alrite, this post is not about me gloating about my sickness...i guess i just wanted to start with an excuse as to why i took 3 long weeks to post anything at all...unlike what i'd promised myself last time about being more regular with the posts here! thats me! lazy me! ;)
i guess am takin’ a little too long to:
a) get used to a certain way of life for past 1 month now (we survived a good 4 weeks already without each other! not bad! we sure deserve a pat for this, P! :),
b) figure out what is it that i really want to do with my life ahead! n nope this is something i still haven't figured out YET! so...
today, i shall share 3 things which gave me endless pleasure in last 3 weeks despite my current ‘wonky’ state of mind…
1. i actually gathered the courage to call up N (one of my closest friends for more than a decade now! wow!) n speak to her after 12 long months!! thank u n love u lovely, a lot! (umm…well, there are still few more people in my list of to-be-called-up-n-apologized-to as yet! :(
2. it was more of an impulsive decision to be a part of 'THE GREAT WALL OF MUMBAI’ project... the moment i read about this event on facebook, i so wanted to be part of it no matter what. Fortunately for me, Mr.Tauntas (another important friend in my life, am very much in awe of!) as expected was also attending it.. i offered to help him out with whatever he would decide to paint on the wall that day...n bingo! i joined him on 15th of Aug'09 early morning at Mahim end…we began painting 3 of our chosen walls with 3 of his different concepts in mind. The air was vibrant! everyone present there was vibrant…oh you bet i felt like a kid there with so many colours, brushes, ideas, creative people n a HUGE n WIDE dream canvas around! it rained as well for that added thrill in the middle of it all! All of us were there to literally paint the town red on the eve of India’s Independence day..i cant even do enough justice to express how i or others might have felt…it’s not like i’ve never been part of voluntary community service or projects before, nevertheless every time you do something for your people, city, country, it only makes you feel more humble, giving you a sense of pride, worth, for being useful in your own way without really asking for any credit! Right from the BMC boys (part of their temp. contract staff – i must say these so called ‘uneducated-lower middleclass’ youth 
were more raring to go with their support and suggestions while helping us! God bless them! :), BMC employees, the participants of the project (ranging from established professional artists, art students, amateurs, families, non-artists like me, people from different walks of life, the locals, neighbourhood kids, etc) to the BMC authorities, event organizers, media personnel, etc., were extremely enthusiastic and positive about it!
It has to be one of the best independence days i could have ever celebrated! And i can’t really thank enough the organizers n, BMC (for this wonderful joint initiative) and rest of the participants (for their support, coordination, understanding)! All the paintings over 2 days on the wall were so awe-inspiring! Everyone had expressed themselves and how! There was so much to read between the lines!
were more raring to go with their support and suggestions while helping us! God bless them! :), BMC employees, the participants of the project (ranging from established professional artists, art students, amateurs, families, non-artists like me, people from different walks of life, the locals, neighbourhood kids, etc) to the BMC authorities, event organizers, media personnel, etc., were extremely enthusiastic and positive about it!It has to be one of the best independence days i could have ever celebrated! And i can’t really thank enough the organizers n, BMC (for this wonderful joint initiative) and rest of the participants (for their support, coordination, understanding)! All the paintings over 2 days on the wall were so awe-inspiring! Everyone had expressed themselves and how! There was so much to read between the lines!
Jai rightly put it for us “we've all worked hard in the sun to make our city shine!” I feel so happy to read this line, again n again even 2 weeks down the line! and right now I only wish there are more such initiatives in Bombay as well as other places to clean up and give it a face-lift it truly deserves! :)
3. my 5th trek of the year was ‘successfully’ completed on 22nd of this month! yeah am actually keeping a count as i’ve decided to be a little more regular with this favourite pursuit of mine henceforth for assorted reasons! :)
Chanderi (approx. 2300 ft. above sea level, Raigad district) famous for its massive pinnacle (apparently it is 300 feet higher than the cave), is one of the most beautiful, fascinating places to trek in Sahyadris! it happens to be a long trail with a great combination of waterfalls (in monsoon of course) and a dense forest.
18 of us started climbing the hill at about 9.00 am. The route opposite the school in Chincholi (the base village) took us through a bushy slope towards a plateau. In about an hour or so, this well-defined route then further goes in the direction of the col. between Chanderi (on left) & Mhaismal (on right), only after passing a waterfall area or a ‘nalla’. We’d to keep following this ‘nalla’ till the top of the col. Here, it was a rocky landscape n quite slippery too in parts. There are white arrows painted on the rocks at the juncture of ‘nalla’ n path towards the col., if you look carefully (very handy while coming back as there are chances of getting lost in the forest!). Chanderi is quite narrow and long but the col. itself happened to be quite airy & cool. From there, we could get an ample view on both sides of the nearby peaks like Mhaismal, Prabalgad, Matheran, Irshalgad, etc. and continued our ascent after taking left towards the base of the Chanderi pinnacle. This route is over an exposed n reasonably steep ridge. Though i’ve a major phobia of heights since childhood, i still love the climbing part of any trek where - every step of mine takes me towards the top of the mountain and the sky! with every step, i fight my demons! :)
18 of us started climbing the hill at about 9.00 am. The route opposite the school in Chincholi (the base village) took us through a bushy slope towards a plateau. In about an hour or so, this well-defined route then further goes in the direction of the col. between Chanderi (on left) & Mhaismal (on right), only after passing a waterfall area or a ‘nalla’. We’d to keep following this ‘nalla’ till the top of the col. Here, it was a rocky landscape n quite slippery too in parts. There are white arrows painted on the rocks at the juncture of ‘nalla’ n path towards the col., if you look carefully (very handy while coming back as there are chances of getting lost in the forest!). Chanderi is quite narrow and long but the col. itself happened to be quite airy & cool. From there, we could get an ample view on both sides of the nearby peaks like Mhaismal, Prabalgad, Matheran, Irshalgad, etc. and continued our ascent after taking left towards the base of the Chanderi pinnacle. This route is over an exposed n reasonably steep ridge. Though i’ve a major phobia of heights since childhood, i still love the climbing part of any trek where - every step of mine takes me towards the top of the mountain and the sky! with every step, i fight my demons! :)
there was a huge cloud cover on both the sides and it was quite windy that day (though not as strong it usually is on top). We’d to traverse along the right side of the 
base of the pinnacle wall & reach the cave (this entire uphill climb took us about 4 hours). On the way to the cave, there is a water tank on the left side which holds potable water. The cave houses a 'shiva-ling' and is spacious enough to accommodate about 20 or more people for an overnight stay. The pinnacle is huge and only the experts can dare to climb it! Within 5-10 minutes after i made it to the top, the clouds cleared and offered such a fantastic view from the top that i completely forgot i was to hurry up with the lunch and start with the descent soon after - lest it gets dark by the time we reach the base! We started climbing down immediately afterwards and made it to the base in couple of hours. Overall an amazing experience for me though few members of our group found it tough n missed out on reaching the top!!!
and now I am all happy happy and set for another trek this weekend to my all-time favourite destination ‘Matheran’! yippeee!
cheers for many more treks ahead! :)
k
base of the pinnacle wall & reach the cave (this entire uphill climb took us about 4 hours). On the way to the cave, there is a water tank on the left side which holds potable water. The cave houses a 'shiva-ling' and is spacious enough to accommodate about 20 or more people for an overnight stay. The pinnacle is huge and only the experts can dare to climb it! Within 5-10 minutes after i made it to the top, the clouds cleared and offered such a fantastic view from the top that i completely forgot i was to hurry up with the lunch and start with the descent soon after - lest it gets dark by the time we reach the base! We started climbing down immediately afterwards and made it to the base in couple of hours. Overall an amazing experience for me though few members of our group found it tough n missed out on reaching the top!!! and now I am all happy happy and set for another trek this weekend to my all-time favourite destination ‘Matheran’! yippeee!
cheers for many more treks ahead! :)
k
3 comments:
Go girl go!
sahii!! Great!!! :)
have to visit :)
Post a Comment