Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Threads of Love

I just stepped out of my house to visit bank and what a site i saw at the road-side? a li'll girl of 6 or 8, tying a thread on the wrist of a boy. oh yeah, its Raksha-bandhan today, one among the many Indian festivals. A festival to celebrate the love between a brother and a sister. and the thread tied was "The Thread of Love".
Just remember the day, Sharma Uncle (your neighbour) came complaining that you beat his son, very badly & there she stood in your support, ur sister, trying to convince parents, that it was not your fault, and you were saved from a hard thrashing. The first day of your college and she told you, what to wear n how to carry urself n u had many frends den. The day when u were nervous, as you were to propose a girl u like the most, and she told you, how great it would be for anyone to get ur attention..... many such incidents, but 1 person always stood besides U, ur SISTER.
Like many others, i too do not have sis (nor a bro), & i really regret when i hear of the cute n naughty fights d siblings have. Arguments over stupid things, critisizing bout everything, competing to be the blue eyed kid of the parents, pulling hair, kicking around, scratching with nails, biting n hitting but still being the best of pals.
She may be shy, but gets bold when things bother U. She may be weak, but becomes the strongest wen u need a support, She may really irritate u, but loves u n cares 4 u d most. Who else can it be, She's d angel on earth with invisible magical wings whom we call Sister.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Yet Another Fort..... Lohagarh

"Aby chu*** kidhar hai ? hum log 4 ke indicator ke neechey khadey hai..... jaldi aa." Yep its 7.00 in the morning & we 8 frends are leaving mumbai to trek Lohagadh. We were 4 getting into train from Dadar & other 4 from Kalyan. So we got into general compartment of Udyan express which arrives at Dadar platform No. 4 at 8:20 am sharp. We reached Kalyan by 9:30 & looked for r frends, all got into train. trust me d General compartment was so jam, you cant even move your legs, n ur balls gets hurt badly. Wwe reached Lonavala by 11.00 am and went to Radha Krishna to have r breakfast. Must say, it serves real good south indian dishes n chola bhaturaa. we started moving from there by 12:15 & took auto till Malavali Phaata, about 15kms away. It costs 150/- to reach there by auto. We then started walking and reached the base of Lohagadh in other 1/2 an hour. then starts the actual trek................
We started climbing the mountain, not that steep, it has small stones all over its path to the top, so dunno worry much. i would say "Difficulty Level" : EASY. After reaching the halfway, there comes a route-splitter. One will take you to Visagadh (Good to trek but no such gr8 scenic views) and other to r beloved Lohagadh (The Iron Fort). then you have to climb a li'll more n then it is followed by some no. of steps. Truly speaking climbing steps makes u more tiresome, but the view you get on reaching the top of Lohagadh, makes u forget everything, n only 1 word escapes ur mouth, "WOW..........". during ur journey to the top of the fort, u'll go through many doors, every1 having their respective names.
U'll find a swimming tank and a well on the top too, but i would not suggest you take a dip into it. :) u'll find a canoon too, which was used to protect the fort. We explored the fort and then returned back. on r way back, after we descended the steps, we found a few shacks on the sides, serving steaming hot 'chai' n 'jhunka-bhakkar'. Delicious it tastes, actually everything tastes delicious when u r really hungry.
So we returned to the foot hills and among many waterfalls, we selected one, & settled to bath in it. what a force it was ???? man, it was some serious fun. it also acted as a body massager to us. we all felt relaxed on bathing into it. we then came walking to malvali phaata, & got an auto to Lonavla. if u looking for a nite stay, International Inn, is a good place, n pretty reasonable too. If you want to return back to mumbai or pune, make sure to reach malvali stn. by 6:40, so u can take tickets to Lonavla n get into 7:00 pm train. & from there on u can find many trains going to Mumbai or Pune.

the best part of the trek was to be on the top, rain starts n water starts seeping into d undies n a feel of cold is felt...... hehehehehe :)