MATHERAN JOURNEY ...friends and fun

The best part about living in Pune is that you are surrounded by natural and historical beauties around, be it the manmade fort at the hill tops, the natural water falls, the hill stations…it’s  all there at few kilometers of distance from the city.

Engineering is like incomplete if you don’t make travels with your friends during your four years. One such destination we made to conquer was MATHERAN. It’s a kind of hill station between Pune and Mumbai and the place looked heaven in the monsoon with the waterfalls and rains. The organizer for the trip was Aniket Kapadane. I think it was around July in second year when suddenly he called to inform that he was organizing a trip on the weekends and if I would like to join. I, being a travel lover said yes at once.

The plan was to catch a late night train to some station, the name which I can’t remember now and then take an early local to Matheran station. We all were supposed to meet at the Pune railway station. It was around 9 when I left after having my dinner. The weather was cold and I borrowed this wind cheater from Rohit as it will also save me from rain. I met Aniket at his bus stop and waited for everyone so that we could catch the station bus together. After 15 mins, only couple of more guys joined us. The bus came and we boarded it. We told everyone else to join us at station and take an auto or something. 

It was around an hour of journey to the station. The wind was cold. The station as usual was lively. There were rich people, average people and garib peoples. If anyone wants to know about India, I guess the best place to discover it, is the railway station. Here you will find people enjoying air conditioner, eating expensive dinner, then the average class sitting in the sleeper waiting room with their family and bags and then the low income class strolling around the outside vendors, some sleeping on the floor.

I still remember my first train journey which I made only after I completed my 12^th and went to Delhi for entrance preparation. The dark things which I discovered during that travel opened a new dimension to my life. I wonder how the kids begging would feel seeing other kids enjoying with their family. What will be their life like? Then the people who are physical disabled. They can’t even move properly. Then, the blind ones. We always complain we don’t have this; we don’t have that, but look at them. What life are they having? Every morning they wake up to discover that they are on the pity of the other people. I was really moved by all this and truly speaking every train journey taught me a lot about my India and gave my heart a little more sorrow and angry about my nalayak government and politician who just talk crap about poverty but then just use them for their vote banks . Seriously, Rand DE basanti part 2 karne ka mann karta hai.

We waited at the platform. Meanwhile Aniket was busy talking to the rest of people making their way to the station. He told them the place where we should gather. By half an hour, almost all of us were there. We entered “The Kum-sum” restaurant at the station. It’s one of the most hyped place among students as it is opened the entire night. Some of us ordered dinner , meanwhile we chatted. Aniket briefed us all about the plan. He made sure that, we didn’t had to hire any private vehicle and will make our journey in the cheapest way.

As far as I remember, there was me, Aniket, Anshul,Mohit,Akolkar and some more friends from hostel .We took some snap at the station and then boarded our train once it arrived. It dropped us to somewhere from where we were supposed to take the local to Matheran .We reached Matheran around 4 in the morning. It was a tourist spot and there were toy train and all for display. We shot everything. We moved outside. The air was fresh. The next task was to hire a cab which will take us to the top of the hill. We inquired around and finally settled for one. It was dark so we missed the view while going up. It started raining as we were about to reach the starting point of the tourist spot. We paid the taxi wala and ran toward the shed. We bought our tickets and waited for the rain to stop.

The place looked green. The hissing sound of the insect along with the thumping sound of the rain added to the ambience.  We saw the map hanging at the entrance. It mentioned all the important points where we should go. We have the option to travel by horse or on foot. The zone was ecofriendly and no vehicles were allowed inside. The rain continued pouring. We could feel the hazy daylight now. It was around 5 when we finally decided to move ahead and enjoy the rain while we walked.

Oh! It was great. The water was cold and heavy. The wind cheater helped. The lanes were narrow. Moving in a queue, we moved forward. The street light helped. We roamed around for at least 4-5 hours covering all the important places, admiring the nature’s beauty, clicking pics .The place was a great attraction for the season and many couples were seen roaming around wearing the unfamiliar raincoat riding on the horse.

We then had lunch at a nearby dhaba and then took a cab back to the station. While returning we saw the view from top. Moreover, there were some falls naturally created because of the rain where many people were having fun. We all were tired and almost all of us slept after some time. We took a train back to Pune. It was a general dhaba and as usual it was packed. I made my way to the top railing and slept there. My friends woke me up at the Pune station.

I must say, it was one hell of an experience. Be it the way it was planned from beginning to end, thanks to Kapadane, the monsoon, the waterfalls, the winds, the weather, the greenery, the friends, the chats , the butta ,the food .

 Everything was great!!