A match that cannot be forgotten

30^th November 2009. 7:15 pm. It was our second match in Godrej cup. In the first match, we defended a reasonable total of 63 runs in 8 overs despite conceding 25 runs in 2^nd and 3^rd over. The team in the second round was much stronger and the same team had beaten us last year. We had a much better team last year but still we lost our quarter finals match to this team. When we reached in quarter finals last year, it was an achievement as before that Geometric had not gone past the first round only.

We lost the toss and were forced to field first. I bowled the first over and it went well as the score board read 5 for 1 at the end of it. I was on hat-trick before bowling first bowl as I had taken 2 wickets in last 2 deliveries of my bowling in the last match. I thought I would take a hat-trick again like last year. But I could not take hat-trick but I did manage to get rid of their captain caught behind the wickets. I handed over the second over to Suboth Yadav, who is a very good left arm fast bowler, but he could not find line and gave away few runs in the form of wides. We got another wicket in the second over as Pravin took a fantastic catch on long on boundary. I continued bowling and the scoreboard read 15 for 2 at the end of the 3^rd over. We dropped 2 catches behind the wicket in the same over. We conceded around 17 runs as Pravin got hit to two boundaries out of which one was a miss field and another was a clean hit in long off area. Next 3 overs were shared among Shriram and Pravin. Shriram bowled both of his overs very well but he was not supported by fielders properly. On many occasions we gave away two runs where only one run was possible. At the end of the 7^th over score board was showing 55 for 2. I called up Subodh to bowl last over but on the second thought I decided to take a risk and handed the ball to Vishal Prajapati who got beaten severely in his first over in last match. But he bowled a superb over giving a way just 3 runs and taking a wicket which was fantastically caught by Devidas in cover area. At the end of the innings score was 59 for 3 and we needed 60 runs in 8 overs.

Our openers, Ashwin and Subodh, gave a descent start and score board was showing 23 for none at the end of the 3^rd over. We lost momentum in next few overs and we could not maintain required run rate. We got 3 runs in the fourth over and we lost Subodh in the same over. Vishal Prajapati was the next to go who could not stay on the crease for long. We scored 6 runs in the 5^th over. I went in 4^th over when we had around 22 balls and 32 runs to score. We scored 4 runs in the 6^th over and we needed 34 runs from 24 balls. We badly needed few boundaries. I was hopeful since Shriram was batting with me and he has caliber to thrash the ball over the boundary rope. Unfortunately we lost Shriram in the same over and got only 6 runs.

We needed 18 runs in last 6 balls which was almost impossible task unless we get a very weak bowler who would bowl a couple of short pitched deliveries. We had no option but to try for six. I was on strike. The first ball was a good length and with all the power I had, I hit the ball in deep mid-wicket area. The ball managed to land just out side the boundary rope. It was a six. This is what we needed to believe that we could get another 12 runs from 5 deliveries. They changed fielding position and added one more fielder in deep mid-wicket area expecting me to hit there again. I studied the field and decided to take advantage of a little gap that was left in the off side. Next ball was neither over pitched nor shot pitched. I managed to get bat onto it and it went to deep point. On any other occasion we would have taken a single but we had no option but to run for second. Pravin, who was on the other end, told me that the only way we could win the match in to take at least doubles. When we needed 10 runs from 3 balls, I hit next ball in long on area and Pravin completed second run amazingly as he was running to the danger end. The equation was looking relatively simpler now as we needed 8 runs from 3 balls. I again tried to hit the ball in deep extra cover region, but I missed the ball completely and it was a dot ball. We needed 8 runs from 2 balls. We desperately needed a boundary. I re-looked at the fielding position to find if there is any gap which I could make use of. I was hoping a short delivery which I could hit in square leg area as the ground is shorter in that area. I could not have aimed long on or long-off as the boundary is too far and I hardly remember any occasion on which I have hit such a long six. It would have been a dream six for me if I could thrash the ball over long on or long off boundary. I was ready for the next ball hoping a weak delivery but the ball was perfectly over pitched. There was no time to go on back foot. I just took the ball under the bat and hit it straight over the bowler. The fielder at long on had enough time to come under the ball as the ball was high in the air. As the ball came closer to him I saw him jumping to catch the ball. There was no chance that he could even touch the ball. Oh my god it was a six. A straight six. My dream shot. On a dramatic occasion. I saw Geometric supporters jumping.

The Mission was still not over and we needed 2 runs on the last ball. We needed 2 and not a single as even if the match was drawn we would have been thrown out of the tournament since we had lost 4 wickets and the other team had lost only 3. So we needed 2 runs. I just had to hit the ball somewhere and I was sure that Pravin would have run for 2. I saw a huge empty area in off side but the ball came right on the bat and I hit it between min on and long on. Again there was almost no chance for second run but we had to run for it. By the time I had reached non striker end, Pravin had covered half of the crease for second run. With all the power I had, I run for second run. When I reached safely at the striker end I turned back just to see that Pravin had reached the non-striker end long back.

Geometric supporters were running towards me and I was running towards them raising my bat. It was a marvelous victory which I cannot forget ever. Though it was already 9 pm and everyone was supposed to reach home, we spent half an hour discussing and enjoying the victory.

Next day, Geometric Sports committee's report was as follows:

Kamlesh Guides Geometric-A to a Sensational Victory over GEE (Godrej Electrical and Electronic)

Slamming an unbeaten 23 off 10 balls, Kamlesh pulled back Geometric A from the brink of defeat to post a six-wicket victory over GEE in a 2nd round cliffhanger of the Godrej tourney. The win has consolidated Geometric A’s position in the pre-quarter finals.

Geometric had lost to the same team last year in the quarter finals. After losing the toss and having forced to bowl first, Geometric started well getting rid of their captain in the very first over. However few wides in second over and a couple of boundaries in 4th over put the opponent in comfortable position. At one point, with 56 for 2 at the end of 7th over, they were set for a huge total. But Vishal Prajapati’s stunning over restricted the score to 59 runs. A fantastic catch by Devidas in the same over was very special. Shriram bowled a disciplined spell but he was not supported by fielders.

Geometric A were on the verge of defeat with 18 runs needed from the last over while chasing 59, but Kamlesh, with the help of two sixes and three twos in the last over, tilted the fortunes in our favor.

After a solid start from Ashwin & Subodh, Geometric A was sailing smoothly to an easy win. But quick wickets in the 4th & 5th overs put breaks on the score. From 23/0 in 3 overs, Geometric A were pushed to 42/4 in 7 overs losing wickets of both the openers (Ashwin and Subodh), Vishal & Shriram.

Kamlesh took the game from there to clinch what at one point looked like an improbable win. He was supported by Pravin from the other end stealing risky runs.

Friends unite at Pune

After so many YESs and NOs we finally decided to go to Pune on first weekend of November i.e. 7th and 8th of November. Actually the plan had been almost cancelled as Atul and Deepa were not available. So we (people from Mumbai) had decided to go to Alibag on bike via Revas. But finally we had to postpone our bike trip for indefinite periodL. In a way its good as Ranjana can join us for Alibag bike expedition.

 

This visit was not supposed to be a picnic. It was more like a get together so that we all can meet and enjoy. From Mumbai, Pravin, Pooja, Gurdeep, Renjith, Sreegith, Jayesh and I were supposed to join. But Sreegith had to cancel at the last moment as he had an important meeting on Sunday to decide the date for our Keral picnic. I mean he had to see a girl for marriage J. As usual Jayesh opted out because he had to attend office on weekend due to release. Strange thing in software industry is that though the delivery is planned on Friday, with no exception, every project gets delayed and the team has to work on the last weekend to make the release. I wonder why people plan release on Friday. Why not on Wednesday or Thursday. For every picnic Jayesh is the first guy to confirm his availability but somehow for one or the other reason he has to opt out. As usual I say “Better luck next time Jayesh”.  But next time never comes for Jayesh.

 

We caught Sahyadri express from Dadar at 6 pm. It was a bit difficult for me as we had intermediate release that day. But I managed to escape on time. Unfortunately I had got a boil again. This time it was on the left elbow. We reached Pune at around 10 pm. Except me everybody went to Vinayak’s place. I heard later that Deepa had cooked chicken. I missed it L. Anyway Jayanti had cooked mini chicken, I mean egg. 

 

After so much thinking and changes in the plan, finally the plan was Saturday morning Sinhgad trek and Chokhi-Dhani in the evening. And Balaji temple on Sunday.

 

Kaustubh called us late night and asked us to leave early in the morning at 6:30. Like obedient kids we left quite on time just to find Kaustubh would come at 7. Too bad kaustubh J. We had 2 cars and 2 bikes in our caravan of 11 and half people. From Pune, Vinayak, Deepa, Archit, Jayanti, Nitin, Kaustubh and Saurabh joined.  What is this Atul? I was very much excited about the Sinhgad trek. I had climbed Sinhgad 2 years back with Rakesh, Nitin, Jayanti and 2 other friends of Nitin. It was very tiring and awesome experience. We reached at the base of Sinhgad at around 8 and started having breakfast in a restaurant. It took us 1 hour to complete breakfast. And that’s when the plan of Sinhgad trek was spoiled. I was still firm on the trek and Gurdeep too was ready to join me while other would come via road. Because for me Sinhgad is equal to trek. But at the last moment Gurdeep showed loss of eagerness.  And then I have to withdraw the trek plan. I was very disappointed.

 

We started our upward journey via a road full of path holes.  On the way Nitin spotted a garden. We just stopped and went inside. I cant recollect the name but it’s a place on a hill. Its not maintained properly but one can spend an evening enjoying beauty of Sahyadri (Maharashtrian hill range). We left the garden after some time and resumed our journey. Kaustubh and Saurabh, who were following us on bikes, didn’t notice us going into the garden and passed us. They had to wait midway till we joined them.

 

Like other forts, Sanhgad which is also known as Kondhana, has a big history of Sacrifice. This time it was Tanaji Malusare, a knight of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who sacrificed his life for the Maratha Empire. Shivaji Maharaj had to surrender Sinhgad along with other forts to Aurangjeb in the truce of Purandar in 1665. After getting cheated by Aurangjeb, Shivaji maharaj broke the truce and started conquering all the forts back. Sinhgad was one of the strong forts and it was not at all easy to get it back. Tanaji Malusare, despite upcoming marriage of his son, went on to capture the fort. After a lot of survey they found that getting this fort was next to impossible. First it was difficult to climb and second it was strongly protected by mughal fort keeper, Udebhan Rathod. But Tanaji was not the one who would accept defeat so easily. After all he had promised his king. They set a high risk plan of reaching on the fort by climbing a steep vertical rock. This would not be possible to do without somebody tie a rope on top. Tanaji used his Ghorpad (a big lizard) named Yashwanti to  do it for him. He tied a rope around waist of Yashwanti who went up and held firm on a rock. Tanaji and his men reached on the top using the rope. Next impossible task was to defeat Udebhan. He was a very strong man and Tanaji lost his life fighting with him. Nevertheless Tanaji captured Sinhgad as he had promised Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj was very much disappointed on losing his fine knight and childhood friend.

  

We started roaming around on the fort. There are quite a few places to see. We spent a lot of time at Kalyan Darwaja (Kalyan entrance). The wind was blowing like anything. After that we started walking towards another point. It was almost 11 am and it was really hot. After around 15 mins walk we reached at another point from where you can see range of Sanhyadri mountain. We didn’t leave any chance of clicking photographs. After spending 15 mins there, we started walking back to center of the fort. Everybody was very hungry so next plan was to have lunch.

 

There are no sophisticated restaurants on the fort. But there are many country restaurants which serve food. If you have a big group, better place the order one hour in advance. You get only local food including rice, bhakari,  daal, curd, onion pakode (kanda bhaji) etc. You can enjoy the food sitting on the floor under shade. This is an awesome experience. It reminded me of Van-Bhojan (meal in jungle) during my school days. Anyway I could not have lunch as it was Saturday and so I was on fast.

 

Meanwhile I had prepared Gurdeep to join me for downward trek. I could not have gone home without this. I knew that they would spend at least one hour sitting there after the lunch. So just after finishing lunch Gurdeep and me filled up a couple of bottles with water and started our trek. I estimated an hour to complete the trek. Initially we found it difficult to descend as it was a bit slippery. After some time we got used to the conditions and we kept descending comfortably. Though we were focusing more on our steps, we were enjoying scenic beauty intermittently. All the while we were talking a lot as you don’t need lot of energy while descending. We were mainly discussing about Gurdeep only. I was giving him a lot of Dnyan (Knowledge). I am not a great person but gave him tips which I myself follow. He was quite open and was freely discussing things in his life. We were mainly talking about anger and how anger can spoil relations. We took a pause at a tapari where we had sugarcane juice.  Though it was 2 pm and it was very hot, still some people were going upward. I really appreciate their efforts. It took us 1 hour and 20 mins to reach the base of Sinhgad.

 

We thought other people must have reached and we were expecting Saurabh and Kaustubh to come and pick up us. The crossroad where these people would come is around 3 kms from the base. We started walking on road towards the crossroad. We were very much engrossed in talks and we were hoping that these people would not reach before us. It took us around another 20 to 30 mins to arrive at the crossroad. Nobody had reached there before us. After 10 mins we saw Nitin’s car arriving.

 

Nitin, Jayanti, Gurdeep and me went to Nitin’s place while other had to go to Vinayak’s place as they had left their bags there. I don’t know why L .

 

We spent good time at Nitin’s place till all people came. Gurdeep was a bit irritated since he was not able to take bath as his bag was at Vinayak’s place. Our next plan was Chokhi-Dhani. When everybody arrived at Nitin’s place it was already 7 pm. And we were still debating on whether we should go to Chokhi-Dhani or not. Finally we decided to go there.

 

After a small journey which took 45 mins due to traffic we reached Chokhi-Dhani. It is a Rajasthani theme based place. It’s original version is in Jaipur.  As compared to Jaipur version, this is very small. The entry fee is Rs. 350 for adults and Rs. 250 for children between 3 and 9 years. We started having snacks just after entering. You can see Rajasthani folk dance, puppet show, a guy walking on rope tied 10 feed above ground, folk singing etc. You can also try your skills of gun shooting, arrow etc. You can check you fortune as there are few astrologers. First we saw Rajasthani folk dance which later got converted into Garba (Gujrati folk dance) due to a group of 3-4 girls who wanted to dance in Rajasthani style. But soon they started doing Garba.

 

Then we enjoyed watching rope walk. Nearby there was a puppet-show point. Once the rope walk was over, he started puppet- show. This was quite funny. He showed many characters including Aishwarya Roy who was dancing as if she is boneless. Then he showed a madari (snake charmer). Funny thing was the snake was biting madari only.

 

Nitin and I were very interested in Ferris wheel which was not so big. Nobody was ready to join us so finally we two only started. It cost us 3 coupons per person. They give us 5 coupons per head for free on entry which you can use for gun shooting arrow shooting etc. When it was going up it was swinging a lot. I was really scared but I kept shouting “Dar se mat daro, dar ke aage badho kyuki dar ke aage jeet hai.” That gave me some spirit. Then we tried our luck at astrologer.

 

At around 10 pm we were very hungry so we went for dinner. They serve pure-veg Rajasthani food. After a little search, we found a place for 12 people. The food was very delicious and full of sweet items. They are allowed to talk only in Rajasthani so it was quite difficult to us. After some time the waiters found that we were not eating sweet items so they started feeding us. It was quite funny. We left Chokhi-Dhani at around 11:30 pm and reached Nitin’s place in 30 mins. We stayed that night at Nitin’s place.

 

Next day we were supposed to visit Balaji temple, Katraj zoo (if time permitted) and Kaustubh’s place. We all woke up on time and got ready. Jayanti made good omelet for us. We spent some time in club house playing carom, TT, Lawn Tennis and pool. Unfortunately Pooja was suffering from headache. Then we left for Balaji temple. But before that we had lunch. Lunch was a treat from Nitin and Jayanti. By the time we finished lunch it was 2 pm and we didn’t have enough time to visit Balaji temple so we dropped the plan and went to Katraj zoo straight away. The zoo has quite a few species of snakes, turtles and different species of stags. There is a small lake which reminded Saurabh of special moment of his life. Contact him to know more about it. The zoo also has a white tiger. I never knew that there is something called white tiger. There are also normal tigers and leopards. Gurdeep cracked a PJ on leopard; nobody will laugh on it except him.

 

After leaving the zoo we went to Kaustubh’s place. We spent around one hour sitting and enjoying Dhokala and tea.

 

We, the guys from Mumbai left kaustubh’s place and reached Pune station at around 6 pm just to find that the train was delayed by 1.5 hours. Gurdeep was very restless as he had to attend engagement of his close friend. Finally the train left at 8:30 pm and we all reached safely.

 

It was a nice get together cum picnic. When are we meeting again guys?

Kolhapuri Misal

Kaustubh took the whole responsibility of arranging Kolhapur picnic. He has stayed in Kolhapur so he knows all the places very well. Saurabh, kaustubh's friend, who is also from Kolhapur made it easy for Kaustubh to arrange the things. Here onwards I won't refer Saurabh as Kaustubh's friend as it will be wrong to call him only Kaustubh's friend. He joined us as Kaustubh's friend four five months back in Shrivardhan picnic and since then he has become a confirmed member of our picnic group.

We had option of 3 long weekends to choose for and finally we decided on last weekend of 

September. Unfortunately our group has dispersed now. Some of the people have moved to other companies so we were only 9 members for the picnic. Kaustubh, Vinayak, Deepa, Atul(for a change he was with us, after his marriage he has stopped coming to picnics), Saurabh from Pune and Pravin, Pratima, Ranjana and me from Mumbai.

We reached Kolhapur early in the morning and took auto to reach our hotel which is very close to Mahalaxmi temple. We had 3 days to roam around. We got ready quickly and we were set for the first rocking day in Kolhapur. We had hired a car: Sumo.

 As everyone was hungry, we went to a small tapari type restaurant nearby. 

I had a misal as usual and we left to Jyotiba temple. It is situated on a beautiful hill calledJyotibacha dongar. We just heard that it was raining heavily in Mumbai and Pune but the weather in Kolhapur was fantastic. It was completely surrounded by clouds and we were experiencing a cold breeze. I love cold. We parked the car and went to Jyotiba mandir. It was not at all crowded so we took darshan of all gods comfortably :). We wanted to spend some time on the hill and enjoy the weather, so while coming back, we just stopped there. We clicked some snaps too. 

Our next location was Panhala fort. I was very much excited to see the fort. It has a huge history behind it. The history of bravery that motivates to die for the nation. The history of pain that brings tears to eyes. The history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his spirited mavale. 

In 1660 when Siddhi Johar attacked Maratha Empire, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj intentionally latched himself in siege to Panhala  laid by Siddhi Johar to keep him busy at Panhala and let the rest of the Empire be safe. The fort had capacity of feeding the army of Shivaji Maharaj for 3 years. But the siege continued for more that 3 months so Shivaji Maharaj put a high risk plan into action on a full moon night. Shiva Kashid who had physical resemblance with Shivaji Maharaj, dressed like Shivaji Maharaj and got himself captured to divert Siddhi Johar's attention. As expected Siddhi Johar killed Shiva Kashid when he found that he had been fooled and started chasing real Shivaji. Meanwhile Shivaji Maharaj fled to Vishal gadh with a small force lead by Baji Prabhu. As Sidhhi Johar's force was very close, Baji Prabhu forced Shivaji Maharaj to leave for Vishal gadh while he was fighting with a very huge army of Siddhi Johar. It was not easy to climb Vishal gadh as it was already under siege and Shivaji Maharaj had to defeat Bijapuri Sardar to reach Vishal gadh. Baji Prabhu continued his fight with his few men for almost two days despite serious injuries and inspired his men to fight against all odds. Baji Prabhu let himself die only after Shivaji Maharaj's safe journey to Vishal gadh was signaled by 3 cannon volleys. Ghodkhind, the place where Baji Prabhu and his men sacrificed their lives for the Maratha Empire was named as Pavankhind(Holy pass).

On reaching Panhala, we hired a guide who took us through every place properly and bombardedus with a lot of history.   Among many places Sajja Kothi was very special. Sambhaji Maharaj, son of Shivaji Maharaj, was imprisoned(najar-kaid) here. 

Then we visited 3 huge warehouses which were used to keep food grains. The size of these warehouses is just un-believable and the mechanism to fill in grains and empty it back is commendable. The guide told us the story of a lady named Ganga. The fort Panhala was developed by King Bhoj in around 12th century. After so many failed attempts to build a particular wall, he consulted an astrologer to know what the problem was. The astrologer advised him to sacrifice a pregnant woman to ensure the wall is built up successfully. A lady named Ganga (teli by profession) came up to sacrifice her life. In return she asked the king to take care of her two daughters: Jamuna and Saraswati. She also asked the King to do something so that the world would remember her. After Ganga's sacrifice the wall was successfully built. As promised the King took care of her daughters, got them married and also offered them good wealth. He also named 3 warehouses after Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati. The hindi phrase "Kaha raja Bhoj, kaha Gangu teli" must have been originated here. This is the story as told by the guide.Now it was time for lunch.

We had already placed an order 1 hour back so we didn't have to wait much. It was a good lunch. 
We had Kolhapuri special Pandhara Rassa (white gravy) and Tambada Rassa (Red gravy) too. They taste fantastic. After lunch, we spent some time in the restaurant enjoying cool breeze again.

After lunch we went to Tabak garden. It is full of trees. Wherever we went that day, we were enjoying cold weather. It is not so big garden but you can spend some time there. It was almost 5 when we left Panhala fort. 

Our next stop was Rankala lake which is in the city. By the time we reached Rankala, it was already dark. We walked for some time on the bank of the lake. We spent some time there eating Pani puri, Paav Bhaji, Kulfi etc. It was too early to have dinner that time so we decided to go to room and get fresh. After refreshing we went to Mahalxmi temple. We didn't go inside the temple as it was in the itinerary of the last day. The setup of the temple is such that one can see the goddess from the gate of the temple also. When it was around 10 pm we decided to have dinner. We were too late to get any restaurant this late in Kolhapur. After a big search we managed to find a restaurant that served snacks. After coming back to room we played cards before sleeping. I spent the whole day in pain as my left shoulder had developed a boil. 

Next day started with rain. We were afraid that the rain would spoil the plan completely. Though it was raining very heavily in Mumbai and Pune, rain here was comparatively very less. We had a plan to visit Bahubali temple, Narsobachi wadi (place of LordDatta) and Kanheri math. We left for Narsobachi wadi after having breakfast. Bahubali temple is on the way to Narsobachi wadi but we were not sure whether to visit Bahubali temple first or not. After some travel the rain stopped so we decided to visitBahubali temple and then go to Narsobachi wadi.

The temple is place to see. It has a big idol of lord Bahubali.  Around the idol there are models of other places of lord Bahubali. Many Rushis (monks) have achieved Moksha (Spiritual liberation) from these places. These models also show count of monks who have achieved Moksha. We noticed few followers of lord Bahubali who were completely naked. Near this temple there is one more temple which has shape of a ship. We saw it from outside only as were running out of time.

It took us another half an hour to reach Narsobachi wadi. The temple is not very crowded that made it easy to take darshan. We spent some time in mandir. After buying prasad, we went to a restaurant. Ranjana and I were on fast so decided to have lunch and skip dinner as we were treating the lunch as prasad. 

After an hour journey back to Kolhapur we arrived at Kanheri math. This is a place of Siddhatek Maharaj. There is a Shankar mandir which looks too old but beautiful. There is a hall which has an idol of Siddhatek Maharaj (I guess). This is a nice place for meditation. I didnt do meditation but spent 20 mins inside the hall. Outside the temple there are two huge models of elephants. There is a mammoth idol of lord Shankar just in front of the math with Nandi (Bull). Kaustubh mentioned that there was a good museum in the math. Surrounding of the math is not less than a museum. Before entering into the museum we did shopping. I bought two sarees for my mother. When we came out of the shop it was almost dark. Nobody had enthusiasm to go in the museum except kaustubh, Pratima, Ranjana and me. Others had to regret. The museum starts with a long tunnel. 

On every 2 meters there are statues of ancientRushis (monks) including Vyas, Kanad, Gargi etc. There is also information on their contribution to the world. Unfortunately we were not allowed camera. Inside the museum, there are lots of models of people depicting life of every profession of rural life. The models are so realistic that sometimes we were wondering whether these were real people or what. We thought that we should have come much before in the museum so that we could have seen them properly in light. The people who didnt come inside missed something that they wont see anywhere. Museum staff told us that they were not yet done with all the models. What we saw was just 40% of the planned work. It means if we go there after 2 years, we will need a full day to see the whole museum.

Before going for the dinner we went to Saurabh's place. His mother treated us with Kande pohe. Unfortunately Ranjana and me could not eat it as we were on fast. :(.  Saurabh and his brother are great musicians. They play various instruments including Guitar, Sitar, Keyboard etc. We asked them to play some tune for us. He played "Duba duba" on guitar and we all were singing. It was a fantastic experience. Then he played Dilruba, which he had just started learning. we all were lost in the tunes of the instrument. Finally Saurabh and his brother together played few songs on Guitar and Keyboard. Everybody was enjoying the music and nobody wanted to leave the place. But finally we had to take a leave as we knew that if we get late we would not get dinner. After the dinner we arrived at home and started playing cards again. I spent another day with pain due to a boil on my left shoulder. Next day's plan was Mahalaxmi temple, Dudhganga dam and city palace.

We left for Mahalaxmi temple as and when we got ready as the temple was very close to our room. Recently I visited so many famous temples. But everywhere there is a lot of mess. Most of the temples are not clean and are  full of beggars. But this is an exception. It was very clean and i didnt see a single beggar. The queue was very well managed. The temple is very beautiful and stood on hundreds of pillars. It was marvelously decorated from inside with flowers. It didnt take us too long to reach inside the temple. 

Before leaving for Dudhganga dam, we had breakfast. Dudhganga dam is quite far from Kolhapur city. The road is also not good so it took us almost 3 hours to reach. The dam is very huge. As the place was open, wind was rocking and almost pushing us. Photography is not allowed there to protect it from terrorism. Atul wanted to see turbines, which are not functional, but they didnt allow us to go near turbines. Anyways we didnt enough have time. 

We had lunch on the way back. After another 3 hours journey we were back in the city to see the city palace. The palace is now a museum; obviously. You can see various things used by kings including their general accessories. You can also see different weapons possessed by those kings. Specialty of the palace is, it has live models of all the animals hunted by the kings. All the models are made using skin and horns of the animals. The models are recreated so brilliantly that they look like real animals. There is one garden near the palace which has peacocks and stags. 

It was almost 7 pm and we had to quickly come back to room, take our bags and go to station to catch our train back to Mumbai. Bye bye Kolhapur.....

Atul's marriage in Latur

It was RAC 1 when I checked it last time before leaving the office at 6:15 pm and the chart was not prepared. I thought it was too late and i had to settle with RAC 1. When I reached Dadar I asked Ranju to check the PNR status again and the good news was that it was confirmed as B1/49. "Thank god I don’t have to spend the whole night sitting", i thought. Train reached on time and i jumped into B1. I thought i made a mistake as it was AC coach. I again checked if it was really B1, but it was B1 only. How can I get my seat in AC when I had booked sleeper class ticket!I didn’t want to spend 3 rupees on sms that’s why i called up Ranju again and asked her to recheck. But it was B1/49 only. I had no option but to check PNR status on sms. No luck it was B1/49. I thought there must be some error in the software so decided to wait for TC. We do believe that softwares have bugs. :) Meanwhile I just thought of going to seat no. 49 and check who was there. There were 3 elderly looking people sitting. Just to confirm again I asked them if their seat number is 49 or something else. As i thought they were allotted seat number 49, they showed me their ticket also. Then it was clear to me that there is definitely some goof up. First I thought if Ranju has booked ticket for 25 June or for some other day. I checked the ticket and found that I was wrong in doubting her. I started making my mind to spend the whole night sitting some where in the train.

Then came the TC and gave me the most pleasant surprising news that i had been allotted seat number 49 in AC and the people sitting there had to move to other coach as their booking had been upgraded. I could not believe that these things happen in India. Somebody has rightly said "Bade bade deshonme aisi chhoti chhoti baate hoti rehti hai!" But it was not a small thing for me.
I was actually traveling in AC coach with sleeper coach ticket. Really a big thing for me. Pravin had taken parcel so that we can eat properly in the train. As I could not join them in their bogie leaving my bag all alone, Devidas came and gave me my bag which had Tripple Chicken Shejvan rice, my favorite Chinese dish. It was very delicious, I enjoyed it a lot. I was getting a royal treatment that day!.

I was actually going to Atul's marriage which was on 26 June 09. What a day he selected. 26! It was on Friday, he intentionally kept it on Friday so that his friends can attend the marriage. The plans for travel were already going on one month before the marriage. Kaustubh, Pravin, Devidas, Mehul, Gurdeep, Vinayak and Vinayakee (Deepa) had decided to attend the marriage. They had decided to spend the weekend in Latur visiting Akkalkot, Tulajapur and Chakur. Kaustubh was taking care of all the logistics. I confirmed myself just 5 days before and that’s why I got tickets in waiting list for both onward and return journey.

Train reached Latur at 7:30 am as per schedule. Atul had already arranged a car for us which took us to his aunt’s hospital. No.. no… nobody was sick or injured but we were supposed to stay in the hospital. They had made sure that no patient was admitted for 2, 3 days so that all the guests can comfortably spend 2 days. We quickly got ready in an hour and took 2 autos to reach the hall which was in the city.

We started having breakfast; no need to say we were hungry. Atul was all set to go to Hanuman mandir which is just 10 minutes walking distance away from the hall. But it took us half an hour to go and another half an hour to come back. Atul was sitting on a horse and we all were dancing in front of him on the tunes of a local band. When we reached the mandir, Atul was not allowed to set his feet on the ground. His mama (maternal uncle) while going and his elder brother while coming back picked him up. All were so happy and enthusiastic that we saw them, the whole day, doing similar things which looked funny sometimes. We didn’t waste the chance of clicking some photographs around the mandir. While coming back somebody asked Atul to dance and without any hesitation he started dancing as if he was just waiting for somebody to ask him for dancing. It’s quite unusual that the groom dances in his own marriage.

When we came back to the hall, a Purohit was already waiting for Atul to start the marriage ritual. The bride and the groom both are Maharastrian but the marriage was being done in north Indian fashion. Thanks to the Purohit who was taking all sort of promises from Atul and Anjali. He was also giving some gyan to the couple so that they spend their life together happily. It was all funny that no one including mothers and fathers of the bride and the groom was able to hide laugh. On one occasion he asked Atul to bend. Atul thought it is one of the rituals and bent down. The Purohit announced then that on a normal occasion he would not have bent but he bent just for Anjali. He dint forget to add “Jhukati hai duniya, jhukane wala chahiye!” The hall packed of people burst out into a laugh.

Initially when we entered into the hall it was not full. Since one side of the hall was relatively full, we all boys sat in the other side. Soon the hall started getting full. It was too late to realize that the other was for ladies. We were completely surrounding by ladies from all side and we started feeling embarrassed. Finally the Mangalashtaka started and at the end of it the bride and the groom got ready to garland each other. But it was still not easy as Atul’s friends picked up Atul so high that Anjali could not reach him to garland. It would have been a defeat for Anjali’s family if she failed to reach him so they also picked up Anjali. Finally both garlanded each other. This is the moment when the bride and the groom turn into wife and husband.

Somebody announced to proceed for lunch and we went downstairs for a buffet lunch. It was full chaotic situation but we managed to enjoy the lunch. It was time for reception and we decided to go and meet Atul and Anjali on the stage. We were not carrying his marriage gift there as it would have been difficult for him to carry it back to Mumbai where they will be staying. We tried to arrange for a bouquet but we didn’t find it anywhere. Anyway it doesn’t matter. We went on the stage and clicked a couple of photographs with the newly married couple. Here comes the real fun. Atul is known among his friends for troubling badly newly married couple on their marriage. He always carries a small dairy milk chocolate and asks the bride to hold it in her mouth. Now the groom has to snatch half of it in front of the whole crowd. You can imagine how embarrassing it will be for them. So his college friends decided to return it back with enough interest. For him it would not be a chocolate, it would be a piece of khadi sakhar (rock candy). Anjali hesitated initially but there would not be an escape for both as his friends were not ready to spare him. Finally like a brave man, Atul managed to break the piece of khadi sakhar, which Anjali was holding in her teeth, into two pieces. One was in Anjali’s mouth and other was in Atul’s mouth. They had to show it to everybody as a proof!

It was 2:30 by that time so we decided to go back to the hospital and rest for some time. We took rest till 6 pm and again joined them in barat. They had arranged for a DJ. This is the first time I saw DJ in barat. We all danced like crazy for 2 to 3 hours on the tunes of dhinchak songs which included mostly Hindi and Marathi dance numbers, Marathi koli songs and few Telgu songs too. I don’t know the words of Telgu songs but the tunes are still playing in my mind; contact Deepa to know the words. Mehul, who is a Gujju, was doing Garba on every song. He didn’t even leave Telgu songs for that. When we came at Atul’s home, knowing these are final moments of dancing, we danced in full swing. This time we didn’t spare Anjali also. This is the first time I saw a bride dancing in her own marriage.

Just before the dinner we sat together in hall with Atul and Anjali where. They were forced to play few games. We call it a tradition. One of the games includes hiding a ring in a pot full of red color water. Then they have to search the ring, whoever finds it, wins. Atul won it two times while Anjali once. Another game involved Atul holding a Supari (betelnum) in his two fingers and Anjali could use her both hands to snatch it from him. She did it easily. Second part of it was, Anjali enclosing a supari in her palms and Atul needed to remove it using only 2 fingers. So bad huh….this is not fair. Atul took time but managed to do it. Some of us started wondering if it was match fixing. We came to know it later that he used his nails to make it possible. There is a ritual in Hindus that every lady has to take name of her husband in a poem. Atul and Anjali both were prepared and easily took names of each other. Old ladies sitting there made sure every married lady does the same. One of the best was “Marutichya mandirat udbatticha suvas, **** chya tondala bear cha vaas.” Ladies sitting there forced married men to take names of their wives. Now it was turn of all bachelors. I was horrified by the idea so I silently left the room. But it was not at all difficult for them to know that I had left. They forced me to come back. Some bachelors sitting there made poems on the spot to take names of their dash dash. Some of the poems were so stupid that you can’t even call them poems. This one was narrated by Atul’s elder bother. “Aaj aahe India ani West indies chi match. Dash dash che naav gheto Atul, Anjali chya lagnachya divshi!”. Pravin too made a poem on the spot: “Chalu aahe pandharichi vaari and mi shodhato aahe bayko bhaari!” By the time my turn came it was too late and all decided to have dinner. Thank god! We had dinner and enjoyed first innings of India and WI match where India scored 300 odd runs. We went back to the hospital and had a nice sleep. We were supposed to go to Akkalkot and Tulajapur the next day.

Vinayak arrived in the hospital early in the morning. When they reached I was still sleeping. They could not join us yesterday for marriage as they joined their respective new companies very recently and didn’t get a leave. I was the last one to wake up but I got ready ahead of everyone. I still had some time before everyone could get ready so I decided to continue reading “Paths of Glory”, a novel by Jeffery Archer on mountaineering. It’s quite exciting to read it. It was 9:30 am by the time everyone got ready. Atul had invited us for breakfast so we went to Atul’s home which 10 minutes walking distance away from the hospital. It was Saturday so I had fast and I could not have anything there. We left for Akkalkot, which is around 150 kms away from Latur, at 11 am. Kaustubh, who had left us yesterday after marriage to visit his relatives in Solapur, joined us on the way.

We reached Akkalkot at around 1:45 pm. We decided to have maha-prasad, for which we had to stand in queue for one hour. We can at least stand in queue for one hour to get maha-prasad. I decided to break fast by taking lunch and then not to have dinner. They have, not so great, but decent arrangement for maha-prasad where more that 500 people can have maha-prasad together. I had almost started having maha-prasad when I heard them announcing that we needed to remember Shri Swami Samarth and then have maha-prasad together. The maha-prasad was tasty. We decided to make some donations for maha-prasad. My donation of Rs 100 was nothing in front of mammoth donations of Rs 10,000 by some people. Then we went for Darshan of Swami. We spent some time there before leaving. I bought a couple of CDs for Baba. I won a bet of a sugarcane juice against Vinayak and Kaustubh where they were claiming that the song being played there is sung by Kartiki and not not by Mugdha (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contestant). It took us few seconds to verify as the song was being shown on a TV. Before leaving Akkalkot we visited another mandir where Swami took Samadhi.

It was around 60 Kms Journey towards Latur to reach Tuljapur. We had to again stand in a queue for one hour for a couple of seconds Darshan of Tulja Bhavani. Neverthless it is worth. We took some snaps after the Darshan. It was almost 8 pm when we finally left for Latur. Before arriving at the hospital, we went to Hotel Eaden garden, which is quite away from the city, for dinner. Our cab driver refused to drop us back as it was already 10 pm. Fortunately Atul arranged for another cab. It was 12 am when we finally reached the hospital. We had good chat before going to bed. We had to explain Mehul the motive behind Atul’s snatching khadi sakhar from Anjali’s mouth. Deepa was quite reluctant to come to Chakur next day as she wanted to rest. But finally we agreed that we would leave for Chakur little late at around 11 am. I read some part of “Paths of Glory” again before going to sleep.

As usual I was the last person to wake up but not the last person to get ready. Without wasting time I got ready within 30 minutes as I wanted to ready the novel before we leave for Chakur. While I was getting ready, all other had gone outside to have tea. They also brought morning snacks. So one problem was solved. There was still some time left before the cab came so we utilized that time enjoying taking snaps in the hospital garden. This is not just a hospital; it is also home of Atul’s aunt.

It was almost 12 when we left for Chakur which is 40 Km away from Latur. It took us hardly one hour to reach there as the road is pretty decent. The atmosphere was ideal. The sun was hiding behind the clouds and still it was not raining. When we reached there, we realized that the place is worth coming all the way from Mumbai. Its is newly made temple of various gods. The temple is on a hill and takes shape of Pindi. It has enough space to sit and spend hours peacefully. The main temple is surrounded by many small temples of Lord Ganpati, Kartik, Godess Parvati, Gayatri and other gods. There is small artificial lake in front of the temple with many ducks swimming inside. We spotted few tortoises too. We took enough time to click photographs but we could not manage to fit the whole temple in one snap.

Near the temple there is an amusement park and also a Water Park. For the Water Park you have to pay Rs 215 and for the amusement park the entry fee is only Rs 35, but you need to pay separately at each play station if you decide to enjoy it. It was almost 2:30 pm and we needed lunch badly. We didnt have much expectation, we simply needed something to fill the stomach. It took some time for food to arrive; meanwhile we spent time clicking photographs. Finally when lunch arrived, we were surprised by the taste. It was delicious! I was expecting few of us to sleep after the lunch but we had become kids the moment we saw toy train. Though most of us travel in train every day, we were excited as if we have seen a train first time in our life. It was a small round in the train but still we enjoyed it clicking photographs. We spent a lot of time playing dashing car and gun shooting before we finally decided to sit for a while. We had to leave by 5:15 pm to ensure we reach back Latur on time to catch 9:30 train. Obviously we felt we should have spent more time sitting there.

We reached Latur in an hour after we left Chakur. I had a bath to feel fresh. When everybody had left to have tea outside, I remained with Archit, who was sleeping, and enjoyed reading the novel. Archit and me is an unbelievable combination, one who has been in any of our picnics will know why. Archit, the son of Vinayak and Deepa, is just 7 years old. Though when you meet him for the first time you will think that he is the most innocent guy on the planet, you will soon realize he is not. He is very naughty and will do exactly opposite of what you say. In one of the picnics, I gave him a scold stare for some reason and since then he is very much scared of me. Though I want to, I try not to be friend with him so that I can control him. The last night, as usual he was making a lot of noise, accidentally came into my room. It was very unfortunate for him and he soon realized his mistake when I asked him to sleep there. He had no option but to sleep. For five minutes he kept his eyes closed waiting somebody to come for his rescue. Though his eyes were closed I could easily see movement inside his eyes. Poor boy! Finally Deepa came and asked him to brush the teeth. That’s all he needed; He quickly jumped from the bed.

We reached Latur station 15 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. The trip was excellent except only one thing to worry about for me. My seat was not confirmed. It was RAC 14 this time. I was hoping for some miracle like last time but this time the luck was not with me. To make it worse another 2 passengers were sharing a seat with me. However TC told that at around 12:30 we might get seat. As usual we all enjoyed dinner in the train which we had carried from Latur city. I spent some time, after the dinner, reading the novel before somebody switched off the lights. As he said, TC gave me a seat at around 11:30. I was happy as it would not have been possible to stay awake in the office the next day. But there was a small problem; a person was already sleeping there. When TC asked him to leave the seat, he claimed that he was a PSI at Osmanabad and should be given proper treatment. But TC was not ready and asked him to go to a general bogie. While I was sleeping there, that person was still sitting there for half an hour. I finally decided to take on with him. But fortunately he left the place before I could say anything. The journey was very good as I slept peacefully.
I have a plan in my mind to take Aai and Baba to Akkalkot and Tuljapur and also to Chakur. Let’s see when we go there. All the best to me. :)