Murud-Janjira Trip

This Diwali, we planned to visit the Alibaug beaches. A friend suggested that it’s better to visit nearby Kashid and Murud-Janjira, as the waters are cleaner and sands are cleanest on ghats. I browsed through the Google, and found the suggestions real true. One of my seniors, hailing from IIT-B, even told me that it’s actually white color fine sand/silt beach at Kashid (Geologists’ can’t resist), and the beaches are not very much crowded. We were also advised to witness the sunset at Kashid beach.
Sooooooo, we were total 8 people, (3-me n my 2room-mates + my 3 frns + frmz’ 2 frns) for the day-long tour-de-Kashid-Murud-Janjira! We hired an 8-seater Tavera, and the driver was in his handsome 19, though very coooool n calm on steering.
We started at about 9AM from Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai and reached Kashid beach at about 11:30. The beach was so fascinating and inviting that we couldn’t control and run towards it!

It was a high tide time, so the waves were enough powered to topple us! We were all wet when realized that it would be better if we visit the Janjira Fort, before having fun at Kashid beach. Okay, so we had omelette at roadside dhabas on the beach, lying in the hanging-nets. Then we proceeded towards Murud-Janjira, which is at about 40mins distance from Kashid. As I collectd from diffrnt websites, the Kashid fort was most probably built by Koli (fisheman) King, and had never been conquered. We had ‘barf-ka-gola’ (ice-balls) at taxi stand, Murud, and two of us bought the classic Cowboy hats...certainly I was one! 8-)

Bought tickets, got into the old-style sail boat, and started for about 10mins journey towards the fort.

Though, on public domain we came to know that the fort is about 2km from the port, it didn’t appear so. We reached thr in mins, and truly didn’t find it very exciting. It was an old fort, like all other forts, ill-managed, without any potable water and having locked-toilets! We spent some time there, and then returned. Best thing we found there were sea-shells! Itz very easy to get some good conches there, I too collected a few. Most of them were alive, so had only two with me...rest thrown into the waters.

On our way back to Kashid, we had lunch at about 3PM in a ‘good’ restaurant of Murud...which turned out too bad! Everyone’s mood was screwed after that food, few of us who ordered beers were given some jus-cold ill-known thing. Guys were so exhausted that they took those, and ended with more frustration.
Leaving it, we came again to the beautiful Kashid beach....sun was ready to dip into the Arabian Sea...the view was awesome!

Some frnz tried to get snapped with diving sun...and some others including me....ran towards waters! It was low tide time, so we could get little more inside and even felt the basalts below our feet. Had great masti there...playing water-polo with someone’s tee and splashing waters on each-other. The beach is not as good as the Eastern coasts' beaches, but it’s the best I ever visited in and around Mumbai!
Okay for now, will keep posting my earlier and future trips....cheers!

Banned Indian Books

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth... Few days back when I came to know about a book on an Indian Business Barron on the Banned Indian Books’ List, the first thing that came in my mind were the lines from Tagore . What an irony, we live in a country, whose forefathers have dreamt about a nation without fear, about a nation with right to speech, right to knowledge; and where the Government enjoys the “privilege” to “freely” ban the books, censor what it feels offensive! Wikipedia describes Banned books as the books whose free access is not permitted. Further it says that the practice of banning books is just another form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations. In our country, banning books have got its history since the British rule days. In fact, few of the Books ...

Trekking Ghansoli Gawli Dev (Parsik) Hill

It’s been there for geological ages, we have been looking at it for last about 4years and I have been planning to trek it since a long time. Finally, few weeks back, we trekked the Ghansoli Hill. Ghansoli Hill is located at the eastern boundary of Ghansoli town, behind our office complex at RCP. The hill or better hillock is a part of small range that separates Kalyan and Navi Mumbai towns. A search on Google Map returns with a name Parsik Hill for it, though there is one more rather famous Parsik Hill in Navi Mumbai. We also found a NewsArticle , that talks about NMMC plans to develop Nature Awareness Centre at this hills and calls it Gawli Dev Hill. Here, we would be calling it Ghansoli Hill . I asked my colleague about it and he readily agreed. The very next Sunday we did it with another friend. We weren't aware of the route. All we knew is that a Central Road runs along the western edge of the hill and can be reached through the Vashi-Mhape road. We later found that t...

Natarang (नटरंग): My First Marathi Movie

Last Sunday was day booked for movies. First on the slot was Natarang (नटरंग). Natarang was my first Marathi movie and perhaps the second Regional Language movie after the classic Nadiya Ke Paar (नदिया के पार ) . Except for a few words, I don’t understand Marathi , and thus watched the subtitle version. But, I was so engrossed in movie that for the times was feeling the movie and not reading it. May be, as said by Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist , the characters were speaking World’s Unified language . The best side of the movie was its ability to keep the viewer enthralled throughout. Story line was about a body-builder farmer taking the risk of opening a theatre company, putting all his emotions on stakes; finally dares to take the role of a eunuch-character on stage. For the purpose, the hunk villager, played by Atul Kulkarni , shaved off his thick manly moustaches and had to lose his muscles. He learns the ways a woman walks talks and plays with different gestures. In the course, h...