I'll continue from where I left...the problem was...As it happened to be 25th of December, all the respectable and the not so respectable lodges and hotels were all packed to the brim....and as we explored further...it started to dawn upon us that we mite actually end up sleeping in a Hanuman Temple verandah...or even worse(or better) the beach itself!!
But then by a pure piece of good fortune...and my ability to read Marathi...we ended up staying in a very sweet lady's drawing room. Once finding the place for the nite...we headed back again to the beach...
The sea always gives me an intimidating experience...its vastness and the awesome power that it beholds. There we were..with our backs on the beach...sea in front...and the clear star studded sky above us.....pure magic!!!!
I reiterated the promise to myself that someday I 'll buy a telescope and be an amateur astronomer.
We had our so called dinner at a beachside chinese stall...with dogs surrounding us....grrrrrrrrrrrr!!! And the count of Colas moved on to 4 for the day with 2 more added here on the beach.
Returned back to our abode for the nite...clicked a couple of snaps...and chat ed our way to sleep.
Morning 6 and we were up and ready to rock again.Over the last evening we had gathered enough information regarding Murud..so we were just raring to go now. Had a parting snap with our sweet aunty...exchanged some telephone nos...and with promises of coming back we were off again to the beach in hunt of "ek cutting chai ". The addict that my frnd is....I almost feel...and its a joke amongst us frnds that he has more chai in his veins than blood.
The road from Alibag to Murud via Kashid...was as expexted....very very beautiful. And the early morning mist was like an icing on the already enticing scenary. We took a couple of offroad trails and undoubtebly they were the best parts of the drive.
We halted at a beautiful white sand beach for a second cup of chai...and a small break. As we were sipping our teas..we discovered that this was none other than the famous Kashid beach.
We made it our own by clicking a couple of snaps again.
Next stop was ....our supposed final destination Murud Janzira...we skipped the Murud beach on the way...and parked my Bird on the Jetty from where we caught a boat to the fort which is a kilometer or so inside the sea. It was supposedly the last frontier for the famous maratha warrior Shivaji Maharaj , which unlike ,India for aussies, he was never able to conquer.
It was getting hot now...and we just incremented our Cola count by 1.We ditched the idea of a beach party at Murud.Instead we headed straite back to Kashid beach again. Chilled out there for almost 3 quarters of an hour. Had our stomachs filled with some Bhurji Pav...and finally some water!!!! That was 2 PM Sunday.We were planning to reach back Vashi by 5.
So from here on it was a steady bike read through Alibag ,Pen...and almost till Panvel.
Had the last cola of our trip somewhere close to Panvel at 4. That finally brings our cola tally to 6.Pepsi, Coke , Thums Up...any body listening...do sponsor this trip of ours guys.
Bang at the stroke of 5 we entered Vashi...and that was the end of this journey...but the adventures were still far from over for us guys....
This and more may be later...but that brings me to "THE END" for Yippieeee!!
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Monday, December 27, 2004
Yippieeee!!!!!!
The title says it all......i am all too excited...
It doesn't require any supernatural powers for guessing the reason....
Am back from a simply superb and amazing ride....on my glittering BIRD.
This is the 1st part of a lsit of a couple more.
Travelers : 3 in number...My frnd...Thakur, myself..and my sweetheart...My Silver Thunder Bird!
Destination : Just for the Sake of it...Murud Janzira...Some 160 odd Kms south of Mumbai on the captivatingly scenic Konkan belt. But finally justifying the tiltle of my Blogs..."Road to Nowhere"...it was the route and not the final stop that was the destination.
The Road Trip : It all started taking shape when my Indore trip got cancelled due to non availability of tickets in any form of Transport...Trains and Buses. ( I don count Airways as a mere means of transport..Its still a luxury for me). That was late Wednesday evening...and early Saturday afternoon I was already on my way to Vashi to pick up my pillion and the 3rd of the Travellers..Rathore.As usual....we got late...or atleast we thought that we did...
Because there was too much stuff missing from our travel kit..(if you can call it a KIT ..that is).
To name a few...I didn't have a helmet...and we did not like the back pack that Rathore had arranged for carrying our stuff.We had a pair of shades to buy...and finally Lunch!
We finished the top three and finally left Vashi railway station at 4 0'clock with some 1900rs ..odd in Cash, a smart back pack...,an old sachtel(my stuff), first of the 500Mls of Thumbs Up,A couple of helmets... cool shades inside them...and hungry Stomachs.
That was 4 in the afternoon..and we were on NH -17 speeding towards Panvel...where we planned to have our Lunch...or snacks(whatever...Basic idea...stuff our stomachs with something).
4.30 we dived into the drive in of the McD's at Panvel...we did a circus stunt there..of just driving thorugh ..and finally decieded to halt there and sit and eat inside. gr888 idea...after a couple of burgers, finger chips...and second round of Colas(mark the second...and keep counting)....we were ready to hit the road again...
So we were off again...after a few directions from the roadside dhaba walas...we set our sites on Pen..the next destination. Suddenly, out of nowhere this Rathore guy starts yelling...that we have not even clicked a foto graph..and we need to stop and all.....I ,after calming myself from the shock that he gave me, stopped in the middle of nowhere for our first Snap.
Reached Pen within time...after another set of directions from the locals...we were en route to Alibag. We originally had decieded that we will be staying in Murud for the nite, but that thought was already vanishing with the fading lite of a cold(????) December evening.
On the way ...we saw one of the wonders of the World, Don know which wonder list it fits into....but it definitely forced me and my buddy to wonder over our combined general knowledge. It basically was a Ispat(Steel) plant, but it proudly endorsed the title of being one of the wonders.Amazing!!!
Reached Alibag at some 15 minutes to 7.headed straite for the Beach...Big mistake.There was a lot of anguish waiting for us...that and more in the next part of the series.
It doesn't require any supernatural powers for guessing the reason....
Am back from a simply superb and amazing ride....on my glittering BIRD.
This is the 1st part of a lsit of a couple more.
Travelers : 3 in number...My frnd...Thakur, myself..and my sweetheart...My Silver Thunder Bird!
Destination : Just for the Sake of it...Murud Janzira...Some 160 odd Kms south of Mumbai on the captivatingly scenic Konkan belt. But finally justifying the tiltle of my Blogs..."Road to Nowhere"...it was the route and not the final stop that was the destination.
The Road Trip : It all started taking shape when my Indore trip got cancelled due to non availability of tickets in any form of Transport...Trains and Buses. ( I don count Airways as a mere means of transport..Its still a luxury for me). That was late Wednesday evening...and early Saturday afternoon I was already on my way to Vashi to pick up my pillion and the 3rd of the Travellers..Rathore.As usual....we got late...or atleast we thought that we did...
Because there was too much stuff missing from our travel kit..(if you can call it a KIT ..that is).
To name a few...I didn't have a helmet...and we did not like the back pack that Rathore had arranged for carrying our stuff.We had a pair of shades to buy...and finally Lunch!
We finished the top three and finally left Vashi railway station at 4 0'clock with some 1900rs ..odd in Cash, a smart back pack...,an old sachtel(my stuff), first of the 500Mls of Thumbs Up,A couple of helmets... cool shades inside them...and hungry Stomachs.
That was 4 in the afternoon..and we were on NH -17 speeding towards Panvel...where we planned to have our Lunch...or snacks(whatever...Basic idea...stuff our stomachs with something).
4.30 we dived into the drive in of the McD's at Panvel...we did a circus stunt there..of just driving thorugh ..and finally decieded to halt there and sit and eat inside. gr888 idea...after a couple of burgers, finger chips...and second round of Colas(mark the second...and keep counting)....we were ready to hit the road again...
So we were off again...after a few directions from the roadside dhaba walas...we set our sites on Pen..the next destination. Suddenly, out of nowhere this Rathore guy starts yelling...that we have not even clicked a foto graph..and we need to stop and all.....I ,after calming myself from the shock that he gave me, stopped in the middle of nowhere for our first Snap.
Reached Pen within time...after another set of directions from the locals...we were en route to Alibag. We originally had decieded that we will be staying in Murud for the nite, but that thought was already vanishing with the fading lite of a cold(????) December evening.
On the way ...we saw one of the wonders of the World, Don know which wonder list it fits into....but it definitely forced me and my buddy to wonder over our combined general knowledge. It basically was a Ispat(Steel) plant, but it proudly endorsed the title of being one of the wonders.Amazing!!!
Reached Alibag at some 15 minutes to 7.headed straite for the Beach...Big mistake.There was a lot of anguish waiting for us...that and more in the next part of the series.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Swades....
Posting after quite a while.....and that too not a genuine one...
But this ones as good as an original....becuase its from my frnd and roommate Sambit.
So I quote ..."
Have u ever quizzed yourself why we like watching movies so much even though v are aware its just a make belief........more movies.....more stories.....more action...........a romantic movie to enliven our romantic dreams , an action packed flick to catch up on the latest styles and some real cool looking and dressed actors and offcourse a "Hot item number" in between the movie......an art movie as they call it to act as a food for thought of different perspectives to relationships and the problems..a family aka Govinda entertainer to completely freak out......an all out emotional, hypersensitive , over exaggerated drama to go in remember our loved ones , miss them for sometime.......and dats it.....
We come out of the theatre..and life moves on right...ya it does....Just a couple of days i saw Swades and being a literate engineer and a sound one at that....i still couldnt bracket it against any of those categories i mentioned above.......Since time immorial we have been talking about the Politicians not doing too good a job......Sachin not firing , Ganguly not doing too bad....and Dravid doing always good......but wat does Swades talk about......Hymm difficult to put it in words but i wil still try without giving away the story to all of those who wud read this article and yet havent seen the movie......Swades talks about GrassRoot India , a subject realized by every Indian but taken up by None. It talks about poor farmers who face the challenge of leaving there house in the morning and returning home with atleast a bread to feed there children in the face of unimaginable adversities and atrocities..It talks about those rich Sarpanches who are considerate to there subjects , but yet highly discriminate them with the caste eye. It talks about those still so existent morals of finding happiness in doing other's good even though everything around you is falling apart..... It talks about Poverty and Swades as the movie's caption rightly goes is about "We - The People of India".
Mohan Bhargava played by Shah Rukh Khan is a Project Manager working for the Global Precipitation Project in NASA.(Marks the foray of Bollywood movies into NASA). Mohan in the midst of all his successes and his heightened career , starts realizing that he is missing something in his life......Finally he decides to go back to India to find wat he has been desperately missing...and just then his life changes....takes a right turn where he finds Honesty..then takes a left turn where he finds Integrity...and then a U Turn where he finds his Love, Happiness and His Life back.
Look out for that scene which gives the aerial view of India from the inside of the Plane with Shah Rukh looking down from the window !!! The cinematography which starts building from that casting scene just keeps getting classier throughout the movie till the ending parts of the movie showing Shahrukh in NASA with Rehman's score which has been stunningly picturised !!! Gayatri last seen in some ads and serials makes an astounding debut as an idealistic, unmateristic woman who is shown thoroughly dedicated to the cause she believes in. Soft-spoken but yet quarrelsome she just excels in the movie...and the scenes which have her are undoubtedly the more beautiful ones owing to her stunning Indian Looks!!!! I still am having problems getting her out of my mind !!!Gosh !!!
Ashutosh Gowariker after making a Lagaan to come back with a movie of this stature is far more then commendable.........It just goes to show that when you believe in something you do completely....even a mundane story with a bunch of people playing cricket can be presented as a spirit of unity and fight......and so is the case with Swades....the Only similarity being that both of his movies are based on Grassroot India....Hats off to him to venture into a line where none of the top of the line directors of todays age dare to venture...
The supporting actors are all brilliant in the movie.
And Finally Shah Rukh Khan...wat do i say about this man.....I loved his movie Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa....its stil in my all time fav list....as a matter of fact its his favourite movie as well.......He was this cute lovable guy in Raju Ban gaya Gentleman..Then came DDLJ..in the middle..in most of his films he used to ham so much..that i used to cringe seeing him act.....but since the last 2 or 3 years..he has metamorphosed into a more mature and controlled style of acting....In Swades i have to say he is flawless ..i mean being a more a critical viewer that i am...i just found him reaching dizzy heights of acting in the film..watch the scene where he is sitting in the train..and a kid would come and request him to buy water from him at 25p per cup..
Watch the movie for Shahrukh's acting , one of A.R. rehman's finest works ( the range of sounds he has given in the background scores starting from the more rustic and rural ones to the more sophesticated urban ones are awesome leaving apart the classy songs of the movie ), Gowariker's brilliance , Gayatri Joshi , breath taking cinematography and lastly for such a genuine , heart touching story .
Sambit.
".....The end!!!
But this ones as good as an original....becuase its from my frnd and roommate Sambit.
So I quote ..."
Have u ever quizzed yourself why we like watching movies so much even though v are aware its just a make belief........more movies.....more stories.....more action...........a romantic movie to enliven our romantic dreams , an action packed flick to catch up on the latest styles and some real cool looking and dressed actors and offcourse a "Hot item number" in between the movie......an art movie as they call it to act as a food for thought of different perspectives to relationships and the problems..a family aka Govinda entertainer to completely freak out......an all out emotional, hypersensitive , over exaggerated drama to go in remember our loved ones , miss them for sometime.......and dats it.....
We come out of the theatre..and life moves on right...ya it does....Just a couple of days i saw Swades and being a literate engineer and a sound one at that....i still couldnt bracket it against any of those categories i mentioned above.......Since time immorial we have been talking about the Politicians not doing too good a job......Sachin not firing , Ganguly not doing too bad....and Dravid doing always good......but wat does Swades talk about......Hymm difficult to put it in words but i wil still try without giving away the story to all of those who wud read this article and yet havent seen the movie......Swades talks about GrassRoot India , a subject realized by every Indian but taken up by None. It talks about poor farmers who face the challenge of leaving there house in the morning and returning home with atleast a bread to feed there children in the face of unimaginable adversities and atrocities..It talks about those rich Sarpanches who are considerate to there subjects , but yet highly discriminate them with the caste eye. It talks about those still so existent morals of finding happiness in doing other's good even though everything around you is falling apart..... It talks about Poverty and Swades as the movie's caption rightly goes is about "We - The People of India".
Mohan Bhargava played by Shah Rukh Khan is a Project Manager working for the Global Precipitation Project in NASA.(Marks the foray of Bollywood movies into NASA). Mohan in the midst of all his successes and his heightened career , starts realizing that he is missing something in his life......Finally he decides to go back to India to find wat he has been desperately missing...and just then his life changes....takes a right turn where he finds Honesty..then takes a left turn where he finds Integrity...and then a U Turn where he finds his Love, Happiness and His Life back.
Look out for that scene which gives the aerial view of India from the inside of the Plane with Shah Rukh looking down from the window !!! The cinematography which starts building from that casting scene just keeps getting classier throughout the movie till the ending parts of the movie showing Shahrukh in NASA with Rehman's score which has been stunningly picturised !!! Gayatri last seen in some ads and serials makes an astounding debut as an idealistic, unmateristic woman who is shown thoroughly dedicated to the cause she believes in. Soft-spoken but yet quarrelsome she just excels in the movie...and the scenes which have her are undoubtedly the more beautiful ones owing to her stunning Indian Looks!!!! I still am having problems getting her out of my mind !!!Gosh !!!
Ashutosh Gowariker after making a Lagaan to come back with a movie of this stature is far more then commendable.........It just goes to show that when you believe in something you do completely....even a mundane story with a bunch of people playing cricket can be presented as a spirit of unity and fight......and so is the case with Swades....the Only similarity being that both of his movies are based on Grassroot India....Hats off to him to venture into a line where none of the top of the line directors of todays age dare to venture...
The supporting actors are all brilliant in the movie.
And Finally Shah Rukh Khan...wat do i say about this man.....I loved his movie Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa....its stil in my all time fav list....as a matter of fact its his favourite movie as well.......He was this cute lovable guy in Raju Ban gaya Gentleman..Then came DDLJ..in the middle..in most of his films he used to ham so much..that i used to cringe seeing him act.....but since the last 2 or 3 years..he has metamorphosed into a more mature and controlled style of acting....In Swades i have to say he is flawless ..i mean being a more a critical viewer that i am...i just found him reaching dizzy heights of acting in the film..watch the scene where he is sitting in the train..and a kid would come and request him to buy water from him at 25p per cup..
Watch the movie for Shahrukh's acting , one of A.R. rehman's finest works ( the range of sounds he has given in the background scores starting from the more rustic and rural ones to the more sophesticated urban ones are awesome leaving apart the classy songs of the movie ), Gowariker's brilliance , Gayatri Joshi , breath taking cinematography and lastly for such a genuine , heart touching story .
Sambit.
".....The end!!!
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