So far, 2013 was the best year with regards to Mountaineering. But December seemed slow and uneventful. Me and my bestie- Parag had been out of touch for a long time until recent.
One fine morning, we just bumped together. Besties are the best people in your life... They come handy when you need a push. So there he was ready to push me again.
Then one cold December evening, when I was
trying to focus on my new painting, bestie's bestie - KV called me and put into
conference with my bestie.
All in all the conference call was a chaos and
the two chattered incessantly. I could gather was that they were planning for some
night hike somewhere close and a few options were explored. It was taken for
granted that I was going. Although, I was fighting bad health, since me and
bestie had got back to each other after a long time, there was no chance of
backing out.
Couple of days later, early evening, both of
them gathered at my place. We reassembled the backpacks and left. Since we had
left much before dinner time, we decided to have dinner on our way.
The drive continued with lots of chats of
catching up with each other. And… I realized I had forgotten to get a jacket
for myself. I had a shawl but with winter solstice just round the corner it
felt inadequate. PO told me not to worry and take his jacket.
We explored a few options for dinner and found
one roadside shack at Ambawane village. The food had good taste and felt hygienic.
The restaurant owner said the hike would take 2 & half hours. The drive
continued and soon we reached our destination - Pal Village. I had been through
this way in July, but change of weather also changes equations.
I was hiking after long time and that too in
night. I recollected, it was almost 19 years ago, in December 1994, I had been
to Rajgad for a night trek & stay. So, I was inspired again to repeat the
history.
The exercise didn’t give me a reason to miss
my jacket. We had 2 bags across 3 people. Me and KV kept exchanging my
backpack. Both PO & KV are passionate & skilled photographers, they had
packed the entire photography gear in backpack. The cold air of a December
night supported the stamina and soon we were near steps.
For no reason, we sat on the first step, gossiped
and wasted 20 minutes. KV tried to push us but we were too reluctant to take
the advice. It was a refreshing experiencing of climbing steps in moonlight.
We approached the first gate and the photographers
were provoked to take out their gear and start clicking. The guys set up the
tripod and kept clicking. Besties will do anything to push you. I too was told
to take out my digicam and practice my skills. I chose to rest my body and put
my grey cells at work to decipher photography jargons. Sometime later, they
realized that the girl had frozen they need to wind up the business. Another
break of 30 minutes before ultimate destination was done.
Soon, we were near the ruins of Sadar –offices
of the Great King. Just behind this is a plain surface. We decided to set up
the camp there. Pitching the tent was a quick task. I and PO were hungry, so we
decided to make some soup. PO very proudly showed off his new stove and cooking
soup was fun. Having soup on that moonlit cold winter night seemed felt heavenly.
By the time, I cleaned the bowls, KV had
started snoring. Me and bestie chatted for almost an hour before sleeping.
Realizing that a gap of long time hadn’t changed a thing between us gave me peace
of mind after a long time and I slept like a baby. All I remember of the night is some snoring,
and some alarms snoozed.
When I woke up, the photographers already had
been clicking all over the place. A bed tea served to wake you up just sets the
perfect mood for the day. I sipped tea looking at the Fort Torna, like proud
Captain Smith of RMS Titanic.
A peaceful sleep had also corrected my appetite
and I was hungry. So we decided to have breakfast. Finally, at 11 AM we
wound up the camp, cleaned the place and started walking towards Suvela Machi. This branch of mountain has good
fortification, couple of bastions and a gate.
The only 2 problems of being with 2 passionate
photographers are you never know when you will be shot or where they will stop
to click something that was absolutely unnoticed. Therefore, a route which
ideally should have taken less than an hour for hike, took us around 2 hours to
complete.
By the time we reached Nedhe – the natural
whole in mountain, it was almost 1:30 PM. Since, this was my fourth visit in
this Calendar year, there wasn’t anything new about this place, the view had
changed according to the weather. The skyline was foggy yet definitive.
Soon we were near bastion at the end of Suvela
Machi, and then we decided to return. The photographers suddenly realized that
there wasn’t a good group photo. So at the bastion, Chilakhati Buruj, a studio
was set up. After a long photo shoot of 15 / 20 minutes, we had snacks and
left.
We descended fast. The tea at base was so
refreshing that I almost demanded the car key. Bestie was more than happy to handover
the key. It was a smooth drive back home.
A whole new life filled me and lifted my
spirits high. The renewed bonds gave me the strength to believe that best is
yet to come. Life feels like a blessing now.
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Were this world an endless plain, and by sailing eastward we could for ever reach new distances