Rajmachi..welcome 2008!

Rajmachi…
Rajmachi, as the name translates itself, actually means ‘The King of Machis’; hold on hold on! Machis herein is not a matchbox dudes and dudesses, but in Marathi it actually means a flat plateau.

Located strategically and guarding the Bhor ghat, much important trade route in the erstwhile era, this fort commanded a domineering position. Connecting the Deccan plateau to the Konkan at sea level, the Bhor ghat was always under the scrutinizing sights of this majestic twin peaked fort. Without catering the GPS co-ordinates with all the latitudes and longitudes, it is enough to say that Rajmachi lies a plain walk of 16 Kilometers approximately from the beautiful hill station of Lonavala. Once can access this route from Khandala too. And this route is a very very accessible and a very very difficult to mess up route, so much so, that even a dolt can plod through on a dark Amavas night. That’s what we did. Its doesn’t mean that we are dolts..lol..

Well, it always feels nice to embrace the arrival of the new year amidst the tranquil of natures bounty and in the serene ambiance of an ancient temple yard, far off from the deafening decibels of the urban glitterati, herein Mumbai. In this quest we chose Rajmachi as our destination to welcome the year 2008.

This very fort provided us with an alternative of scaling it from the Karjat side, which offers quite a steep climb all the way. Even though the night offered chill, the climb is very steep and enough for the sweat pearls to break through your skin. This cognizance made us to follow the Lonavala approach.

Our Journey…
By the time our trek had started, other members of the group, had already made their way up all the way. We started late due to some reasons. So we were three of us, I, Aarti and Vijay. Managing to board the last train towards Pune, we all reached Lonavala at 2.30 AM… Bon Voyage.

So alighting at Lonavala, we decided to spend sometime before we marched off towards the fort Rajmachi. That some time exactly amounted to 90 minutes and finally at 4 AM, when the morning chill reached its peak, we started off. The immediate destination was Tungarli village. We estimated approx 45 minutes to reach there, but a pleasant surprise as the target was good 20-25 minutes behind us when our watches displayed quarter to five in the morning. Day break still seemed distant as the moon dominated and Sunrise was nowhere near. We kept our brisk pace up and continued further.

The barking dogs…
The darkness and the barking dogs, as we plodded our way through the villages of Fanasraee, made Aarti scamper for cover as she held my arms gripped! Oh poor, she was terribly scared as the noisy barks stimulated the auditory cells of hers’. Vijay moved past the barks and so did we, albeit the only difference being .. Aarti! We moved further, and the moonlight allowed us to keep our batteries switched off. The brightness of the moon was pleasant and so was the interspersing wave of cool breeze in amid of the warmth of friendly conversation we had.

Faint hint of daybreak…
The hazy outlines of the twin massif of Rajmachi started to make it-self visible, as we pointed and exchanged…there goes our destination. It was surprisingly looking close, very close; but having visited it earlier number of times, we were aware of the deep valley in between, which the direct line of vision couldn’t see. So in spite of the distance looking small, we were cognizant of the long walk along a winding boulevard that awaited us.

Getting closer…
So we moved on. Interestingly, none of us were tired, not even the shade of it. We moved at a brisk pace and in the dark. It was around 6.30 AM now, and the day break knocking. Faint hint of the dawn appeared and the landscape being better visible, the peak of Shrivardhan was looking imposing. Manoranjan, the dome-shaped hill was quietly on its own in the backdrop. It was 7 AM now and we were continuously walking, without a break for 3 hours as we reached the dilapidated temple on the outskirts of the village. Just a quick stop, as if a pit-stop in F1, and marched further. In another 15 minutes, as I was still overawed by the magnificence of the Phantom cliff (climb), we reached the base village, Udhewadi.

Reaching there…
We reaching so early in the morning wasn’t expected by the rest of the team members who had reached the earlier night. We reached the village and there was Parag screaming, “Arey he loka itkya lawkar aali pan”, not to our surprise though. Well, some were still brushing their eyes and yawning up to the day, as others were already atop Shrivardhan to witness the sunrise. We loosened our legs and lay carelessly. Piping hot cuppa of tea awaited us as we freshened ourselves.

The calm of the journey so far was alarmingly replaces with the decibel filled chaos of the group, discussing something or the other. We were told as how Raj and Tapan discussed on the existence or non-existence of spirits and ghosts and the stories of that Banyan tree and stuff. In the mean while, the guys who had visited Shrivardhan returned. So after a quick breakfast we all geared up for games.

The old days…
Did I say we all geared up? Oh, but I was very very sleepy and wanted to just take a nap, but in vain as we all were pulled on a small ground. Yes, the games, like Chamcha limbu and three-legged-race were on the cards. Neither did lemon stayed from popping our, nor did the combo of third leg did wonders. It was just plain time pass for me as I pondered through the proceedings. However, the sterling performance of Mango and Mangee left us all wondering, if it was their favourite family sport, they did remarkable well in these stuffs yaar..!
The three legged race too saw some good performances. I really think, they would do better with tied legs! Well, it required coordination and some of them managed it pretty well. Then came some random stuff like sprinting.. it excited me as I could at least hope to do reasonably well in these. I was running a race after years I can’t recollect. Surprising, I earned myself a five-star for it. It was a good time to spend with all the chirps and fun going on.

Post game session was reserved for feeding the hungry tummies and some relaxation. The del.icio.us Shrikhanda made my day as I licked the last trace of it on my fingers! Other after the lunch whiled away with some card games, Bluff to be precise. It was only a while before I was mercilessly shaken up and woken out of my sweet post-lunch nap. They were all now ready for the next session, The Treasure Hunt. Seriously, I was too tired to do any of those stunts now, but as a part of team and group, just some how egged myself to carry on. A couple of Brofen tablets came at my rescue as the aching head demanded mercy.

The Treasure Hunt…
Right now, the treasure hunt! Two groups were formed and equally divided. The game consisted of clues and tips so as to decipher the hidden meaning and search for the hidden bounty. The rules were explained and the entire game occupied us for the nest couple of hours. The Solar Panel, Banayan tree, Temple, Finger Bowl and everything that followed was kewl and fun. Not before the some Pinakism..as he snatched the envelope and some debate over the rules, lines being crossed and all the tiffs… oh Pinak! Initially we were lagging behind by 20 something points, but came back strongly and eventually the deciding question, the last one, saw my side falling short and miss out on the delicious rashogulla. Oh..poor me!

Post Treasure hunt and the three islands fiasco…
Well, after the treasure hunt, we all sipped on the tea cuppas readied for us. The next on the cards was Three Islands, a game as suggested by the planning committee..lolzz.. Hemant tried hard to explain the rules of the game, but in vain. The deaf started to hear and the dumb started to shout as everyone forgot their roles and the motto. Hemant was just at his wits end as he shouted ‘disqualified’ one after other..lolz… We all tried hard, but couldn’t really get the hang of it..and really speaking, most of us wanted to freak out. No rules-shules..just chill out. So scraping the game idea was inevitable.

Some brief insights…
Following the three island fiasco, the time to be killed was used judiciously to disperse some information about the fort to the newcomers. A bit of history, topography, routes, Village Udhewadi and stuff were discussed. Vare kaka himself threw some light on the matters of rural development and the initiatives that the villagers had taken so far and their further plans. It was a good session and useful one too.

Now as the clock ticked by and dinner was being prepared, the mouth watering recipes occupied everybody’s mind, especially the non-veggies. The dinner was served and we helped ourselves with the menu, satiating our taste buds. Non-veggies took a long time coming out of the dinner block as they feasted on every bit of the menu.

The Temple Illumination…
The next was the mega event. The new year welcome, in the temple, the old monolithic Shiva temple! The temple is a very old structure, reminding us of the ancient Hemadpanti style of architecture and the beautiful and intricate carvings adorning its pillar are just a visual treat. Well, in the darkness, one by one the features, which were hidden under the blanket of night, graced our sights as the pantis were lit. In al, there were 84 pantis which were lit and illuminated the entire temple with each deepa stambh..pillars glittering in the flickering lights. Flickering here in, is not the artificial flicker, but the natural one, in the sense that the gentle breeze waving the flames and creating the effect. The entire ambiance was just lovely. This was undoubtedly the best moment of the trek. The clock ticked 00.00 and handshakes and embraces with New Year greeting were all around. Hearty wishes were exchanged and a cheerful smile adorned by everyone was very contagious, just the perfect beginning to step in 2008.

I am trying hard to explain the moment, but in its truest sense, words are just not the medium it can be expressed and conveyed. You have to be there to experience the moment and feel it. Just fantabulous, fascinating, amazing, wonderful..oh stop there must I.. words are just inadequate.

The fish pond…
Following the wishes and temple lighting, we just disclosed some funny one liner and some out rightly foolish ones in the fish pond. Well, we did not get to hear all of it, as the chits were selectively dished out .. isn’t it..? Pinak had written a lot of stuff, which weren’t just disclosed.. heya..? What was cooking?

Nothing else matters…
In the end, the entire new year trek was a good one. The games and all were a good attempt to get back to our child hood days, but being too fatigued and sleepy couldn’t allow me to host a warm smile about it all, but it was good. Above all, the thing that mattered, the new years eve, the temple and everything I tried to say.. was just the occasion anyone will vouch for..

The next day saw Mango and Mangee leaving earlier, Rohit and Rahul on their bikes ride back to Lonavala and the rest of us descending to Kondivade. It did not took us long to get down there as we were quick on the descent. Along the way some pepsi, frooties and stuff were savoured and finally we helped ourself with some quick snacks at Karjat. Boarding the 1.10 PM ka local train we all were on our return journey. 2.10 PM kalyan, tata farewell time and adieu.

It was a trek to leave lasting memories, specifically of the temple and the lit diyas..!!!
Happy New Year.. to all of you!