daSmall pleasures with a bunch of friends is what life is made of. A compilation of many such pleasures was what comprised my 1st weekend of December. A camping trip to Jawhar consisting of a barbecue dinner.
Certain unavoidable technical problems had delayed our departure time from Vashi. Certain last minute preparations and shopping sprees were threatening to throw us off schedule and it managed to do it too. Our 1:30pm departure time got stretched to 3:30pm and the traffic we found on the 'Priyadarshini' signal did nothing to help but delay us by another 45mins. After picking up Dheeraj from sion we were speeding towards Goregaon to meet up with Praful and Manish. At 5:30pm we were at Goregaon. Now our destination from here, according to google maps, would take 2hrs 30mins to cover. And we were off. Next stop - Manor. We reached Manor at around 7:30pm and waited for Praful and Manish to catch up wid us on their bike. From Manor we had to take SH33 towards Jawhar. This is a 45km stretch of secluded road and i wanted us to be together although Moiz had different views. But then Praful n Manish arrived some 15mins later and all of us now went on to SH33.
SH33 is a beautiful stretch of road with trees on both sides, gradually winding along the country side and ghats. The only things marring its reputation are the huge potholes that just appear out of nowhere. Praful was riding right behind us this entire stretch until we reached Jawhar. I remembered Dabhosa waterfall being just about 5-6kms from Jawhar but at arriving at Jawhar and inquiring, the owner of a dhaba told us that it is another 18kms away. He even made us a rudimentary map of the route. But after a little further, Moiz decided to go and get a second opinion. Lo n Ho, he came back with a drunkard who claimed he was going the same way and would show us the direction. He came and squeezed himself behind Dheeraj. Following is the conversation we had in our car. (Actual dialogues in bold, translated in red, my comments in blue)
Moiz (in makeshift marathi): Tumcha naav kai ahe? (translated - what is your name?)
Drunkard (in fluent, superfast marathi): Majha naav "something i cant rmbr name" ahe. (translated: My name is blah blah?) (actual tranlation : My name is blah blah and im so glad i found u guys to gimme a ride home)
Moiz: Tumhi kai kaam karta? (translated - what do u do? ) (Actual translated - do u even work or are u just a useless drunkard?)
Drunkard: Arre me ikadcha sarpanch! Ithe sagle lok mala olakhtaat. Tumhi bas tethe jaun majha naav saanga ani te tumhala aat gheteel. (translation - I am the sarpanch of this place. Everyone knows me here. Just take my name whereever u go here and they will all let u in. ) (Actual translation - I just saw the 'DUNCE' stamped across your forehead, so even if i tell you that i am the king of this place, you have no way to prove it otherwise :P )
Me (in english so that drunkard dsnt understand): Moiz this guy is reeking of alcohol.
Moiz (in english so that drunkard dsnt understand): Yeah i know, but he said he can show us the way.
In the meantime, "The Sarpanch" has already taken us on the wrong route.
Drunkard: Arre tumhi galat mod ghetla, parat ja parat ja. (translation - Hey you have taken the wrong turn. Now turn back and go till the intersection) (Actual translation - Now i know how badly lost you are and know shit abt this area)
Moiz: Arre me vicharla tumhala konta mod ghyacha mhanun. (translation - Hey i asked you which turn to take.) (actual translation - F****R)
Me (in english so that drunkard dsnt understand): Moiz are you sure this guy is taking us the right way? I have a feeling we are being led to an ambush point.
Moiz (in english so that drunkard dsnt understand): Arre dont worry, nothing will happen.
Drunkard: Tumhi loka kuthun aalaat? (translation : Where are you guys from?) (actual translation - i am trying to see if you guys are smart enuff to put up a fight later)
Moiz: Aamhi mumbaihun aalo. (translation - We are from Mumbai) (actual translation - we sure can kick your ass)
Drunkard : Arre me pan Mumbaila gelo hoto. Majha baiko cha motha bhai tithe rahto. To shivaji nagarcha Sr. Inspector ahe. (translation - Ohh i have been to mumbai too. My brother in law lives there. He is the Sr. Inspector at Shivaji Nagar) (actual translation - i am not faking being the sarpanch of this place as i know big contacts in mumbai too)
Moiz: Arre tumcha lagna jhala. Mule aahet ki naahi? (translation - Ohh you are married. Do you have any kids?) (actual translation - I am just trying to catch u off guard with my clever questions)
Drunkard: Arre naahin naahin, majhya lagnala fakt 6-7 maas jhalet. Itke laukar mule naahin. ( translation - Oh no no no.. I got married just 6-7 months back, so no kids so soon) ( actual translation - you cant bog me down wid ur "clever" questions)
Me ( thinking aloud in english): He claims to be a sarpanch and he got married just 6-7 months back!!!!
Moiz: Premacha lagna ka? (translation - was it a love marriage?) (actual translation - i know there is a loophole here somewhere. Im gonna get you)
Meanwhile we are on a deserted road with no lights anywhere and not even a lone dog in sight. Let alone a whole village. Praful is still close behind us on his bike.
Drunkard: Arre prema shivai kai lagna. Prema shivai kahihi chalta ka? ( translation - Ohh its a love marriage. Wot is life without love. ) (Actual translation - While im at it, i might as well give you lessons on love)
Praful stops us to point out that he saw a signboard that said 'take right for dhabosa'
Drunkard: Arre naahin naahin, me tumhala shortcut varun gheto. Tumhi to raasta ghetla ki tumhala 1 taas laagel pochaila. (translation - Oh no no, i am taking you from a shortcut. If you take that route it will take you an hr to reach dhabosa) (actual translation - u are all dumbnuts :P )
Me (in english so that drunkard dsnt understand): Duuuuudeeeee... we are so headed towards an ambush point. In case of an ambush you are to keep driving, no matter how many you run over :P
Then at one 'Y' intersection "The Sarpanch" gets off and asks us to keep driving along the road ahead and take a right. This is when i see the drunkard's face for the first time. He looks no more than 30 and one of the roadside lafangas. As we leave him behind..
Me: From which angle did he look like a Sarpanch??
Dheeraj: Whatt?? He was the Sarpanch? (well the entire conversation was lost to Dheeraj as he cud not understand marathi)
Me: Yeah and he was reeking of alcohol.
Dheeraj: Yeah, and how much he talks!.. Non stop bakbak.
Me: He made fools of us, just wanted us to drop him home. Now we will have to drive double the way to get to Dhabosa im sure.
Moiz: Kya re Pam, Kitna darti hai. Woh kya hamare liye hi baitha tha kya Ambush karneko? ( translation - What man Pam! You are such a scared little cat. Did he have telepathy that we would come along and he would have someone to ambush?) (actual translation - Ohh I am so glad we have not encountered an ambush yet :P )
Then after many laughters and a few stops to find the right way we finally arrived at Dhabosa waterfalls at 10pm. Now there was no way we would trek down to the falls to set up camp. Hence we decided to camp at the parking lot next to our car and the fenced railing.
This night wasnt cold, it was more like damp and wet and dewy. A little hot even as i was sweating. We set up our tents first and then started working on the barbeque. I was having fun sitting like a queen, while Moiz tended to the coals and Praful skewered the meat. Dheeraj and Manish were taking turns in fanning the coals :P. Praful made the drinks too later :P. I just ate and drank. Wow! this is life I say ;). I had made some pani puri at home that i had carried to camp. We ate this while the chicken got cooked. After a lot of chatting and some really delicious barbecue chicken prepared by Moiz, we went off to sleep at around 3am.
Our morning started at 9am. It was now a task to get the coal burning to make breakfast. Our plan was to eat breakfast and then head down to the falls. Only problem was - coal refused to burn. We had practically emptied every kind to flammable liquid on the coals, from kerosene to vodka to old monk to even petrol, to get them to catch fire. After maybe 1 1/2hrs the coal started burning. 1st task was boiling water for the tea, which took all of 5-10mins. I used the hot water to cook my beloved cup noodles. After tea we still had some leftover chicken from last night which we decided to cook and eat off as brunch as it was already 11am.
After a delicious meal, we pack up all our stuff and headed off to the falls. It was already 12:30pm and the sun was burning down our necks. The was already a huge crowd below as we reached the bottom. Hence after a few snaps near the falls we headed off to the opposite direction where there were no people to disturb us.
The was was nice and cool and as soon as Moiz got in he started swimming off towards the falls. Me as usual sat down to blow up my float, which later Praful did :P. And i got down into the water and onto my float and floated lazily in the pond. Praful refused to get in and was just showing off in his trunks. Dheeraj got into the water after much cajoling but Manish totally refused.
After a lot of splashes and photography sessions, we all got out and started our trek towards our car. Once at the top, we set up our tent again to be used as a changing room. After changing we neatly packed off our stuff and the tent and started our journey back. On the way we stopped near a lake for some photography sessions. I even drove some of the way back.
Our plan was to stop for a quick chow at Manor and then speed off towards Mumbai. Hence we stopped at a Dhaba at Manor and stuffed ourselves as we were really hungry. Then at around 7:30pm we started off towards Mumbai. But only 1/2hr into the drive and we encountered a traffic jam from hell. The vehicles moved at snail's pace and it seemed to us that we would be reaching home only in the morning.
At many instances we saw vehicles jumping over the low divider and moving off to the opposite lane which was absolutely empty. The one instance that we tried it, it turned out to be one horrifying scene. We were 3-4 cars behind each other driving down the right side of the opposite lane and then we saw a big truck coming up from behind us and driving down the same lane as ours but on the left side. We got so so scandalized seeing it, that we though one headlong collision was surely in the cards for that truck. Twice it nearly missed 2 huge vehicles. This was enough to send us back to our own traffic ridden lane. We were really in no mood to end our perfect trip with a sad story. Just for the record, that truck had come back to the traffic lane too :P.
By the time we reached Borivali, it was already 10pm. Once we entered the Mumbai city limits, the roads were emptier and Moiz used this opportunity to speed home. We dropped Dheeraj back to sion and headed back to Vashi. At was 11:30pm by the time i reached home.
For me it was an awesome trip. 5 friends, 2 tents, 1 waterfall and a barbeque under the stars...this is life :)
