Its not very often that u get a chance to spend time wd ur college frnz. And for all of us, these ver the memorable days in our life. It was Deek's wedding which created an opportunity for all of us MCA maniacs to visit Kokan, thanx to Deek for arranging it in Kokan. Kokan is one of the best places God has created on earth. The beautiful beaches, the ppl, the sea-food, the temples, the muddy village roads, the mountains and wild life and lastly the forts built in sea-water. Our preparations had started couple of months back when Deek announced about his wedding. To be on the safer side we had booked tickets in advance. The excitement was increasing with the month of decemeber approaching near. I would like to pen down all the happy, sad, adventurous and funfilled memories of our Kokan trip.
Day 1 - 2030hrs : I was running towards the reservation chartlist @ platform no 5 of Dadar station. I found the chartboard and started looking for my ticket number in the chart listed on the board. Suddenly i heard someone murmuring behind me. "Praful hai na, hamesha paisa paisa karte rehta hai. Us din mujhe call kiya aur puchne laga kab dega mera paise." I understood it must be Pashya and Rahul since they had called me @ 9pm that they have reached Thane and will catch Kokan Kanya express from there itself. But i was bit surprised to see them @ Dadar. Immediately i turned behind and gave them a mixed look.. filled up wd lil anger and smile on my face wd tweeny eyez. We all laughed then. Just when we were exchanging our smiles and handshakes a cute female walked and smiled with a big 32 toothy closeup smile. Yeah Sree spotted us and came near the chartboard along with Tillu and Mansi, whom i had never met before. She happily gave her affirmation to Sree when she heard about the Kokan trip. Whereas Tillu takla was a last minute replacement to Prafulla Naik who cudnt make it coz of some personal reasons. After exchanging smiles and friendly abuses we moved to our coach position. The Kokan Kanya express luckily was on time and entered the Dadar station @ exactly 2320hrs. Meanwhile Avi and Deepak were continuously eating up my cellphone battery by their not-so-meaningful but curiousity filled up calls. Even i was busy answering each of their call. We entered the S9 compartment with lotta excitement and immediately grabbed out respective seats. The compartment was immediately flooded wd WL passengers and made the sleeper coach compartment look like a normal general boogie.
Day 1 - 2345hrs : The train touched the Thane platform. Avi, Gaurya and Onya alongwith Deepak's sister and brother in-law got into the door from other side of the compartment. Pashya and Rahul caught them in the middle before they cud reach us. We gave Deek's sis and brother-in-law two seats. I had already retired to the fact that v wud have to share berths, since 3 of our tickets were not confirmed. But it proved as a plus point since, as far as i remember, that night 15 of us travelled on ticket of 11 ppl. So it was very easy to tell the TTE that since our tickets dint confirm we have to share our berths. Apart from the seats in the S9 compartment there were 2 berths in s2 and 1 berth in s4 where Deepak sent his another sister along with his aunt and two more relatives. Deepak and Amtya got into the train @ Panvel. I tried to keep the surprise about Deek joining us to Kokan till the last moment. Only Avi knew about this. When Gaurya and Onya saw Deek they were surprised.
Day 2 - 0030hrs : Gaurya/Amtya, Deek/Rahul, Onya/Pashya, Sree/Mansi, Deek's sis/niece, Tillu/Me and (Avi and our sacks). This was our sleeping position till next day morning.
Day 2 - 0500hrs : Amit's eating habit has still not changed. I remember our Chinchwad days when we had spent two years together. He was feeling very hungry and waiting for any possible caterer from Indian railway. Gaurya and Amtya's personal discussion and social talks which included everything from global recession to Rakhi Sawant's short dresses @ 5 am in the morning had already brought almost every passenger from the surrounding berths out of their sleep. Deek's sis who was sleeping on the middle berth heard that Amit is feeling very hungry so removed a box from her bag which had chaklis inside it. Amit and Gaurya finished it wdin a fraction of minute. After a coffe break, even i joined their discussion. By this time, the fellow passengers had given up their hopes of we keeping quite.
Day 2 - 0600hrs : Around 20-30ppl gathered near the gate. Station was Ratnagiri. The Waitlisters immedialtely occupied the seats to complete their pending sleep.
I went towards Onya's berth to see if they have woke up or not. Yeah except Avi, every one was awake. Avi had promised that he will wake up @ 5am to visit the loo and take atleast half an hour to come out and leave his mark on the Kokan railway track (heheheh :D). I guess, its his favourite place. We pinched, patted, did as much we cud to wake up the kumbhakaran and finally he woke up. The cool breeze coming from the windows and doors made everyone to pull out their monkey caps and sweat shirts. We all ran towards the gate to enjoy the sunrise and the foggy climate. The photosession ceremony had already started.
Day 2 - 0730hrs : We had reached Vaibhavwadi station. Since kokan railway has only one track, most of the time passenger trains have to spend their time waiting at the railway station so the express trains may get the route clear. The train waited @ Vaibhavwadi for nearly 15 mins. From Vaibhavwadi, Kankavli was just 20 mins away.
Day 2 - 0800 hrs : We reached our destination. Kankavli station it was. While throwing our luggage outside, one of us brought an extra bag
outside on the platform and a man cam out running near the door saying, "Mera bag vapaas kardo" That was really funny. Someone actually by mistake brought some body else's bag outa the train. Our SUMO was ready @ the station. I had already booked a SUMO and lodge in Kankavli in advance. Everyone was pretty satisfied and happy wd the arrangements i cud manage to do. Deek hired an omni from Kanakavli to his native which is 1 hour away. There were around 6-7 ppl along wd Deek.
Day 2 - 0830 hrs : Reached lodge. The arrangements were much much better than what v had expected for. Infact everyone was happy with the kind of arrangements. And they admitted it too, which made me happy. By 1030am everyone was ready; though there was an uneven girl to boy ratio, still the girls took more time to get ready than the guys. We were in total 8 boys and 2 girls. Now think on it. Initially we had planned to go to the Vijaydurg fort but our plan somehow changed @ the last moment with the driver being already made his mind about taking us to various places. Still we had thought of visiting Vijaydurg fort on the last day.
Day 2 - 1200 hrs : Kunkeshwar temple, one of the oldest temple in Kokan Area. It lies in the Devgad Taluka. The speciality of most of the temples in Kokan is that
each of them have a sea @ its backyard. Same with Kukeshwar. The water @ Kunkeshwar beach was blue. L
ong coastline was clearly visible. The temple was recently renovated with white color carved ceiling and nice artistic marble and granite flooring. The deepsthambh right in front of the temple had its own story and witnesses the history of Kunkeshwar temple. The main entrance of Kunkeshwar temple is very very old. Infact i wud say, it must not have been touched time since its constructed.
Day 2 - 1315 hrs : Returning to the SUMO, i read the expressions on the driver's face. By now, he had become aware, which type of customer we were. From there he tuk us to Malwan-Medhe, Ganpati Mandir. One of the famous tourist spot in Malwan. It is built by Kalniryanaywaale Salgaonkar. The yellow-white dual-colored temple looks gr8 from every angle. Exactly opposite to the temple is the house of Salgaonkar which is evenly painted. The temple has two Airawats(white-elepants) at the entrance and the dome has 8 different types of Ganesh idols and a jhumbar in the middle. The Ganesh idol is made up of gold it seems and is spread one where Ganesh is nicely relaxing with Riddhi - Siddhi sitting beside him. Its very peaceful in that temple and you dont feel like stepping out, but we had to.
Day 2 - 1400hrs : Driver stopped the SUMO in some small lane in Malwan. And stepped out. He tuk us inside the compound of an old house, those typical houses which can be seen in any kokani village. We followed him admiring the simple yet beautiful house. Visiting kokan and not eating nonveg or specifically sea-food was like _______________________________(i dint find a matching Figure of speech for this place, pls suggest me one!). While in a non-veg restaurant, the person to be watched is Gaurya. Thou he is a pukka veggie @ home, drinking veg water in a non-veg rest is like a sin to him. He wont even sit next to Avadhut since Avdhut is a pukka veggie. The food was simply gr8. Fried KingFish (Surmaiy), Pomfret(Paplet) were the special items. More than anything else, the fish was vei vei fresh. As if jus pulled out from the sea. We made a pretty fat bill, but less as compared to what we make @ Hotel Sindhudurg, Dadar when we meet in Mumbai. The best part which everyone likes about kokan food is the solkadi prepared from Kokam and nariyal which is served after the food.
Day 2 - 1530hrs : Driver stopped the car near a beach. We cud see a fort on an island @ distance of around 1-1.5 nautical miles from the beach. Yes it was the Malwan fort. There was a walkthrough bridge which seemed to be newly constructed where there were many ppl waiting in a queue to get into the miniboats which take em to the fort. Except the 20 mins boat ride there is nothing amusing about the Malwan fort. There are half a dozen families which reside inside the fort and the only temple of Shivaji Maharaj in entire Maharashtra, which is poorly maintained by the tourism department. By the time our number came, a new boat came and stood in front of us but v were not allowed to sit inside coz by the local rule there shd be atleast 15 ppl. And we were 12 in total with a couple accompanied us. Our wait was continuously getting longer and longer so we decided to bear the ticket expense of the 3 ppl and shared it wd the couple. The couple seemed to be in a hurry. Those boatriders instructed us to return wdin an hour near the boat. The ride was very amusing especially when the waves hit the boat it slightly goes off balance leaving a fear
in mind. There were Sea-gulls enjoying the evening sunbath on mini-islands next to the fort. A series of ships returning from far shore portraying a typical evening sunset painting scene. My digicam battery went off at the last moment otherwise i wud have captured it for u. After a quick photosession round on the broken pillars and huge rocky fence of the fort we returned back to out boat. Luckily the couple too returned on time.
Day 2 - 1800hrs : We started moving towards Tarkarli beach. Thou the name resembles my surname, ironically i dunt have any roots in Tarkarli. I wish i had :(. The roads in Tarkarli infact all the outskirts of Malwan are covered wd sand. Not only this, the backdoor of 90% of the houses open into a sea, pretty much like the JW Mariots and Taj Land End's in Mumbai. Yeah, but its much pleasant in Tarkarli huts than in those costly Mumbai 5 stars. The way to Tarkarli beach is through the MTDC resorts. The MTDC resort are really cool wd tall trees which looks similar to coconut trees but not. Beside these small cottages, there were two huge special suits which looked like mini-ships made up of raw wood. From outside it seemed it had a bar in the ground floor and rooms wd balcony on the upper deck. We spent our time @ the sea. Few of us got drenched, few preferred to walk, whereas Sree, Tillu and me opted to play in the sand. The sand was very soft and it had tiny insects inside.
Day 2 - 1930hrs : Guys wanted to do shopping, our driver parked the SUMO in Malwan market. There is a famous store for cashewnuts and other kokan special items in Malwan. Onya, Gaurya and Pashya went to a medical shop to buy a special gift for Deek. Fun part was, the druggist was a female so they had to do lotta excercise to explain her what exactly they want. After half an hr or so, they returned back. A huge fat person with two kids and one lady came walking towards Onya and exchanged handshakes. We were all surprised to see this. Luckily Deek's gift was with Pashya otherwise Onya wud have been tossed by that fat man there itself and v wud have enjoyed it.. :P hehee..
Day 2 - 2000hrs : That fat man suggested put a worm into Onya's brain about Dolphins @ Tarkarli. All of us too ver really excited about it. It was Rs. 1000 for 6 ppl but somehow Onya's Uncles fixed up the deal for all 10 of us in the same amount. Thanx to him. We started back home from Malwan @ around 2030hrs. The driver was bit bugged up becoza our lazzzy-butt behaviour. @ the same time there was a small argument between me and these guys about the driver's daily wage, which i clarified the next day after speaking wd my cousin, who had actually fixed up the SUMO just on a single phone call. We ver heading towards Kankavli and everyone was so tired that no one bothered to take the notice of who was sitting next to whom. Avdhut and Pashya lied on the middle seat like dead bodies. Just a thought cropped up in my mind.. how difficult it must be for the drivers to drive during night, since all the passengers are sleeping and human body weight is slightly more than normal while sleeping. After 45 mins or so the driver slowed down the cab in front of a small restaurant and asked me whether we want to have our dinner in that hotel. Couple of them replied almost with closed eyes, "nopes take it to the lodge, we wanna sleep.." lazzy asso's! i muttered.. Actually i had some place in my stomach for the dinner but no one wud have agreed to join me, so i kept my mouth shut. Within next 5 mins, we were @ the lodge. Meanwhile Deepak had called me up and asked to bring special wedding garlands, a pheta and couple of other puja paath stuff from Kankavli market. Deepak's last minute requirements were bit difficult to accomplish but Amit, Tillu and I stepped outa the lodge to checkout if we can manage to get those garlands.
Day 2 - 2300hrs : We were walking on the Mumbai-Goa highway, NH-17 @ the last hour of night, expecting to see atleast one garland shop open near the Kankavli bazar peth (market). Luckily Amit found one. Actually there were many weddings on the next day, 7th december so he had to keep the shop open to complete the pending orders, thats what the owner told us. We gave him advance and told him to keep the haar's ready by 830am. Thanks that he dint had a pen and so cudnt make a receipt of it and take my contact number, u ll know the reason in a short while, y m saying this.
Day 2 - 2330hrs : While our way to the market, Tillu saw one Chinese fast food corner with few late nyt customers open in one lane. I was already hungry as i said earlier. Amit and Tillu were too. By midnyt we returned back to the lodge. We went to bed ASAP. Next morning we had to go to Kudal, Ghotage, i.e. Deek's native.
Day 3 - 0830hrs : Morning v got a call from Deek's father, that he has come for some wedding related shopping in Kankavli and can take us while going back to Ghotage. He was about to leave in few minutes, but all the Raja's and Yuvraaj's were yet to get ready, so we suggested him to go ahead. From Deek's father i came to know that he has already purchased garlands and those we had booked wud be a waste now. :D. After that we dint bother to go to that Garland shop (I call this as Typical SE behaviour..)
Day 3 - 0930hrs : Sree and Amit knew my cousin and Sree especially wanted to meet her. Right behind my cousin's house is "Bhalchandra Math". It one of the famous temples in Kankavli. Any one who comes to Kankavli dont go back without taking the blessings from that temple. I suggested others to wait in the temple, till we come back from my cousin's house. We left from that place by 1000hrs. The driver had done his homework properly about the road to Ghotage. by 1115hrs, we were @ the base village. Deek's house was @ 15 mins walking distance from the place we parked the Sumo. Though the road was muddy many vehicles actually go till Deek's house. But our driver neva wanted to take the risk. We kept on walking in the direction of the loudspeaker. Deek's house is on a tiny hill. Right behind Ghotage village is a hilly range of Sahyadris and once u cross those mountains comes the Kolhapur district. Geography sounds interesting only after you have completed ur primary education, isnt it?? ;) There was a small water stream which had dried up and a metal bridge with cement logs on it which is the only source to cross the stream in rainy season. Deek's wedding ceremony had already started. People spotted our rally of 10 desi's walking from the rice fields towards Deek's house. Bihag stood on the entrance with his Camcorder and asking everyone to give their intro b4 entering deek's house. Bihag one of the most entertaining character of our colj and Deek's best friend ryt from his grad days and a great person. He has an amazing sense of humour and will make u laugh with his funny gestures. Deepak and Shweta were looking gr8 in the traditional attire. Deek had warned me to not to forgot my Cam since there were no photographers available @ such a remote place. But there were atleast 5 guys who had their cams and recorders who ver busy clicking each and every special moment of Deek and Shwetas' life. The first time we met Shweta was @ Avadhut's house during Ganpati festival. The ease with which she mingled with us was really aprreaciable. May be Deek had already told her about each one of us in detail. Shweta and Deek make a gr8 pair.
Day 3 - 1100hrs : A wedding in a konkani village was a treat for all of us. Though i had been to one such wedding few years back in Sawantwadi, Deek's wedding was a bit different. The panditji was also dashing and he continuosly kept on mumbling mantra's along wd the few sarcasm filled phrases as the muhurat was coming closer. Each small ceremony in any wedding is gr8 to watch. Deek's weddin also had many of such special moments. And the best part was right from the ring exchange ceremony to saath phere, all was done on the same day. Before the haldi program, few of Deek's aunties and grannies gathered together and sang some traditional song and with a long wooden stick they crushed pieces of turmeric stones in a bucket. The song came after lot of requests from the pandit and other ppl. A very old lady with her tremoring voice initiated the song while rest of the ladies gave a chorus. After applying the turmeric face pack, Deek was looking like some stage actor of a Dashavtari(traditional folk play in kokan region) natak. After lil bit of masti @ the haldi ceremony, Bihag and Sammy's dad took over the drums and sticks and started playing it in a funny way. The hidden drummer from my inside gave me a call and i too joined them, whereas other started to move their legs on the not so rhythmic band. It was a funny sight for all the villagers. A series of other small ceremonies followed and then the bride and groom came out of the house with Deek dressed in Sherwani and Shweta in a fancy sari and a chunri over head.
Day 3 - 1230hrs : They exchanged garlands @ the Vitthal mandir which is just next to Deek's house. All of us were very excited to see the opening knock of Deepak. He is the first from our MCA maniacs group to tie the knot. Gaurya and Amito were the most happiest since they are the next contenders :P. I heard Gaurav is already planning to go to Nagpur for some Kaande-Pohe program, All the best Gaurya.. Hope the girls select u... :D:D hope u got my joke... hehehe.. By 0130hrs, all of us just ran to have lunch since everyone was very hungry. The lunch was served on a plate made from dried tree leaves joined/merged(a word in IT terms :P) together with small toothpic like sticks. Its fun to eat on these plates especially when the dal drips out from the plate before u cud mix it wd the rice. hehe..
Day3 : 1430hrs : Deek and Shweta were still downstairs in the temple. When all the guests, relative were giving them blessings for their marriage life, we were looking for a chance to sneak in with our gift and the suprise elements we had brought wd us. One was the album and the second was the special gift which Onya and others purchased in the medical store in Malwan. After lil bit of photography we gave the album to Deek. We were pleased to see the joy on his face when he was turning the pages of the album and reminiscing about every photo in the album. I had read somwhere long back that gifting frnz wd their own photos on their bde's and specl occasion can be the most spcl gift to anyone. Deek's mother and sisters and even Shweta was very exicted to see the photo album. Till date Shweta might have only heard about Deek's past but today she was really very excited to watch it in the form of photos.
Day3 - 1530hrs : Finally there was a small miravnuk wherein everyone danced including Deek's father. I cud see the joy on Deek's father's face. Everyone was surprised to see him dancing in his very own e-style. He was the most happiest man on the earth i wud say @ that moment. Even the bride and groom danced with us. Bihag's unique dance steps were special attraction for knee-height village kids. After they entered the house, Onya quietly went to Deek and made him aware about the special gift. :p We left from Ghotage @ 0400 hrs. After a wardrobe change @ a local village house, all of us were dressed in an attire to have fun on the Vengurla beach, except me :P.. Yeah i kno.. i m a borekut @times.. Our driver uncle knew all the shorcuts and he touched the vehicle @ Vengurla beach before sunset. The vengurla beach was a beauty . The sky was looking as if an artist has just finished the best painting of his lyf. With the sun's see-haw rays falling on the streched clouds, the clouds resemble gold plated cotton balls. Far-far away a small mountain stretched till the end
of the beach had a light house @ its tip which had a red light revolving around and flashing @ regular intervals. The human objects playing @ the beach were looking like uni-colored black images since it was getting darker and the moon and the stars were sprinkling their beautiful twilight on the beach. Sree, Onya and Pashya were playing catch-me-if-u-can game with the waves whereas Amito was busy talking to Appu madam over phone, Mansi was in her lost world whereas others had gone for a long walk over the beach. Usually ppl forget everything when they reach @ such a beautiful place, so did these guys.. But in my case its different, i forget myself and start observing others and try to find out the hidden personality of people. I kno.. i talk crap and hypothetical @ times.. neways... chuck it.. The horizon had gone all pinky-violet shade which was continuously changing. The fishing boats which were returning after their daily fishing gave a rendition of a perfect sunset.
Day 3 - 1900hrs : With a no-no mood to leave that place our feet dragged our body till the SUMO, since it was gettting darker and we had planned to visit the famous Vetoba temple @ Aravli which is 14kms away from Vengurla. One special thing about Vetoba is ppl give king-size Kolhapuri chappals to this god. And it is said that these chappals torn-out in few months as the Vetoba wear them and patrol the village and protect these villagers from evil. Surprising!! Different ppl, different beliefs...
Day 3 - 2000hrs : To butter driver uncle for our next day early morning visit to Tarkarli, i sat next to him. We had planned to leave our lodge by 0600 hrs. Luckily he agreed after his taunt filled statement, "Tumhi tayar raha.. Amcha kaai naai.. Amhi yeto..." (You guys better be on time, i have no issues, i l be there @ 0545). Everyone of us was weally vei vei hungry and with non-veg dinner plans running everone's mind, we went to the same restaurant where the driver had taken us the previous nyt but these lazy bums had the last thought about dinner and were sitting in the sumo like dead bodies. These same dead bodies behaved like hungry cannibals when they saw the menu card and the delicious non-veg cuisine from that restaurant. It was pretty cold our there and the dinner table talks and nonveg jokes had crossed all limits so did our dinner bill. The most suffered/unlucky chaps ver Avi and Amtya. Both veggie. Its not that Kokan doesnt have veg delicacies but the places we had been ver all moreof non-veg rest's.. So Avi always had to suffer, whereas Amito used to consolate his stomach with the burji and omlets. The most hot-selling item amongst us was the sol-kadhi prepared from coconut juice and kokam juice and the most favourite drink of any kokan-lover. There were numerous repeats after every lunch or dinner for this drink. I remember, the last time we had been to Ganpatipule, one of the hotel owner refused to repeat sol-kadi even when he had it. we simply go mad laughing when we remember that incident.
Day 3 - 2200hrs : We finished all 3 cakes which we had bought from Malwan the previous nyt. After the long chats and masti and accounts work Onya, Amito, Pashya and i went to the hotel reception to clear our bills. We went to bed early that nyt since the next morning was going to be a early one.
Day 3 - 0530hrs : We were ready outside the lodge with our luggage waiting for the SUMO. None of us took bath. Sree and Mansi dint wanted to get drenched in water so they had come all prepared. We dumped our luggage
@ my cousins place and started from Kankavli @ arnd 0600hrs. One gud thing about the driver was, no matter how much we delayed he used to try to take us to the places within time. Parked the cab @ Mayekar's bunder @ sharp 0715hrs. Boats were ready to take us to the backwater ride. Everyone was excited. It was cold out there in the mid of the sea. Gud arrangements by Onya's uncle we must admit. The captain of the boat, a local fisherman, Kubal kaka who has no relation with Alka Kubal(the eldest debut actress in Marathi movies) explained us each and every part of Malwan and its outskirt. Malwan is one of the most beautiful places in KOkan but the beauty lies in the small villages attached to Malwan. Say Tarkarli, Bhogve, Devbaug. Fishing is the primary occupation of the people in this area.
Day 3 - 0800hrs : Just when we were moving towards the spot where Dolphins are usually seen, the driver of a speed boat coming from opposite direction signaled somthing to Kubal uncle. Kubal uncle noded and diverted the boat to the right. He gave strict instructions to all of us by saying, "Kuni bi ubhe naka rhau. Saglyanka disatale. Sagle eka bajus ilaat tar balance uthtalo ani boat kalandtali.." (Dont get excited when u see dolphin, the boat may get unbalanced.) First person to see some movement in water was Tillu. He spotted some black object moving above water, which immediately disappeared. Kubal uncle immediately shutdown the engine of the boat. (Gossh!! how usedto, u become to ur professional terms. I cud have used "switched off" instead of "shutdown" here.) Dolphins are afraid of engine noise. My expectations ver a bit high. I had thought that dolphins might come near our boat and we cud actually touch their head and the boat owners might give us some dolphin special food to feed the Dolphins. Expectation kills!! man!!!.. Neways, i cud hardly capture any still of the Dolphin. Though Tilak has captured a 5 min video of the dolphins, which is of 49 MB and not worth, because u cud hardly make out whether the moving object is a dolphin or a local fish found in city aquariums.
Day 3 - 900hrs : The Dolphins were moving away from us. There was no point following them, coz we had already crossed Devbag beach and K
ubal uncle was hesistant to take us more ahead. He then tuk a u-turn and parked the boat @ an island where there were many many many....... sea-gulls. Bad thing about we human beings is we dont hesistate to behave selfishly @times. Same thing happened over here. We kept on walkin in the direction of the sea gulls, jus to get a gud snap of them and they flew away.
Day 4- 0930hrs : The water on Bhogave beach was very shallow. The mini island formed jus in front of Bhogve beach had very silky sand and shallow water where we did a lil bit of swimming. The fun we had on Ganpati pule beach in the month March has no replacement. Unlike Bhogve beach, Gpule beach is more violent i wud say.. Beaches in Kokan are very dangerous as the sand @ the shore is very slippery. After an hour of masti, Kubal uncle signaled us to move out. Next to Bhogve beach is one more island, where the famous Oscar nominated marathi movie 'Shwas' was shooted. The houses in these part of Kokan have a retro look but they have the charm of its own which can beat the bestestestest rowhouse in this world. The houses here have an open space which has a compound made from big red stones which are called as 'Chirey' mined out from ground. The workers are paid @ Rs.5/6 per stone to carve it in proper cubical shape. There are many houses which are more than 75 yrs old. During those days the houses used to be plastered using jaggery and limestone paste. The roofs of these houses are slanted. When u enter inside the main gate of the compound there will be a tulsi vrindavan right in the centre of the open space. There is a 'padvi' for each house. A padvi is a place before u enter the house and most of the house owners have a jhula tied in the padvi, wherein the members spend their time chit-chatting after their lunch or dinner. The inner structure and the number of rooms inside differ from house to house but one common thing all of them have is there is no tile flooring infact the floor is made of gobar. One common thing found in each of the house is the backyard where normally cow's are kept and also a place where there will be a smal stove made from Chirey and on top of it will be a huge copper vessel which is used to boil water which is used for bathing and other purpose. This particular structure is called as 'chool'.
Day 4 - 1100hrs : The most important thing when we returned back to the bay was to take bath. Kubal uncle suggested us to go to Mayekar's house who owned the boat. @ Mayekar's house we got two bathrooms to wind up our morning activities. It took nearly an hour for eveyone to get ready. Mayekar aunty prepared garma-garam kanda poha and onion-pokoda along wd kokan special tea which had less milk in it. By the time we left that place it was 1200hrs. Mayekar uncle suggested us to visit Bhadrakali mandir built by famous marathi(kokani) tv personality Late. Mr. Machindra Kambli. But our driver refused since we had yet to do our lunch and catch 1615hrs janshatabdi express from Kankavli station. Reached Kankvli by 1300hrs.
Day4 - 1330hrs : We finished our lunch and tuk the sumo to my cousin's place where we had kept our luggage in the morning. After exchanging Hi, hello wd my cousins' neighbours i returned back to the Bhalchandra maharaj math where i had made all these folks sit. We reached Kankavli station by 1600hrs. Train timing was 1620hrs and luckily it was on time. We all ver excited coz unlike onward journey this time all our seats where in one compartment rather in one row so it was going to be fun for us. We had two extra tickets which i cudnt cancel @ the last moment.. (Akela Praful kya kya karega kamino!!! :x). For the inital one hour we all were quite and in a sleepy mood. Some were reading news paper borrowed from fellow passengers whereas Onya, Pashya and Tillu were buzy reading stupid ladies magzine which Tilak had bought @ Dadar station the nyt we left from Mumbai. I was feeling so sleepy that i was literally dosing in the fast moving jan-shatabdi express and for one moment i almost droped on the lap of my fellow passenger aunty who dint mind much and laughed @ me when i suddenly woke up and looked at her wd apologized eyes. After Ratnagiri station all the seats were occupied. The continuous to and fro of the railway caterers was annoying. Finally someone squeaked in "Lets play dum-sharaz" sharak or sharat.. or whateva it is... The game begin and slowly slowly everyone started enjoying it.. By the time we reach Panvel all the passengers had also started guessing the answers. Sree was the one who gave most difficult movies, half of which were her own creation. Amito, Pashya and Rahul got down @ Panvel. Avi, Gaurya and Onya @ Thane. It was one of the best trips of my life since i enjoyed a lot lot lot in these four days... It was midnyt 12 o clk by the time we reached Malad. Sree and Mansi came along wd me to my house.
Deek's wedding is one of our special memory which we have shared. None of us is going to forget those golden days and if anyone does then just jump back to this
post of mine and re-live those moments. :)
Day 1 - 2030hrs : I was running towards the reservation chartlist @ platform no 5 of Dadar station. I found the chartboard and started looking for my ticket number in the chart listed on the board. Suddenly i heard someone murmuring behind me. "Praful hai na, hamesha paisa paisa karte rehta hai. Us din mujhe call kiya aur puchne laga kab dega mera paise." I understood it must be Pashya and Rahul since they had called me @ 9pm that they have reached Thane and will catch Kokan Kanya express from there itself. But i was bit surprised to see them @ Dadar. Immediately i turned behind and gave them a mixed look.. filled up wd lil anger and smile on my face wd tweeny eyez. We all laughed then. Just when we were exchanging our smiles and handshakes a cute female walked and smiled with a big 32 toothy closeup smile. Yeah Sree spotted us and came near the chartboard along with Tillu and Mansi, whom i had never met before. She happily gave her affirmation to Sree when she heard about the Kokan trip. Whereas Tillu takla was a last minute replacement to Prafulla Naik who cudnt make it coz of some personal reasons. After exchanging smiles and friendly abuses we moved to our coach position. The Kokan Kanya express luckily was on time and entered the Dadar station @ exactly 2320hrs. Meanwhile Avi and Deepak were continuously eating up my cellphone battery by their not-so-meaningful but curiousity filled up calls. Even i was busy answering each of their call. We entered the S9 compartment with lotta excitement and immediately grabbed out respective seats. The compartment was immediately flooded wd WL passengers and made the sleeper coach compartment look like a normal general boogie.
Day 1 - 2345hrs : The train touched the Thane platform. Avi, Gaurya and Onya alongwith Deepak's sister and brother in-law got into the door from other side of the compartment. Pashya and Rahul caught them in the middle before they cud reach us. We gave Deek's sis and brother-in-law two seats. I had already retired to the fact that v wud have to share berths, since 3 of our tickets were not confirmed. But it proved as a plus point since, as far as i remember, that night 15 of us travelled on ticket of 11 ppl. So it was very easy to tell the TTE that since our tickets dint confirm we have to share our berths. Apart from the seats in the S9 compartment there were 2 berths in s2 and 1 berth in s4 where Deepak sent his another sister along with his aunt and two more relatives. Deepak and Amtya got into the train @ Panvel. I tried to keep the surprise about Deek joining us to Kokan till the last moment. Only Avi knew about this. When Gaurya and Onya saw Deek they were surprised.
Day 2 - 0030hrs : Gaurya/Amtya, Deek/Rahul, Onya/Pashya, Sree/Mansi, Deek's sis/niece, Tillu/Me and (Avi and our sacks). This was our sleeping position till next day morning.
Day 2 - 0500hrs : Amit's eating habit has still not changed. I remember our Chinchwad days when we had spent two years together. He was feeling very hungry and waiting for any possible caterer from Indian railway. Gaurya and Amtya's personal discussion and social talks which included everything from global recession to Rakhi Sawant's short dresses @ 5 am in the morning had already brought almost every passenger from the surrounding berths out of their sleep. Deek's sis who was sleeping on the middle berth heard that Amit is feeling very hungry so removed a box from her bag which had chaklis inside it. Amit and Gaurya finished it wdin a fraction of minute. After a coffe break, even i joined their discussion. By this time, the fellow passengers had given up their hopes of we keeping quite.
Day 2 - 0600hrs : Around 20-30ppl gathered near the gate. Station was Ratnagiri. The Waitlisters immedialtely occupied the seats to complete their pending sleep.
I went towards Onya's berth to see if they have woke up or not. Yeah except Avi, every one was awake. Avi had promised that he will wake up @ 5am to visit the loo and take atleast half an hour to come out and leave his mark on the Kokan railway track (heheheh :D). I guess, its his favourite place. We pinched, patted, did as much we cud to wake up the kumbhakaran and finally he woke up. The cool breeze coming from the windows and doors made everyone to pull out their monkey caps and sweat shirts. We all ran towards the gate to enjoy the sunrise and the foggy climate. The photosession ceremony had already started.
Day 2 - 0730hrs : We had reached Vaibhavwadi station. Since kokan railway has only one track, most of the time passenger trains have to spend their time waiting at the railway station so the express trains may get the route clear. The train waited @ Vaibhavwadi for nearly 15 mins. From Vaibhavwadi, Kankavli was just 20 mins away.
Day 2 - 0800 hrs : We reached our destination. Kankavli station it was. While throwing our luggage outside, one of us brought an extra bag
outside on the platform and a man cam out running near the door saying, "Mera bag vapaas kardo" That was really funny. Someone actually by mistake brought some body else's bag outa the train. Our SUMO was ready @ the station. I had already booked a SUMO and lodge in Kankavli in advance. Everyone was pretty satisfied and happy wd the arrangements i cud manage to do. Deek hired an omni from Kanakavli to his native which is 1 hour away. There were around 6-7 ppl along wd Deek.Day 2 - 0830 hrs : Reached lodge. The arrangements were much much better than what v had expected for. Infact everyone was happy with the kind of arrangements. And they admitted it too, which made me happy. By 1030am everyone was ready; though there was an uneven girl to boy ratio, still the girls took more time to get ready than the guys. We were in total 8 boys and 2 girls. Now think on it. Initially we had planned to go to the Vijaydurg fort but our plan somehow changed @ the last moment with the driver being already made his mind about taking us to various places. Still we had thought of visiting Vijaydurg fort on the last day.
Day 2 - 1200 hrs : Kunkeshwar temple, one of the oldest temple in Kokan Area. It lies in the Devgad Taluka. The speciality of most of the temples in Kokan is that
each of them have a sea @ its backyard. Same with Kukeshwar. The water @ Kunkeshwar beach was blue. L
ong coastline was clearly visible. The temple was recently renovated with white color carved ceiling and nice artistic marble and granite flooring. The deepsthambh right in front of the temple had its own story and witnesses the history of Kunkeshwar temple. The main entrance of Kunkeshwar temple is very very old. Infact i wud say, it must not have been touched time since its constructed.Day 2 - 1315 hrs : Returning to the SUMO, i read the expressions on the driver's face. By now, he had become aware, which type of customer we were. From there he tuk us to Malwan-Medhe, Ganpati Mandir. One of the famous tourist spot in Malwan. It is built by Kalniryanaywaale Salgaonkar. The yellow-white dual-colored temple looks gr8 from every angle. Exactly opposite to the temple is the house of Salgaonkar which is evenly painted. The temple has two Airawats(white-elepants) at the entrance and the dome has 8 different types of Ganesh idols and a jhumbar in the middle. The Ganesh idol is made up of gold it seems and is spread one where Ganesh is nicely relaxing with Riddhi - Siddhi sitting beside him. Its very peaceful in that temple and you dont feel like stepping out, but we had to.
Day 2 - 1400hrs : Driver stopped the SUMO in some small lane in Malwan. And stepped out. He tuk us inside the compound of an old house, those typical houses which can be seen in any kokani village. We followed him admiring the simple yet beautiful house. Visiting kokan and not eating nonveg or specifically sea-food was like _______________________________(i dint find a matching Figure of speech for this place, pls suggest me one!). While in a non-veg restaurant, the person to be watched is Gaurya. Thou he is a pukka veggie @ home, drinking veg water in a non-veg rest is like a sin to him. He wont even sit next to Avadhut since Avdhut is a pukka veggie. The food was simply gr8. Fried KingFish (Surmaiy), Pomfret(Paplet) were the special items. More than anything else, the fish was vei vei fresh. As if jus pulled out from the sea. We made a pretty fat bill, but less as compared to what we make @ Hotel Sindhudurg, Dadar when we meet in Mumbai. The best part which everyone likes about kokan food is the solkadi prepared from Kokam and nariyal which is served after the food.
Day 2 - 1530hrs : Driver stopped the car near a beach. We cud see a fort on an island @ distance of around 1-1.5 nautical miles from the beach. Yes it was the Malwan fort. There was a walkthrough bridge which seemed to be newly constructed where there were many ppl waiting in a queue to get into the miniboats which take em to the fort. Except the 20 mins boat ride there is nothing amusing about the Malwan fort. There are half a dozen families which reside inside the fort and the only temple of Shivaji Maharaj in entire Maharashtra, which is poorly maintained by the tourism department. By the time our number came, a new boat came and stood in front of us but v were not allowed to sit inside coz by the local rule there shd be atleast 15 ppl. And we were 12 in total with a couple accompanied us. Our wait was continuously getting longer and longer so we decided to bear the ticket expense of the 3 ppl and shared it wd the couple. The couple seemed to be in a hurry. Those boatriders instructed us to return wdin an hour near the boat. The ride was very amusing especially when the waves hit the boat it slightly goes off balance leaving a fear
in mind. There were Sea-gulls enjoying the evening sunbath on mini-islands next to the fort. A series of ships returning from far shore portraying a typical evening sunset painting scene. My digicam battery went off at the last moment otherwise i wud have captured it for u. After a quick photosession round on the broken pillars and huge rocky fence of the fort we returned back to out boat. Luckily the couple too returned on time.
Day 2 - 1800hrs : We started moving towards Tarkarli beach. Thou the name resembles my surname, ironically i dunt have any roots in Tarkarli. I wish i had :(. The roads in Tarkarli infact all the outskirts of Malwan are covered wd sand. Not only this, the backdoor of 90% of the houses open into a sea, pretty much like the JW Mariots and Taj Land End's in Mumbai. Yeah, but its much pleasant in Tarkarli huts than in those costly Mumbai 5 stars. The way to Tarkarli beach is through the MTDC resorts. The MTDC resort are really cool wd tall trees which looks similar to coconut trees but not. Beside these small cottages, there were two huge special suits which looked like mini-ships made up of raw wood. From outside it seemed it had a bar in the ground floor and rooms wd balcony on the upper deck. We spent our time @ the sea. Few of us got drenched, few preferred to walk, whereas Sree, Tillu and me opted to play in the sand. The sand was very soft and it had tiny insects inside.
Day 2 - 1930hrs : Guys wanted to do shopping, our driver parked the SUMO in Malwan market. There is a famous store for cashewnuts and other kokan special items in Malwan. Onya, Gaurya and Pashya went to a medical shop to buy a special gift for Deek. Fun part was, the druggist was a female so they had to do lotta excercise to explain her what exactly they want. After half an hr or so, they returned back. A huge fat person with two kids and one lady came walking towards Onya and exchanged handshakes. We were all surprised to see this. Luckily Deek's gift was with Pashya otherwise Onya wud have been tossed by that fat man there itself and v wud have enjoyed it.. :P hehee..
Day 2 - 2000hrs : That fat man suggested put a worm into Onya's brain about Dolphins @ Tarkarli. All of us too ver really excited about it. It was Rs. 1000 for 6 ppl but somehow Onya's Uncles fixed up the deal for all 10 of us in the same amount. Thanx to him. We started back home from Malwan @ around 2030hrs. The driver was bit bugged up becoza our lazzzy-butt behaviour. @ the same time there was a small argument between me and these guys about the driver's daily wage, which i clarified the next day after speaking wd my cousin, who had actually fixed up the SUMO just on a single phone call. We ver heading towards Kankavli and everyone was so tired that no one bothered to take the notice of who was sitting next to whom. Avdhut and Pashya lied on the middle seat like dead bodies. Just a thought cropped up in my mind.. how difficult it must be for the drivers to drive during night, since all the passengers are sleeping and human body weight is slightly more than normal while sleeping. After 45 mins or so the driver slowed down the cab in front of a small restaurant and asked me whether we want to have our dinner in that hotel. Couple of them replied almost with closed eyes, "nopes take it to the lodge, we wanna sleep.." lazzy asso's! i muttered.. Actually i had some place in my stomach for the dinner but no one wud have agreed to join me, so i kept my mouth shut. Within next 5 mins, we were @ the lodge. Meanwhile Deepak had called me up and asked to bring special wedding garlands, a pheta and couple of other puja paath stuff from Kankavli market. Deepak's last minute requirements were bit difficult to accomplish but Amit, Tillu and I stepped outa the lodge to checkout if we can manage to get those garlands.
Day 2 - 2300hrs : We were walking on the Mumbai-Goa highway, NH-17 @ the last hour of night, expecting to see atleast one garland shop open near the Kankavli bazar peth (market). Luckily Amit found one. Actually there were many weddings on the next day, 7th december so he had to keep the shop open to complete the pending orders, thats what the owner told us. We gave him advance and told him to keep the haar's ready by 830am. Thanks that he dint had a pen and so cudnt make a receipt of it and take my contact number, u ll know the reason in a short while, y m saying this.
Day 2 - 2330hrs : While our way to the market, Tillu saw one Chinese fast food corner with few late nyt customers open in one lane. I was already hungry as i said earlier. Amit and Tillu were too. By midnyt we returned back to the lodge. We went to bed ASAP. Next morning we had to go to Kudal, Ghotage, i.e. Deek's native.
Day 3 - 0830hrs : Morning v got a call from Deek's father, that he has come for some wedding related shopping in Kankavli and can take us while going back to Ghotage. He was about to leave in few minutes, but all the Raja's and Yuvraaj's were yet to get ready, so we suggested him to go ahead. From Deek's father i came to know that he has already purchased garlands and those we had booked wud be a waste now. :D. After that we dint bother to go to that Garland shop (I call this as Typical SE behaviour..)
Day 3 - 0930hrs : Sree and Amit knew my cousin and Sree especially wanted to meet her. Right behind my cousin's house is "Bhalchandra Math". It one of the famous temples in Kankavli. Any one who comes to Kankavli dont go back without taking the blessings from that temple. I suggested others to wait in the temple, till we come back from my cousin's house. We left from that place by 1000hrs. The driver had done his homework properly about the road to Ghotage. by 1115hrs, we were @ the base village. Deek's house was @ 15 mins walking distance from the place we parked the Sumo. Though the road was muddy many vehicles actually go till Deek's house. But our driver neva wanted to take the risk. We kept on walking in the direction of the loudspeaker. Deek's house is on a tiny hill. Right behind Ghotage village is a hilly range of Sahyadris and once u cross those mountains comes the Kolhapur district. Geography sounds interesting only after you have completed ur primary education, isnt it?? ;) There was a small water stream which had dried up and a metal bridge with cement logs on it which is the only source to cross the stream in rainy season. Deek's wedding ceremony had already started. People spotted our rally of 10 desi's walking from the rice fields towards Deek's house. Bihag stood on the entrance with his Camcorder and asking everyone to give their intro b4 entering deek's house. Bihag one of the most entertaining character of our colj and Deek's best friend ryt from his grad days and a great person. He has an amazing sense of humour and will make u laugh with his funny gestures. Deepak and Shweta were looking gr8 in the traditional attire. Deek had warned me to not to forgot my Cam since there were no photographers available @ such a remote place. But there were atleast 5 guys who had their cams and recorders who ver busy clicking each and every special moment of Deek and Shwetas' life. The first time we met Shweta was @ Avadhut's house during Ganpati festival. The ease with which she mingled with us was really aprreaciable. May be Deek had already told her about each one of us in detail. Shweta and Deek make a gr8 pair.
Day 3 - 1100hrs : A wedding in a konkani village was a treat for all of us. Though i had been to one such wedding few years back in Sawantwadi, Deek's wedding was a bit different. The panditji was also dashing and he continuosly kept on mumbling mantra's along wd the few sarcasm filled phrases as the muhurat was coming closer. Each small ceremony in any wedding is gr8 to watch. Deek's weddin also had many of such special moments. And the best part was right from the ring exchange ceremony to saath phere, all was done on the same day. Before the haldi program, few of Deek's aunties and grannies gathered together and sang some traditional song and with a long wooden stick they crushed pieces of turmeric stones in a bucket. The song came after lot of requests from the pandit and other ppl. A very old lady with her tremoring voice initiated the song while rest of the ladies gave a chorus. After applying the turmeric face pack, Deek was looking like some stage actor of a Dashavtari(traditional folk play in kokan region) natak. After lil bit of masti @ the haldi ceremony, Bihag and Sammy's dad took over the drums and sticks and started playing it in a funny way. The hidden drummer from my inside gave me a call and i too joined them, whereas other started to move their legs on the not so rhythmic band. It was a funny sight for all the villagers. A series of other small ceremonies followed and then the bride and groom came out of the house with Deek dressed in Sherwani and Shweta in a fancy sari and a chunri over head.
Day 3 - 1230hrs : They exchanged garlands @ the Vitthal mandir which is just next to Deek's house. All of us were very excited to see the opening knock of Deepak. He is the first from our MCA maniacs group to tie the knot. Gaurya and Amito were the most happiest since they are the next contenders :P. I heard Gaurav is already planning to go to Nagpur for some Kaande-Pohe program, All the best Gaurya.. Hope the girls select u... :D:D hope u got my joke... hehehe.. By 0130hrs, all of us just ran to have lunch since everyone was very hungry. The lunch was served on a plate made from dried tree leaves joined/merged(a word in IT terms :P) together with small toothpic like sticks. Its fun to eat on these plates especially when the dal drips out from the plate before u cud mix it wd the rice. hehe..
Day3 : 1430hrs : Deek and Shweta were still downstairs in the temple. When all the guests, relative were giving them blessings for their marriage life, we were looking for a chance to sneak in with our gift and the suprise elements we had brought wd us. One was the album and the second was the special gift which Onya and others purchased in the medical store in Malwan. After lil bit of photography we gave the album to Deek. We were pleased to see the joy on his face when he was turning the pages of the album and reminiscing about every photo in the album. I had read somwhere long back that gifting frnz wd their own photos on their bde's and specl occasion can be the most spcl gift to anyone. Deek's mother and sisters and even Shweta was very exicted to see the photo album. Till date Shweta might have only heard about Deek's past but today she was really very excited to watch it in the form of photos.
Day3 - 1530hrs : Finally there was a small miravnuk wherein everyone danced including Deek's father. I cud see the joy on Deek's father's face. Everyone was surprised to see him dancing in his very own e-style. He was the most happiest man on the earth i wud say @ that moment. Even the bride and groom danced with us. Bihag's unique dance steps were special attraction for knee-height village kids. After they entered the house, Onya quietly went to Deek and made him aware about the special gift. :p We left from Ghotage @ 0400 hrs. After a wardrobe change @ a local village house, all of us were dressed in an attire to have fun on the Vengurla beach, except me :P.. Yeah i kno.. i m a borekut @times.. Our driver uncle knew all the shorcuts and he touched the vehicle @ Vengurla beach before sunset. The vengurla beach was a beauty . The sky was looking as if an artist has just finished the best painting of his lyf. With the sun's see-haw rays falling on the streched clouds, the clouds resemble gold plated cotton balls. Far-far away a small mountain stretched till the end
of the beach had a light house @ its tip which had a red light revolving around and flashing @ regular intervals. The human objects playing @ the beach were looking like uni-colored black images since it was getting darker and the moon and the stars were sprinkling their beautiful twilight on the beach. Sree, Onya and Pashya were playing catch-me-if-u-can game with the waves whereas Amito was busy talking to Appu madam over phone, Mansi was in her lost world whereas others had gone for a long walk over the beach. Usually ppl forget everything when they reach @ such a beautiful place, so did these guys.. But in my case its different, i forget myself and start observing others and try to find out the hidden personality of people. I kno.. i talk crap and hypothetical @ times.. neways... chuck it.. The horizon had gone all pinky-violet shade which was continuously changing. The fishing boats which were returning after their daily fishing gave a rendition of a perfect sunset.Day 3 - 1900hrs : With a no-no mood to leave that place our feet dragged our body till the SUMO, since it was gettting darker and we had planned to visit the famous Vetoba temple @ Aravli which is 14kms away from Vengurla. One special thing about Vetoba is ppl give king-size Kolhapuri chappals to this god. And it is said that these chappals torn-out in few months as the Vetoba wear them and patrol the village and protect these villagers from evil. Surprising!! Different ppl, different beliefs...
Day 3 - 2000hrs : To butter driver uncle for our next day early morning visit to Tarkarli, i sat next to him. We had planned to leave our lodge by 0600 hrs. Luckily he agreed after his taunt filled statement, "Tumhi tayar raha.. Amcha kaai naai.. Amhi yeto..." (You guys better be on time, i have no issues, i l be there @ 0545). Everyone of us was weally vei vei hungry and with non-veg dinner plans running everone's mind, we went to the same restaurant where the driver had taken us the previous nyt but these lazy bums had the last thought about dinner and were sitting in the sumo like dead bodies. These same dead bodies behaved like hungry cannibals when they saw the menu card and the delicious non-veg cuisine from that restaurant. It was pretty cold our there and the dinner table talks and nonveg jokes had crossed all limits so did our dinner bill. The most suffered/unlucky chaps ver Avi and Amtya. Both veggie. Its not that Kokan doesnt have veg delicacies but the places we had been ver all moreof non-veg rest's.. So Avi always had to suffer, whereas Amito used to consolate his stomach with the burji and omlets. The most hot-selling item amongst us was the sol-kadhi prepared from coconut juice and kokam juice and the most favourite drink of any kokan-lover. There were numerous repeats after every lunch or dinner for this drink. I remember, the last time we had been to Ganpatipule, one of the hotel owner refused to repeat sol-kadi even when he had it. we simply go mad laughing when we remember that incident.
Day 3 - 2200hrs : We finished all 3 cakes which we had bought from Malwan the previous nyt. After the long chats and masti and accounts work Onya, Amito, Pashya and i went to the hotel reception to clear our bills. We went to bed early that nyt since the next morning was going to be a early one.
Day 3 - 0530hrs : We were ready outside the lodge with our luggage waiting for the SUMO. None of us took bath. Sree and Mansi dint wanted to get drenched in water so they had come all prepared. We dumped our luggage
@ my cousins place and started from Kankavli @ arnd 0600hrs. One gud thing about the driver was, no matter how much we delayed he used to try to take us to the places within time. Parked the cab @ Mayekar's bunder @ sharp 0715hrs. Boats were ready to take us to the backwater ride. Everyone was excited. It was cold out there in the mid of the sea. Gud arrangements by Onya's uncle we must admit. The captain of the boat, a local fisherman, Kubal kaka who has no relation with Alka Kubal(the eldest debut actress in Marathi movies) explained us each and every part of Malwan and its outskirt. Malwan is one of the most beautiful places in KOkan but the beauty lies in the small villages attached to Malwan. Say Tarkarli, Bhogve, Devbaug. Fishing is the primary occupation of the people in this area.Day 3 - 0800hrs : Just when we were moving towards the spot where Dolphins are usually seen, the driver of a speed boat coming from opposite direction signaled somthing to Kubal uncle. Kubal uncle noded and diverted the boat to the right. He gave strict instructions to all of us by saying, "Kuni bi ubhe naka rhau. Saglyanka disatale. Sagle eka bajus ilaat tar balance uthtalo ani boat kalandtali.." (Dont get excited when u see dolphin, the boat may get unbalanced.) First person to see some movement in water was Tillu. He spotted some black object moving above water, which immediately disappeared. Kubal uncle immediately shutdown the engine of the boat. (Gossh!! how usedto, u become to ur professional terms. I cud have used "switched off" instead of "shutdown" here.) Dolphins are afraid of engine noise. My expectations ver a bit high. I had thought that dolphins might come near our boat and we cud actually touch their head and the boat owners might give us some dolphin special food to feed the Dolphins. Expectation kills!! man!!!.. Neways, i cud hardly capture any still of the Dolphin. Though Tilak has captured a 5 min video of the dolphins, which is of 49 MB and not worth, because u cud hardly make out whether the moving object is a dolphin or a local fish found in city aquariums.
Day 3 - 900hrs : The Dolphins were moving away from us. There was no point following them, coz we had already crossed Devbag beach and K
ubal uncle was hesistant to take us more ahead. He then tuk a u-turn and parked the boat @ an island where there were many many many....... sea-gulls. Bad thing about we human beings is we dont hesistate to behave selfishly @times. Same thing happened over here. We kept on walkin in the direction of the sea gulls, jus to get a gud snap of them and they flew away.Day 4- 0930hrs : The water on Bhogave beach was very shallow. The mini island formed jus in front of Bhogve beach had very silky sand and shallow water where we did a lil bit of swimming. The fun we had on Ganpati pule beach in the month March has no replacement. Unlike Bhogve beach, Gpule beach is more violent i wud say.. Beaches in Kokan are very dangerous as the sand @ the shore is very slippery. After an hour of masti, Kubal uncle signaled us to move out. Next to Bhogve beach is one more island, where the famous Oscar nominated marathi movie 'Shwas' was shooted. The houses in these part of Kokan have a retro look but they have the charm of its own which can beat the bestestestest rowhouse in this world. The houses here have an open space which has a compound made from big red stones which are called as 'Chirey' mined out from ground. The workers are paid @ Rs.5/6 per stone to carve it in proper cubical shape. There are many houses which are more than 75 yrs old. During those days the houses used to be plastered using jaggery and limestone paste. The roofs of these houses are slanted. When u enter inside the main gate of the compound there will be a tulsi vrindavan right in the centre of the open space. There is a 'padvi' for each house. A padvi is a place before u enter the house and most of the house owners have a jhula tied in the padvi, wherein the members spend their time chit-chatting after their lunch or dinner. The inner structure and the number of rooms inside differ from house to house but one common thing all of them have is there is no tile flooring infact the floor is made of gobar. One common thing found in each of the house is the backyard where normally cow's are kept and also a place where there will be a smal stove made from Chirey and on top of it will be a huge copper vessel which is used to boil water which is used for bathing and other purpose. This particular structure is called as 'chool'.
Day 4 - 1100hrs : The most important thing when we returned back to the bay was to take bath. Kubal uncle suggested us to go to Mayekar's house who owned the boat. @ Mayekar's house we got two bathrooms to wind up our morning activities. It took nearly an hour for eveyone to get ready. Mayekar aunty prepared garma-garam kanda poha and onion-pokoda along wd kokan special tea which had less milk in it. By the time we left that place it was 1200hrs. Mayekar uncle suggested us to visit Bhadrakali mandir built by famous marathi(kokani) tv personality Late. Mr. Machindra Kambli. But our driver refused since we had yet to do our lunch and catch 1615hrs janshatabdi express from Kankavli station. Reached Kankvli by 1300hrs.
Day4 - 1330hrs : We finished our lunch and tuk the sumo to my cousin's place where we had kept our luggage in the morning. After exchanging Hi, hello wd my cousins' neighbours i returned back to the Bhalchandra maharaj math where i had made all these folks sit. We reached Kankavli station by 1600hrs. Train timing was 1620hrs and luckily it was on time. We all ver excited coz unlike onward journey this time all our seats where in one compartment rather in one row so it was going to be fun for us. We had two extra tickets which i cudnt cancel @ the last moment.. (Akela Praful kya kya karega kamino!!! :x). For the inital one hour we all were quite and in a sleepy mood. Some were reading news paper borrowed from fellow passengers whereas Onya, Pashya and Tillu were buzy reading stupid ladies magzine which Tilak had bought @ Dadar station the nyt we left from Mumbai. I was feeling so sleepy that i was literally dosing in the fast moving jan-shatabdi express and for one moment i almost droped on the lap of my fellow passenger aunty who dint mind much and laughed @ me when i suddenly woke up and looked at her wd apologized eyes. After Ratnagiri station all the seats were occupied. The continuous to and fro of the railway caterers was annoying. Finally someone squeaked in "Lets play dum-sharaz" sharak or sharat.. or whateva it is... The game begin and slowly slowly everyone started enjoying it.. By the time we reach Panvel all the passengers had also started guessing the answers. Sree was the one who gave most difficult movies, half of which were her own creation. Amito, Pashya and Rahul got down @ Panvel. Avi, Gaurya and Onya @ Thane. It was one of the best trips of my life since i enjoyed a lot lot lot in these four days... It was midnyt 12 o clk by the time we reached Malad. Sree and Mansi came along wd me to my house.
Deek's wedding is one of our special memory which we have shared. None of us is going to forget those golden days and if anyone does then just jump back to this
post of mine and re-live those moments. :)
