Malshej Ghat : Travelogue ( Safarnama)

Ascending clouds

It was the extended weekend of Friday-Sunday(10-12 Aug.) due to Janmashtami , I had therefore already booked room at  MTDC, Malshej Ghat in advance for Friday overnight stay  , as it is impossible to get booking for Saturdays , blame it on Gujjus who are always ahead in planning their vacations , also manage to bring big families together without conflict , I like this quality & family togetherness & always adore them for their travel enthu. I am having tendency to analyze people , there geographical location  , roots & behavior , this time also I have observed  that whole place was occupied by them only , as usual .
KM in parenthesis is distance from Thane Maziwada Jn.
We loaded essentials like Latest songs , water ,some munching stuff  & lots of enthu .We started at 9:30 AM from Thane ,through Bhiwandi - Kalyan –Nashik NH3- route , we took right turn exit from highway at Kalyan(20 KM)  to Murbad route .

Crossing Kalyan was a bad experience ,  bad road , full of pot holes , even down  side road was closed , as it was in extremely bad condition , even munciple authorities have lost hope to revive it , oh yes I also paid 25 bucks toll for this Kalyan road , phew... At (25 KM)we saw  1st sign board  Malshej Ghat , NH222 .We took right side flyover road forming  “ Y” shape bifurcation . Next was Ulhasnagar at approx (26 KM) , my daughter who was tracking route told me that  now we will drive thru highway ( mean NH222) , she was expecting Mumbai-Pune expressway sort of  highway , I told her , single pot holes road what we are driving thru right now  in fact is national highway NH222 , she somehow did not like this new info , anyways after crossing river (picx)at (34 KM) road quality suddenly improved , almost no pot holes , with green surroundings  , road side sign board reads Malshej Ghat 67 KM. Road after  Murbad ( 55 KM) was much better , smoothened  , weather was cloudy but almost no rain so far.

Only after crossing Murbad  real pleasure trip starts Lush mint green surroundings , beautiful , smooth dark black Asphalt road , as if painted just now (pica), Car outside Temp. reading was 26 Degrees wow !We reached Salgaon village ( 66.7 KM) ,  road side board reads Malshej Ghat 46 KM .
 Mountain range with cliffs covered with clouds  now visible , adding excitement & fuelling our expectations for what lies ahead .We had our tea at Pranjali restaurant (73.6 KM) as I was delighted to see a restaurant facing small river ( rain water nallah), flow was in full swing , making it a perfect place to have Chai , fantastic.

We then reached village Tokawadi ( 81 KM) What a beautiful scenic view truly majestic , misty  hill tops , few waterfalls also visible , trees lined up on both side of roads , I also snapped few huge wisdom trees pics , I am always fond of huge trees specially Wisdom ( Bargad)& remember most of the places in Mumbai , where we have huge tress like south Mumbai  , Matunga , Khar ,  Bnadra etc.

Road before waterfall

We started ascending hill at (86 KM), with every passing KM scenic beauty also getting better & better , Mile Stone at 91.8 KM reading NH222 Malshej (pic) .After few KM ( 103 KM) there was a water falls on right side , we got down & took some snaps .Now we can feel clouds .,fog at road level like we are passing thru deep fog & many water falls were there .

Although I was expecting that there will be dense fog & few water falls , but did not expect that a water fall (pic) with tons of water just at the center of road from cave like mountain hammering your vehicle ( Nano may not take that load )  , this water fall  ( 112 KM) was just amazing .

Main Waterfal

It was heavy fog with visibility of only 10 mtrs , temperature was a bit chilly ,we drove thru few more  minor waterfalls , so far after Murbad road condition was extremely good , but due to waterfalls & landslide road condition was slightly bad & also at one place half of the road was closed due to landslide , although heavy machines were already deployed to clear the landslide .

After crossing water fall we had bhuttas as some  parking space was available , overall environment & panoramic scene was beyond imagination , it was raining , clouds , fog , also seen clouds ascending picxx , the whole view was panoramic , ahhhha ,feel like just sit there forever  & watch nature .

MTDC Resort

Finally we reached MTDC resort ( 115 KM ) visibility was hardly 10-12 mtrs , only gate was visible , also inside MTDC (pic) resort it was water everywhere , clouds at your room level , parked cars also not fully visible. Awesome….
After check in we had our lunch , it was OK , Flamingo dining hall was nearly full , everybody seems to enjoying wetness as whole resort including corridors were wet & literally Pani  everywhere .

Lake

After having our lunch ,me & Sid wanted to walk up to nearby waterfall , we went out but come back again as outside MTDC resort main entrance, on main road ( NH222),visibility was so poor that it was impossible to walk on road side , as passing by vehicles only head lights  were visible & driver may not be able to see you ,  it was rather unsafe ,therefore we came back. It was better to  drive then walk , we then took our car and we all went for a drive back to waterfalls to enjoy surroundings , also further down side after  MTDC there is a Dam & Lake , also not much fog , area was lush green ,  there is a resort named Sushant . We had our evening Chai at road side Thela , having dam/lake(pic) in the background .
Dinner at MTDC was OK .

I went out for a  walk after dinner , the place reminds me of starting scene of the BR Chopra movie “ Dhund” watched long back starring my fav,Danny & Zeenat , that place also seems to look like Malshej  only  ,Dhund everywhere & only vehicles  head lights are visible. I must say that Danny has played the  role of a handicapped jealous husband of  a beautiful young wife ( Zeenat , who else ) with ease & perfection.

It was raining intermittently almost whole night  , I was wondering there is almost no continuous rain this season in Mumbai , no water logging , no disruption & this place , oh ! water & water everywhere !!
Next day we checked out at 9 :00 AM it was raining heavily  & very cold , we did not find anybody at any waterfall, maybe it was too early also water may be very cold , I wanted to take few snaps of the valley , but unable to take as it was raining , also fog was too dense & almost no visibility to take snaps , but it was heavenly experience to walk or drive thru such a lovely place . It took almost 2 ½ hrs to reach Thane ( 115 KM) .
Whole trip was such a wonderful experience & we overjoyed it.

Rajesh Khanna : The SuperStar

Rajesh Khanna was at his peak when I was in school , his songs tops the charts of only countdown show of that era ( audio only) Binaca Geetmala compeered by Amin Sayani in his trade mark style. Kishore /Rajesh /SD/RD lethal combination was the guarantee for the success. It is Amitabh/Vinod Khann/Mehra /Rishi  who were my gen’s Heros’s , still I was die hard fan of Dev Anand , In fact I was not so excited for his movies during his peak ,although I have seen all (100%) movies , my friend Veena was great fan of RK , she once told me that  he has the style , she wants her would be to be  like him only  , with white/cream shawl draped the way he used to do . Post 90’s only Somehow I started liking his few classic movies by Bangali directors & Khamoshi’s “ Wo Sham “ became my all time Fav song defeating all Dev songs , was it song or the sadness or reminiscences of the forgiven love , or Kishore or Waheeda or Gulzar magic or  intelligent picturisation of Dharmendra glimpses , shadow ( 15 secs max) ,or soft music by Hemant Kumar or B&W majestic Hawrah Bridge in the background , Naav , Naav chalak & flashbacks ……………..all these flavors & soft lover boy act by Rajesh Khanna made this song Immortal , even Lata had sang this song as a Shradahanjali to Legendary Kishore Kumar. For me Khamoshi is in the same league of “ Guide” , my ultimate’s.

Other movie was Safar & the song   “ Jeevan Se Bhari” , although I feel sad for Firoz Khan’s role ,which was totally in contrast  with his real life image of a lady killer .Then Classic “ Amar Prem “  better known for his famous “ Pushpa ….” Dialogue   , my fav scene in the movie used to be , when grown up Doctor Vinod Mehra re visits Sharmila ‘s home & Sparsh flowers of the same tree planted long back ,when he was a child ,he remembers affection rendered by Sharmila  during his childhood , so touching , I always ruminate this particular scene, close to my heart .

I observed that all Bangla directors are too good in portraying complexity of Rishtey’s of any kind in any combination ( Humans, Nature, places , animals so on..)  , other movies which I liked were Avishkar , Thodi si Befaai , Anand ,Iteefaaq, The Train , Aap Ki Kasam etc.

His bonding with Kishore Kumar was friendly , they share good rapo with each other ,their songs are still popular & he will be always remembered for his Super Stardom , immortal Songs & his contribution to make 70’s as The Golden Era of Hindi cinema.

I do remember the tribute  he paid to Dev Anand recently , it was the best , artistic & well versed speech to describe Dev Anand & his control & affection surprised me , Lovely.

I like Shobha De article in Mumbai Mirror , must read , you may check her blog.

My earlier post on “ Wo Sham ..” is re linked below.

Previous Post :Woh Shaam Kuch AjeebThi

Trip to KOLAD

Recent visit to Kolad with Vini & Tukur was refreshing & a perfect weekend outing, 150x2  KM drive thru lush greenery & intermittent rain  make this journey memorable .

Cliffs of nearly all mountains were covered with clouds & most of the route after exit from Bomby-Pune Expressway at Khopoli is not having much of habitat only 1 -2 places less than ½ KM route we found some crowd ,Almost 80 % of the drive was thru jungle only . Garam Chai  en route was just what someone can wish for.

ZBac Farm where we  had booking was not that great , poor aesthetics of the hut type room , 40 W incandescent lamp give sad feeling ,also it was quite humid , we had  enough reasons to skip adventure sports at approx 1 Km walk @ Sutarwadi Lake , instead we prefer to drive around & visited Pooja farm & other surrounding areas. Pooja farm lake water ascend more than few meters what we had seen during our previous  7^th May ,12 visit , now water is already inside fence & only few meters away  from rooms , their famous Thai style huts legs ,already submerged in water make whole farm looks beautiful .

Next morning after checking out we visited Hans farm , they had few rooms on lake side road & waterfall just back of the rooms was in full throttle , extremely beautiful & scenic , finally we visited Sutarwadi Dam , panoramic view from the dam was just awesome.

A relaxing , comfortable trip , Enjoyed !!!

Bijapur ,NH13 ,Rain

It was around 10 PM , route NH13 from Bijapur to Solapur , FM91 broadcasting " Kal Aaj Aur Kal " & the song being played was " Zara Si Aahat Hoti Hai To Dil Sochata Hey / Kahin Ye Wo To Nahi " from the award winning war movie "Haqeeqat", brilliantly directed by Dev's elder Chetan Anand , also it was raining , almost No habitat in this 110 KM route, pitch dark ,only Vehicles head lights . Awesome !! I felt overjoyed.
Picture : The moment I saw this Belgaddi I just felt like clicking it ,specially for the brass caps on tip of Cow's horns & those flying colourful ribbons.

Break

Strange feeling like some transition is happening !
Or is it my luv for the dead (virtual/physical) is haunting me !
Let us see where it goes .

Ghost Riders : Visuals

I have not seen this entire  movie , only seen parts/trailers & YT downloads, I just feel amazed by the artist's creative imagination while picturising this scene ,having fire & dark colours in the background , horse , awesome..
Sequel is now released .

Reversible

रिश्ते और समय अगर reversible  होते , तो मैं reverse कर देता कई रिश्तों को ,कई पलों को ,

समेट कर रख लेता कईओं को , जो चले गए , छूट गए , रोक लेता उन्हें उस वक़्त या reverse कर लेता.

कुछ और देर देख लेता माँ के सफ़ेद बालों को , शिकायत भी ना करता की बाल हमेशा बिखरे क्यों रहते हैं , बनाती क्यों नहीं , क्यों आज भी कोई  बूढ़ी  दिखती हे तो क्यों बालों पर ही ध्यान जाता हे ,
क्या  ढूँढता हूँ   मैं उनमे .
इसलिए आज मन करता हे टुकुर के बाल बनाऊं , शायद कमी रह गयी थी तब जो अब सोचता हूँ पूरी  करू
क्यों नहीं कोशिश करी कभी तुम्हारे बल संवारने की उस वक़्त
हमेशा इंतज़ार किया तुम्हारे शाम को स्कूल से वापस लोटने का , हमेशा वो फल हाथों से ले लिए ,
क्यों नहीं छू कर देखा उन झूरी वाले हाथों  को जो वज़न उठाने से लाल हो जाते थे
तब  देखता तो शायद वो लकीरें भी देख पाता जो छोटी होती जा रही थी
पड़ पाता तो शायद कोशिश करता उन्हें और लम्बा करने का


याद हे दसवीं की मार जब पढने के बजाय  मैं  कंचे खेल रहा था , शायद हाथों से ही मारा था
पीठ पर आज भी  ढूँढता  हूँ की शायद कोई निशान मिल जाय , अच्हा होता की अगर थोडा और जोर से या बेंत से मारा होता तो निशान पड़ते , तो कम से कम आज उन्हें स्पर्श करके तुम्हारा अहसास तो कर लेता .
बस तुम्हारी  शाल हे , जो कभी कभी ओड लेता हूँ.


कुछ दर्द तो अच्हे भी लगते हैं भले ही तकलीफ दें तो उनको भी क्या reverse करता , अगर सभी अच्हे होते तो फिर याद क्यों आते क्यों सामने आके खड़े ह़ो जाते बार बार .
अगर सब अच्हा होता तो कुछ यादें ही ना होती
अगर कुछ तकलीफें ना होती कुछ कमी नहीं होती तो कैसे कई दुसरे रिश्ते संभाल पाता में
और अगर अच्हे रिश्ते  reverse ह़ो जाते , तो  शायद ज्यादा तकलीफ देते .
तो ये ही अच्हा हे रिश्तों को वैसे ही रहने दिया जाये जैसे हैं

Poem by me