Kalpesh: Hey Pam, I just spoke with Rahul, there are some problems and the rafting event might get cancelled.
Pam: No surprise, I was expecting it already coz that guy was not giving us the details.
Kalpesh: He is saying that he is at kolad and trying to do something about it. He said he will call me up in an hour.
Pam: Why is he at kolad now? To make our reservations now which he should have done 2 months back? He must be here only somewhere and just doin bahana of being at kolad.
Kalpesh: We have to let everybody know what is happening.
Pam: Yeah we don’t want complications to happen if people arrive at dadar at 5am and there is nowhere to go. We should have some backup plan. I was speaking to VJ some time back and this was his idea.
Kalpesh: Yeah we should do something as backup.
Pam: I’ll plan a trek and send you the details in sometime. Just review it and put it up on the msg board to inform people.
Kalpesh: Ok! You plan it and lemme know. Also talk with Amey about it.
Meanwhile Mr. Amey Rediz was at the I-Rock concert and when he was available for talks, he was ready for any trek.
And this is how the plan for Peth was finalized over the fone. Kalpesh , Mallikarjun, Amey and me passed on the message to everyone over the fone and we had around 40% of junta turning up for the event. I take great pleasure in introducing to you the characters of our new movie – Peth and Pam’s blue umbrella.
Kalpess Bhai – Kalpesh Rawal
Mallikaji – Mallikarjun
Amey – Amey Rediz
Princess Keta – Keta
Deeti – Deepti
Preeti – Preeti
Suraksha – Raksha
Doc – Shraddha
Purvi – Purvi
Browny – Amit
Potty Guy/Tarzan – Nitin
Bull Fighter – Santosh Kutty
Saurabh - Saurabh
Sanjay – Sanjay Bhutani
Bhaskar – Bhaskar Desai
And me PAM – Anupama Mantry
Scene – I : Wakeup Time
It is 4:30am and Mallikaji is frantically trying to wake people up from deep slumber, much to their annoyance. Me having slept at 1:30am last night, after informing everyone of the trek, was not in a mood to wake up. After I finally did wake up it was time for me to wake up some of the others. Mallikaji was already on his way to dadar station and I was at home getting ready. I was gonna board the train from Thane station hence I was in “no hurry”. Amey and Keta arrived late at dadar as they missed their train from Andheri and consequently the Karjat local from Dadar also got missed. These guys had no clue what time the next train was gonna come and I was getting restless sitting at home. I kept calling Mallikaji and Kalpess bhai every 15mins. I know I know you guys must have gotten enough calls from me to last you a life time J. By 7am I was almost dozing off again and having second thoughts about going for this trek, when Mallikaji called up again to tell me that they have already boarded the train and that it was a fast local. Marr gaye!! A fast local comes to thane from dadar in 30mins and it takes me to reach thane station from my home around 15mins plus add to it the time required to find an auto, buying tickets, looking for the platform on which the train would be arriving. Damn it! Its gonna be a close call. And somehow everything seems to be moving at snails pace whenever you are late. Me staying on the 11th floor, it takes an eternity for the lift to come up from the ground floor.
Lesson No:1 – Whenever you are in a hurry, the damn lift will always be on the ground floor when you are on the 11th floor.
I found an auto with no problem at all, but I am in a hurry remember? So I found an auto with a very Buddha rickshaw driver. Ballz!! The pace at which he was driving, I would have reached faster if I would have walked to the station.
Lesson No:2 – When in a hurry, don’t sit in an auto with an ancient rickshaw driver. Wait for the next auto.
I reached the station with 5mins to spare but I still had to get my tickets. Luckily I had CVM coupons with me, but remember “ I am in a hurry”. The bloody coupons refused to go into the CVM machine slots. I somehow managed to coax them in and then rushed to the platform. But remember “ I am in a hurry”, so how can things be right?
Lesson No:3 – Whenever you are late, the train is on time and whenever you are on time, the train is late.
Hmmphh!!....
Scene – II : The train to Karjat
I met Bhaskar Desai at platform no-5 at thane station. Poor guy was waiting at the platform since 5:30am. We waited for the train together. The train arrived at 7:30am and as I was anticipating, we got into the wrong compartment. (Grrrrrr…. Mallikaji maine aapse kaha tha nah, either get into the 1st or last compartment so that it is easier to find you guys. But nahinnnnn… yahan meri suntan kaun hai? Hmmpphh….) We both had gotten into the compartment behind the 1st class, whereas the others were in the compartment in front of the 1st class. We then got down at Dombivali station and did a marathon run to reach the proper compartment. And there they were waiting to give me a “WARM” welcome, afterall I am PAM… hehe.. The train journey was in itself total paisa vasool with Kalpess bhai, Amey and mallikaji leaving no stone unturned in pulling Purvi’s leg, which was making Purvi madder by the second. But we didn’t spare Mallikaji either. We had a great time reminding him his meanderings and sharing his exotic snaps. (Sorry peeps the rest is supposed to be classified information J) We even had a public poll about the color of our group t-shirt and the winner is NAVY BLUE. We had quite a few phote sessions too in which mallikaji kept jumping in front of every snap to remind us of his presence. (Don’t worry mallikaji we no you exist, a lot of us have an experience of that J) Scene – III : Karjat to Ambivali
We arrived at Karjat station at around 8:30am and while the rest of us waited Sanjay and Amey went to look for our transportation whereas Kalpess bhai and mallikaji went to arrange for our bhojan pani. ( We are a spoilt lot you know). We were waiting for about ½ hr with no sign of the others. Then Ameyji called up Suraksha and gave really weird instructions to reach the ST bus depot – “From where you are standing, take a right then again take a right then again take a right” (Wow! Ameyji, that really helped. Had you added another ‘Right’ to it, we would have just revolved on the spot) Then someone showed us the proper way ( Sorry guys I don’t remember which one of you it was ). Ameyji was waiting for us there and he informed us that he has arranges a very special bus for us. When we arrived at the bus stop we saw that an ST mini bus was waiting there exclusively for us. How cool is that! Whoever has heard of such luxuries. We seem to spoil ourselves. (Hey but all of you don’t expect such top treatment ok. This was just for those who came to the trek at such short notice :p ) 
The bus journey consisted of breakfast of absolutely delicious vada pav ( don’t miss this u guys) and a real good round of antakshari where everyone showcased their vocal skills and mallikaji even displayed his boogie woogie. Scene – IV : Ambivali to Peth Village
We arrived at Ambivali village at around 10am, which was already too late and it was rapidly getting hot and sunny. At this point all the caps, goggles and sunscreens came out of the bags. It was really sweet of Suraksha to apply sunscreen on my face, hehe I was being too lazy to do it on my own. As I had forgotten to get my cap, I had borrowed a “woolen” one that Shraddha had.
Lesson No:4 – Beggars cant be choosers
The sun was threatening to roast us alive and with very little tree cover and breeze we were having a tough time trying to climb up the slope. It was then, that out came my blue umbrella. ( Yes peeps, I did the entire climbing with my blue umbrella open in my hand) It was too damn hot and I could almost feel my skin blistering under the harsh sun. After about a half an hour of climbing, we heard the sweet sound of water flowing. Ahh!!... The sound of flowing water seemed like music to the ears in this hot weather. Mallikaji was leading and found the narrow pathway leading to the waterfall, and guided all of us there. Even though it was not a very big waterfall, it was big enough to accommodate 16 of us. All of us had a nice shower under the falls for about an hour to cool ourselves down. The Thomson sisters dint come into the water but instead got busy clicking the pics. Being in this place felt so good that no one wanted to leave. When Kalpess bhai handed out kool lassi, we felt pampered again. 
Hmmmm… good life. But it was time to get goin now if we had to reach the top and get back down on time. Slowly we packed up our stuff and made our way back to the path towards Peth. Walking on the man-made rock path was getting boring so people started deflecting away and reached a lush green plateau. The beauty of this place cant be described in words. All the various shades of greens were a feast to the eyes. After resting here for a while we moved towards our destination. We reached Peth village at around 1:30pm. At the village we waited at a small rest house and had lots of nimbu paani. Nimbu paani refreshes you instantly. Scene – V : Peth village to Peth fort to Peth village
At 2pm it was time for us to leave for the final climb else we would not be able to make I down on time. Purvi decided to stay behind as her leg was hurting. The final climb would take us around an hour of climbing but it got stretched to an hour n half due to the hot weather and the frequent rests. The climb up was pretty uneventful expect for a point where Suraksha had climbed up a tree wand was resting on it like a lazy cat. As we got closer to the top of the fort, we could hear the drums playing Another group had reached there before us and was enjoying their afternoon. We waited for a while until everyone had reached. Mallikaji and I still throwing pebbles at each other and as usual his pebbles never seemed to hit me. hahah u missed me there Mallikaji. After me getting my foto clicked by climbing up a tree and everybody drinking nimbu paani we started moving ahead.
The spiral staircase which has been build from inside the rocks is the main attaraction of this place. Climbing the stairs in any of Shivaji’s forts makes me always wonder “How bloody tall were the soldiers of Shivaji’s era??” ( Wonder how they would manage to climb those stairs in a hurry in case of emergencies. Or may be they were the olden times exercising machine, like we have the stepper now) Well it took us around 20mins to climb all the stairs and reach the top, and all through the climb again mallikaji and I kept throwing pebbles at each other. I have become a good shot you know and mallikaji is still not able to hit me. ( hehehe devil horns)
The view from top is mind blowing. You can view the entire BHIMASHANKAR complete with its semi circular cliff and numerous waterfalls (see the pics), Peb and Matheran is also supposed to be visible form here but we couldn’t spot it. Also visible is lohagad and visapur. We waited here for about 30mins clicked pics and then decided to leave as it was damn sunny.
The climb down was easy for me coz I hate to tag along slowly when on the downhill slope and prefer to go fast almost in a sprinting fashion. Mallikaji had left at full speed and right behind him were Sanjay and me. I had no clue how far behind the rest of them were. Due to the slippery rocks I even slipped and fell nicely on my bum but luckily I didn’t hurt myself. We touched down to the village in just 30mins and the rest came in about 15mins after us.
At the resthome we rested for some time and had Nimbu paani whicle the kind kaka served delicious food for us. There was chapatti, bhakri, rice, pitla, dal, and anlu matar ki sabzi with pickle and onion. The food was soo yummy and after the hectic day that we had this food felt like heaven. The taste was such that even 5 star hotels cant serve you such tasty food. And such food even increases your appetite. After eating to our heart’s content and having some more nimbu paani (we are getting addicted to this stuff) we rested some more. By this time I was having a splitting headache as at the waterfall, water had gone into my ear and it refused to come out no matter what I did to it. Kalpess bhyai even commented that “Kya u bhi ek boond paani ke peeche tab se padi hai, chod na usko jaane de”. (Wah kalpess bhai, yeh ek boond paani hi mere dimag ko pareshaan kiye hue hai subah se) We tried all sorts of technics, cotton buds, banging my head and mallikaji even blew hard into my ear (That water drop must have gone further inside :P ) but nuthin seemed to help. So I let it be.
Scene – VI : Peth village to Ambivali village
By the time we started back from peth village, it was already 5:30pm, and it had become heavily overcast. We feared that it might start raining soon. The whether was getting extremely cold with a cool breeze blowing. Mallikaji as usual was chugging ahead in full steam with me and sanjay behind him. The rest were way behind. Just after 15mins of walk it started raining. Slowly at first and then heavily all of a sudden. All of us were soaking wet in minutes.( Stupid rains…It couldn’t rain when we were getting roasted in the hot sun in the afternoon but it rains now when its already evening and it is getting darker) When we reached the plateau, mallikaji was already waiting for us there. Sajay and I reached and all of us lied down on the soft grass. It was only drizzling slightly now. By now my headache had gotten worse due to the water in my ear. Now my entire left side was aching including my left eye. Mallikaji took pity on me and massaged my forehead for me.( Thankooo mallikaji for that kind gesture J) After some time the others had caught up with us and all of us were enjoying the rains on the plateau. It was raining heavily now and the cold whether was sending chills down our spine. Now was the time to open my blue umbrella. Hmmm… now everyone wanted to get under my blue umbrella to escape the cold rains. Hehe whoz laffing now. J
We decided to walk along the plateau instead of taking the reagular path which was rapidly turning into a small stream. Walking on that road would have proved dangerous as it was entirely made up of rocks and it would have been really slippery. The plateau slowly changed into small hillocks and the slopes started getting steeper. Kalpess bhai was walking under the umbrella with me as he wanted to avoid the irritating water from dripping onto his face. On seeing the slopes we decided that closing the umbrella would be a better idea than losing our balance coz of it and go plummeting down the slope. (Let me inform you that the slope ended abruptly into the deep valley). At this time I was merrily telling Kalpess bhai the story of my trekking trip to Kodaikanal last December. I was walking slightly ahead of him while carefully maneuvering the slope, when all of a sudden Kalpess bhai slipped and fell and pulled me along with him. We slid a good 10-12 feet on or bums. (Ballz… I had tried my best uptill now not to fall but now I was all covered in mud and smelled of grass.. Hmmpphhh…) I was telling Kalpess bhia of one of the falls I had had whicle on one such slope in kodaikanal and I guess he wanted to experience it practically. And then he even has the audacity to tell me that he fell because of me. We were bickering all the way down. Ameyji was trying to guide me through one of the tricky slopes and instead of listening to him I kept jabbering away with Kalpess bhai. He got so irritated and was like “ Yeh kitna bolti hai yaar. Main isko rasta bata raha hu and yeh toh bas bolne mein busy hai”. Mallikaji as usual was no where in sight. No doubt he must have already reached the village. We all slowly made our way down to Ambivali village.
On arrival all of us were soaking wet, but we were really happy to see that 2 tuktuks were waiting for us there. At the small hotel some of us changed into dry clothes as it was getting really cold and the tuktuk ride back would have chilled us to the bone had we been in wet clothes.
Scene – VII : Ambivali village to Karjat station to Mumbai.
All the people who were dry got into one tuktuk and all the people who were wet got into the second tuktuk. It took us about an hour to reach Karjat station. Along the way we clicked some more pics and reviewd the ones that we had clicked along the way. We had left from the village at around 7:30pm and it was already 8:35 by the time we reached Karjat station. The train back to Mumbai was scheduled for 8:40pm. All of us rushed to the platform while mallikaji hurried to buy our tickets. We got into the train in a hurry but luckily for us the train left a little late. (Now I know why the fast local to CST from thane always arrives late. It never leaves on time)
Once in the train all of us tried to relax a bit. I was standing at the door trying to dry my clothes a bit and made a few fonecalls. All the others were listening to either their mp3 players or ipods or phone (Showoffs… hhmmpphhhh…) And when I tried to snatch away mallikaji’s earphones, he tried to scare me by showing me his big eyes ( oye jaake bacchon ko darana.. im not a kid ki aapse darr jau :P) Saurabh had gotten a big dairymilk chocolate for me which I refused to share with anyone ( I don’t share chocolates sorry).. At which mallikaji and Kalpess bhai tried to cheenofy my chocolate from me….( Oyeee khabardaarr…) When kalpess bhai couldn’t take the choch from me he started maroing senti… “5gram ke chocolate ke liye mujhse itna zhagad rahi hai… dekhli teri dosti”… ( Hehe.. lolz… main toh 2 gram ke chocolate ke liye bhi itna hi jhagadungi… main chocolate share nahin karti :P)
I bid senti goodbyes to all and got down at Thane station. Mallikaji came to see me off…(or rather push me off the train….heheh sorry sorry just kidding). HE bid me a verryy loud goodbye which im sure the entire station must have heard…lolz…
At last I was back to home sweet home… Thanx to me for suggesting such a lovely trek…Thanku Thanku… *taking a bow*
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