Konkan Calling Again!!! - Part III

Once again a beautiful sunrise to wake us up. We soaked in all the energy as it was a long day……. grabbed some delicious upma for breakfast and left for Vijaydurg. Vijaydurg has a very famous fort that is 800 years old. You might be thinking there would be only some remains left now, but you will be surprised to see the whole fort. It is a wonderful fort on the shoreline of Arabian Sea, and is surrounded by water on three sides. It stands still with all the glory that it has seen over all these years. Our guide gave us a lot of history lessons about this place; I can hardly recollect all but some facts were just awesome. What engineering, architecture, strategy and planning of the whole fort!!! I was stunned. The fort had everything from rain-water harvesting to food grain storage to ammunition storage. It also had an administration wing, entertainment wing, conference rooms, officer’s quarters, horse stables, hidden passages and temples. The fort has 27 bastions including some attacking bastions. Their attacking strategy and security planning just amazed us. Their planning tools and the fore-sightedness was just remarkable. I’m amazed and sad at the same time because many of us have not even heard about this place. I don’t know why the government or any concerned agency is not talking enough steps to promote and preserve such rich heritage that we should be proud of.

Sitting near the flag post you can clearly see the beautiful sea and at the same time keep a watch on most of the doors. The architecture of the place is just awesome. Everything is well done, arches, pillars, etc. It was very interesting to know the way arches are made as there is no support for the arch. So our guide told us that they made some kind of grooves in what is called a “key stone” as it holds all the stones in the arch. Its unbelievable how advanced and intelligent architects would have been those, with such a limited expertise and resources, it’s just incredible.

The whole trip to the fort was just phenomenal. Just near the fort as we came out, there was an old ship dockyard so we went to have a look. As soon as I saw it I was wondering how marine corrosion would have affected it over the years… (I guess that’s what research does to you, you think so much about the influence of the surroundings… all I could think about was the marine environment and its effect on the MOC (material of construction) of the ship… this environment had all deadly combinations for corrosion to eat away all the metal. :)

While coming back from the fort we visited one of the oldest temple known as “Rameshwar temple”, it’s relatively more than 800 years old. It was a downhill walk on very old stones for stairs. It was an experience in itself as we going in such an ancient temple. As you enter the premises of the temple there were lamp stags. Once you enter the temple could see the old wooden pillars on which the whole temple roof rested. These beautiful pillars had gorgeous designs, colors, and arches… The outer walls of the temple had paintings that portrayed some old mythological stories, the story of evil versus good…… mighty Gods fighting the demons….. Even if some paints were distorted or damaged, I was wondering as to what colors they had used that could last so long….. Why didn’t it get washed away over all these years?

Going back home from the temple was a long drive and we were literally starving….. So as soon as we reached home we were served with delicious lunch…….. :) Today’s lunch was special as Mr. Loke cooked it himself….and it was delicious fish varieties… yummy. Lunch had some fried fish “Tambosi” and a richer malvani fish curry of “Saundala”. It was just too delicious as I couldn’t stop eating. The fried fish had like a thousand thorns but it was obviously extremely tastier: P After having a delicious lunch we went to rest for a while and then proceeded to the “mithbav” beach again to see sunset ;) but this time we decided no cameras, no shell collecting and just relaxing and walking on the beach…….

It was slight breeze along with the melodious sound of waves in the sea that had a calming effect. It had a rejuvenating effect on all the souls in the world. It’s strange as these soothing waves also have a massive power of destroying everything…….. Nature has amazing wonderings and secrets of its own….. I’m so speechless to describe the beauty of the beach in the late evening when, all I am doing is lying down on the beach or taking a long quite walk on the beach. And the only thing that gets you back to reality is those scary crabs or those tingling tadpoles or something like that :P It was a funny feeling….you can’t actually see the tadpoles because they are transparent… it feels just like some jelly that moves on your skin, all you feel is a transparent thing moving but you can’t see them clearly……. It was a bit cloudy but the sunset was beautiful, and the sea was getting quieter as if saying goodbye to the sun. We sat there for some time and then went back to our home stay.

We packed up our things and got ready for dinner and then to leave for “Kankavali” to catch our bus back home. Dinner was served and the parting dinner was equally awesome…… :) I had a mouthwatering fish starter “Saranga” and a spicier malvani fish curry “Surmai”. Believe me when it comes to eating fish I can keep on eating and eating :P

Opps… I forgot to mention, we even got a chance to meet the interior designer who worked for “Culture Aangan”- Goerge. George is more of a free-lance guy who works on multiple projects….. He is so full of passion for his work. I love people who love what they do… believe me there is nothing like that… and our conversation began. We were just so much into the conversation that we wished we had more time. George’s specialty is in the use of natural materials especially bamboo…..(for those who have seen those bamboo boat houses in “Tarkarli” – he is the guy ;)) isn’t that amazing…… It’s actually an awesome blend of ethnicity, nature, and originality ……………….

So finally the time had come to say goodbyes and leave for “Kankavli”. The drive to Kankavli was a speech less drive as we were recollecting so many things in our heads on the way back….. and we finally spoke “it was a fun trip :)”. The trip was almost over, just a last bit of travelling from Kankavli ….. . We waited at the ticket place till midnight and we were amazed to see two fairly strong females handling all the bus rush to Mumbai and Pune. You should have seen their efficiency and dedication; it was incredible how they handled business till midnight. We were the last ones to board our bus, so they waited up with us till we boarded the bus. All I remember is getting up at Swargate….you could see the mess in Pune :P I could feel the rush of blood in my veins, that made me realize that the holiday just got over and I have to go to office today……………………………

I guess, It’s not about how good or bad the place is, I guess it’s more about how good can you make out of it… :) Cheers….. looking forward to more trips like this :)

Konkan Calling Again!!! - Part II

A beautiful morning sunrise accompanied by the birds singing in the background, was a perfect morning to begin with. You actually feel like going out and welcoming the sun in. As soon as you step out, those influential rays seem like filling you up with a new enthusiasm. Enjoying a carefree morning and soaking up energy from the sun….we decided to begin our day. So we embarked the day with a simple and yummy breakfast, some dosa (I can’t recall the exact name) with freshly grated coconut chutney… it was so delicious.

The plan for the day was quite interesting. We were to accompany our hosts to their native village “Mithbav” to celebrate “Ganpati” and then go to a nearby beach. Our hosts (Loke’s) have a 100-year old ancestral home in “Mithbav”, where they celebrate “Ganpati” with their family every year. I was amazed to see their enthusiasm and passion for the celebration and the love for their culture. How many of us could possibly do that? Our hectic life styles and the craziness to do so much in a day don’t leave us with anything in hand. This city life has taken so much fun from us……..

The ancestral home was small with a room and a kitchen… but it was miraculously standing for all these years…and there were no signs of cracks or putty applied or any modification….even the wood was in comparatively better condition. I guess it had much much much better construction than what we have here these days.

Ganpati celebration began with setting up of the “aasan” (sitting place for Ganpati idol). The place was cleaned and decorated well for the lord by the whole family. The males and the kids of the house go to a place where idols are painted for this occasion, to choose and pick the idol they like to take home. The whole village had gathered outside this place to pick their respected idols and carry it home. So finally after looking at more than a dozen of idols the family decided on one. Before taking the ganpati, the face of the lord is covered. The head of the family picks up the Ganpati on his head and carries it all the way to his home barefooted. The sight of so many people carrying Ganpati all the way through the rich green fields was beautiful. This act of devotion was just phenomenal. Once they reach home, the females of the house welcome the lord as they do some aarati and wash the feet of the ones carrying the lord. Then, the lord is seated in his “aasan”.

All the people in the village received us with pleasure as they were very happy to show us around, we even went to some of Loke’s neighbors to have a look at their Ganpati celebrations. It was just very over-whelming as how these people treated us with humility, just because we are guests. I’m truly amazed by Indians when it comes to hospitality; I bet no other country can offer such humbleness.

So finally the “Bhat” (someone who carries out the puja) arrived, and we joined in the prayers with the family. Once the prayer was over, we all gathered for lunch. Lunch was served on a banana leaf, it had very simple and delicious vegetarian food that included bhindi, karela, cabbage, usal etc. …all prepared in traditional style. And how can I forget the sweet dishes, we had some delicious “karanjees“ and “modaks”, as they are considered the lord’s most favorite items.

It was a fun celebration, because even if we live in the same country….we still had so many things to learn from others. So catching up with them, knowing their beliefs, rituals was just wonderful.

We visited some old temples nearby the village. We were amazed to see ‘Bank of Maharashtra’ and ‘Post and telegraph office’ in this remote location. We also spotted a bright yellow house in the middle of the village. Most of the houses used vivid colors that blended very well with the simplicity of this place. “Mithbav” has a very popular beach nearby, so after we were done with the celebrations, we decided to go to the beach. An old temple near the beach and the look of the beach was just beautiful. A quite lonely beach and the sun was playing hide and seek with us. It had a perfect cycle….sunny, then cloudy and then rainy and then again sunny; this continued for all the time we were there. The lonely beach was just perfect setting to take a walk, we felt as our worries were getting washed away by the waves. It was enjoyable as we got a bit drenched, collected shells and felt in sync with ourselves…….. a feeling that is just un-explainable or un-describable……….

It was almost sunset so we headed back to our homestay, all tired but all worth it. We were all set for dinner (by the time you reach here you might be thinking that I’m obsessed with food….well I’m ;)) Dinner was refreshingly vegetarian…… we had mutter-paneer, yellow daal, some kothimbeer vadi with a rice bakri…… it was just delectable. During and after dinner we made sure we interacted with our hosts to make sure we don’t miss any insight.

The day had so much and we were looking for more tomorrow….. and we had planned for a hectic trip tomorrow……

To be continued.......