Riding the Night in Goa

There are days when you feel that everything is just perfect and then there are days where this feeling just doesn't seem to end... But then all this is generally described as 'What a fantastic DAY?' That's because, we generally sleep at night, right? But that night was different! For one, we weren't in Mumbai and I needn't hit bed at 11 p.m. ! We had had an amazing day in itself to begin with, having rode all the way from Candolim to Dona Paula and back to Panjim, in between taking advantage of the providential existence of water sports during monsoons and also having a blast at the secluded, virgin beach at an undisclosed location! So all that was left on our itinerary for the 'night' was FussBall!!!

With our eyes (actually it was only Gaurav who was seriously on the lookout ) trying to locate a place where we could watch the Germany v. England Pre-Quarters on a Giant screen ( with the definition of giant being, as big as we could manage ), the ride back from the beach was more like a wild-life safari (only difference being we were looking for stationary ''animal's''). The sun gods decided that the bonanza for the day was over and it began drizzling. The rain drops hit your face like small missiles when you are on bike! And in all this warfare, Gaurav spotted this huge billboard (wonder how none of the 7 other managed to notice such an imposing structure!) advertising just what we were so desperately looking for!

Well, they should thank me for actually taking efforts to disembark from the bike, look right, left and then right again, cross the 'huge' road, enter the sports club, walk inside in the drizzling rain and amidst all the swarm of young eagerly awaiting faces, spot the host and ask him about the deal. Gratefulness is no longer a virtue I guess! Lol ! Anyways, so the deal was that we get to see both the matches for a mere 100 bucks ! That was a steal, bigger than any deal ever struck! So with a few frantic calling, all the other three bikes were summoned back.

From all the hectic schedule and the excitement that we were experie

ncing, my stomach began giving me hunger pangs ! But I had to satisfy myself with a few munchies. Just munchies ! The match was an awesome spectacle of how brilliance entwined with destiny can play wonders. Der Mannschaft effortlessly bull-dozed the Queen's Side with a scoreline of I believe 4-0 !

But this was just the background for the nocturnal escapades which were to follow the two matches !

The second match got over by around 1.45 a.m. in the morning and we still had to travel all the way back to our hotel which happened as a matter of coincidence a neat 14 kilometres away. The roads were swept clean of any living thing closely resembling the human species and we were darting on our Activas through the void of the road. The bike was seemingly sailing on air, invisible ofcourse, but yet whose presence could be felt by the soft gushes of cool air past the legs. We were gliding the black eternity, moving like aimless arrows shot by an archer in utter darkness. But we soon realised that it was a full-moon night and nothing could have surpassed the sheer majesticity of the huge round ball of vanilla, shining serenely on the earthly surroundings drenched in utter black, enlivening the silhouettes

of shapes so vividly indescribable, but yet, seemingly enchanting, enough to fill in tonnes of glee in any pitiable heart ! Gaurav had a brilliant idea and lo we switched off our headlights. Like pop goes the weasel, or like someone suddenly turned the switch off, all went further deep into the degrees of advanced blackness. But the moon had other ideas. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we could see properly the stunning sights the moon had to offer us. The feeling was ethereal... I could feel the warmth of freedom pulsing beneath my veins, the freedom from the worldly struggle which seemed to be afraid of the dark and had hid itself beyond finding. The moonlight kept interspersing ... freeing us... guiding us...

The Royal Bandhavgarh Troika !!!

The train journey was made eventful with the occasional halts at stations and eating the patent delicacies of that station all with caution due to the numerous flies buzzing around. We had a night train from CST which was to reach Jabalpur in the afternoon where we were to join a group of other co-travellers. Our vehicle was already waiting outside the station and we set forth on our way to one of India's best maintained Tiger Reserve. It took us hours on end, ever increasing due to the palpability and excitement of getting to see a tiger, to reach Mogli resorts at Bandhavgarh. The air had become increasingly cooler and the moment we got down from the jeep I felt a shiver run down my spine. I was surrounded by a sudden chill, the sensation heightened due to the fact that we had conveniently kept the windows of our jeep shut. I and Tanay, my would be roomie for the 2 days we were to stay here, directly went to our rooms and shut all the possible crevices the air could sneak in through, and rested ourselves in our own beds. Dinner was served sometime alter and all we cared for was the morning safari. For once food wasn't everything !!!

The night slid past stealthily even as I was just soothing my body after the hectic travel. It was pitch dark when I woke up at 4.10 a.m. Whoa! Not joking. I genuinely got up at 4.10, of course the credit going to the ever so diligent alarms. My main task of both the mornings was confined to waking Tanay up, much to his displeasure. Anyways, we were ready and raring to go, fully wrapped under layers of clothes, gloves, socks, et al. Having assembled at the main hall by 4.50 a.m. we had a our early morning fix of caffeine and set forth for our jeeps. The hotel had provided us with warm blankets to protect us from the chilly breeze who was expected to come all daggers out at us. I took the back seat, (like I had any choice ) alongwith Tanay. The jeep manouvered itself under the black early morning sky and reached the park gates. I guess if I am not mistaken we were only the 2nd or 3rd jeep that day followed by the other members of our group in another jeep. The wait was stealing our sanity having teamed up with the ever-so-present chill and the dark surroundings. We couldn't even step out due to the cold. After an hour or so, the gates were thrown open, much in the same gaiety any palace gates are opened. All the jeeps, which had increased to around 20 odd raced as if their lives depended on getting ahead of everyone, the logic being that the first one generally get to the see the animals who tend to hide due to the increasing din.

Our jeep was nonchalantly moving ahead adn we had already spotted the omnipresent deer, who after sometime get you nauseated due to their sheer numbers. Our jeep was passing a small clearing on our left and had almost crossed when suddenly someone (Tanay claims it was him), spotted two black ears in the grass. The two ears revealed the cutest tiger cub and the first ever cub I had seen from such close distance. As we moved the jeep in reverse and other jeeps joined us like crows joining other crows when they spot some foodstuff on the road, the cub visibly scared, ran away from us, into the thicket at the end of the clearing. This backward run helped us to spot the cub's ( who had been now established - God alone would know how - as a 'she' ) brother. The female cub cuddled into her brother and they went inside the thicket. After much patience on our part, they came out again, possibly emboldened by our gentlemanliness, and played there for a while. suddenly we were informed that there was one more cub in the thicket, although too lazy to get up this early. I managed to capture a few video shots too and the morning safari was half spent in watching this Troika mesmerise us with their sheer charmingly cute nature.

The other half was spent in hopelessly wandering in search of the cubs' mother who seemed to have courageously left her cubs alone was roaming around the park. The sights and sounds of Nature, the playing of the sun rays with the jungle foliage, the ever so expanse of green, trees of every size and shape, stretching the entire vertical horizon, the one-branch-to-the-other hopping langurs, the always grazing spotted deer and the lovely pairs of the sambhar deer, the smell of fresh forest air mixed with the heightened emotions trying to spot a tiger at every turn of the road, at every nukkad and at every water hole. It spoke of brilliance, of divinity in its living form, holding our souls captive, and ensuring that they were cleansed of the muck that had accumulated in the sin-cities . The environment had temporarily transferred us into a world where except for the the safari, nothing ran with watches constantly hammering out time to it. This was Bandhavgarh, an erstwhile hunting ground of the kings and queens of medieval India.


The cubs played a saviour to our evening safari too, with them being our only sightings of the elusive panthera tigris . On our way back outside the park, we were lucky to witness a lesser adjucant stork, killing a live snake. we were obediently informed by the guide that we were supposedly lucky to have got to see this phenomenon and he too was observing it first time ever! The lengths these guides can go to make us feel like the Maharajas !!! Just as we were crossing a path engulfed by huge trees on either sides, a sudden flash of black passed in front of our eyes, the driver sped the car, and almost everyone ducked. Later we realised that it was a jump gone wrong. A langur was trying to jump from one tree to the other and he had evidently misjudged the thickness of the branch-would-be, only to have realised that it was sort of a creeper, but already in mid-air he had to choice but to hang on, and the branch, true to its elemental properties, swooped down, the monkey and people in our car at a whiskers distance from each other, only to rebound back and help the monkey carry on its aimless journeys.

The second morning safari was dull and devoid of any tagdaa sightings. We roamed the forest for every whiff of the striped beast but to no avail. the other had till then managed to spot boka, an almost adult male at photography point. That place is generally open for alighting from the jeep to click photographs, but that day boka decided he would rest there and so gave these people an awesome darshan. Afternoons were spent in catching a quick wink and getting ready to leave even before we had arrived. The fourth safari was to be our last during this visit and the cubs had again valiantly come to our rescue with theirs being the only sighting. But one golden streak in the solemn clouds of tiger darkness was the healthy discussions we had with our guide. He spoke, spoke and spoke a little more, only to end up speaking further till he wanted to speak all that he had to speak. Tanay was efficiently egging him to speak more! One incident that that guide narrated made an ever lasting impact on our minds. He spoke at length as he had witnessed it. He spoke how another guide had been rewarded with foreign grants due to his sheer courage and determination. He spoke of how a tigress had been wounded a few years ago on the highway, hit by a speeding truck. Hurt and in agony, she limped back to the forest where her cubs were. the next day morning, a few jeeps spotte her cubs. All alone and cute. They congregated around them, the jeeps ever increasing. The were ignorantly clicking away photographs, when suddenly the wounded tigress came from behind, crossed the road, and jumped into one of the jeeps. She began mauling the tourists. Everyone else fled. But the guide I mentioned earlier felt that he should save his guests and picked up a wooden bark and began hitting her from behind. She jumped back and pinned him to the forest floor. Luckily for the guide, her jaw was broken and she couldn't do much damage. She walked away leaving the guide bleeding. Next day she was reported DEAD!!!


The Jungle lore continues and the more you hear of it, the more you seem to want of it. That's the magic of Bandhavgarh!!!

Konkan on the Rocks !!!

Trust me guys, when I say most memorable, it certainly is better than the most memorable one! Everything was perfect - the places, the people, the occasion and the sync! The idea was very feeble when it was mooted and a tad unrealistic as it included arranging accommodation at places which we had never been to, gathering 8-10 people and managing their time, arranging vehicles et al. Ajinkya should be thanked for managing almost everything and we co-ordinated with him from Mumbai. He actually even came to Mumbai and we met to call the listed home stay options at Harihareshwar and Shriwardhan which I managed to download from the net. Finally we managed to get da decent accommodation anda vehicle. We also managed to decide on the place for 31st night and then all I, Dhawal and Kaustubh had to do was reach Pune.
We took the 6.04 pm Sahyadri from Dadar on the 31st. The Journey was quite eventful with all of us getting hurriedly getting down at the wrong station which happened to be 3-4 stations before our destination but luckily we got in before the train left. Observing the surroundings was the in thing. One of co-passengers seemed to no have had food for ages. Her boyfriend was getting different stuff at almost every station. She even asked the chaiwallah - Arey bhaiya sirf chai kyun laa rahey ho. Wafers nahi hai kya. But the best part was when she couldn't resist the temptation and opened the cake they were carrying and ate a fingerful of cream. The train moved on and we finally alighted at Shivaji Nagar. Getting autos was always going to be tough considering it was Pune and after arguing with half a dozen autos we got one for 80 bucks. I was quite hungry then too. Ajinkya's place was a mess. I didn't know whether the mess was in the room or the room was built around the mess. But, we found place and in the next 2-3 days managed to shift almost everything within the place for us to sit and sleep.


It was already the second day of my trip and I had barely time enough to recuperate from my sleepless night before. It took us some time to leave by when it was 8.30 !!! ( I personally knew it would be though others were being very optimistic about 6) Steadily, we settled in the Tavera whose Driver we were to find out in the next 2 days, was craving for sleep since Jesus was born. All in we set out on our adventure for which I and Ajinkya had set all hell lose with the sheer magnitude of planning we had undergone!! We drove on and on and on... We were passing by some dam, the name of which I cannot remember. A vast expanse of blue water, waves rippling on its surface, surrounded by huge, lush green mountains. I was on the lookout for some place where we could dip our waters in the serenity. We got down for a few pics at a point having an awesome background. But the water was still far away. We moved on and on. Finally I spotted a few people off the coast and asked our driver to stop the car. We found a path through thickets and fences and reached the shores. Aah, it was sheer bliss. We clicked a few more photos. We again went back to our car. I couldn't wait to reach Harihareshwar. Konkan was beckoning and we soon reached Tamhini Ghat. On our way we slept, yawned, again slept, listening to music simultaneously. All of us were immensely hungry. But as we had entered the Ghat there were no roadside hotels in sight. Hunger was taking its toll!!! Especially on me. Crows, Vultures, Owls, Eagles, all were cacophoning in my tummy. We finally took a breaking the fast halt in the middle of nowhere and gobbled 2 plates each of hot Pohey. The car went on the winding route and we reached Manmad. Ajinkya as usual had to try confusing himself while trying to change plans. The new query was - how to squeeze in Murud? Dude, it is 60 kms on the opposite side of our destination, its already 12 and we still hadn't checked into our rooms!!! Thankfully we stayed put and reached Harihareshwar via a small long cut. The room was below expectations but was alright since we hadn't come to stay within the four walls right? We were allotted one hall instead of the two rooms we had booked. For lunch we went to a small hotel opposite our rooms. It was spicy but yummilicious. I as usual had non-veg. We went for a hot, under the blazing sun, afternoon walk on the shore, exploring the beach and what it had to offer. The Kokam Soda that we had at the beach was amazing. The soda guy added a pinch of masala salt which made the entire drink to fizz up and overflow in the form of froth and bubbles. A few of us could manage without spilling any drop, though the others weren't that lucky. We next went on the beach, well not exactly the beach but yes the beach. Or say the outskirts of the beach. Dhawal and Ajinkya went around the huge hillock, on the prowl for adventure whereas I, Kaustubh and Gaurav stayed put preferring to observe the beach instead. We waited and waited for the 2 musketeers to return and once back, left for our rooms, constantly arguing on what to do next. Sleep or come back to the beach? Kuku and Ajya decided to hit the pillows whereas I, Dow Jones and Gugu went on to explore the rocky structures on the beach side. All of marched in half pants. The rocks were intricately carved by Nature and went on and on and on. I Had been informed that the area was blessed with Dolphin sightings and I like an obedient fool scouted relentlessly for a sight or two. Crabs gave us ample company but were too scared to venture anywhere near us. We finally decided to climb the hill. Idea courtesy Gugu and First Climb courtesy Me! Lol. anyways, we climbed the hill and perched ourselves on a high vantage point from where we could see 200* on all sides. It was a magnificent feeling. Passersby were pointing at us but were too scared to climb up. While scouting the area we spotted Ajya and Kuku. Poor Souls were carrying our spare clothes as well as theirs and had to climb the hill that way with the heavy load. And mind you, it was a straight climb. We went still further up the hill and found a small cave. All the rock structures were formed naturally. Like pores on a sponge. I constantly kept reminding the others that the sun was about to set and we ought to be on the beach. Well finally everyone relented, but not before a few more snaps. I and Gugu sat down to build a sand castle. It was our finest creation. With a moat and a temple on top. We went a bit ahead and dived into the sea. The beautiful sea, the cold sea, the gigantic sea. A shiver ran down my spine. I submerged myself into the water and the salty warmness engulfed me. It was certainly warm as compared to the cold air. We had loads of fun in the water. We posed for pics which Kuku was kind enough to click. The mud was easy to splash around at each other and most of the times when I would scoop out a dollop of wet mud, a small shell with a live crab or a similar yucky, slimy creature would crawl out. And off it would go. The sun set right in front of our eyes, turning crimson and then the sky darkened. The air became colder and we decided to call it a day. We changed a bit and went back to our room. We were too tired to do anything. But we did bathe. Ajya and Kuku didn't tough!!!

I need to mention here the serene temple which we visited in the morning at Harihareshwar. The place is called Dakshin Kashi and is considered very holy. It felt like our very own temples in Goa. We left in the evening and reached Pune by night at around 11 or so.

The trip was a memorable one. Surprisingly Konkan is so close to Mumbai and Pune alike that we just need to either take a bus or a train or hire a jeep and we reach Konkan in like 5-6 hours. Do try the homestay options available with MTDC as they are cheap and comfortable and easy to book.

Check out Konkan with MTDC