In December 2000, I got Vandana a book called Footprint India on her birthday. Mc Donalds had opened its first store at Pune and we had lunch there and picked this book from Crossword. We chose it over the Lonely Planet because we both agreed to the style of writing and detail was much better and of course it was a few hundred cheaper. No offence to Lonely Planet or the travelers who swear by it. By January 2001 we were on our first road trip discovering Rajasthan.
To enjoy any place it is essential to walk and soak in the flavours and the aroma of the city and to feel the pulse of its old walls and observe and interact with the people who make the city what it is. In this time of global cuisines, global malls the essence of each city seems to fast disappear. Each city starts to become a clone of the other. This is change and it is eminent and it has been happening for ages. We need to salute those who have been embracing the change and yet standing out by holding on to values that make each city and its people unique.
Vandana and I often missed the holiday of Rajasthan which had far more days than our honeymoon. It was by chance that I got a GPS device of Map My India on her birthday in December 2013. This time the decision to buy Map My India over Garmin and Tom Tom was also on the fact that it was the most comprehensive and by far also the cheapest. Well again no offence to Garmin and Tom Tom or the people who swear by them. By the month end we were already driving along the west coast of India with a feeling of déjà vu from our trip 13 years back.
Things generally have a way of falling into place on their own and no amount of hurrying and getting frustrated over plans can change that. Aman was to go for a karate camp to Harnai beach from 28th December to 1st January. This was the first time since Aman was born that Vandana and I were going on a vacation by ourselves. So Vandana and I decided we would go to somewhere nearby where he was as we did not want to go to any other new place without him.
We dropped him to his bus at 6 am and by 9.30 we were ready and on our way too.
We decided to use the Tamhini Ghat route since it is a broader road and in better condition. The GPS of course still insisted we go via Bhor even after we had crossed key points on the Tamhini Ghat route. She insisted on taking a U turn when we could. So we stopped briefly and fed Tamhini Ghat as our via point. After that she was very co-operative! This route meanders all along the periphery of the Mulshi lake and one realises the enormousness of the lake and its placid beauty. The Ghat region starts thereafter and here the GPS is actually very helpful since you know before hand how the bends are and it is akin to sitting in a chair and playing a video game. The speed limit on the GPS by default was 50kmph so every time the speed exceeded that it would go beep beep beep. Almost reminded me of the extra bonus seconds we earn during a video game.
That evening we drove to Murud, Karde and Dapoli. The day ended rather with a feeling that we shouldn’t have ventured out during dusk time trying to find things to do and just relishing the day.
Next morning we were to return. Our hosts told us that there was no time restrictions and we could leave at our convenience. This time we decided to take the Dapoli route back. I hadn’t managed to take the snapshot of the moment at Anjarle and so we decided to go there first even though it meant driving out of our way. But we couldn’t recreate the moment. Maybe it was the time of day and the angle of the sun. It was beautiful all the same.