Bhojan ke baad sabka pet to bhar gaya tha lekin dil nahi bhara….To Humne Pan khane ka plan kiya.Mai(Sheetal) & Parikshit went to get paan for all of us…we ate the masala paan & started off towards Kashid Beach. The Road ahead was simply ausomn…Beach on one side & Green Mountains on the other side…..I wished the Road never ended……..Bt aisa to hota nahi hai…..Raasta apni manzil tak pahuch hi gaya…..Kashid beach ke 1 kone me jaa kar Pragati ne apni bike park kar di…& like the Herd mentality Ravi & I followed.Then came the rest of the herd members & started to show their dislike for the decision made by the 1st Member to reach.By this time the 1st herd member (Pragati had already rested herself on the Hammock tied near the stalls of Kashid Beach as if she had toiled for the whole day in the hot sun & has got to rest after longggggggggggg time…..She didn’t even bother to react to the displeasure shown by other members & continued to rest her tired body on the not so very strong strings of hammock.
The rest of the group searched for a suitable spot to rest their bums & backs & started swinging on their respective hammocks….By this time it had started to get hotter…the sun was over our head & everyone was feeling the heat….Nilesh then asked everyone for Nariyal paani & everyone started with their vivid orders..I had seen so many different orders for a nariyal paani for the 1st time eg:- Nariyal Paani with Meetha Paani, Nariyal Paani with thin Malai, Nariyal Paani with Thick Malai, Nariyal Paani with no malai….I am glad no one asked for“Nariyal Paani without paani..” .
After all these nawabi farmayish & finishing off with the nariyal paani we had a challenge of getting the malai taken out of the coconut. We went to the nariyal paani vendor…but he was busy entertaining new customers….& there we were standing with an empty coconut in hand waiting for our turn to get the malai
out of the coconut….I pity those who had to return empty handed as their coconuts had no malai….sad…Bt no one was disappointed as we believe in “ Kaddu Katega Sab me Batega” all those who were fortunate to get the bumper price of malai shared it with the less fortunate ones……Then we decided to shift our bases from the netted hammock to the seats of our respective bikes….there on we drove towards Fansad Sanctuary. On the way we came across a beautiful Ganpati Temple. It was so pleasant & relaxing. A divine Experience……..The Idol was dressed in Saffron placed royally in the temple…..After praying for a safe & sound journey ahead we stepped out on the lawns in the temple premises. There we relaxed on the lawn, Posed with local dogs for a few pics, Girls as usual were busy on the water tap washing their tanned faces…& applying some herbal products……(Which was of no use as we still had a ride of abt 15 more kms.). Then we set off towards Fansad & finally reached the gate at around 17.30 hrs just to find it locked. Now was the turn of Shri. Shashikant (Shashi) to get inside ,show his ID card & get the entry approved for all of us (With reference to previous incidence). This time things did not work out as before they turned out to be much simpler than before,Nilesh succeeded in getting the keys of the main gate from the forest officials.
He also managed to get the keys of the officer’s quarters which he liked so much that he carried those keys to his place while coming J ..Nilesh…u should have not done so….any ways he had no even locked the room while leaving so it wont cause any inconvenience to anyone…….There we dumped our luggage in the room allotted & set off on our bikes for the jungle exploration…..Now Ravi started crying..” Mi chalatach yenar..Meri bike nayi hai aur rasta purana hai..Kharab hai…Bla bla……..but this was not accepted by others so we forced him to get his bike along so that the speed of others would not be hampered.
There was the start of our 1st off road experience & a very new experience for my Darling.All the 7 bikes ascended & descended all the possible slopes of Fansad sanctuary.. After a ride of around 3 kms into the forest we reached the 2nd Observatory tower (machan) adjoining a vast grassland…..There we all parked our Bikes in a row for a photography session. Our professional Photographer Ravi wasted no time in executing the job..He clicked 3 to 4 pics but had to hand over the can to Meenakshi (Rangoo- Not so skilled photographer) as he had to pose with his bike. As soon as the can was handed to Meenakshi she shouted “ Atta mi kai karu?..Kuthla button dabu? Are ithe screen war kahi disat nahi…has na..zoom kasa karaicha?” & many more innocent questions….. to our surprise she clicked 2 clear pics & 4 shaky pics……bt that was an achievement in itself cheers Rangoo. While our photography nautanky was in progress Dilesh had crossed the grassland in search of a bird’s nest.I was also eager to see if he had found anything so I headed to the place on my bike where he was standing. The experience of driving through the grasslands was great & wished that the grasslands never ended…bt against my wish the grassland came to an end & I reached a waterhole on the edge of the grassland. There we searched for pugmarks & other traces of any animal,but we managed to get only the footprints of some bulls. Then I turned towards my bike & saw a astonishing sight of my bike standing in the grasses…What an stunning view…I spent 5 mins just admiring the beauty of my bike & was totally lost into it admiring its beauty….in a few moments I was out of the admiration world & started to capture its mesmerizing beauty in my lenses after capturing it in my mind……Then the group decided to return to the spot where we had kept our luggage…Again we rode our bikes through the rugged roads of the jungle….I love my Bike So much…Muuuuuaaaaahhhhhh…… It did not disappoint me at any point …Cleared every obstacle with ease & grace
……..Love you…. J…..
We then decided to take a break at the 1st machan (observation tower) for some time. There we relaxed for some time & also started to pull legs of our colleagues……..We called up several of our friends who were not present just to make them jealous…& we were successful in doing that.
Then we started with a dandiya session as it was Navratri & everyone was in full mood …3-4 over enthusiastic members picked up some twigs & sticks lying around & started with ranti dandiya…..to add to this pitiful sight Ms. Pragati joined the enthu members with 2 strong sticks in her hands…Now the real fun began….Ravi Had a tough time teaching Pragati to dance to the tunes & to the set steps….Even after teaching several times Ms. Pragati would end up going wrong at the last step & then the patented dialogue “ She Bai…timhala tar dhad dandiya pan khelta yet nahi…Amchya Koliwadyat as ach kheltat.” J & then everybody would laugh….in their patented style, which would irritate Pragati even more & she would start hitting some of the targets with those two strong sticks…..
By then it had started to get dark & we decided to do a Jam session…The sidelights of all the bikes were put on & music was started on a Cellphone…..All the party animals danced to the tunes of the vibrant music & flashing disco lights (Sidelichts of our bikes & Some of the headlights.) Closely followed by the JAM session we organized a Rampwalk session…wherein boys had to do the CATwalk & girls had to do the DOG walk. Everyone participated in this event without much hesitation…Shashi was mind-blowing in this…….
