The Lonavala Trip

After a long time, it was time to take a break. A break that was needed to introspect on where life was heading, where am i in terms of my dreams that i wanted to achieve. So when the Diwali weekend came, i decided to take off. Diwali has always been like this for me. I would just take off, away from the madness, and explore the interiors of different states. Two Diwali's earlier i had discovered Kollur, Mookambika and there was a huge gap after that. So I decided to go somewhere close, yet a place where few had gone. Kunal and I along with his dog, Sasha were my company. We were meeting after a long long time and wanted to make the most out of it. Kunal had a small get together at their farmhouse on Diwali day, so we had to stay put till the functions got over. So i had to baby sit Sasha, when he wasnt there. Finally on Sunday, we hit the road. In search of the elusive beautiful landscape, which we can aspire to look at every day some day.

We drove down the Old Pune highway. On the right, came a board which mentioned KAMSHET village. Inquisitive, we took a right turn. I had heard about Kamshet village, but i donot remember where, but the name was vivid in my memory. As we drove down we encountered nomads, trekking with their mules. It was a beautiful sight. A group of people walking n the road, with all their belongings they own, on animal backs, including their pets. The cutest was the rooster tied on to a basket, that wuld try to fly out flapping its wings.

We could see the hills at a distance completely covered in green, inviting us. A few winding roads and we opened into a small village junction bustling with activity. People walked in the centre of the roads and there was no use honking. The roads were owned by them, they got the first preference. As we drove ahead, around 15 kms from the highway, we saw a huge wall that was spread before us for many meters. A left from there and a consecutive right and the view that we saw was the most amazing. It was of a dam, Palini dam. Photography was prohbited, and a guard came and started to talk to me in marathi, and i started to talk in gibberish. Finally, he gave up and i took some snaps...



After soaking in the beauty for another 10 min, we decided to explore further. The light was dimming, but we took our chances, and we were glad, we did. After a five minute uphill drive, we came up to a mount which i swear, was the place, i saw my dream house to be built. The beauty was unparallelled and the view breath taking. The clouds had given way to the sunrays to bless a little hill on the horizon, I knew, this is the place i wanted my weekend home.

I had my visions of my home, with a small drive-in, a pool and a study that over looked the view. Check out this link http://gibberishnews.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-dream-house.html
Filled with greed we headed further. A board of 'Girivan' donned the roads. We followed the route and ended up in a place which is being cultivated for weekend homes. Acres of land being sold out for building bungalows and for horticutltural purposes. The cost of half an acre began at 8 lakh rupees, with a valley view. The place was nice, with good security and infrastructure. Kunal was interested in buying a plot there, and inquired about the project, while i walked down with Sasha to the edge of the valley remembering the view i had seen earlier. The image is now on my desktop reminding me about something i aspire for. The journey back was in darkness, but there was a light at the other end of the road...