Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani; the land of berries, table tops & points.

Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani; the land of berries, table tops & points.

(12^th- 13^th April 2014)

Another extra holiday on 14^th April, thanks to Ambedkar Jayanti, for the wandering bug started biting my feet. As all the other destinations, which we could have made on a weekend outing with a bonus Monday holiday, couldn’t be feasible, given to scorching April heat, a place at higher altitude was what I was looking for. And finally I came across Mahabaleshwar, a small hill station in Satara district of Maharashtra, where all the Mumbaikars, as well as people from other cities from plains of Maharashtra state, find their rescue during summers.  This time Deepali, who never says ‘No’ to any of my instant outing plans, was also back after being busy with her engagement and all, of course with a ‘Yes’ to this trip as well. So, the plan was made to leave for Mahabaleshwar by 9:51 pm bus on Friday 11^th Apr. People started wondering and asking, “You two girls are going alone?” Strange! For Gad sake, how two girls can be alone at first place yaar? Lol

As pre-booked, we boarded 9:51 pm bus, which actually arrived at 10:30 at Shantiram Talao, Malad (E). It stopped at Lonavala at 1:30 am for refreshment for half an hour, and reached Mahabaleshwar at 6:00 am.

We hired a taxi, the driver of which helped us find an economic room, and later sent one of his boys with a cab to pick us up for the package tour, we had booked. We hardly could find any local conveyance there, for you have to book a package or packages for sightseeing, if you don’t have a car of your own. Mahabaleshwar is specially designed for tourists and the basic sustenance of the people over there seemed to be tourism only. Our excitement and enthusiasm made us book three packages for the whole day.

Coming to the major attributes of Mahabaleshwar, it is a small and one of the evergreen hill stations of Sahayadri range, which basically is a plateau, and you come to witness a lot of variations like barren hills, green hills, stony tops, red soil etc. in this season, though during Monsoon it’s a different story in sahayadri ranges, when all the Western Ghats turn lush green, with lots of enchanting waterfalls adding to its beauty.

To make up for the absence of a waterfall, the main charm of the city, the driver took us first to Mala’s Jam factory, where we saw the process of jam making, though from the window pane only. Lol

Then our tour started with Parsi Point on the way to Panchgani, where sparsely and peacefully spread, one of the longest peninsular rivers, Krishna with its clear and clean blue water, made us all go awestruck.  For the first time I saw a river which is quite still and peacefully moving, the surrounding mountain valley protecting and guarding its beauty. There were telescope men, who showed us certain points from there, where they said that we cannot go, but where eventually we ended up reaching at later point of the day. Hmm

Then we went to Table land at Panchgani, where there were certain flat rocky plateaus, with no vegetation at all and hence the name table top.  There some horsemen offered us rides, to which we agreed after some initial reluctance, but when all of them started yelling; “Mam, on my horse please” Mam, I offered it first” “Mam my horse is more beautiful” etc., they all surrounding us and  revolving around us with their respective horses, which felt so suffocative and torturous that eventually we denied it flatly. Then our driver took us to the Ghoda-Gadi (horse pulled carts) point, where we hired one cart and rode throughout the table tops, stopping at main points like Pandava’s Pad-chinh, Sydney point, visarjan lake and caves. There was no vegetation on the top except for one single tree, which the driver told us was the only tree on the top, and it’s famous for the shooting of many of bollywood movies.

Then we went to Salim’s strawberry garden, where we saw strawberry farms, and where I realized as to why strawberries are so costly. Hell, it requires a lot of hard work and care for strawberry plantation. They have to plant the seeds somewhere in November, and when leaves come, they have to cover the soil with some neat sheets, leaving enough spaces for O2, so that berries do not touch the ground soil and get spoiled. They also plant other vegetables in between, to give strength to the delicate roots of the berries. Then we came across other plants like mulberry and raspberry, and tasted some of them raw and fresh. ;-)

After farm tour we ordered fresh strawberry with cream, and relished it to the fullest. The taxi bhaiya told us to buy strawberries from there only if we want, and they will drop it to our hotel. We placed order for 1 kg of strawberry, gave our name, hotel name and phone no. , and didn’t bother to  take their contact details, thinking there must be some setting between taxi driver and the shop, and they will 100 % drop the berries at  hotel itself.

After that it was all about points; I mean we went to Echo point, elephant point, needle hole’s point, kate’s point, shooting point etc. which all had their own attractions, the names of which owe to the British, and all the points have English names, except for Savitri point, which is the only Indian name, thanks to river Savitri, that flows from there. J

By that time we were tired and hungry. The taxi bhaiya took us to a roadside dhaba, where we had our lunch. Then we proceeded for Venna Lake, which though wasn’t in our package, but on our request he agreed to make an exception. We rested there for a while under the shade, admiring its beauty. The lake had its boat club, but we didn’t feel like boating at that point of the day. So after quenching our thirsty eyes and heart, we set off for the destination next.

Then came our last package of the day, starting with Old Mahabaleshwar, where our tour started with a visit to Mahabaleshwar and Krishna temples, which were at walking distance of 2 minutes from each other.  If I go by the story and legend of these temples, it will be a long description, so I keep it short. Oh let me tell you, it’s at Mahabaleshwar that the Krishna River originates, and the Krishna temple remains soaked in water 12 months, which amazed us a lot, and we were quite mystified. We paid our obeisance to Goddess Krishna, praying to bless us with same serenity and peaceful movement in our respective lives evolutionary process. J

 

"Krishna temple, the source of krishna river "

Then our next destination started, other bunch of points; Arthur seat point, window point, tiger spring point, hunting point, Malcolm point, castle rock point, savitri point, monkey point, majori point, Elphinston point etc.  The one point which attracted and touched me the most was the ‘Arthur seat point’, named after Sir Arthur, who used to sit there and stare at the Savitri River, where his wife and child drowned in a ferry mishap. The point felt quite intriguing, with strong wind gushing in with full force, due to which the nearby trees made huge rustling noise, which I first mistook for some heavy water fall. The Savitri River, the source of which is tiger spring at a walking distance from there, was dry at that time. From there one can have a spectacular view of konkan and deccan plateau, pratapgarh and tornagarh forts and savitri valley. There was something about that point that kept me hooked and lost until Deepali said, “Let’s go now.” Hmm, the whole Mahabaleshwar was beautiful, and every point provided us with beautiful and scenic views, then why this point felt so touchy, I wish I knew the answer.

"the Arthur point which kept me engrossed for a while"

By the time we finished with Lodwick point, we were tired and exhausted. The driver bhaiya said that only one point i.e. Mumbai point, that’s the sun-set point is left, where we have to reach by 7 o,clock, until then waiting at Lodwick point entrance. It was 5:00 pm by then, so we told him to drop us to our hotel, where we could take some rest and decided to witness sun set on our own. He gave us direction for a point at the market place only, at a walking distance from our hotel, from where we can witness sun set, telling us to leave hotel by 6:45 pm.

We took quick naps, and like good girls, got up at 6:15 pm and started our walk at 6:30 pm. As per the left-right direction given by the taxi bhaiya, we kept walking, and later the arrows on the road, set our destination for ‘Wilson point, which was a sun-rise as well as sun-set point. We asked someone on the road about the distance, but he was like “By the time you reach there, the sun would have already set.”

 

"so what if we got late for the sun set, we gonna come in the morning for the sun rise"

And true he was, as by the time we had crossed half the distance, darkness started creeping in. Still we kept walking, thinking at least to touch the point, but the point seemed nowhere, and instead we reached a point at a curve, where a stream was flowing, which we took for ‘laxman rekha, beyond which it seemed still more curves and pin drop silent lane surrounded by dark, mysterious trees. We turned back for our return walk, with a decision to come again in the morning, to witness sun-rise. Deepali googled and got the information about sun-rise, which was at 6:28 am. I was too bad and shrewd, you can say, to throw all the responsibility on her to wake us up early, so that we don’t miss the beauty. She also accepted the challenge gracefully as getting up early was really a challenge when we were dead tired and needed more sleep. But she came up to the expectation and answered the alarm clock at 5:15 am by waking up herself and me. By 5:30 am we were out of the hotel and took the same route. When we reached at the Laxman Rekha, we felt proud over our prior decision to not to cross the stream, as it was another 10-15 minutes’ walk from there up to the Wilson point. 

We were not the only ones to get up early to witness the sun rise, as so many vehicles drove past us, and when we reached at the point it had been already been over-crowded; people in groups, with cameras in their hands, focusing on the point below, from where in few minutes at 6:15 am the sun rose majestically. It was real A-Awesome, the sun first showing s a tiny white face, and then rising so elegantly with an orange hue, suddenly turning into bright golden rays, which spread throughout, reaching out at every face there, as if returning and replying graciously to our hellos and thanking for all the welcomes. The Wilson point was the highest point of Mahabaleshwar, and the entire view from there was quite magical and enchanting, and we were glad that we explored it on our own. Treat to our soul! J We kept sitting there for quite a long time, may be for an hour, and then started descending down with eyes and heart full of magical moments.

"soul touching"

wilson point fun

We reached our hotel at around 8:00 am, had quick naps of half an hour, and then got ready for check out. We were waiting for the strawberries to be delivered, but there was no sign. Even the hotel boy went to enquire about it, but he wasn’t getting it. We regretted for not taking up the contact no. of the shop. We waited till 10:00 am, then checked out of the hotel, and hired a taxi from the stop for Mumbai point, the sun-set point, which was the last point of our package tour, and which we skipped the previous day due to tiredness. We asked the taxi driver if he could take us to the strawberry shop to help us pick up the parcel, but he said that it’s in another direction and extra charges will be taken, which was more than the amount we paid for the berries, so we just dropped the idea.

So, we went to Mumbai point, which was 7 kms from the main city centre. And it was another beautiful point, which gave us spectacular view of the lush green valley. There were lots of school children, picnicking, having full-toosh fun, shouting and playing with monkeys and taking pictures of them. All of them looked so happy and free. We sat there for another 20 minutes and then returned back to the market. We had our breakfast there. It was 12:00 pm by then, so we started walking towards the bus stop for our 1:30 pm pre-booked Krsna bus. At krsna, I remembered taking the picture of the gate of strawberry garden, which out of habit I do almost of every place I visit. And there it was; the phone no. of Salim strawberry garden. So we thought of calling one last time, before buying strawberry from the market. I pulled out the phone and called Salim, and narrated the incidents. He said that it happened due to some date discrepancy, and they took it for the next day. He apologized, and enquired about our bus timings, and promised to send someone to deliver the berries. And yes, finally we got our strawberries, thus restoring our faith in the honesty of the hill people, which few hours back we thought we had lost. “It’s ok….Galtiyaan ho jati hain…never mind. I make a whole bunch of them myself,””: P

"A-1"

Thus the trip ended. We boarded the bus and came back with loads of memories.

“Again the trip was A-Awesome!!! Keep smiling… J J J “” Nawi

Mahabaleshwar; a jewel of western ghats

The Jivdani (Goddess of Life) temple Yatra, amidst Virar local horror

 The Jivdani (Goddess of Life) temple Yatra, amidst Virar local horror

(22/03/2014)

My climbing up seven floors daily at my office building has become so noticeable that people started asking me  as to why don’t I use the elevator?  Or am I a sportswoman, which of course I am not, and blah blah. My answer to them all would be,” I love walking.” And ever since my office people came to know about this, they wouldn’t stop suggesting me about the places to visit in and around, where I can walk and trek. And one of the places they recommended me recently was ‘Jivdani Temple’ located at the hilltop of Virar, which has more than 1400 steps to climb up to.

So, this weekend though I had no plans at all, for the days being busy and tiring at office, I felt like resting., but in the morning when I was sitting with my Laptop, Rishika, one of my roommates came and asked, “so, what’s the plan for the day?” , I instinctively said,”Ghumne chalna toh bol?” 

She said,” Really, let’s go, but where?”

“Let’s go to Jivdani temple.” I said,   and all of a sudden the plan for the day was made. Lovely, another roommate of ours from Kerala, also agreed to join.

We browsed through the net for getting information about the best time to visit, and came to know that we should go either in the morning to view serene environment amidst of rising sun or visit in the evening to view the beautiful sunset. As our morning was already over, we decided to go in the evening.

We left home at 3:00 pm, and boarded a Virar train from Borivali. And gosh! For the first time I realized as to why my friends, who had been to Mumbai before me, always warned me against boarding a Virar train. I always wondered, and then that day I got the answer after the real experience I had.  We didn’t get seats at that hour of the day even, when it’s not even the peak hour, i.e. morning or evening when all the population would be commuting to and fro for their work places.

"The never ending Nightmare at Virar station"

With great difficulty, we managed to tuck into the train and stand in between the huge crowd. The very next moment the train stopped at another station named Dahisar, where few people got out of the train, and many of them got into it, dragging hard their bodies, at the same time using their hard tongues, rebuking, shouting and yelling at others and making their way by pushing everybody. Lovely pulled herself in a corner. Rishika and I were still in the middle, when a giant or huge lady of 45-50 yrs old, weighing around 200 kgs. (I shapath I am not exaggerating) came between us pushing us badly, and soon we two were at two different corners, with expressions of wonder on our faces.  The wonder didn’t stop here, as after reaching Virar Station after 45-50 minutes, we kept standing there speechless, the moment we saw the crowd. Hell, where did they come from? Mumbai’s population and crowd was nothing if we compare it with Virar’s. Oh God, the moment we walked near the staircase, leading to the bridge, to cross the platforms to go to Virar (E), we were stuck in a long queue, which seemed to be not moving.  It took us another 20 minutes to cross the bridge, which normally would take less than 2 minutes to do so. We were breathless, and when we got out of it alive, we couldn’t resist seeing and observing the never ending crowd for a while before proceeding towards the temple. And then I realized the root cause of the hardened and frustrated faces of people around, lacking peace of minds. How can someone be at peace, when he has to wake up early in the morning to travel two hours to his workplace, struggling and fighting to get seat or even a place to stand in the train, then work like a machine at office due to heavy loads of work, and in the evening has to go through same struggle for train? By the time he reaches home, he is exhausted; mentally as well as physically. How can someone be at peace when he doesn’t have the time at his disposal to talk to himself, not to speak of his family?  Sigh…God do something, I pray!

"The happy faces, while climbing the stairs"

Then to resume our yatra, we hired a shared auto, which charged us Rs. 10 per person, and reached the base of the temple in 15 minutes. And there it was, as my office people described, a beautifully made, white temple, dedicated to one of the Hindu Goddess, namely Jivdani, meaning Goddess of life on the hill top, the mere sight of which wiped away our prior apprehension of Virar Local train and station. And to reach at the temple, we had to climb more than 1400 steps, which were wide and well maintained with shades and resting places at every point. Though there was a Ropeway too, but we preferred to walk, and as per Lovely’s wish to use the Ropeway while coming down later. As we climbed higher and higher, we came closer to the beautiful view below. We rested almost at every 100 or 150^th step, posing for camera and taking pictures of the surrounding views. And, It was all fun. :-)

"And, the beautiful temple at the hilltop"

And once we reached at the top, we went “WOW”!  The view from the topmost point looked just ‘Awesome’. We could see the entire Virar city as well as the nearby places. Everything looked awesome; the roads, the houses which looked like small cardboards or a town plan map, the lakes, the Arabian sea etc. etc. and the best was the Sun-set, for which we had to wait a little more. But when the sun was at its verge to set, turning everything into orange, it was beautiful and soulfully touching.

"The beautiful view from the top, and the beautiful feelings within"

We paid our obeisance to the Goddess, spent more than an hour at the top, and then booked tickets for the Ropeway for getting down, which also was a beautiful experience. 

"The soul-touching view of sun-set"

We spent few times at the Lake, just near the Virar Railway station, as per Rishika’s wish, which looked quite beautiful as the reflection of the lights around as well as of the skywalk above, made it shine and sparkle nicely. And then we returned home happily and fully satisfied.

 

"Destination last, the beautiful Lake"

 (As always the day was A-Awesome…All smilesJJJ)

The Peb misadventure and lessons learnt.

The Peb misadventure and lessons learnt.

(15^th March 2014)

The Holi weekend, when I realized that we had three holidays at a stretch including Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I thought of making a good use of it. I called up Ruchi and Kapila, the beautiful newly married couple cum my friends, and asked them to plan out for the weekend. They agreed immediately, and after a lot of speculation over where to go, on the night of Friday, we ended up taking our decision for the Peb fort trek. Now if I ask my Marathi friends, as well as my office colleagues about Peb, they raise their eye brows,” Peb, where the hell is this place?” But never wonder, it is a lesser known hill fort, where very few people, especially the mountain lovers go. I got it from the website of some trekking groups, when last year after almost finishing exploring Mumbai, I was looking for places around Mumbai. And a mountain lover I am, and from the last few treks to some of the places at Western Ghats, I got really tempted to explore more of it. So here goes the account of our trek to Peb fort, which is also known as Vikatghat, and the final destination of it, is a temple dedicated to Pebi Devi, at the topmost point of the hill.

We set out from home at 6:30 am, with well packed food and 3-4 liters of water. We boarded the 7:15 am Karjat Local train from Ghatkopar, and reached Neral at around 8:45 am. We hired an Auto from the Station, which drove us from the interior of Neral for about 2 Kms and dropped us at the point from where we were supposed to trek. Everything seemed quite good and the mountains quite alluring. Unlike my earlier treks, this trek took us to the dry mountains and de-forested land through dusty village pathways. We kept walking till we found a well, where we rested for a while, before taking the upward journey. We enquired from the locals about the way and time it takes to go up. As per their information, we guessed that we will be up at the top in 3 hours. One of the village man offered to accompany us as a guide, but the over-confidence we had in ourselves made us reject the proposal with a huge grin.

 The initial trail was smooth. We kept following the electric poles, from the third one of which we were supposed to take a left for the trek. We didn’t mind to make our own ways in between, wherever we found something tempting in some parts of the jungle. The de-forested barren mountain, with few shrubs and small trees was just full of peace, and there was no trace of civilization there. Only three of us in that wide barren mountain, trying our luck to get on the right trail, as there seemed multiple ways, some of which would have been just used by wood-cutters and out of them one would be the right way to the top.

 We had been walking continuously for 2 hours, when we saw a man coming with logs of wood on his head. We asked the way to the fort, and he gave us direction, telling us to follow some Nallah/Stream (dried of course) and then walk straight. As per our calculation we were on right track, until we reached the end point of Nallah, where there was a dried waterfall, which I imagined as a beautiful, full of life waterfall, surrounded by greenery in a rainy season. We heard some noise and looked up towards its source. There were two trekkers, who said that they have lost their way, and they were taking some other way. I asked Kapila if we could follow them. But he said that we might be mis-led, so better find our own way. We all agreed. By that time our bellies also started making noises, so we decided to find a shady place and have our lunch. Till here everything was just perfect. We all were full of excitement and energy. And wherever we liked, we didn’t mind to pose, especially Ruchi and I, Kapila being the photographer of the day. :P Ruchi’s specialty; She packed everything, from bed sheet to tissues, not to speak of food, onion, cucumber, pickles, lemon and a knife. After the food, she made nimbu pani, which was the most delicious of all. We couldn’t stop admiring her for all that. So, up till here everything was like a perfect family picnic. The real story starts now. : P

So, after satisfying our hungry bellies and quenching our thirst, we followed a trail, which seemed to have been walked over earlier, and we guessed that we were on the right track. But suddenly, that trail ended, which would have been used by the woodcutters. Then what? We looked at each other, and then looked up. It seemed from below that a steep rise of 20 minutes could lead us to the top of that layer of mount, from where we could walk on the hill behind, where lies the trail towards the destination.  And in a state of excitement, we decided to take that un-walked, steep track to take a shortcut. We ignored the lessons our parents had given us as children, “Never take the short cut, for short cut means ‘death.’’” Hmm

"that dangerously risky point, after which we couldn't dare to take out our camera..." :P

And bingo! They were right. We soon realized it, when after 20 minutes trek upward, the slope did not end, and instead from there we were face to face with same top with same distance which we saw from below. All our assumptions proved wrong. We were breathlessly climbing through rough, bushy terrain, literally crawling on our knees. The loose soil made the climb even more challenging, as we had to struggle hard to catch hold on the dry bushes, pulling ourselves up to prevent every slip. And a point came, where there was nothing to hold our hand to and to balance our steps below. Then kapila jumped over to the nearby tree and pulled us up turn by turn, my feet slipping out of my floaters, when I realized that I am supposed to inculcate a habit of wearing shoes, which I avoid a lot. That was the most difficult climb for us all. We rested there for a while, drinking water, and resumed our trek. We had been climbing for almost for more than an hour now, but the mountain was just never ending. One point came after another endlessly, but our resources ended. Ruchi was on the verge of crying, when she said that she can’t climb further, still we were climbing with the hope that may be a little more and we might be lucky to get through. Before deciding finally, I said that I will walk up one more point and check if things are going to work or not. I climbed briskly at a stretch to reach the top of a black rock, taking it as the last point, but disappointment rushed through my head to toe when after reaching there, I was face to face with yet another layer. I sat and lied there for a while gasping for my breaths, then Kapila called, asking for the situation. Later he also came up, and when I pulled the water bottle out of my bag to offer it to him, we realized that only few drops of water we were left with. He denied it, and told to save it for Ruchi and me. But I realized Ruchi needed it more, as being born and brought up in plains of Rajasthan, Delhi and Mumbai, I felt the kind of pain she had been going through then, which kind of became unbearable for a mountain dweller like me too.  And since there seemed no way to reach the destination, and the scorching heat of super-shining sun falling straight on our eyes, penetrating deep into our heads, making it swirl, and the dried boiling mountain which seemed to be waiting for its beloved Monsoon, made us feel as if we were being fried on a hot pan, we finally decided to give up and save our lives to visit again in rainy season to finish the unfinished trek.

 

"wanderdust rose outa wanderlust, but the feeling was great..."";-)

Ruchi had the last drops of water, and then we started our climb down, dragging ourselves through the hot loose soil, struggling through same dried bushes, the gift of which we all got in the form of scratches, bruises and mud all over our bodies. Throughout the way we were worried about that point where we climbed dangerously, feeling apprehensive of how to get down of that point. But when we reached down, we realized that we came through yet another way and missed that point, and we felt glad.

We had no water with us, and we were walking back facing sun straight, Ruchi chanting,”Pani, pani, pani…” but there was no trace of water, and we kept walking with the hope of reaching up to the well, where we would quench our thirst. On the way we met four college boys, aiming the destination ‘Peb fort’, asking for the way. We told them our tale, telling them to be careful. We asked for water, and gulped few drops each. It was around 3 pm when we finally reached the Well. But disappointment rose in us, when we saw little black fishes, so many of them in the well. Without drinking water we walked ahead. Then we met few village girls, from whom we asked if we could get some water. They pointed to a house and told us to go there. We did likewise, and the woman of the house came out with a pitcher full of water, with a jug. We drank the water like anything, finishing more than half of the huge pitcher. Kapila offered them some cash out of courtesy. Really it was worth anything. That water made us alive again and we could resume our journey back.

 

"Dear Peb, we gonna come again. till then good bye...."" :-)

We reached home at around 6:00 pm, and we were full of mixed feelings. Everything just felt like a dream. But overall it was awesome and memorable. One lesson before every adventure,” Be prepared & don’t use short-cut, esp. when it looks chocolaty tempting.””

(Waiting now for monsoon to walk up the 25% of the unfinished trail, till then all smiles. J)

A peaceful visit to Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai

A peaceful visit to Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai

(22^nd February 2014)

Hello Mumbaikars! Do you know one of the 7 wonders of Maharastra State, declared by Maharashtra Tourism dept. is in your city? Well, some of my friends, who have been born and brought up in Mumbai, do not know it.

Last weekend a quick instinct made me plan a day out to the Pagoda. Though my plan for the day was to visit my bank for some official paperwork, for which Kapila, a friend of mine sent a reminder message, saying, “Get up, you got to visit your bank today.”  But I have always put paperwork and office tours on my tertiary list, and most of my documents would be made at the last moment when there is no other way, but to get it done on some urgent basis. For example, I had no proof of my being a citizen of this country till I completed my postgraduate and when later everywhere I was asked to produce an ID proof while applying for some exams and all. Hmm.

And on 22^nd Feb. also, I felt like postponing the bank visit to some other Saturday, as soon as the word ‘Golden Pagoda’ started ringing in my head, like an alarm clock. As Deepali and I had got done with the breakfast at 11:00 am, I said,” Hey, just get ready, we will go to Golden Pagoda today.” She wasn’t surprised with the instant planning, as by now she is aware of my impetuous instincts, and said,” OK, let’s go then.” And we both smiled widely at each other.

We boarded the train to Borivali, and from Borivali (w), we hired an Auto to Gorai Khadi, from where we were supposed to take a Ferry ride of 15 minutes towards Essel World. From Essel World, a 5-10 minutes’ walk towards its left took us to the Pagoda. Though you can have a beautiful glimpse of the Pagoda from the Khadi and Ferry ride, but once you reach at the Pagoda gate itself, you just remain awestruck, and admire the massiveness and beauty of the Pagoda from there for few moments, before grasping yourself to enter its premises. Peace prevails there, surrounded by clean environment, which you hardly get to see in Mumbai.

As we go by the story, the Pagoda was a gift or a tribute to India as a sense of gratitude, for being the birth place of Buddhism by Sayagi U Ba Khin, from Mayanmar, founder of Vipassana Meditation tradition of Lord Buddha, and whose Indian student, S.N. Goenka , a Padma Vibhushan was a pioneer in teaching and spreading this tradition in India.

As we walked up and up towards the main Pagoda, we kept stopping at every point, where we got to admire the architectural marvels in the form of Statues, Buddha’s’ relics, huge Prayer bells and Prayer drums with words of Dhamma engraved on the walls. The main pagoda was huge, which could accommodate around 8000 people in it, and which we came to know is the largest dome in the world, made without a single pillar to support it. The height of the Pagoda is 99 mtrs. And there are two other smaller pagodas on its south and north. After we had finished the Parikarma of the main dome, we sat at the nearby garden, with a beautiful fountain and Budha’s Statue, for more than half an hour; meditating, contemplating and washing our polluted spirits clean. ;-)

Then we started descending back and on the way, the direction arrows took us to Video-Audio and Picture galleries, depicting the life stories of Buddha and Vipassana tradition of mediation. It took us around 3 hours to complete the whole chakra of the Pagoda, and at around 4:30 pm, we got out of it with fully satisfied hearts.

To all the Mumbaikars or to others as well, I recommend a visit to the Pagoda, which will take only few hours of your busy schedule, but will give you a soul touching experience of your lifetime. And also, if any of you want to learn Vipassana tradition of meditation, there are courses they provide free of cost.

As for me, I am thinking of taking the 10 day course, once I accumulate my leave balance, which I’ve exhausted by now.

So, here I end the note with the quote of our great teacher, S.N. Goenka ,“ When one experiences truth, the madness of finding fault with others disappear.”

(“It was again an A-Awesome outing. Keep smiling JJJ: Nawi)

Winter Break, Part- 2: Shimla-Kufri Yatra; Friends, Snowfall and a wish-fulfilling trip.

Winter Break, Part- 2: Shimla-Kufri Yatra; Friends, Snowfall and a wish-fulfilling trip.

(5^th Feb. to 7^th Feb. 14)

The second part of my winter break was equally awesome. I spent 3-4 days in Chandigarh, meeting my friends and cousins; Eating, outing and mutual sharing of our love, care & every other stuff.   Then on 4^th evening I along with my friend, Monty, who was travelling from Delhi to see her mother in Shimla, travelled to Shimla together. There were still more friends to see in Chandigarh, as it’s this city where I had spent more than half part of my life’s journey, and made maximum number of friends. I thought of meeting them once I get back from Shimla. During one of the dinner night out with my friend Anju and cousin, Rohit, I had a large bowl of ice-cream in that chilly winter, which caught up my throat, which resulted into aches and coughs. But without caring for that and without taking any medicines (I avoid them like anything), I went to Shimla.

And in shimla, after spending some times with Monty and visiting her mother at IGMC, I left to visit my friend, Annie at Summerhill. And on the way, I paid a visit to my previous Office, where everybody welcomed me warmly and told me how much they missed me.  It’s kind of good feeling when someone values your importance for all good. Isn’t it? J

I reached summerhill at around 4:30 pm in the evening, as by that time Annie also got free from her Lab. We had chai & Samosa at our favourite roadside dhaba, and as it was too early to go to room, we went walking and later ended up trespassing the backside entrance of the Advance Study. That’s the nearest and deaest outing gateaway for all the students of HP University. And it’s peaceful environment, blended with cool, chiily breezes is soul deep touching. Whenever I visit Annie, we try our best to pay our visit there together, and re-live our old memories, at the same time creating new ones. Annie said,” There is a jail over here, where Gandhi ji was imprisoned once. I  went there as a child, but I don’t remember now where exactly it is. I really want to show it to you.” But as we kept walking deep into the interior parts of advance study, which was nothing but all jungle, with no traces of any human at that point of time, we didn’t find the jail. So, after reaching the end point of our walk, we gave up the thought of the jail, and instead started relishing the peace and serenity of the beautiful surrounding. Soon our eyes fell on the other side of the barrier, where from amongst the many trees, we saw the flower, named ‘Rhododendron’ on one of the trees. Annie exclaimed suddendly,” Nawi, you are so lucky to see this flower in this season. Wish for something and it will come true!”

I said,”My wish this time is to witnes snow yaar!  Its been ages since I last saw snow, and this time I really wish to see snow fall.” Hmm

When we turned our back, readying for the return, my eyes fell on down on little old steps, which led to a small iron gate. Annie said,” this is it, the same jail where Gandhi ji and some of his followers were imprisoned for some times.” We went down to check, and good God! it was more like a cave, which would have been dug out of the mountain, and with nothing except two small iron gates on either end and few small opening at the top for passing the air. We opened the door, but it was all dark, with nothing visible. I walked 4 steps, and a warm air, sounding a ‘whoof’ passed my left ear. I walked out of it soon, and Annie who was with the mobile camer, said,”Its scary, let’s get out of here.” So keeping our normal pace, we took a shortcut for the exit out of that area, for which we had to crawl beneath the iron wires. Lol it was funny , but we loved it. Hmm.

The next day, i.e.  6^th of Feb. the weather seemed cloudy, but there was no trace of snow. So, Annie called up Deepesh, her cousin cum my friend to drive us to Kufri. He agreed quickly, saying he will get along his grandpa too. What could be better than this? An elder person with us means more blessings and love. We left at around 11:30 am. While driving through the beautiful curvy roads, leading to more heights, we could see little snowflakes’ falling. I felt my wish was really going to come true. Annie and Deepesh said the same.

We didn’t take the car much higher, because if it snowed real heavy; it would have made the drive quite tough. So parking the car below, we started walking towards Himalayan Nature Park, which was around one kms walk from there. And hats off to ‘Tete’ i.e. grandpa; he is around 90 yrs of age, but he denied any support which we all offered turn by turn, and instead he chose to walk behind us as our guard. He was such an inspiration to us.

A lovely walk through snow covered and lovely roads, the sound of crispy snow under the feet with the lovely people! What could I ask for more, as every wish of mine seemed getting fulfilled in front of my own eyes? I was speechless, as throughout the walk, throughout the smiles, throughout the poses for pictures, my lips were whispering a ‘Thank you God’ for everything, coming deep from my heart’s core.

And He was gracious enough to make it snow soon. And there I was, witnessing the magic happen in front of my eyes; witnessing snowfall after complete 15 yrs as last time I saw snowfall, was in the winter of 1999 when I was in my village. Hmm, so you can guess how happy and joyful would have been! J

And to add more to the joy, in the Himalayan Nature Park, though most of the animals were hidden in their shelters due to cold, we were lucky to have glimpses of 3 Leopards, Tibetan wolf, Goral and 2 black beers. Tete, a Wildlife lover rejoiced at the sight of each animal, especially the Leopards. J

We walked a good length and relished every single flake of snow, falling on our hair, on our faces and jackets, and when the snowfall became quite heavy, we thought it quite sensible to return, as more snowfall in Himalayan roads meant more damage to the roads, and also we couldn’t afford to be stranded there, due to our own respective obligations.

We drove back and descended downhill to Shimla, where it was drizzling by then. At around 4:15, we went to Diamonds and did some justice to our hungry bellies. And wonder what, by 5:30 pm when we were on our way back to summer hill, it turned all sunny! The beautiful sun at its horizon, at its setting point, scattering beautiful rays of orange, yellow and crimson red, penetrating deep down to our soul, filled our hearts with joy and blessings. Deepesh said,” its Magical today! It seems as if we have a remote control in our hand, and the weather is changing every now and then, as if we are pressing its button with our thumb as per our wish.” Annie and I agreed and echoed our ‘Wow’, while Tete was enjoying himself silently in the peace of his spirit.

So, fully satisfied and with a joyous spirit, here I say,”

 “The trip was a real wish-fulfilling and magically A-Awesome; full of blessings and good wishes. All smilesss J,” Nawi

My Winter Break Part-1: Doon Yatra; Familial bonding and spiritually satisfying.

My Winter Break Part-1: Doon Yatra; Familial bonding and spiritually satisfying.

 (26^th JAN. to 31^st Jan. 14)

I landed at Chandigarh on 25^th Jan. 2014. Chandigarh is like my second home, where I have spent the maximum amount of my life’s time, till now. And ever since I shifted to Mumbai in Jul. 2012, it has become my base or a base camp would be a more appropriate word, for every time I go on a holiday, first I land at Chandigarh, drop my bags and other stuffs there, and from there I travel ‘to and fro’, ‘here and there’, at last getting back there only, to pack my bags again for the return journey.  Lol

So, after staying at Chandigarh on 25^th with my niece and nephew, I along with my dad, brother and niece left for Doon on 26^th Jan.

My first holiday of the year always starts with family bonding and spiritual cleansing.  Last year my Mother called me to Rewalsar, which I already had updated on my blog, and this year she called me to Dehradun, where she along with my sister, brother, sister-in-law and Lil niece had already reached, for spending this winter. Doon is the place where I did my diploma course in Tourism Management in 2007-08. So, a special bond is already there with the place. And once I just jokingly said to my dad to purchase a home in Doon. He made a denial face at that time, but when a golden chance came his way, he bought a home in 2010, which is located in the vicinity of Clement town, where the famous and most visited ‘Buddha Temple’ is located. What would be a better location than this, for someone seeking peace and spiritual cleansing?

Everybody was so happy to see me after such a long time. The spatial distance which I had created between Chandigarh and Mumbai, had made the emotional bond with my parents and siblings stronger.

So, there I was, with my family; getting back to my comfort zone, my relaxing zone, my waking up at 9:00 am zone, no tension zone, my lazing around zone, and the one week I stayed there, I cherished each & every moment and also re-lived my childhood.

On 27^th Jan, two of my Childhood friends, who had become nun, came to visit us from their nunnery, which is located at Sahastradhara. After few hours chit-chat and after having lunch, I offered them a walk in the nearby jungle, where two years earlier I explored, along with one of my big cousin bro, amidst monkey fight. My mother and niece, Rinzin also agreed to join, but when we reached the jungle periphery, it was all changed; there was no way to enter it, as it had been dug with huge gaps in between, too big to even jump. Later I came to know that it had been done to prevent some wild animals to come out of it and cause problems to the people out there, which had happened few times back. We walked quite a long distance finding for an entrance, but then failing we turned back, walking towards home. Then suddenly at the end point we saw some local people entering jungle, and we rushed towards that point. What we saw then was the dumping ground of wastes, with monkeys full on with their tactics’ jumping from one tree to another. I looked back and gestured my gang to enter from there, but my mother denied. So, I told her to walk back home if she didn’t feel like, and assured her that we will walk up to a few distance and get back. She agreed and told us to be careful, which we obeyed by walking close enough to the nearby monastery’s wall, and not going into the deep most parts of jungle, which though looked seductive and where I’ve walked two years back. Lol

But it was a fun walk, though was short one as we entered through backside entrance of the monastery in just an hour.

28^th Jan.

“None in my family has got an itchy foot, then where the heck did I inherit it from?” I just questioned myself, when I asked my Dad to take us to ‘Rajaji National Park, and I bet I had given every possible temptation to them, excitedly telling everyone,” you know, it’s a huge jungle, where unlike small zoos, you will see wild animals like tiger, lion, leopard, deer, elephants etc. etc. freely walking everywhere.” After loads of pleading Dad said ‘yes’, and there we were;  Dad, Mother, Sisters, sister in law, brother in law, eldest sister’s mother in law, three nieces and two neighbors’, in total 13 of us, ready for the ride, in two cars. It took us 1:30 hrs to reach the park. We booked tickets for 2:00 pm’s ride and two open gypsies, in order to have a more open and exciting view of the animals, otherwise we could have taken our own car. And during the drive, amidst the familial bonding, I realized I wasn’t the only one in the family with an itchy foot; my little niece, Tsewang, who is just 1.5 years old, was a replica of me. She was enjoying the most; singing, dancing, and shouting at her highest pitch. She enjoyed with a ticklish gesture, when the wind splashed on her cheeks, closing her eyes and her excitement showed on her face, when the gypsy wobbled and jumped on the bumpy jungle roads. I’ve been observing her, and found that she is not the kind to stay home in the confines of her comfort zone, for whenever somebody goes out of the gate, she would smile at that person with the hope that he would take her out too, no matter who that person is.  And oh! Coming back to the jungle; the ride was quite fun; tearing the wild plants, and chilly winds blowing at full speed and playing with us. We saw lots of deer, cheetals and peacocks on the way. The ride was of almost two hours duration, taking a full round of it with the hope of seeing some exciting jungle friends, but to our utter disappointment we saw none of the animals, which I mentioned earlier, and later my Dad kept teasing me with, saying,” Zoo (my childhood nickname) ke zoo me humein kuchh nhi dikha.” Lol. But it’s ok…overall it was full of fun and my Lil niece enjoyed to the core.

We were out of the Jungle by 4:30 pm, and as we had time at our disposal, we decided in unison, to go ahead to Haridwar, which was just 7 kms away from the park. I love Haridwar for Ganga Mata and the purifying power of its holy water, but the misuse of religious practice, which is quite rampant there, turned me down. The different kinds of begging tactics’ most of the people around there used was quite disturbing and embarrassing too. Hmm. (Pray)

"Ganga Mata ki jai"

On 29^th I stayed at home the whole day, and in the evening went out for the Movie ‘Jai ho’ at the newest multiplex which had been recently opened in Doon.

30^th Jan.:

The 30^th Jan. 14 was the most spiritually satisfying day for me. The 30^th day of the month as per Tibetan Calendar, is considered an auspicious day. Every month I hardly remember this, as I would have been lost in the madness of the mad race, but being with my family and also being in a peace-filled holy place like Doon, I decided to do something this 30^th. So, I tried to resist from any bad thing or feeling or thought, and instead to devote the whole day to Prayers and chanting. So, after having my morning tea, at 9:00 am, I left alone for taking the Circumambulation, i.e. the parikarma of the monastery, which is a part of practice of Buddhism. 

"The Prayer wheels"

"seeking His Blessings"

 I started my parikarma first with the tall staute of Budha, which even from a faraway distance seems like, showering us with His blessings and assuring us that we are never alone, for He is standing and guarding every aspect of us and leading each step of ours. There is 108 Prayer wheels, around the statue, and we are supposed to take that parikarma. I took 3 rounds of the Parikarma, rotating the 108 prayer wheels three times, at the same time chanting ‘Om Mane Padme Hung’ continuously with the accompaniment of Rosary in my hands. I tried my best to keep out all the negative thoughts at a bay and from my heart’s core I just went on thanking to Buddha, for everything he has blessed me with and all the opportunities He had been and He still is bestowing upon me in order to make me learn and grow, apologizing at the same time for all the wrongs I did  intentionally and unintentionally, not only in this life but in previous many lives, for I am a firm believer of Past lives and the ‘Karmic cycles’.

"Om Mane Padme Hung"

After the three rounds, I took off my shoes, and climbed the stairs, up to His main statue, paid my obeisance and sat there for 10-15 minutes, meditating and conversing with Him, and to do the magic, the peaceful surrounding just intensified my feelings for Him and the conversation felt two-sided, though technically speaking, I was the only one to speak. But I felt blessed to the core and that mattered the most. And I realized the importance of peace, the search for which in olden days led our mystics and sages to escape from the worldly commotion.

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Then I walked down and entered the Nyngma periphery, where the tallest Stupa of Buddha’s’ return from Develoka is located and which attracts the visitors round the year. You must be wondering now what is Nyngma, aren’t you? I’ll come to it later, because at that point I didn’t know it myself until Mother told me about it later in the day at my second round with her and Rinzin. The statue is 185 ft tall and 100 sq ft wide, and on either side of this big stupa, there are 4 small stupas each, which commemorate Buddha’s life story. And all these as well as some new additions and Big Prayer wheels on either side are in the vicinity of beautiful and peaceful gardens spread over two acres of land. And here you can walk around, can sit, can meditate, can contemplate and can have soul touching moments of your life. I took three circumambulation of it too, and then walked back home at 10:15 am.

"Prayers for all"

I had my breakfast, then had some sun bath and chit chat with my family, and then got fresh and was ready again by 11:30 am for another round of Parikarma with Mother and Rinzin; the sole objective being ‘to light the lamps in the Gompa’ on such an auspicious day.

Now I go by the sect, which I earlier left. As per Mother’s account, there are three Monastic institutions of four different sects, namely Gyeluk sect, Drukpa sect, Kagyu sect and Nyingma sect, in the vicinity of clement town. They all follow Buddha, but with some minor differences in their Practice and Ideology.

So we took Parikarma of all the Monasteries of different sects mentioned above.

We stopped at the feet of Buddha’s Statue and lighted 108 lamps. Thus the day was really a spiritually cleansing and satisfying one.

"Mother; My spiritual teacher"

On 31^{st Jan}, following my routine, I left home at 9:00 am and repeated previous days routine with more peace & devotion.

And on 1^st Feb. Dad was leaving for Chandigarh for some work, so Rinzin and I also decided to accompany him, as I already had finished one week of my holiday and another week,  I wanted to visit friends, relatives and if time permits to go to Shimla with a wish to see snowfall. But before leaving, I went one last time for the Parikarma and this time I took my Lil niece, Tsewang also, who did not agree to walk and I had to carry her in my arms, throughout the long walk, taking rest in between. But as I hardly get to cuddle her, so I rejoiced in that too, for she is a lovely child. J

So, here I end my note on “A-AWESOME DOON YATRA”, with the following realization:

“With Friends I fly, with Family I land, and in between I feel so blessed and well balanced. So, keep smiling.”  Nawi