Hats off to the boundless energy and passion and dedication and love that bound the GLP production team so well..Here's my take or "confession", as Rahul calls it..
I can safely say that this has been one of my most fulfilling experiences ever. Not only did I FINALLY get to go to ONE of my dream places, Hampi. Thanks You GLP team for having fulfilled this dream .Of course, I wanted to go to Hampi to climb, nevertheless for the time, this is more than enough..really MORE …..I was supposed to be just another tourist…If you ask me about the monuments and their heritage, I will gladly log onto google and provide all the information…That’s what I know about the monuments there… you want to know about the experience, I can fill pages describing how I feel( ok..that would probably qualify for exaggeration).I fill complete, like I’ve found something I did not know I had, a space inside of me that is empty no more. I love to travel not because I find myself in the world but to remember that there is a world inside of me ….I can’t start with who to Thank for making this THE most amazing trip…whether God- to have coincided everything so beautifully that I experienced much more on the trip than I could have ever imagined OR Rahul to have been resourceful, patient and smart enough to have discovered GLP and turned it into GLP India, for giving me the hat of co-producer, for have been so amazing at coordinating the entire thing, being on the balls of his feet ALL the time, for being so patient and cool- no matter what the situation- there were so many issues- and he dealt with them gracefully and calmly- never have I heard him raise his voice or get overtly excited(yeah we did abuse the bureaucracy and ASI guys, and emailed you -know -who…but that doesn’t qualify) OR Omkar- for having being the most amazing help all throughout-right from haggling for our shopping to just plainly bearing and standing tall(not like a buffalo though :P) through the entire shoot,for aving given everything, your best to the shoot without complaining a bit OR Abhishek- for being just amazing and patient company and helping the team throughout, listening to our tantrums and acting to solve problems, for giving more than cent percent to this production throughout and for having made it….OR Meghna-who has become more a sister to me in the past few months, with whom conversations are amazing, who is so level headed and down to earth, and whose skills with the camera I had only heard to be amazing-she’s been so patient ,calm and yet skillful, right from the way to how she manages the camera- to how she manages the people managing the camera, OR Muttu for being the most amazing , smart, intelligent, co-operative subject we could have ever had…true rockstar!!!OR Madhu for just being there- to take over the camera or conversation, to be the Daddy of the team, smiling all the while OR Akash – for handling the equipment so deftly ,for giving the perfect picture poses, for being amazingly humorous and not complaining, despite the heat, despite me being pestersome, despite there not being enough Birds to watch:d or we not making the much wanted trip to Chola wines:p, OR Vishal- who did an amazing job right from the equipment to designing the t-shirts and caps at such short notice that we all so proudly wore and who has become my brother with whom I giggled a lot(I’d say he giggled more :d),OR Ruhie-who has been amazingly patient with the numerous demanding calls that she’s had to make, for some of the most amazing snaps that she took, (although the place is etched in our memory, she has solidified with her beau pictures),to just being the most enthusiastic, cool, energetic, never -say-no giggly company on the trip, OR Sk- for wearing the producer’s hat so well- for taking ownership for everything, for assuming responsibility for all that went wrong..and right, who had promised that he would make Hampi happen for me- one way or the other..and he did!i can’t ever thank you enough, but for now thank you buddy, for making it more than merely hampi for me
And finally ME for having finally made it!!!!!!!!!!!
You guys ROCK!!!!!! can’t wait to work with ALL of you guys again!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hampi travels-day 3-THE day
7th
And finally after months of deliberations and building up the team, running after permissions and ensuring that EVERYONE can make it to Hampi and deciding what all equipment etc is to be taken , it’s finally the day of the shoot!!! It’s 4:35 am , and Meghna and I haven’t woken up despite of 4 alarms that we had set. We wake up to the guys anxiously knocking the door. We quickly change and leave. Outside Akshat, we begin our journey with the ceremonial breaking of the coconut. We proceed to Rama guest house and at the bottom of the stairs , start fixing up the steady cam and setting up the camera. We stealthily proceed upstairs. Muttu is fast asleep (as expected) , the streets are dimly lit, with sleepy cows sitting all around the place(thank god there are no barking dogs!!)It still amazes me how clean the streets are. We realise that we don’t have a spare battery. Rahul and I go back to Netra guest house (where the boys are put up) to get the battery. We have to unceremoniously wake up poor Akash. We get the battery and head back. The cows are still asleep. We can see the village slowly waking up. People are performing their morning ablutions and whichever corner we round , we can see Virupakhsa standing tall in the background(no multiple storey buildings to hamper the view here you see!!)At around 5:30 am, right on dot, Muttu wakes up. He neatly folds his mattress and proceeds to perform his morning everythings. Then he goes down to have his morning cuppa of freshly brewed tea. There are surprisingly quite a few number of people at the tea cart, including a few tourists, and its not even 6 am !!!!! Muttu then awaits his customer for the day at a pre decided place. Around 6 am, Satya ( a French tourist) walks in and we start to walk towards our first monument for the day- The sunrise point on Matanga hill. Our first change of tapes occurs. We move through the slightly stirring streets of Hampi bazaar. Few tourists are mulling around, and quite a few dogs…Rahul is jumpy , as usual(he doesn’t really dig animals too much- and certainly not barking ones!!!)We continue to the outskirts of Hampi bazaar and start our climb. Here Sk takes the camera-he's got a strong foothold over em rocks you see:)and the confidence to run uphill as well.We have to whistle to Muttu and Satya and ask them to walk slower….phew…the climb ain’t difficult…but I think it just showed many of us how out of shape we really are! Anyway we continue upwards with a fellow tourist-“Momma” for company. We go and wait at the highest point of this hill. The view is breathtakingly overwhelming ( I know these are clichéd words, but one HAS to go to Hampi to see what I mean, no camera will be able to capture the place)- more of my favorite rocks of course. I can see the famous sister stones(famous in the climbing fraternity especially) ,Vitthala temple, Acyutraya temple, the Tungabhadra river, and many more of the hundreds of monuments that dot the landscape. I still cannot believe I am staring at my beloved Hampi…its at the is moment that it really sinks in ..i AM in HAMPI!!!!!!! There are a couple of dozen of tourists- all sitting ready with their cameras-to TRY capture the beautiful sunrise in their cameras- a memory to take home, to show around, to frame, to muse over in times to come……Sk is jumping around with his camera- he is as fidgety and jumpy as the tens of monkeys prowling around. He’s looking for the perfect angles and pictures(He is an amazing photographer despite not having any professional training in the same. His angles are just marvelous). There is this little 4 day old monkey and its mother. When we look at the baby, the mother gently and protectively puts her hand on the little one and draws its close…it was such a touching scene, difficult to be orchestrated or practiced..mother’s love for her little one…..The sunrise comes- and doesn’t disappoint…the landscape becomes even more pretty and overwhelming….Sk tries to show some foreign tourists how to get that perfect shot(had to impress em bunch of gals after all!!) Finally Muttu and Satya move away from the sunrise point to savour the other beautiful monuments in the distance. While Satya is busy taking shots of the landscape, Muttu moves around, trying to sell postcards. He interacts with a German couple. And then proceeds to have tea and sell postcards to Momma. Meanwhile, Rahul and I start scrambling around to get the release forms signed from the German couple. This is probably when the first faux pas occurs. Rahul and I are standing talking to the Germans, when we see that on the opposite side, where Meghna is shooting, the camera pans towards us…we immediately duck,…and Meghna smiles…we were on camera!!!I think it’s the Global Lives T-shirts that made us so conspicuous. All day long, we are busy running around the camera, hiding behind pillars, ducking into the tall dry grass.By mi day, if we were ever found scrounging around for the rest of the team , some unknown local stranger would always point us in the right direction to the team, thanks to the t-shirts…..We see Ruhie, Vasappa and Omkar sitting down waiting for us. Anyway, so after cups of tea, we began our way down from the other side, towards the Achyutraya temple. The sun is out in full swing, out come the fake aviators:p..Akash is busy doing the “behind the scenes ”shoot. We enter the enclosure of the monument, where even the sun barely reaches..time to use Sk’s BIG torch light again……We continue our way, walking through the ruins…trying to keep in pace with Muttu and Satya, clicking beau snaps-group as well as profile pics,…we are so obsessed:d…we visit a Hanuman temple…..watch a poor monkey get electrocuted right outside the temple..isn’t that ironic!!
Well I realize that the very inexpensive elastic pants that I had bought the previous evening are climbing their way down my hips-time to go back and change I guess…So I head back while apparently these guys tour through Virupakhsa, Hampi Bazaar , and do multiple rounds of Hampi, when Muttu is busy meeting his friends and relatives. Then they rent out bikes and head to ganesh temple at Hemakutta hill. I go back , have a bath, change and the plat du jour having gone down the hatch( at New Shanti), accompanied by some fluid ounces of strengthening filter “cafee”, I was about to stretch, feeling lazy to head back into the hot sun , when I heard the telephone tootling ..these guys were near the guest house and were leaving….. Go with Madhu and Abhisek to Ganesh temple. Meghna’s parched. She hands over the steadycam and camera to Akash who then begins dutifully following the “subjects”.
We come down and go to another monument( don’t remember the name)…and when we come back on the road, hear of some commotion..which is settled by our own very irate and anxious producer sahib. We then get back to Hampi bazaar where, while Muttu converses with his friend and helps a French lady who speaks only 10% English(according to Muttu), the rest of us settle for the much awaited mid day chop . Producer sahib asks us to scatter from the scene and meet back not before 14:30 at Hemakutta Hill. Post lunch, Muttu , Sk, Bala, Meghna go with Muttu, Ruhie, suffering from migraine goes to have a nap and Abhishek ,Bala, Madhu and me go to tour the sights around Hampi- like a true tourist…Nagraj takes us around-to vitthala temple where we are mesmerized by the carvings and the chariot made of stone…we are in awe of the Vijaynagar dynasty who built up this wonderful place. We go to Queen’s Bath and loads of other places…but looking at the mammoth spread out structures, Madhu shakes his head and says- do you really wanna go?!?! So we get back to where Muttu is now having a nap to be told by a pensive and tensed Meghna that the laviliiers have showed up on us……so we try changing batteries and untwisting the wires. Finally we also put the V1 to rest and take out the hired Z1.Still the lapel mikes don’t work. Sk and Vishal go to Hospet to try get the mikes fixed. Meanwhile, luckily for us, Muttu has decided to take a nap. A leaf falls on his pants. Akash deftly zooms the camera onto his face and gets the ungainly leaf out of the way….shooting main yeh sab bhi karna padta hai!!! Sk and Vishal get back..and we try again…no luck. Finally Sk starts pondering on whether he can ask someone from Mumbai to come to Hampi to give us the mikes…because we have the interview shoot the next day for which the Laviliiers are undoubtedly necessary. Sk and Rahul go back. Muttu wakes up , and starts mulling around. But mostly he sits bored. We just do’t know what to do. Meanwhile Basappa arrives and says he knows a camera rental guy in hospet so Vishal and he head back toHospet to try renting out lapel mikes…after a while they too return back after having scouted around some 20 odd shops….meanwhile Sk and Rahul have sent out a frantic mail to David asking him to advise on what to do ….worse comes worse, they decide to come back in the last week of March to shoot the interview..SO much tension!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I guess sometimes its always better to give in to that uneasy feeling that something was likely to go off at any moment with a pop. Thing is with equipment, you never knew what it was going to do next or into what murky depths of soup it would carelessly plunge you.
Anyway, Muttu decide to go play cricket with his friends. Madhu takes over the camera. He and Akash follow Muttu to the grounds .Meanwhile we are sitting chatting and debating over the sound issue. Finally Meghna says that she doesn’t think the output will be drastically afftected .So we decide to let things be. One hour’s almost up and the conscious DOP realizes that Madhu and Akash don’t have tapes so Sk and I go to deliver the tapes to them. Then around 17:00 Satya comes on his bike…and they’re off to Sunset point..12 hours of the shoot already done..unbelievable!!!!!Ruhie, Madhu, Akash,Vishal , Abhishek and I are waiting for an auto to come…but we wait and wait and wait..apparently Nagraj hadn’t called for another auto. Madhu and Abhishek head back to their room.After a while and taking picks of the sunset etc, we head back to our rooms as well. I am extremely disappointed- I REALLY wanted to go watch the sunset from atop a hill(my fetish for “above sea level” areas just doesn’t go!!!)Anyway, after freshening up , Ruhie and I head to New shanty- to gulp something to drink. We make plans for the next day- we decide that come what may- we WILL go have a dip in the river……and take a ridein the boats..We decide to carry on with our meal as well..The guys call up- they want to join us too. Rahul is back and updates us- apparently Madhu, Meghna,Sk, Bala and Muttu have gone to Muttu’s village. We , as usual, sit in our favorite place and order. Everyone’s hungryyyy…Almost by the end of the meal the rest of the guys are back from Muttu’s village. Rahul and Akash go to take charge at Rama guest house where Muttu is while the rest settle down for dinner. Rahul absolutely refuses to go to sleep ..he insists that he is fresh and WILL stay up all night to ensure that the tape-changing goes on smoothly. So , finally it’s decided that Akash and Rahul will stay the night. The DOP does the settings in the camera and bidding goodnight, we move on to get our rest.Somewhere in the middle, we get a call from David…Sk goes back to Rama guest house.
We get back, take a bath and get to bed. Its been a longgggggggggggggggggg day…..
Hampi Travels- day 4-the last day!
8th, Sunday
Meghna and me wake up at 5:15 next morn and head to Rama guest house at 6 am. We wait for Sk to come…but either he stayed at Rama guest house as well last night or he just did not get up. We proceed to Rama guest house where Muttu is fast asleep.Rahul wakes up. We are all so anxious and excited…we’re on the 26th hour of the shoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We contemplate whether to wake Muttu up- Its almost 630 am…..Muttu finally wakes up at aroung 635 am….and we shoot our last shot!!! The shoot is officially over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We round up the rest of the people. Sleepy producer sahib, shouts in his just awoken state- why din’t you guys wake me up!!..anyway , we head to the next thing-to-do for the day- to shoot the interview- meanwhile everyone feels the need for a cup of coffee so we head to Prince restaurant. Just after we order, we hear that Muttu has come…The restaurant owner is nice enough- he asks us to take the coffee glasses and return them later on..he even asks us to pay later on..amazing how nice strangers can be…We go to the terrace. The view from there is panaromic indeed-with the Tungabhadra on one side and Virupaksha on the other…..Muttu doesn’t fail us- he answers all questions brusquely and only fumbles when asked his email address. He talks about his life, his expectations, his dreams……and his sense of humour is just brilliant……Muttu talks about how he saved enough to build a new house for his parents in his village, how just few ago he gave up his savings( which he had saved up to buy an autorickshaw) for his sister’s wedding, how he usually goes and solicits non-native English speaking tourists in the hope that he would learn a new language and increase his linguistic skills. I think the interview lasts hardly for about 30 minutes. Later on we proceed to take snaps of the GLP team…there’s no t-shirt fitting Abhishek so we take the pic by pinning the tshirt to him- NO member of GLP can be left without the Tshirt after all!!! Sk is upto his usual antics- trying to balance the camera on a overturned broken bucket kept on a broken chair…We tae numersous snaps- cinematographer and producer sahib not happy…then Ruhie trips over a loose pipe on the terrace…her nail is out loose and shes bleeding….Sk cleans and bandages the wound…we all exhort her to abuse- in the hope that it will lessen the pain..even Meghna gives permission by daintily shutting her ears…hehe. The shoot is finally FINITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 we keep t he equipment back at the rooms and head to the Tungabhadra..yippeee yayyyyyyyyyyyy….on the way we go to Basappa’s place.He has a 9 month old baby.Meghna is play ng with him. Madhu asks her to hold the baby and practice……Basappa gives diections to Muttu to take us to the right spot – apparenlt the companies upstream have released molasses into the river ..yuckkk……but that doen;t deter us:d:d:Dafter sometime, we finallyyyyyyyyyyy enter the Tungabhadra…the water is cool, not cold..we start swimming..i am amazed that I am swimming so fast despite of the time lag since I’ve gone swimming(3 years!!)..and ten I realize…its not me…it’s the river…the current is strong…..i panic and try to stop , cant..sk helps me to the banks..Akash ad vishal just don’t let go of the pole- lest they flow away. Madhu , undeterred by currents attempts to swim to a stone in the middle of the river- and reaches it!!!!bravo!!!!
We leave the river and go to the vendor opposite and gulp down cool coconut water….Head back to our rooms, pack, leave for lunch, shop again, go to Virupakhsa a,d then at around 16:00 finally leave……..Hampi trip is finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!On the way to hospet, we all go to Muttus village to meet his Mum ….and then with leaden feet to hospet to catch our bus back home…back to the rut….back to work …..
Hampi travels-day 2
6th-
At around 1130-1200-we reach Hospet and haggle our way(me speaking in my accented Kannada, only to be replied back to in a very Jamaican accented English) with the autorickshawalaas to reduce the price of our travel to Hampi, and we finally , after calling up Rahul etc reach an agreeable price of Rs. 100/-.I am super excited –after more than 4 years of yearning to reach Hampi, I am just 11 kms away from there. And my eyes wait patiently, awaiting THE place I’ve been waiting to visit for more than 4 years now. And the place doesn’t disappoint me- I see stone structures in the far horizon..and I smile- I am home! These are isolated stone structures all over the place, just boulders strewn and piled one over the other to create something that is so artistic and beautiful…atleast to my stone-parched eyes. I’ve been yearning to come to this place to climb. Of course, my climbing will have to wait for yet another trip(s).
We round a place and are stopped for toll and there are some boys selling postcards and About Hampi books. I hand over the money to one of the boys and he shakes his head and says “I am Muttu. Hope you had a good journey” We are all very happy to meet him. He sure is one smart chap with slapstick, and yet diplomatic comments for everything and he’s only all of 18 years old!!! We meet the rest of the gang at the Hampi gate and walk through Hampi bazaar amongst stores and stores selling colourful clothes-kurtas and t-shirts and elephant pants ,bags ,jholas and silver jewellery as well!!! My excitement meter is ticking higher and higher!!! And we reach Akshat guest house to be greeted by the B’day girl, Ruhie, looking completely like she’s on a holiday!! We wish her and hear about her b’day cake and surprise etc The boys pick up their stuff and leave for their rooms. We freshen up. I wonder what to wear..all my clothes seem so HOT to wear in the heat, I settle for t he tracks and a t-shirt.(ALL my clothes except the t-shirts came back to Mumbai untouched).
We leave to shop and just see the place. We go to one of the shops and end up buying almost 20 pieces of clothes.!!!!!!People are so friendly , the streets are so very clean and the air is so unpolluted…I see a couple of foreigners walking around with crashpads..my eyes open up wide and the yearning swells up again..i search for Sk..he points out to another couple with bags-to show me my other fetish-backpacks!!:p
After our bout of shopping and mental notes of other things to buy provided we have the money, we finally head out to lunch. We go to a place at Hampi bazaar who doesn’t deliver momos even after an hour, so we leave the place and head to Chill Out. It is a really serene place ,with padded seating…and books by the counter. Akash picks up a book and and picks out an “interesting” story of a “One night stand” and starts reading out aloud and then slowly stops-I guess the content is not descriptive enough :p. Everyone is just lying , resting, ordering their favorite dishes. Our eyes go round when we see Vodka Pasta. Akash immediately changes his order and orders that. The food takes forever to come. It’s pretty decent. We then leave…we have an interview to do with Muttu. We go to the guest house-The DOP aka Meghna decide that the light isn’t good enough for the interview. We see another place with a terrace and a panoramic view of the Tungabhandra river and its banks beyond, the Virupaksha standing tall in the background..but well, its evening and the light is still fading…I go to search for some gift wrapping …I come back to find NOBODY…….and nobody around knows where they all have gone..i try calling these guys up- they don’t pick up. I proceed, therefore, to roam hither and thither about the lanes in the hope of locating them, wishing that I had a couple of bloodhounds to aid me in my task!!God damn silent mode!!I DON’t know the name of their guest house, nor mine..so much for being excited!!! Luckily after wandering around for sometime, I get network on my phone and get to where they are, at Netra guest house to find the interview set-up being done. Iit’s a nice yellow-chromish background…DHAM….one of the lights perched on its stand falls…well it’s a good omen someone shouts…everyone feels light again…..and then after a few more minutes of trying to get the perfect light and finally when the stage is set to shoot(Meghna is still cribbing about the output)……the electricity goes….and there goes the interview for that day. We schedule it for Sunday morning- Meghna is happy – that’s what she wanted- to shoot in natural light….we wrap up and leave for dinner. In the interim, we sit and discuss with Muttu the tentative schedule for the day of the shoot- so that we can schedule our schedules around it…..Go to New Shanti- which will continue to be our haunt for the next 2 days….After going through last minute details and all that, we mustv’e gone to bed at around midnight-apprehensive whether we would wake up at the appointed time the next day. I was afraid we’d wake up at all…(the next few days we’d be upping with the lark EVERYDAY)…
At around 1130-1200-we reach Hospet and haggle our way(me speaking in my accented Kannada, only to be replied back to in a very Jamaican accented English) with the autorickshawalaas to reduce the price of our travel to Hampi, and we finally , after calling up Rahul etc reach an agreeable price of Rs. 100/-.I am super excited –after more than 4 years of yearning to reach Hampi, I am just 11 kms away from there. And my eyes wait patiently, awaiting THE place I’ve been waiting to visit for more than 4 years now. And the place doesn’t disappoint me- I see stone structures in the far horizon..and I smile- I am home! These are isolated stone structures all over the place, just boulders strewn and piled one over the other to create something that is so artistic and beautiful…atleast to my stone-parched eyes. I’ve been yearning to come to this place to climb. Of course, my climbing will have to wait for yet another trip(s).
We round a place and are stopped for toll and there are some boys selling postcards and About Hampi books. I hand over the money to one of the boys and he shakes his head and says “I am Muttu. Hope you had a good journey” We are all very happy to meet him. He sure is one smart chap with slapstick, and yet diplomatic comments for everything and he’s only all of 18 years old!!! We meet the rest of the gang at the Hampi gate and walk through Hampi bazaar amongst stores and stores selling colourful clothes-kurtas and t-shirts and elephant pants ,bags ,jholas and silver jewellery as well!!! My excitement meter is ticking higher and higher!!! And we reach Akshat guest house to be greeted by the B’day girl, Ruhie, looking completely like she’s on a holiday!! We wish her and hear about her b’day cake and surprise etc The boys pick up their stuff and leave for their rooms. We freshen up. I wonder what to wear..all my clothes seem so HOT to wear in the heat, I settle for t he tracks and a t-shirt.(ALL my clothes except the t-shirts came back to Mumbai untouched).
We leave to shop and just see the place. We go to one of the shops and end up buying almost 20 pieces of clothes.!!!!!!People are so friendly , the streets are so very clean and the air is so unpolluted…I see a couple of foreigners walking around with crashpads..my eyes open up wide and the yearning swells up again..i search for Sk..he points out to another couple with bags-to show me my other fetish-backpacks!!:p
After our bout of shopping and mental notes of other things to buy provided we have the money, we finally head out to lunch. We go to a place at Hampi bazaar who doesn’t deliver momos even after an hour, so we leave the place and head to Chill Out. It is a really serene place ,with padded seating…and books by the counter. Akash picks up a book and and picks out an “interesting” story of a “One night stand” and starts reading out aloud and then slowly stops-I guess the content is not descriptive enough :p. Everyone is just lying , resting, ordering their favorite dishes. Our eyes go round when we see Vodka Pasta. Akash immediately changes his order and orders that. The food takes forever to come. It’s pretty decent. We then leave…we have an interview to do with Muttu. We go to the guest house-The DOP aka Meghna decide that the light isn’t good enough for the interview. We see another place with a terrace and a panoramic view of the Tungabhandra river and its banks beyond, the Virupaksha standing tall in the background..but well, its evening and the light is still fading…I go to search for some gift wrapping …I come back to find NOBODY…….and nobody around knows where they all have gone..i try calling these guys up- they don’t pick up. I proceed, therefore, to roam hither and thither about the lanes in the hope of locating them, wishing that I had a couple of bloodhounds to aid me in my task!!God damn silent mode!!I DON’t know the name of their guest house, nor mine..so much for being excited!!! Luckily after wandering around for sometime, I get network on my phone and get to where they are, at Netra guest house to find the interview set-up being done. Iit’s a nice yellow-chromish background…DHAM….one of the lights perched on its stand falls…well it’s a good omen someone shouts…everyone feels light again…..and then after a few more minutes of trying to get the perfect light and finally when the stage is set to shoot(Meghna is still cribbing about the output)……the electricity goes….and there goes the interview for that day. We schedule it for Sunday morning- Meghna is happy – that’s what she wanted- to shoot in natural light….we wrap up and leave for dinner. In the interim, we sit and discuss with Muttu the tentative schedule for the day of the shoot- so that we can schedule our schedules around it…..Go to New Shanti- which will continue to be our haunt for the next 2 days….After going through last minute details and all that, we mustv’e gone to bed at around midnight-apprehensive whether we would wake up at the appointed time the next day. I was afraid we’d wake up at all…(the next few days we’d be upping with the lark EVERYDAY)…
Hampi travels-day 1
5th-
And finally on 5th started the ACTUAL journey of GLP,India…that was the day the 1st set of people-Sk(Srikumar),RC ,Ruhie, Bala and Vishal reached Hampi and the second set-Meghna, Madhu, Abhishek , Akash and me left for Hampi. On 5th, besides making arrangements and trying to cycle the “easy” 9 km, and shopping, these guys ended up meeting one of the “godfather”’s of the tourist guides- Mr.Basappa- who promised that he would tag along ad ensure that we could shoot smoothly.
And finally on 5th started the ACTUAL journey of GLP,India…that was the day the 1st set of people-Sk(Srikumar),RC ,Ruhie, Bala and Vishal reached Hampi and the second set-Meghna, Madhu, Abhishek , Akash and me left for Hampi. On 5th, besides making arrangements and trying to cycle the “easy” 9 km, and shopping, these guys ended up meeting one of the “godfather”’s of the tourist guides- Mr.Basappa- who promised that he would tag along ad ensure that we could shoot smoothly.
I am co -producer!!!!
On 28 January 2009, got a frantic mail from Sk , asking him to help out with some procedural aspects of a film project he and Rahul had got. i just called up the number mentioned in the mail- the Bangalore ASI number and got some information for him…and I think from that day on was inducted into the GLP India team. Next, I found myself at a meeting with Sk, Rahul, Ruhie and Akash at Candies, Bandra discussing what needed to be done. Ruhie surprised, rather shocked all of us by telling her that her “uncle” who she was going to talk to about the shooting permit fees was Mr Subbarao, the RBI governor!!!!!The next few days were helping them make the budget and the proposal, I was pleasantly surprised to see my name as co-producer!!!!! Deepa Bhat, who had NOTHING to do with movies except watching them….was actually ( on paper) a co- producer!!! Until then, my idea of a producer was one who only funds a film, realized for the first time that a producer’s function encompasses much more!!!!
Well then on, it was crossing fingers, and everything else( if its practically possible) every few days-for the GLP proposal to be approved by the GLP team, and getting a waiver of the permit fees. First we had a lot of hope with the waiver, thanks to Mrs Subbarao being a friend of Ms .Anshu, the Delhi authority who has the power to waive off our fees. But apparently the day we sent our proposal , was her last in the Delhi jurisdiction. First we were to shoot on 26th, but because of personal constraints of many of us and of course, we hadn’t gotten the basic approval from the GLP team yet. They had some questions for us about the subject and some production issues and finally last weekend after working our cogs around every conceivable obstacle, on ( Saturday), 21st February 2009, we got our approval( not that there was even an iota of doubt of an otherwise!!!)l!!
And then we had to wait for the tardy response of ASI Bangalore and our various”contacts” at ASI Delhi to finally get permission for the shoot…which turned out to be so tiring and time consuming and irritating….Rahul was so very tensed…I still remember his face when I met him Monday at Meghna’s place, 2 days before he was set to leave for Hampi. He was so anxious and tired and waiting to DO something, and GET something done!! We were waiting for Tuesday when we would finally get our permission letter.
So then I start calling up ASI on Tuesday 11a.m onwards- and all they say every time is that there is no electricity so they are unable to send the email…and then finally at noontime-Rahul mails..and the permission letter says that we are allowed to take “Photographs” at the specified 3 monuments!!! Am sure that at that time-the three of us are staring into our computers cursing What the heck!!! we went through all these for the past few months for PHOTOGRAPHS!!!!! Well and then another day of calling up ASI Bangalore every 15 minutes only to be disappointed and listen to the frustrated receptionist every time. Finally we spoke to Mr. Patil who asked us to email him YET again!!! We did so, and called back in another 15 minutes-he wasn’t at desk…and so on .The receptionist was so flustered …she was like HOW many times have you spoken to the veryyyy busy ASI honcho!!!, and she went on to tell us that a CAMERA can shoot only photographs. we had to take on the arduous task to tell her that a CAMERA is of two types, one of which shoots videos!!!
Anyway finally we got the word from the ASI honcho that we will have no problems shooting and we got the number of the ASI chief, Hampi to be contacted in case of any problems. Phew!!!
Well then on, it was crossing fingers, and everything else( if its practically possible) every few days-for the GLP proposal to be approved by the GLP team, and getting a waiver of the permit fees. First we had a lot of hope with the waiver, thanks to Mrs Subbarao being a friend of Ms .Anshu, the Delhi authority who has the power to waive off our fees. But apparently the day we sent our proposal , was her last in the Delhi jurisdiction. First we were to shoot on 26th, but because of personal constraints of many of us and of course, we hadn’t gotten the basic approval from the GLP team yet. They had some questions for us about the subject and some production issues and finally last weekend after working our cogs around every conceivable obstacle, on ( Saturday), 21st February 2009, we got our approval( not that there was even an iota of doubt of an otherwise!!!)l!!
And then we had to wait for the tardy response of ASI Bangalore and our various”contacts” at ASI Delhi to finally get permission for the shoot…which turned out to be so tiring and time consuming and irritating….Rahul was so very tensed…I still remember his face when I met him Monday at Meghna’s place, 2 days before he was set to leave for Hampi. He was so anxious and tired and waiting to DO something, and GET something done!! We were waiting for Tuesday when we would finally get our permission letter.
So then I start calling up ASI on Tuesday 11a.m onwards- and all they say every time is that there is no electricity so they are unable to send the email…and then finally at noontime-Rahul mails..and the permission letter says that we are allowed to take “Photographs” at the specified 3 monuments!!! Am sure that at that time-the three of us are staring into our computers cursing What the heck!!! we went through all these for the past few months for PHOTOGRAPHS!!!!! Well and then another day of calling up ASI Bangalore every 15 minutes only to be disappointed and listen to the frustrated receptionist every time. Finally we spoke to Mr. Patil who asked us to email him YET again!!! We did so, and called back in another 15 minutes-he wasn’t at desk…and so on .The receptionist was so flustered …she was like HOW many times have you spoken to the veryyyy busy ASI honcho!!!, and she went on to tell us that a CAMERA can shoot only photographs. we had to take on the arduous task to tell her that a CAMERA is of two types, one of which shoots videos!!!
Anyway finally we got the word from the ASI honcho that we will have no problems shooting and we got the number of the ASI chief, Hampi to be contacted in case of any problems. Phew!!!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Amongst the Sahyadris again!
18/10/2008
11:30 am
Left to meet Sensei..it was her B’day. Me and Riddhi met up and took her a cake. Somwhere on the way , went and picked up my Lafuma sack,sleeping bag and tent from Akash at MAM.It was good fun catching up with her after a long time. She was amused and touched that we remembered so much about her…..Whilst in the middle of a conversation , I received a message from Avani asking me to reply asap whether I was interested in coming for a trip to Rajmachi. I obviously jumped and said YES immediately.Anyway, left for Nani’s place at about 15:15.Reached there, dumped the bags there, apologized to Mau for not letting her have her Sunday at the institute( as I would be going on the trek).Then me and SK went for Body of Lies…an ok-ok movie with Leaonardo Di-Caprio acting as good as ever. Anyway after the movie, we decided to hang out and then Avani messaged saying that the trek might be cancelled. Sk gave his damned grin and told me that I wouldn’t have gone anyway.. he then dropped me off at Queen’s park asking me to come collect his headlamp and all IF I were going..it is so irritating when someone tries to pre-empt you. From the rickshaw also he called out that I will not go!!!grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…anyway , started walking to Nani’s house..so much for an adventurous weekend!!When I reached nani’s gate, Avani called telling me to not get too happy and that the reason for her decision is NOT my sms:p..the trip was on..we were meeting at 21:00 at Dadar station.I tried calling up Sk , but as usual , Mr Popular’s phone was engaged!Got through to him and asked him to wait wherever he was…met him at Band signal , and went to his place where I picked up his headlamp and mats and then we went to a shop in Bandra to pick up a cap.
Came back to Nani’s place, kept the phone and camera battery to charge, transferred the photos from the drive onto the lappie phaphat packed and left for Dadar. By the time ii had dinner and left , it was 20:45(and we were supposed to meet at 21:00).
Went to Santacruz station, picked up a loaf of bread and 3 pairs of socks ,and ran to the train.mustve’ reached Pritam by 21:15.Met up with Antara(she’s from E&A)..my throat was gone and there was no sign of the other 4.So I went in for a cuppa of coffe..the guy misunderstood and ended giving up 2 cups instead of 1..sat opposite a veryy cute baby.
These guys came at about 21:30 and then the 3 guys-Nihar, Pariket and Savio went to take a leak….and they went on for another hour , while Antara,Avani and me were dutifully trying to check out which bus goes to Lonavala. They mustve come at around 22:30, tummies satiated with few pints of alcohol , after which we found a bus to baramati at around 23:00.Got in and caught the whole of the last seat. And started talking about this and that. Antara and Savio were on and on about their respective cameras with Savio teaching Antara a couple of tricks with her cam(both have a Nikon)Nihar was sitting ahead..and conversing with his neighbour , apparently he can strike a conversation with about anyone ,, an admirable quality which we saw more and more on the trip. He would converse in his broken marathi and just strike up a conversation! Anyway , we started talking about Movies, and got stuck up …NONE of us and I repeat NONE of us could remember the name of the black guy in American Gangster(and Philadelphia and bone collector and Courage under fire) we could also not remember the guy in Hotel Rwanda( and Crash)…finally we gave up and I messaged Sk and he promptly replied Denzel Washington and Don CHeadly…hahah so much for being film buffs!! !And then Avani gets stuck up on an actor with a mole near the nose- a white actor….none of can remember ANY Caucasian actor with a mole..not a famous actor at the least!! so we went on and on thinking, she couldn’t even recollect the name of any movie he has acted in…so she called up her friend and he promptly replied Robert De Niro…and then we all were upon her , chiding her, telling her that Robert De Niro has NO mole near his nose!!!! called up Sk and he too confimed Avani’s version!!none of the rest of us still believed it…(anyway fact is that he DOES have a mole, albeit way above, near his eye and not near his nose).Anyway , fact is that we all will always remember Avani and this trip everytime we watch a Robert De Niro movie(which she also smsed me right now!!)After all this excitement of discovering how bad we really are with our favorite actors and movies, we all settled down. The bus lights dimmed and I, sitting near the window was watching the sahyadris..it felt so good to be going for a trek after such a longg time,antara and savio went to nap and avani and pariket were listening to some music on his ipod.i went to sleep and would wake up everytime avani guessed a song or strated singing or discussing it:p.One such time, she said “Nirvana” at a time when I was smiling at the awesomely cool a/c like gale that was blowing in my face and I said..yeh this weather sure is Nirvana…Avani and Pariket gave me such blank looks:hehehe..
Reached Lonavala at about 130 am, visited the toilets and most of us had a cup of chai. Then we left to find us some transportation to get to the village where we would start our trek from. We got onto the main road only to find a deserted street with no auto in sight. We went around found some guy in a bike and asked him for directions..he asked up to take the 3rdleft from the bust depot. Pariket , with his superb negotiating skills, found a maruti car willing to take us to the village for some 10 bucks a head. After some going back and forth and trying to guess the exact turn that we needed to take , someone finally told us to take the road just bfore HDFC bank, which turned out to be the correct road. The road from there to the top is actually a motorable road right upto Rajmachi village. But after a while when the road became a kaccha road, the maruti guy refused to go further ahead and dropped us off. We finally started to walk. It was 235 am!
We walked and walked , passed the gate of Captain;s resort, passed a lot of thatched huts which reminded me somehow of Kagal, with its cowdunng and burning wood smell.We came to a fork where one road led upwards and another straight, we walked stratight then came back and went up and sat for while ,Pariket and Savio went to find out whether it was the correct rd,it was not, so back down again and we continued walking. For some unknown reason ,there was a little water on the roads. It was a nice moonlit night and throughout the trip , we did not feel the need to turn on the headlamps/torchlights. We stopped after about an hour and half and sat to eat bread with Avani’s melted cheese.With some grub in , we recommenced and continued to trudge slowly .I t was an easy path(like I said ,it’s a motorable road )The road went up and down but as never steep. The weather was awesome .At the start of the trip( and as reminded by Sk) , we were expecting a sweaty trip.But it turned out quite otherwise, we were hoping we had expected this earlier and had carried jackets to combat the cold. But then we were keeping a steady pace and were sweating a little bit, so we never felt too cold really. Some of us were tempted to just lie down on the road- the breeze was so amazingly cool.It was like a/c.really amazing. After a 4 hour walk and around 18 kms later , we finally reached Rajmachi village at around 645. Nihar was amazed that we all seriously weren’t carrying brushes, nor felt the need to want to brush. Shaking his head in disbelief, he finished his prized ablution while Pariket and Savio instantly fell asleep on the 1stflat, manmade construction they saw in the village.We ordered for tea and milk and sat outside a shop.An old woman came and asked us whether we wanted some water or tea and then asked us whether we wanted to sleep for sometime. Savio woke up after sometime. Nihar was playing with the village dogs, shaking his head at how badly treated they were and offering them Avani’s marie biscuits. Nihar and savio ordered for some egg bhurji. Savio was insisting that he slept for only 15 mins while actually he was snoring for over 30 mins. While we all were feasting, Pariket woke up after an hour’s slumber wondering how the rest of us were surviving without any sleep. All well fed and (some) well rested, we again debated on the route o Karjat(we were comin down via the karjat route). Avani pointed out to a route from front of the shop where we had tea and was seconded by an old woman standing at the door. So we started our way back down at around 845.We walked down breezy , grassy routes.The blowing grass gave the effect of a blanket being jhatkaoed.It was beautiful!! We continued to trudge down for around 45 mins when Avani suddenly stopped and exclaimed that we were back on he Lonavla route.Everyone else said no- as we had not noticed any deviations on the route the night before…it was im[possible , we couldn’t have had made that error.Pariket went a had to chck and discovered a wall which we had seen the previous night.We indeed were back on the way to lonavla.This fact was confirmed some people we met.Apparently this was the same spot where Avani had done a route error ;last year. Rajmachi definitely has something against Avani.Anyway we debated whether we should move on to lonavla or go back to the village and go to karjat.back t o the village would be an hour and from there to karjat would be around 2 hours, while on this path , we had a 3 hours, non-canopy,hott journey ahead of us! The decision was made and we started disbelievingly trudging our way back to the village. 2hours of the cool weather was lost because of this mistake!!!!!Anyway , we went past the jangal mein mangal room and past those grassy slopes and when were just , behind the village,we asked a village boy who was passing by what the route to karjat as he just looked to his left and pointed to a stone with a white marking showing the route!!!we couldn’t believe that THIS is what we had mossed, sucha clearcut marked path!!!So began our journey back to civilization.This wasn’t a simple stroll.This way down was a slope down, with most parts requiring bending down,and holding onto the rocks to o a step down.Our legs were screwed!!Thighs, knees all gone..and then came the sun in full glory,our water resources were down!!and the sun had no mercy, nor did the hill.In hindsight, it was no t at all a diffucul route.The path is well marked and doesn’t require any sort of dangerous acts.But because of the steeper slope, it took a toll on most peoples thighs..to try not to fall head first, we hd to be very careful.I slipped and fell , while trying to change my cam batteries and ended up being the last one . after an hour and half with only one stop (in the 1st half hour for eating and drinking),we did not stop at all.My legs were gone and I was afraid that stopping and sitting down would make me not want to get up again.. captain avani kept edging us bit by bit. Nihar did not complain one bit. He just maintained an even pace. But such was the hurry to get back down , that nobody but me stopped to take pics of that amazing place. I too did not end up taking too many , lest I fall way too behind! We passed a stream where Pariket and savio replenished water supplies to some extent. We continued trudging down. We could hear the train and that mirage of a sound would lift our spirits,..just 15 minutes further(probably)..We finally came to a place where the road started becoming more of a plain and finaly we were convinced that we weren’t far away now. Hurrah!!! 10 more minutes!!! Then we asked a couple who passed us how much further and they said “30 mins”!!!
They were right.We reached the village and lost savio at around 1230 pm.We filled ourselves with Fanta and Thumbs up.(yeah me too..ive gad soft drinks after god knows how many years..but they did not have water or milk).Feeling better , and with no sign of Savio , we refused to an offer to give us a ride to Karjat for 200 bucks!!!a 15 minute walk down and the same ride was 10 bucks a head(60 total).We started walking when a villager called out to us and told us that a friend of ours was waiting with a rickshaw!!! Savio to the rescue!!!!! We haggled with the guy and got the fare down to 20 bucks a head(120 total).The train to home was at 13:15.But there was no way we could make it! Nihr tried his hand at the rickshaw for sometime.We reached the station at around the same time. The train was gone and we had an hour to kill before the next one at 14:00.So we had glasses and glasses of the refresing nimbu paani.I and avani filled our bottles with it to sip slowly on our way home. Some ate vada pav , some drank lassi. All plans of the guys filling themselves with beer had one kaput. Getting a shower and a bed was the priority!! We boarded the crowed train and settled ourselves on the floor of the bogey. Antara got a seat and was immediately snoozing, even before the train started! Uncomfortabel that we were, Savio and Nihar too went for a normal seat once they found one. Avani said she preferred to stand inside the compartment rather than at the door where there would be a whole crowd of people coming in. It was the central railway after all!!The crowd came and how!!!I thought there would be a stampede or something. I and pariket stood up and continued talking and he tried protecting me from thr vile men looking for a good massage. Anyway I got this bright idea of getting of at kurla instead of going through the craziness of going to dadar and catching a train to santacruz Sk called during the journey down and was amazed that we were so tired. It was brijesh’s treat too that night (oh no!! i was already pooped).Reached nani’s home at around 1515.had a bath a quick lunch and dodging mau’s questons, took my aching body straight to bed!!
An amazing trip really. I think besides a picteresue place in the Sahyadris, what is of essence in a trek , is good company. The whole trip was a whole lot of fun. Avani was amazing. She’d just start singing relevant songs, just like that. Her energy was uncomparable. It would probably have been , if Savio hadn’t put on so much of weight. She was simply a lot of fun! She and Savio kept pulling each other’s legs so much! Savio did the entire trek in slippers. Nihar , Pariket and Antara we awesome company too. Everyone kept the mood light and conversations going. I realized just how much I moved and missed nature and also the known fact of how unfit I was. Being unfit just compounds a lot of discomfort on such trips. So hopefully same time next year, same/similar trip, lighter me and no ache complaints!!!!!
11:30 am
Left to meet Sensei..it was her B’day. Me and Riddhi met up and took her a cake. Somwhere on the way , went and picked up my Lafuma sack,sleeping bag and tent from Akash at MAM.It was good fun catching up with her after a long time. She was amused and touched that we remembered so much about her…..Whilst in the middle of a conversation , I received a message from Avani asking me to reply asap whether I was interested in coming for a trip to Rajmachi. I obviously jumped and said YES immediately.Anyway, left for Nani’s place at about 15:15.Reached there, dumped the bags there, apologized to Mau for not letting her have her Sunday at the institute( as I would be going on the trek).Then me and SK went for Body of Lies…an ok-ok movie with Leaonardo Di-Caprio acting as good as ever. Anyway after the movie, we decided to hang out and then Avani messaged saying that the trek might be cancelled. Sk gave his damned grin and told me that I wouldn’t have gone anyway.. he then dropped me off at Queen’s park asking me to come collect his headlamp and all IF I were going..it is so irritating when someone tries to pre-empt you. From the rickshaw also he called out that I will not go!!!grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…anyway , started walking to Nani’s house..so much for an adventurous weekend!!When I reached nani’s gate, Avani called telling me to not get too happy and that the reason for her decision is NOT my sms:p..the trip was on..we were meeting at 21:00 at Dadar station.I tried calling up Sk , but as usual , Mr Popular’s phone was engaged!Got through to him and asked him to wait wherever he was…met him at Band signal , and went to his place where I picked up his headlamp and mats and then we went to a shop in Bandra to pick up a cap.
Came back to Nani’s place, kept the phone and camera battery to charge, transferred the photos from the drive onto the lappie phaphat packed and left for Dadar. By the time ii had dinner and left , it was 20:45(and we were supposed to meet at 21:00).
Went to Santacruz station, picked up a loaf of bread and 3 pairs of socks ,and ran to the train.mustve’ reached Pritam by 21:15.Met up with Antara(she’s from E&A)..my throat was gone and there was no sign of the other 4.So I went in for a cuppa of coffe..the guy misunderstood and ended giving up 2 cups instead of 1..sat opposite a veryy cute baby.
These guys came at about 21:30 and then the 3 guys-Nihar, Pariket and Savio went to take a leak….and they went on for another hour , while Antara,Avani and me were dutifully trying to check out which bus goes to Lonavala. They mustve come at around 22:30, tummies satiated with few pints of alcohol , after which we found a bus to baramati at around 23:00.Got in and caught the whole of the last seat. And started talking about this and that. Antara and Savio were on and on about their respective cameras with Savio teaching Antara a couple of tricks with her cam(both have a Nikon)Nihar was sitting ahead..and conversing with his neighbour , apparently he can strike a conversation with about anyone ,, an admirable quality which we saw more and more on the trip. He would converse in his broken marathi and just strike up a conversation! Anyway , we started talking about Movies, and got stuck up …NONE of us and I repeat NONE of us could remember the name of the black guy in American Gangster(and Philadelphia and bone collector and Courage under fire) we could also not remember the guy in Hotel Rwanda( and Crash)…finally we gave up and I messaged Sk and he promptly replied Denzel Washington and Don CHeadly…hahah so much for being film buffs!! !And then Avani gets stuck up on an actor with a mole near the nose- a white actor….none of can remember ANY Caucasian actor with a mole..not a famous actor at the least!! so we went on and on thinking, she couldn’t even recollect the name of any movie he has acted in…so she called up her friend and he promptly replied Robert De Niro…and then we all were upon her , chiding her, telling her that Robert De Niro has NO mole near his nose!!!! called up Sk and he too confimed Avani’s version!!none of the rest of us still believed it…(anyway fact is that he DOES have a mole, albeit way above, near his eye and not near his nose).Anyway , fact is that we all will always remember Avani and this trip everytime we watch a Robert De Niro movie(which she also smsed me right now!!)After all this excitement of discovering how bad we really are with our favorite actors and movies, we all settled down. The bus lights dimmed and I, sitting near the window was watching the sahyadris..it felt so good to be going for a trek after such a longg time,antara and savio went to nap and avani and pariket were listening to some music on his ipod.i went to sleep and would wake up everytime avani guessed a song or strated singing or discussing it:p.One such time, she said “Nirvana” at a time when I was smiling at the awesomely cool a/c like gale that was blowing in my face and I said..yeh this weather sure is Nirvana…Avani and Pariket gave me such blank looks:hehehe..
Reached Lonavala at about 130 am, visited the toilets and most of us had a cup of chai. Then we left to find us some transportation to get to the village where we would start our trek from. We got onto the main road only to find a deserted street with no auto in sight. We went around found some guy in a bike and asked him for directions..he asked up to take the 3rdleft from the bust depot. Pariket , with his superb negotiating skills, found a maruti car willing to take us to the village for some 10 bucks a head. After some going back and forth and trying to guess the exact turn that we needed to take , someone finally told us to take the road just bfore HDFC bank, which turned out to be the correct road. The road from there to the top is actually a motorable road right upto Rajmachi village. But after a while when the road became a kaccha road, the maruti guy refused to go further ahead and dropped us off. We finally started to walk. It was 235 am!
We walked and walked , passed the gate of Captain;s resort, passed a lot of thatched huts which reminded me somehow of Kagal, with its cowdunng and burning wood smell.We came to a fork where one road led upwards and another straight, we walked stratight then came back and went up and sat for while ,Pariket and Savio went to find out whether it was the correct rd,it was not, so back down again and we continued walking. For some unknown reason ,there was a little water on the roads. It was a nice moonlit night and throughout the trip , we did not feel the need to turn on the headlamps/torchlights. We stopped after about an hour and half and sat to eat bread with Avani’s melted cheese.With some grub in , we recommenced and continued to trudge slowly .I t was an easy path(like I said ,it’s a motorable road )The road went up and down but as never steep. The weather was awesome .At the start of the trip( and as reminded by Sk) , we were expecting a sweaty trip.But it turned out quite otherwise, we were hoping we had expected this earlier and had carried jackets to combat the cold. But then we were keeping a steady pace and were sweating a little bit, so we never felt too cold really. Some of us were tempted to just lie down on the road- the breeze was so amazingly cool.It was like a/c.really amazing. After a 4 hour walk and around 18 kms later , we finally reached Rajmachi village at around 645. Nihar was amazed that we all seriously weren’t carrying brushes, nor felt the need to want to brush. Shaking his head in disbelief, he finished his prized ablution while Pariket and Savio instantly fell asleep on the 1stflat, manmade construction they saw in the village.We ordered for tea and milk and sat outside a shop.An old woman came and asked us whether we wanted some water or tea and then asked us whether we wanted to sleep for sometime. Savio woke up after sometime. Nihar was playing with the village dogs, shaking his head at how badly treated they were and offering them Avani’s marie biscuits. Nihar and savio ordered for some egg bhurji. Savio was insisting that he slept for only 15 mins while actually he was snoring for over 30 mins. While we all were feasting, Pariket woke up after an hour’s slumber wondering how the rest of us were surviving without any sleep. All well fed and (some) well rested, we again debated on the route o Karjat(we were comin down via the karjat route). Avani pointed out to a route from front of the shop where we had tea and was seconded by an old woman standing at the door. So we started our way back down at around 845.We walked down breezy , grassy routes.The blowing grass gave the effect of a blanket being jhatkaoed.It was beautiful!! We continued to trudge down for around 45 mins when Avani suddenly stopped and exclaimed that we were back on he Lonavla route.Everyone else said no- as we had not noticed any deviations on the route the night before…it was im[possible , we couldn’t have had made that error.Pariket went a had to chck and discovered a wall which we had seen the previous night.We indeed were back on the way to lonavla.This fact was confirmed some people we met.Apparently this was the same spot where Avani had done a route error ;last year. Rajmachi definitely has something against Avani.Anyway we debated whether we should move on to lonavla or go back to the village and go to karjat.back t o the village would be an hour and from there to karjat would be around 2 hours, while on this path , we had a 3 hours, non-canopy,hott journey ahead of us! The decision was made and we started disbelievingly trudging our way back to the village. 2hours of the cool weather was lost because of this mistake!!!!!Anyway , we went past the jangal mein mangal room and past those grassy slopes and when were just , behind the village,we asked a village boy who was passing by what the route to karjat as he just looked to his left and pointed to a stone with a white marking showing the route!!!we couldn’t believe that THIS is what we had mossed, sucha clearcut marked path!!!So began our journey back to civilization.This wasn’t a simple stroll.This way down was a slope down, with most parts requiring bending down,and holding onto the rocks to o a step down.Our legs were screwed!!Thighs, knees all gone..and then came the sun in full glory,our water resources were down!!and the sun had no mercy, nor did the hill.In hindsight, it was no t at all a diffucul route.The path is well marked and doesn’t require any sort of dangerous acts.But because of the steeper slope, it took a toll on most peoples thighs..to try not to fall head first, we hd to be very careful.I slipped and fell , while trying to change my cam batteries and ended up being the last one . after an hour and half with only one stop (in the 1st half hour for eating and drinking),we did not stop at all.My legs were gone and I was afraid that stopping and sitting down would make me not want to get up again.. captain avani kept edging us bit by bit. Nihar did not complain one bit. He just maintained an even pace. But such was the hurry to get back down , that nobody but me stopped to take pics of that amazing place. I too did not end up taking too many , lest I fall way too behind! We passed a stream where Pariket and savio replenished water supplies to some extent. We continued trudging down. We could hear the train and that mirage of a sound would lift our spirits,..just 15 minutes further(probably)..We finally came to a place where the road started becoming more of a plain and finaly we were convinced that we weren’t far away now. Hurrah!!! 10 more minutes!!! Then we asked a couple who passed us how much further and they said “30 mins”!!!
They were right.We reached the village and lost savio at around 1230 pm.We filled ourselves with Fanta and Thumbs up.(yeah me too..ive gad soft drinks after god knows how many years..but they did not have water or milk).Feeling better , and with no sign of Savio , we refused to an offer to give us a ride to Karjat for 200 bucks!!!a 15 minute walk down and the same ride was 10 bucks a head(60 total).We started walking when a villager called out to us and told us that a friend of ours was waiting with a rickshaw!!! Savio to the rescue!!!!! We haggled with the guy and got the fare down to 20 bucks a head(120 total).The train to home was at 13:15.But there was no way we could make it! Nihr tried his hand at the rickshaw for sometime.We reached the station at around the same time. The train was gone and we had an hour to kill before the next one at 14:00.So we had glasses and glasses of the refresing nimbu paani.I and avani filled our bottles with it to sip slowly on our way home. Some ate vada pav , some drank lassi. All plans of the guys filling themselves with beer had one kaput. Getting a shower and a bed was the priority!! We boarded the crowed train and settled ourselves on the floor of the bogey. Antara got a seat and was immediately snoozing, even before the train started! Uncomfortabel that we were, Savio and Nihar too went for a normal seat once they found one. Avani said she preferred to stand inside the compartment rather than at the door where there would be a whole crowd of people coming in. It was the central railway after all!!The crowd came and how!!!I thought there would be a stampede or something. I and pariket stood up and continued talking and he tried protecting me from thr vile men looking for a good massage. Anyway I got this bright idea of getting of at kurla instead of going through the craziness of going to dadar and catching a train to santacruz Sk called during the journey down and was amazed that we were so tired. It was brijesh’s treat too that night (oh no!! i was already pooped).Reached nani’s home at around 1515.had a bath a quick lunch and dodging mau’s questons, took my aching body straight to bed!!
An amazing trip really. I think besides a picteresue place in the Sahyadris, what is of essence in a trek , is good company. The whole trip was a whole lot of fun. Avani was amazing. She’d just start singing relevant songs, just like that. Her energy was uncomparable. It would probably have been , if Savio hadn’t put on so much of weight. She was simply a lot of fun! She and Savio kept pulling each other’s legs so much! Savio did the entire trek in slippers. Nihar , Pariket and Antara we awesome company too. Everyone kept the mood light and conversations going. I realized just how much I moved and missed nature and also the known fact of how unfit I was. Being unfit just compounds a lot of discomfort on such trips. So hopefully same time next year, same/similar trip, lighter me and no ache complaints!!!!!
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