GOOD TREK!!

On a cold cozy saturday morning, Karthik and me set off on an adventure trail. We caught the Deccan express at 7:30 AM and reached Karjat at around 9:30 AM. We packed our bags with biscuits, chocolates, chips and energy drinks to keep us on foot till evening. A share auto took us to Kondawadi, a village 10 KM from Karjat. This village is our ground zero. From here, our trail and our tryst with Sahyadris begin.

Our trek was all along the banks of river Ulhas and the numerous streams that flow into river Ulhas. I was trekking after a long time..after 5 long years..i distinctly remember my last trek along the banks of River Coleroon. As we began our trek, we were greeted by an overflowing stream. We took some snaps of the roaring stream. Mr Rain lashed the area and we took shelter under a tree and munched some cookies. We trekked over a fresh water rivulet for nearly a kilometer after which my foot got stuck in a slush!! I removed my slippers, put them in a cover and continued trekking on the path which was ridden with pebbles.

Soon, we spotted a water fall. We meandered our way through a stream and reached the falls. After cleaning me of all the slush and taking few snaps, we headed for Kondana Caves. Now began our steepest climb. After having confined myself to four walls of my room at IIM B for last two years...i found it a bit difficult to ascend. i took frequent stops and guzzled pepsi to regain my lost strength!! After wading through numerous streams and after two hours from ground zero, we reached Kondana caves. A huge waterfall is at the entrance of the cave, The cave is to be approached through its side entrance. Kondana cave was once a buddhist stupa, now it is in ruins. This is the first time i had watched a waterfall by standing behind it...It was a wonderful sight!!

After spending some time there, we began our return journey..back to the polluted city of Mumbai. This trekking experience was awesome..After a long time, i breathed fresh air. I was far from the maddening crowd..the roar of the river still reverberates! Kondana is a wonderful place..the nature still very pristine and virgin!!

Missing those theatres!!

Missing those Old Cinema Theatres Badly!! PVRs and INOXs, despite the coziness and comfort they provide can never match the electrifying atmosphere that a old cinema theatre on a narrow gully provided!! I still remember those days..not so far...just six years before when I saw a tamil blockbuster movie in an old theatre. The audience welcomed the introduction of their hero and heroine by showering flowers on the screen. Each and every punch dialogue was received with a bang!! The comedy scenes were received with waves of laughter. The audience went frenzy and danced to the popular numbers. The comments passed by the audience were more entertaining than the movie itself!! Truly the atmosphere was rocking and in Ravi Shastri's vocabulary, it was "Truly Electrifying".

That old theatre was shut down. A multiplex stands there now. I happened to watch another blockbuster recently there. The audience true to their elite nature did not even laugh at the comedy scenes. Songs went by, fights went by,climax too went by....the audience were as muted as ever. There was no excitement in the movie hall. Blame it on the eliteness of the audience or the coziness of the hall that had put off the audience to sleep.....I rue missing those old days when the atmosphere in the cine halls was more exciting than the movie itself!!!

Caught in an Encounter!???

It was a rainy evening in Bandra. Around 8:45 PM, I caught an auto from my office to reach Bandra Station. I was just 4oom away from Bandra Station and the autowallah in broken marathi told that he cannot proceed further and asked me to alight immediately. I paid him the fare and got down. I walked down the road...Something was unusual....the road which would be swarmed by Autos and Taxis wore a deserted look. The road branched into two and I took the one that would lead me to the railway station. Suddenly, there was smoke around me....Some 20 men clad in uniform alighted from a truck and cordoned off the area.

There were screams everywhere....and another batallion of police personnels surrounded the area. There were some 10 people clad in their religious outfits surrounded by two rings of policemen. I was standing between the inner and the outer ring. Suddenly a shower of water drenched me completely. It was not like rain...the force was tremondous...I could see men in black suits with yellow caps climbing up the neighbouring skywalk....I have seen numerous cop movies and liked those encounter scenes very much!! But i never thought i would be involved in one!!...Those scenes flashed across my mind. The very fact that this was an area dominated by a minority community compounded my doubts..The noise of police siren filled the air.

There were announcements by policemen requesting people to leave the area immediately. I thought that this could be my last day on earth.I could hear a loud explosion too.

Then I turned my left and saw a flight of stairs. I did not even look where it was leading too. I climbed the stairs with full viguor hoping that it would lead me to safety. True...the stairs led me to the skywalk. Then I looked down and understood what had happened. A fire had broken out and the explosion was a result of the inferno. The shower of water was nothing but the water pumped to bring the inferno under control!!

True, it was a case of a mistaken incident!! I would never forget those few minutes inside the police cordon...I thought that would be the last day in my life..But at the same time ..it was very exciting too!! Being a police movie buff, all the encounter scenes flashed across my mind. The very thought of police opening fire chilled my spines but those stairs led me to safety. After realising what had actually happened, I just laughed at my imagination that ran wild!!