Nature's Call!

The raindrops touch my soul and set me free, the mountains are calling me! A walk in the clouds is all I crave for. I jus wanna grab a piece of that cloud…to comfort me whenever I need ! 

The vast ocean engulfs me…I want to drown my emptiness and fill my soul 

with all things good! The soul of the earth calls out to me and nudges me…to connect with her! Each time she invites me, I hide behind excuses… of work, responsibilities, money…when all I wanna do is reach out my arms and embrace her with my heart and soul! When im with her, I feel complete… like there’s nowhere else id rather be! 

The breathtaking beauty stumps me… an experience like never before. 

The more I see it, the more I wanna experience it. My soul craves for a bit of her… like my life is meaningless without her. The sand reminds me of the soft, warm hug that he would engulf me in, dissolving every frown instantly. The cloud-covered peaks call out my name. 

The white skies – an invitation to fly away from all things worldly. The sunset – a reminder of a day well spent; the sunrise: another blessing, a brand new day!The fresh green grass: soothes my soul and refreshes me with a new energy to get through the day. The endless night sky… filled with a million bright stars… shine through my being and light my spirit. She infuses life in my lifeless soul and make it dance with unending joy. Mother Earth – you’ve given me more than what I deserve. Time to answer nature’s call! (no, not that one silly! ;)

Chandari… ready or not, here I come ! :) 

Trek to Chanderi Fort - Sat 4th July:with Trek Mates India

You wanna join in? Cool, first log in:  

http://trekmates.blogspot.com/2010/06/tmi-trek-to-chanderi-on-4th-of-july.html

a walk in the clouds, thats all im asking for !

Even though its been quite a while now since i have trekked, all the memories attached to my previous adventures are as vivid as ever! i still remember the time when i scaled the peaks of the sausage mountains at khandala, walking through the clouds at 5.30 am...taking in the picturesque green lawns...with various shades of green. And even though I had a camera * with no role in it *
i clicked the pic wanting to capture it forever. and when i realized that i did not have any pics to jog my memory about that trek, i knew that the scene i saw that day would be etched in my mind forever !  ;)

and the time when we went on the waterfall trek, the rains washed away every bit of tension/ worry from my body. and the mahabaleshwar trek *albeit a casual walk with family, which turned out to be quite an experience*    was a walk in the clouds *literally* ;)

it feels like its been ages since i reconnected with mother nature, but the experience would never leave me. for the rest of my life. And now i set out to capture many such moments and weave them in my list of memories forever. So that each time i need some comforting, all i need to do is pull out these memories and cling to them with all my heart ! 

lush green fields, pure blue skies, fresh wateralls and an exhilarating experience *that ive been craving for* here i come! ;)

Trek Tales - Conquering Chanderi With my Trek Mates! :)

Ok, I know im a little late... I wanted to get to my blog right after my trek! But trekking after 4 years, that too with bare minimum physical activity.... took a toll on me! :P 

Anyway... better  late than never! TrekTales, here I come! ;)

Chanderi : 4th July

Ahh... preparing for the trek: I overacted like i was travelling to some village with no idea when i was gonna be back! lol :P 

I loaded my backpack with almost all things to the to-do list provided: including 2 litres of water, lunch, windcheater blah blah blah... which left me with sore shoulders before the trek even started. he he he! So...we land up at the trek site; elated and thrilled to see a beautiful, enormous mountain hidden behind thick clouds awaiting our ascent! 

PS: i did not check the endurance or difficulty level of the trek before setting out to conquer Chanderi. What was the nature of the trek? of course, dramatic life that mine is: it was a medium to difficult level trek. 

And since i hadnt trekked in ages... that seemed ok for me. Started a mini trek searching for a secluded place to answer nature's call :P Next up: crossing a dam... damn, this wasnt difficult at all!  As the trek began... we got a clear view of the giant we were gonna climb! As we walked uphill, i was already panting! *i definitely wasnt thanking the 70 kilos i had on me...not forgetting my baggage which felt like another 30 kgs*

My ordeal had begun... no sooner than i walked a small distance, i was convinced i could not go through it! :P Then came the easy part....trekking through a waterfall! wow! Pure bliss! Also it made the climb easier and a whole lotta fun! Kept refreshing myself with the crystal clear aqua that mother nature offered. Then we had to proceed on to the rocks.... the climb was for about 4 hours and i thought I would die, if it wasn't for Manoj or Niraj...truly Trek Mates! ;) 

 

Amidst catches, sprains and a whole lotta relispray...not to forget insect bites, pricks, slipping and falling into the slush... banging against huge rocks, coming sliding down using my ass as a cushion, getting mighty scared of heights as we neared the peak, i managed to make it to the top in one piece! 

 

It didnt matter that I was last... I achieved what I set out to do...and my reward was waiting for me! A breathtaking view! I finally felt what it was like to be in heaven:)

The descent was easier... refreshing and relaxing as we came down via the waterfalls. I was dead tired..but it was all worth it! And again... I was helped by Abhishek & Sachin! :) 

Chanderi was pure bliss. And that's where the trekking bug had bitten me! 2 weeks later, I was back for more! 

Stay tuned for the next trek tale! Wohooooo! :)

Trek Tales - Waterfall Rappelling with my Trek Mates! :)

Waterfall Rappelling @ Vihigaon - 17th July:

And then came 17th July...the day I had been waiting for! When i would rappel down 120 feet waterfall...relying only on a few ropes to save my life! :) 

As much as I had been excited about this day... I managed to fill in the drama! Went for a party the previous night and landed up at Vihi with an upset tummy! :( the journey was terrible, felt lousy all the way, couldnt care less about the introductions I heard... managed to lighten my backpack this time, only to realize that we were travelling by bus and that I could afford to stuff my bag! :P Aaah! 

But once we reached Kasara...the excitement creeped in again! We dumped our bags, started our photo session, before we were dragged away for our training session on handling the ropes! :) After we were assigned our turns, we decided to relax under the dam..and boy did we relax! ;)

As my turn approached, I got increasingly nervous and I kept thinking "what was wrong with me? why do I wanna kill myself? Are you mad... those ropes cant be managed!" :) 

Well, I was here...AND I had to do it! So, I said a lil prayer and went for it. Luckily my friend was there with me, and although his turn was after mine... he was put ahead of me! * OMG! getting nervous once again* 

My turn arrived: harness - check.    helmet - check.   gloves-check.  nervousness - check!

 As i started walking down the waterfall with utmost care, I kept thinking that i wasnt doing it right! Until I looked up and saw my trainer! He was beaming and gave me the thumbs up!  ;)  My confidence shot up... it was like a sudden injection of enthusiasm. that was the last time i saw him on that cliff, before we plummeted into the steep part of the waterfall... where if you look up, you get the flowing water in your eyes, and if you look down, fear is staring right back at ya! ;) and yet, I was so cool, composed n calm! I descended the waterfall in one piece, against my own belief! 

And then took one long glance at the monstrous waterfall, thinking to myself "WHOA! I came down THIS huge thing!?!?"  

The rest of the day was *predictably* spent in the water! ;) I also managed to catch a quick nap, since the sick feeling was back! But the day was a beautiful one, etched in my memory forever! :) 

This Sunday - 29th August, I will face the adrenaline surge again...battling the rapids at the Kundalika river, Kolad. Water rafting, Kayaking & River Crossing...whoa baby! Im Lovin It ;) 

Bring it on Mother Nature :*

River Rafting, Kayaking & River Crossing @ Kundalika - with Trek Mates, of course!

As I awaited the most exhilarating experience of my life... the usual 'nervous' feelings were back! This time, I became accustomed to those feelings... the pattern was the same: nervousness mixed with excitement, the feeling of withdrawing at the last moment, and then finally... as I conquer my fears, the sense of achievement finally sinks in! 

This time though...it was a little different! This time... there was no sudden fear, no extreme reactions after either! In fact I think Kundalika worked its charm on me like an intoxicating drug! I felt the effects long after the experience! ;)

We nervously fidgetted with out rafting oars, quickly rehearsed the commands given by our Trainer 'Ganpati' (yes, that WAS his name! not ganpat, not gannu or anything similar sounding!) Then we tested the waters, watched other rafts drift ahead of us and surging into the mighty waters of Kundalika... a chill ran down my spine! Ok, it finally caught up with me. The rapids tested our endurance...we had to keep rowing no matter what! I could feel my hands giving in, but for the sake of the other rafters... I let my aching hand into those gushing rapids! And after a thrilling 45 min ride, we reached the still waters of Kundalika (25 feet deep, may I add). And thats when I decided to test my recently acquired swimming skills. 

As the girls cautiously dipped their feet in the water, I took the liberty of diving in, taking my breath in and swimming comfortably for a few feet! I get my head out outta the water, only to notice that my raft if a few feet away from me! Confidently, I try to swim back to the raft and thats when I realize that the flow of the water is against my path! HELP! I freaked out, yelling : "Im going to die" LOL! Could it BE more dramatic? Anyway I held on to my friend's hand like there was no tomorrow, and I could see that he was beginning to get fed up of me! :P

Thank God for Ganpati (no pun intended ;) as he drew the raft next to me. After a few occasional dips, I finally began enjoying the water and learned to relax! I rested my aching muscles with the backfloat I learned from Yusuf Sir! But then, our time was up! Rafting Ended. Time for the next adventure.

We move on to River Crossing and Kayaking! My initial impression of river crossing was that a rope would be tied across the river, and we would have to step into the waters and CROSS the river! LOL, as you must have guessed...thats not what it was!:)

It entailed 2 metallic ropes being tied across the river (backwaters of Kundalika), above the water which again was 25 ft deep and we had to hold the upper rope and move ahead! As easy as it seemed, as soon as the first set of people crossed the river - precariously balancing themselves on the rope, I was determined that I did not want to fall into the river! :) After watching Dinesh & Krupa battle it out for 15 mins, struggling to avoid falling in the water, Krupa finally gave up, and Dinesh made it all the way! I was then hopeful and no matter how much Lohit tried to distract me, I held on to the ropes like my life depended on it! Yes, I made it too!!! 

Kayaking was something that seemed easy again. And thankfully, looks did not deceive. After the initial hiccups and learning the technique, my partner and I could manouvre the kayak easily! Horraaaayyyy! You know what the icing on the cake was?? Incessant rains right before we started each activity! ;)

As I said, this time it was different. Here it goes: I got a little lesson on life in each segment of my adventure trip! 

Lesson # 1: Rafting:

Life ain't always a bed of roses. Its a bumpy ride along the way... ups and downs, ebbs and flows! And we will always people to help us get through it ! And after that tumultuous journey, you will find a still, calm place where you can rejuvenate your soul! :)

Yin & Yang, truly exists! 

Lesson # 2: River Crossing:

No matter what comes your way, you've gotta hold on, keep believing and move forward! :)

Lesson # 3: Kayaking:

Life can be smooth sailing, just watch out for the tricky areas. One wrong move and your life has taken a U turn!! :)

So this trip had almost everything in it: drama, adventure, mishaps, lessons, good food- kandepoha, piping hot tea, vadas, incessant rains, gossip, junglwalks, antakshari sessions and and whole lotta new friends ! Aiyoooo Trek Mates! Thank you Nilesh - the King of good times! ;) Thank you Lohit, for your Samsung Marine - which contributed to capturing amazing memories - IN WATER! :P

Interested in catching their next trip? Log on to http://trekmates.blogspot.com/

Bhimashankar Blues - A long lost trek and the most memorable one so far!

I know its been a very long time since I have written something let alone blogging.Well today I had to write this to get the "Blues" out of my system.Its been only a day back from bhimashankar and I am already missing the place,the people and the crap that followed!It definitely was a blissful crap.
After so many treks back to back I finally went to a place where I wanted to go desperately for a very long time with a completely new set of people which I am a bit used to now but with people with an amazing sense of humor n brainzzz that dripped wisdom unlimited in the most tacky way.
The journey started with the usual introductions n I met Miss S,Some Freshers including a sweet little virus and the fake firangs "FF"s. It was Ms.S's laughter and innocence which caught me off guard as I was getting used to being a bit vigilant n careful in most of the treks when it came to unknown people.I have to give her the credit for being so sporty as every member of the group had given her a different name starting with "s" which could have added up to 1760 as Mr Tinku said.With this girl I was all in for fun and laughter that echoed through the magnanimous mountain we were about to climb.
We were ascending through Shidi ghat n descending through ganesh ghat as per the plan.Shidi ghat as the name goes had ladders which freaked out every member of the group as it started raining just when we were climbing those ladders.There were three ladders in all and the second one was the worst of all as the ladder was a bit shaky as one took it and the ascend was of course without any help so we were left to deal with our fears on our own.Post this climbing came across a tiny miny waterfall which was a relief after this torrent of adrenaline.We had the longest photo session there with the firangs and Miss S posing till they dropped dead.We were 2 hours behind the scheduled time for lunch and we rushed toward the a settlement with a few huts where we had our lunch.We had just come half way in our journey,the other half was still to be covered when our leader Mr.Tinku enlightened us saying that the remaining journey was comparatively easier.This Mr.Tinku has "Time Dyslexia" never giving the appropriate time taken to cover a patch.But the journey was easier n we took a lot of time to cover it as we were full n the climb was strenuous.
After the final climb came the show time.We i.e the Firangs,Miss S n myself we did a short photo session followed by a khwaja dance sequence beside a lake with the clouds hovering around us(Oh how I wish I had the video now!).One of the firangs was taught the marathi word "Aaicha gho" n he used or misused the word wonderfully popping it up every now n then.We all danced our way with "Aaicha gho gho gho"as our slogan ,shooting n ragging every single trekker in our group irrespective of whether being active or passive.We completed this fancy dance by playing "ringa ringa roses" in the dark which was the ultimate as "all fell down" without actually able to see the place.
The final destination Bhimashankar Temple came into view within minutes of leaving this dancing ground.We left our baggage in the place booked for the night stay n left for the temple.After offering the prayers a tiny group including me,d firangs,miss S,tinku,B2 n a few others got busy with the "pungi".Actually it was the conch blown in the temples but the attempts at blowing them sounded more of a pungi n an assortment of funny sounds except tinku's who was quiet used to this art.
Back to the rooms where we were staying we sang a few songs killing the lyrics till dinner n slept with a lot of laughter n arguments n loads of hush hush as we were not supposed to disturb the other groups.Following morning was again full of noise as we had tried to remember the names of every member and had a serious discussions on mythology and science.This is already a controversial topic and we made it all the more controversial by adding gossip n arguing our hearts out till it was time to leave for Gupt Bhimashankar.
The first five minutes of this route stinked followed by a total green route with waterfalls n insects.A prolonged photo session at this place and we were hungry.Rushing back to our rooms we had a leisure breakfast with votes for whether to go to a place called Nagphani or not.In the end 10 out of the 42 ppl specially the pune crowd left for nagphani n we got ready to descend via ganesh ghat.Of course with tinku leading us we were all fast enough to cover the distance in the stipulated time given by him.
Few people were a bit slow,some got lost thanks to B2 n the bisons and we ended up waiting for them for almost 2 hours playing in the stream n fighting the mosquitoes.
While coming back to Karjat from where we started our journey in a tumtum we sang till our throats became sore.The firangs taught us to make new lyrics n songs n we all tried our hand at it.Train journey back to our respective destinations was more of a continuation of the 2 day blast instead of dampened n tired spirits.Back home I was all smiles n today am missing all of them.
Well I have to mention a few clinchers here:
1)1760 names of Miss S
2)The "FF"s n their bakwas
3)The freshers(how can v forget them,V taught them so much about trekking n nature)
4)Aicha gho Dance
5)Virus n his Nagphani baba act
6)B2 n co.fighting the bisons with paper cutters
7)Dumpy the humpty dumpty man whose name was so funny we just liked pronouncing it
8)The little stupid conversation that we had with everyone and ended up having such a wonderful time.
Thanks to the whole group for such a wonderful time.Sob Sob Sob ........... I am missing u all lots.Hope to catch up with u all someday again!!!!

PS(again) : Trekked on 14-15th august 2009 amidst swine flu drama!

Dhamaal at Harishchandragad trek with Trek Mates India on 4th-5th Sept '10.

Oh, what a trek... my new best trek, my new favourite, full of dhamaal. After around 500 treks, more than 800 odd outdoor days, this is only the second time that I am so excited and wish to scribble a lot about it.

All this started with Priyanka’s Birthday party in Dadar. With around 15 weirdoes sitting around the table and passing silly comments on each other (not to forget the pilu song that was sung after every 5 mins as a special request from Apurva.) It was 16th august that it was decided to plan for this get together plan to Harishchandragad... the dates were not decided though.

Finally the dates were decided and the plan was put up... the first weekend of September, 4th and 5th, starting on 3rd night. I had 21 confirm names for the event only in 3 days after posting the event. Friday morning one of the 5 girls cancelled her registrations... (Lucille, you missed a lot of fun.)By afternoon three more were down. And the last hr said that two more girls will be missing the fun...

Finally at the meeting point I had 13 guys and two gals participating, a few new members and all others were Trek Mates India’s members from at least a yr.
Myself - Bhai,
Dilesh – one of the truth predictor,
Swapnil - Dhumps,
Pritam Kale - Patil,
Apurva - Pilu,
Jhanvi – Cormorant (paan kombdi) chi Bahin,
Komal –Janeman Janeman,
Rohit Patil – baal ki dukan,
Abhijeet – the Patni team leader,
Gunjan – the silent personality,
Vishal – BE2 square or the SF,
Saurabh - BE2,
Manoj Kalwar - The talwar wala person,
Ravi - indra,
Aniruddha Kelkar- Dhumpi ka new setting
... a total of 15 made the most awesome team for the best trek of my life

Starting with the 11.00 pm bus, it was tough enough to keep everyone off at least till I get the tickets. They had already started singing songs, (specially the pilu song, as requested by Apurva). I took the tickets and joined them... all Hindi, Marathi, and few mix songs were full of fun. The sound was enough to keep everyone in the bus awake till the khubi phata.

After ascending the Malshej Ghats, I went to sit near the ST driver, to show him where to stop and where we want to get down... (Trusting on these drivers at night will surely land you at least a km or two away from your destination.) After trekking this fort at least 20 times from this route, it would have been led to beatings from my fellow members if I won’t have landed them at the accurate spot.

Getting down on the roads, we were around 6 kms away from the base village, within next 2 mins all the torches were out, and all the legs were heading towards the khireshwar village. We reached the village by 2.45 am and everyone was damn hungry by then. Pritam had got two Chicken Tandoories and I had packed some chicken masala and chapattis for Saturday’s lunch. We finished this early in the morning... half of the group who were either vegetarian or had shravan going on were sitting away from us, munching some biscuits, chapattis with chutney, and don’t know what all. Never ever tried to imagine how people can be so cruel to kill so many plants for their food.

After a great session of all decent jokes and stories finally at 4.30 we decided to sleep. The wake-up time given to everyone was 6.30 am, and everyone got up at the accurate time... (don’t read the false comments, if any, posted by the participants. ;) ..). later we had some poha and tea for breakfast, then had an introduction round, and started for the trek.

The start for the trek was pretty good, I started Pakaoing every one with the plant names and their scientific uses, also Aniruddha helped everyone with identifying the birds and adding to our knowledge. Further we reached the Rock patch and slowly and cautiously climbed it with each and every member of the group helping me to climb the patch.

Crossing this rock patch means gaining the height that is needed to be on the top. Further the trek is more or less somewhat a plain road till the temple and the caves. We had some tea- biscuits /lemon juice at a tapri over here. I announced about this being the first and last spot where one can get range and suddenly I thought I was sitting in a call centre, with everyone busy with some or the other clients. Further we started the trek... in next few mins entered the thick forested area on the fort, here I smelt the worst ever markings of some wild animal. This might have been put up hardly an hr ago. Also heard some monkeys giving a danger call in the jungles. Everyone was asked to be in a group and walk together, and everyone did so. Further saw some civet cat droppings in the way. We headed to the caves and were there in next 90 minutes.

We just reserved for ourselves the best cave (Raja chi guha) and the best place in the cave. Further we had our lunch.. now it was again chicken for the non-veggies brought by Dilesh and some veg chatar-pattar for the veggies. After having tea we started for the Kokan kada site seeing, which is around 2 kms from the caves... We walked till there jumping and crossing some water streams, and spreading some seeds that we carried with us for the same purpose...

Had a view at the great Kokan kada, and started with our photo session, posing, and ultimately the group ended up dancing with the worst ever meaningless songs heard by many. Coming back to the caves the fort saw more seeds coming, which (alla tala ki meherbani se would turn out into trees in a next few years.) Inshah alla, hamare ladko ne bahut accha kaam kiya.. acchi mehnat ki hai, inki mehnat jald hi rang layegi --- the Haq style (sorry for spelling mistakes if any, no offence.)

Further in the cave we had a good mehfil with old and new Hindi and Marathi songs, followed by the ghost stories, which saw many scared faces and few drops from few eyes as well. Then we had our dinner (zunka bhakari, mix veg and rice)and went to sleep at around 11 pm. First time in my life I experienced a soundless night atop Harishchandragad, no foxes, wolfs, geckos, not even frogs... no sounds at all and so I had a very sound sleep..

Early in the morning we woke up at 7.30 am, just to see cats and dogs pouring down all over. Now it was time to explore the rest of the fort, but then we decided to have our breakfast and then go discovering places, we again had poha (the best till date made by Badri) and tea, packed our bags, and started for the harishchandreshwar temple. Now the saptatirtha kund attracted the swimmers and so the swimmers were now jumping in the waters getting them clicked in many different poses. After enjoying the waters for around half an hour, all of us moved further to the temple and then to the Kedareshwar cave, where we had a good history lecture from our history teacher, Mr Dilesh Virkud.

From here we started descending down, which saw me slipping down once, and then Rohit, Pritam, Komal just followed the leader. We had some photo sessions on the way and thus were moving at a very slow pace, reaching the Tolar khind at 2.30 pm. From here I had to run all the way down till the base village to order for the lunch. I, Manoj and Aniruddha started the run, both of them just practising for the Mumbai marathon dream run, aniruddha in next 10 mins had a muscle pull and so was out of the TMI dream race. Me and Manoj continued the race and reached the base in almost 30 min.. ordered for the lunch and then waited at least an hr to see the next member.

Everyone was at the base till 4.00 pm and then started the best return journey ever...will be writing about it in parts...

4.00pm: we called a sumo from the base village, asked him to get his vehicle at 5.00 am and take us till the highway, 6 kms from the village. He said he will do that and asked us to be a bit quick, so that he can go for other work at 6 pm.
We changed, and wore good dry clothes, had our food, and got ready for the sumo ride by 5. Meanwhile Dilesh was in a good mood and the bugger had to say the worst sentence in the trek... it goes like –“wow , enjoyed the trek, more due to the rains, it should rain more. And it should rain till we reach Kalyan”. And Within next 5 minutes it was raining.

5.30 pm: We are still waiting for the sumo, then we sent a local to call the sumo driver, and got to know that he has already moved out for some work. Now Rohit and I quoted - ”saala, kalti diya... iska toh tyre puncture hoga aaj.” Apurva said “not one, all his tyre should burst and also the Stepney”. Rohit again thought this is not enough and prayed that the engine should go down as well.

6.00 pm: We started walking with our Winchesters and barsatis towards the highway, from where we could get some bus or trek for kalian. Me and Komal Played Dongar ka pani enroute, also football plans with Rohit, and many other games with others made me a good bakra while walking back.

6.30 Pm: the same cursed sumo came and the driver now said that he is done with all his work and now is ready to drop us till Kalyan... we had a chat amongst us about what’s to be done and how can 15 ppl accommodate in one sumo. Finally it was decided that we can put our bags on the top and can adust ourselves in the sumo... and we did that, the driver said that a few us would have to get down and wait for him as he and the rest of the ppl can go till the petrol pump and come back and then we could start for the journey. 8 of us got down on the highway, the sumo went ahead and it again started raining. For half an hr we waited on the highway in the rains till the sumo came back.

7.10 pm: the sumo came back, we got in and started our journey. It was cloudy in the Ghats and we had some very good turns and curves in the ride.

7.30 pm: Rohit and mera bhavishyavani got true, and we were now back on the road with a flat tyre. The second quote also got true, and now the break liner was creating some problems. We again wasted an hour solving the problem, further it was decided that we move till moroshi, get the vehicle repaired and then move ahead. So next 30 mins took us till the moroshi village, which is just after descending the ghat.

9.00 pm: We were at moroshi and the sumo was to be repaired, the mechanic said it will take at least an hr to get it repaired, so we opted to move ahead with whatever bus or truck we get. Tried for around half an hour but, no one stopped for lift. Meanwhile we met two traffic cops over there and this our hopes increased. We asked them to help us stop some truck, so that we can at least talk about reaching our destination. After stopping and talking to 3-4 trucks, the cops had a chat with one more truck wala... I was amazed to hear that talk, where the cops asked the truck driver to drop them till murbad. The next thing we saw was the cops getting in the truck and move away leaving us over there.

10.00 pm: finally a truck stopped... but we could see all onions loaded in it. We couldn’t risk waiting for one more truck, but had to dump ourselves behind the two seats behind the driver. 10 ppl went in and the space couldn’t accommodate the rest of the 5 ppl. Now the rest of 5 were to sit on the truck top with our windcheaters on. The bags were already on the top, and so were we. We started the best truck at 10.15 and wished we reach Kalyan before 12.55 am, and get the last local towards Mumbai. The five on the truck top were me, Dilesh, Pritam, Manoj and Rohit... all Thums up lovers. Dilesh took out a 2l bag from his bag and now we were partying on the truck top.
Later we had lots of rain to wet us all, and a banner brought by Dhumps to sleep helped us save ourselves from the rain.

1.00am: we reached the Kalyan stn just to know that the last local is out of our reach and there is no other chance to move ahead. Now we had to wait till 3.30 for the first local. A few of us wanted to go early and so the meru taxi was called up. 4 of us left for their destination and the remaining 11 stayed. Again the banners and plastic sheets came handy for some to sit and for some to have a good sleep.

3.20 am: we were at the ticket counter for our tickets and heard the announcement of the first local. First time in my life I found a local running 7 minutes before its scheduled time. And thus we were left on the station waiting again for the next local which is 37 mins from now. Finally we got the 4.07 local and I reached home at 5 in the morning.

Home sweet home. Oh my home... sorry to say, Harishchandragad is better than you.