast. We decided not to climb a million stairs at the fort and head directly to the Ellora caves. Ellora caves are spread across 30 caves with sculptures built by Hindu, Jains and Buddhists. The Hindu cave 16 has the world's largest monolithic sculpture of Shiva. The Kailash temple in Cave 16 has sculptures depicting stories from the Mahabharat and Ramayan.

The other cave in Ellora worth visiting is a Hindu Cave - Cave 26 which has some very beautiful and interesting sculptures depicting moments from Shiv and Parvati's marriage . Another sculpture shows Shiva crushing Ravana with his foot and children teasing Ravana after his loss.

The Ellora caves offers a wonderful spectacle during the monsoons with a huge waterfall amidst green surroundings.

We had to catch the Tapovan express back to Mumbai at 230 PM and hence decided to rush and catch a glimpse of Biwi Ka Maqbara - a replica of the Taj Mahal built by Aurangzeb. We stopped at the poor man's Taj for around 10 minutes and headed to the station to catch a train back to Mumbai.

This was a very short trip but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would certainly like to visit Aurangabad again when I have more time to explore.

Rajmachi

The concept of working on Saturday's was alien to me, but with the new job I spend most of my weekends working. I hardly get a chance of being anywhere remotely close to nature. After coming back from the office on Saturday I had decided that I would not let sleep take over and waste my Sunday morning. My friend Kirti from TCS, being free as always, had been making plans for going out on a trek during weekends. She was joining a friend who was joining a group of people for a trek to Rajmachi. So, I decided to join them.

Walking up at 6 on a Sunday morning reminded me of my school days when I used to wake up early only when I had to play cricket matches..:). Early morning treks have always been fun and I have always looked forward to such ventures. I had to reach Thane station by 715 to board the train to Karjat on time. I managed to reach Thane early, for a change, and enjoyed a cup a chai as it was just starting to drizzle. The platform no. 5 at Thane station was packed with groups of young people, eager to leave the hustle and bustle of city and enjoy a weekend, sunday rather, close to nature, in peace. I met Kirti and her friend at the station and we boarded the train. The train was crowded and there was no place to sit. The sheer joy and excitement among the travelers was quite evident. Finally, we reached Karjat and I met the rest of the group. I am not the kind of person who would make friends easily with anyone and hence was feeling almost alone on the trip.

We had the quintessential breakfast, Vada Pav, outside the station and started out on our expedition. A rickshaw took us to the place from where we start walking into the jungle, towards the Rajmachi village. It had started pouring quite heavily and I was in complete awe of the pristine green surroundings. With a few villagers working in the fields and children standing by the huts staring out into the open fields, this was rural India as I had always read and heard about. We decided to start the trek and were quite excited to see small waterfalls formed by the rain water.

We reached the Kondane caves after a few hours. The huge caves with scriptures engraved on the outer side of the cave is was declared as a Heritage site by the government and is preserved by the Archaelogical Survery of India.

The 50 feet high waterfall presents a great opportunity to relax and beat the summer heat.

A little over an hour from the Kondan canves and we reached the half way mark, a plateau. The plateau offered a breathtaking view of the hills with clouds(read fog) interspersed in between. The rain was making the tracks very slippery and I was thoroughly exhausted. I had decided to head back but was forced by the group to carry on and walk for another 40 mins. I somehow pulled myself and dragged for another half an hour. This time I was serious about going back. I could not bear the pain in my legs and back. I was told that we are very close to the village and we can relax and eat good food in the village. The lack of any edible items in my bag kept me going for another few minutes.

Finally, we reached the village by 1400 hrs. The group was still excited about going to the Fort. But I had given up and decided to roam around the village and click pictures. The poha and anda bhurji I had at the villager's house is probably the best meal I have had in recent times. It was totally worth the painful journey.

The village also had a few solar panels installed by a government agency for a renewable energy project. I spoke to a villager and came to know that the village had no electricity because their is no sunlight during this time of the year. This is a serious issue and I hope that we can some day figure out a solution to this problem.

After having relaxed for a couple of hours we started walking back. This time the rains had stopped but the tracks were very slippery, making our walk downhill all the more difficult. I was falling down quite often now and was literally covered in mud like the kid in the Ariel Ad. Somehow, we managed to reach the base by 1830 hrs and Karjat station by 1930 hrs. We took the 2040 train back to Mumbai and took back with us a lot of memories and injuries..:)

Ranthambhore

This summer i wanted to visit a wildlife sanctuary. Ranthambhore had been on my list of places to visit for sometime now. It is the last place where my friends would want to visit in the month of June. Going out into the jungle during summers is not considered as fun by a lot of people. My idea of fun is a little different. I might not be a wildlife enthusiast but I like to venture into the jungle and click pictures . Now, that I had time to visit, I was alone but still decided to go with a bunch of people from Junglelore.

We started out on 23rd June, the day cab drivers decided to go on a strike in Mumbai. Reaching the Bombay Central station to board the train was in itself a hell of a task. I was eagerly waiting to board the Jaipur Super Fast Express to reach Ranthambhore the next day and put my new Canon 55-250 mm lens to test. I was travelling with Gaurav from Junglelore and Alpa, who I had just met at the station. Finally we boarded the train at 1840. The food in the train lived upto the expectations and the Thepla's carried by Alpa proved to be a life saver.

Day 1

We reached Sawai Madhopur station at 1030 in the morning. The warm breeze was just an indication of the kind of summer heat that we would have to bear for the next couple of days. The resort was 10 mins away from the station. We checked into the ITC Welcome resort and received a warm welcome from the staff. At lunch, we met the rest of the people who were travelling with Junglelore and had flown down to Ranthambhore directly. Having rested in the room for a while, we left for the first safari at 1515. We were informed by the driver and our guide that the tiger reserve is a dry deciduous forest and spanned across 400 sq km and was divided into various zones. Tigers/ Tigress are normally numbered as per a convention and are spotted in certain sections ( water holes) in these zones. The open jeep took Alpa and me alongwith a family into the Zone 5. The summer sun and the dry heat can sap your energy in a while. Thus, it is important to carry a lot of water on the safari. We were able to spot a huge gamut of birds and animals at the sanctuary. The spotted deer, peacocks, peahens, langurs, treepie, sunbirds, kingfishers, drongo, woodpecker, mynas, blue jay are omnipresent and offered a lot of photo opportunities to the tourists.

But the tiger was still elusive to us. After hours of struggling through the backbreaking journey in the jeep, we were lucky to spot T19 relaxing in a water hole. A hoard of canters and jeeps started assembling around the water hole thus disturbing the lazy animal. T19 simply decided to get up and walked into the jungle to sleep peacefully and we decided to return to our resort.

Day 2

The monsoons had not yet reached North Western parts of India but the area experienced slight early morning showers which had made the weather quite pleasant. We decided to leave early next morning. This time I was travelling with the other group of people from Junglelore and Alpa was with Guarav. The cool breeze and the wet roads on our way to the jungle were a welcome change. We entered through the old magnificent gate into Zone 4, popularly known to be the territory of Machali(T16), meaning fish in hindi, and her daughters T17 and T18. Machali is a favourite among wildlife photographers and tourists and got her name from the apparent small fish like mark on her body. The small puddles of water created throughout the jungle made it very difficult for us to spot Machali. While the tigress was relaxing in the jungle and refusing to come out to drink water from a puddle near our car we were thrilled to click pictures of the ubiquitous Treepie.

After lazing around the whole afternoon at the resort we were ready to go for another safari in the evening. This time I was accompanied by Alpa and we decided to go to Zone 4 again. After the early morning rains, the scorching heat in the afternoon had dried the forest and made it possible for us to spot tigers. After travelling for a few hours and searching every water hole for any signs of Machali, we finally managed to catch a glimpse of T17 resting peacefully under a tree. The tourists in canters and jeeps had lined up to witness the beautiful animal. T17, often referred to as 'Mehlo ki Rani' didnt bother to move from her spot. It rained heavily on our way back to the resort. We were standing in the open jeep and got drenched in the rain. The moment is simply unforgettable.

Our last night in Ranthambhore finally offered Alpa the chance to enjoy traditional Rajasthani folk dance while Gaurav and I enjoyed our Vodka..:)

Day3

Although we had decided to visit the fort on the final day, a last minute change in plans helped us visit Zone 3 in the jungle. The zone offered a picturesque view with a lake and egrets, herons etc. This safari proved to be our most successful safari of the trip as we watched T17 come very close to our car, stare into the camera a few times, check the territory and silently make her way back into the jungle.

We were not going to let the poor animal live peacefully. So, we alongwith other jeeps and canters followed her into the jungle and spotted her lazying around in a water hole. It was a wonderful sight and fulfilled all our wishes to catch a glimpse of this animal which is very close to extinction, if we dont act now. On our way back towards the gate we got lucky again and spotted T19 sleeping peacefully while the photographers were having the time of their life. :)

Our trip came to an end and Alpa and I boarded the train from Sawai Madhopur station in the afternoon taking back some wonderful memories and pictures with us.

Little Rann of Kutch

This 2nd October, being a Friday, afforded me a chance to plan a trip to a distant place. Being a lazy bum, and the fact that my brother knows that, made him proactively plan the trip to Little Rann of Kutch in Gujrat. (cant really think of a better place to celebrate Baapu's birthday)..

So, having booked an Air Conditioned (much needed during this season) cottage in a resort run by the Rann Riders, we had set off on our journey from Mumbai. The train- Bhavnagar express, started from Bandra at around 9 in the evening . The train, quite unexpectedly, did not have a pantry and the Thepla and Aloo Bhaaji carried by us (read Runa) proved to be a life saver. Not to mention the pain inflicted upon us by the random and shrill rambling's of the Gujju Aunty sitting beside us (no racist remarks intended). Having travelled/suffered a distance of around 600 kms, the train reached Viraangam, Gujrat at 530 in the morning. A cab came to the station to pick us up and took us to the resort, 20kms away from the station.

A grand welcome at the resort awaited us. No, it was not the staff at the resort. It was the group, which apparently worked with an NGO but didn't really care if other people at the resort were in the mood to relax. Quite a paradox, isnt it. So, as the social workers pestered us with the loud music, we somehow slept for a while and were ready for our trip to the Salt pans.

An open jeep took us to a place called Patdi in Rann (meaning Salt marshes), around 20 kms from the resort. The Rann is usually filled with water during the monsoons and dries up completely because of the intense summer heat, leaving salt and cracks in the surface. The salt is processed and sold by the factories set up in the nearby areas. The area, being close to the coast, also experiences a large number of migratory birds, flying in and out of India. With the sun slowly setting down, the Flamingoes and Wild ass, found in abundance in Rann, offer a magnificent spectacle.

Day 2 started quite early with Bird Watching at the Rann. A huge gamut of birds ranging from the ubiquitous green bee eater, jungle and common babbler, wagged tail drongo, indian roller, red wattled lapwing, ashy prenia, egrets, cranes etc were spotted. We and Shiamak, our guide/driver, were ecstatic when we spotted the rare desert fox. On our way back to the resort we (read Shiamak) spotted a few storks, which flew away as soon as we decided to go close to them..:)..In the evening we decided to visit the local village to get acquainted with the local flavours. The ride to the village on a camel cart is the only moment worth remembering during the entire activity.

Day 3, our final day at the Rann was a bit hectic and surely one of the most exciting day of the entire trip, for me. We decided to leave early and reach a place called Visatpura to search search for/click the elusive blackbucks. It took us around 3 hrs to reach the place. With some help from Mori Seth, the local villager, and Shiamak, we were able to spot the blackbucks as soon as we entered the area. The magnificent animal, once found in huge numbers (6000 approx) in the area, has been the victim of poaching in the recent past and hence the blackbuck population in the area has considerably gone down to around 1000. The blackbuck, sensing danger, had escaped but it surely left a long lasting memory captured through the view finder of my camera. An hour more spent in the field and we tasted success again. Next stop was the famous Step well at Patan. The erotic sculptures of gods/goddesses inscribed on the walls of the well, definitely made the visit to Patan worth the effort. With little time left, we rushed to the station in time and made our way back home remembering the moments that we had enjoyed over the past three days.