(J Happy Monsoon J)
Weekend outing to Mandapeshwar Caves & Gorai Beach.
Ever heard of Mandapeshwar Caves?
Nah? Neither me, until last weekend i.e. 15th June 21, 2013. The
monsoon being fully set, I was wondering if there is any place nearby, where we
could go for a day outing. Then, my eyes fell on the Mandapeshwar caves, on my
places to visit in Mumbai’s list, which I made last year, just on my arrival in
Mumbai, to explore Mumbai from the point of view of a fresh arrival. Soon the
plan for the day was made. And we set out at round 1:30 pm; Me, Sweta and
Lovely. We took a Rickshaw from Borivali (W) station, which charged us Rs. 22.
We were expecting the caves to be on a remote area at a hill top. But contrary
to our assumption, the caves were on the roadside (The swami Vivekananda Road) only
and it covered just a small stretch of land. In front of the caves was an open
ground, where the children of nearby slum dwellers were playing cricket. As
very lesser tourists seemed to visit there, those children had their curious
eyes on us, as we were the only visitors of the day. J
As we reached to the entrance of
the caves, we saw some of the people including some police officials sleeping
there. Hesitantly we went inside. Our eyes fell straightly on the Shiva’s
statue and linga, carved out of rocks, as the caves were dedicated to Lord
Shiva. The shrine of Shiva inside the cave was quite dark, still me and Sweta
went in and paid our homage to Lord Shiva. The literal meaning of Mandapeshwar
is ‘Mandap pe Ishwar’ i.e. God on Mandap. History has it that those caves were made by
Buddhist monks, painted by Persians and dedicated to Shiva, and earlier it was
located on Dahisar river, which later on changed its course. Whenever I come
across this fact that most of the caves were carved by Buddhist monks in the
past, who were greatly fond of art and architecture, I feel proud of being
connected to Buddhist lineage myself. J
Then we went towards the other end of the caves which were both open and
closed, with a slight rock cut small door of human size to pass through. There
was no one in those areas, so we felt at our own. We danced; we touched the
walls; we felt the past and clicked photographs in different poses. And coming
out of the caves, we asked the pujari if we could go up the hill to see the
remains of the church, which was built by the Portuguese, but destroyed later
on. He pointed the way and told us to come back from there only. As we were
ascending the mount, one of the boys, playing cricket shouted, “There is snake
up there, don’t go.” There we first met with Sweta’s other side. She got scared
and ran down, asking us to come as well. Lovely and I still went there in the hope
of getting a glimpse of the snakes. LOL. When we reached up, we saw the remains
of the church there, parted in small cubicles. But as one of the cubicle seemed
to be occupied, we didn’t go around to see, and had to be contended ourselves
by seeing one side of it only. Moreover we found no snake there. Hmm.
And finally, “Wow! The beach was
awesome, the high tidal waves dancing at the tune of drizzling beats of the sky.
I gasped and just ran into the water and stood on a rock, the waves constantly
playing with my legs, falling on and off it. It felt awesome. Moreover, there
was huge no. of people, enjoying and having fun in and around beach, contrary
to our assumption of fewer people, due to its distance and remoteness. But, one
thing about the people of Mumbai, which I like and appreciate the most is that
even amidst of their busy and frustrating daily life, they make it a point to
take some leisure, thus valuing their life.
Here also people were enjoying to the fullest; some jumping in and out
of the water and playing wildly with it, while some sat on the nearby rocks,
just looking at the waves and enjoying the sight to their heart’s fulfillment.
I just stood on the rocks and observed everything around; the people, the
waves, the lush green surroundings etc., while Sweta and Lovely stood on the
bank itself, looking at the waves. I clicked some pictures of the sights first
and then I turned back to click their picture and asked them to smile. Lovely
was quick to respond and pose, whereas Sweta still wore a grim face, and
finally I lost my patience and walked away, gesturing them to follow suit, as
it was no use enjoy alone when your company isn’t in a mood.
I walked ahead and heard Sweta
calling me, but I didn’t turn and kept walking and clicking pictures of the
trees around. At last she reached me, and said,” What’s wrong with you? We could stay for a little longer.” I just let out my frustration,”
I would’ve enjoyed more if I were alone.
You just spoiled our day.” She was like, ‘I’ve got fear of water and ferry ride in a rainy season, I am not bold
like you.”
“Then why do you always keep planning about treks and all?” I
shouted back. And we were literally at the verge of a fight.
“Then we would be having a guide and it would be safe that way.” She
blurted
“The guide will only tell the tale, but in case of any mishappening,
you’ll have to be your own guide. For god
sake do not act like a coward little mouse.” I got angrier, but once I let
the volcano out, I felt at calm and then forced a smile. Things got quite
lighter that way.
Later on, once again while she
kept saying ‘sorry-sorry for spoiling the
trip’, I said, “Come on, what are
you afraid of, Death? That will eventually happen, then why to be
afraid of it!”
She made a light smiley gesture,
and said,” I still have to marry!”
and I was just speechless. I smiled back and in my mind realized that not
everybody takes life as lightly as I do. Every girl has her own dreams and
aspirations and I am supposed to respect that. So, I learnt that part here, and
I took the resolve to understand and respect others feelings, even though it’s
contrary to my belief. And overall the trip was ‘A-Awesome.’ All smiles J
J J
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