PUMBAI 2015

PUMBAI. To most, this word may make no sense; few others could feel it is something related to Pune and Mumbai together; for us, it is an experience that triggers a series of wonderful memories. As some of you would have guessed, Pumbai is our annual get-together where Pune and Mumbai friends meet and celebrate a weekend together. Last year, Varsoli beach, Alibag was blessed with our fun; this year, it is Saguna Baug, Neral. While Pumbai is just a weekend, it starts quite earlier than that. Planning and organizing is just a small part of the preparations, it is the excitement of meeting the gang and the anxiety of masti that we would have, drives each of us to counting days for this grand get-together.

Pumbai started on Saturday evening. As few of us were unknown to each other, we spent a few minutes on "Hi" and "Hello". And then, as usual, it didn't take much time to groove in. Before we knew, we were chatting as childhood friends meeting after quite a long time.Chatting continued post dinner and past midnight. Yet we woke-up to a fresh Sunday morning, pepped up to have more fun. Some of us had a river bath, while the rest were happy with heavenly showers (some preferred the shade of umbrellas).

Being International Yoga Sunday, we were treated to a Yoga session followed by a magnificent malakhamb display. Then was the round around the pond in a non-polluting 7-seater (pedal boat). This ride provided a view of a unique fish race which put up a spectacular view. Then we had a fishy experience. Trying to bait the fish, we ended up feeding them. Hence we had to settle for chicken for lunch. Post lunch, most had to leave. Those who stayed back were enthralled with the snake show. Along with a splendid display of venomous cobra, the session was a lot informative as well. All these activities can still be enjoyed at the resort, but the experience with this "gang" cannot be replicated.

When amazing friends get together at a beautiful location in an awesome climate, it results in a deadly concoction, the hangover of which lasts long, very long and the memories makes us nostalgic, every time we hear "PUMBAI".

The blog is an attempt to share an experience that cannot be expressed in words. So are you happy reading or do you wish to experience the magic? If you are interested and want to know more, do get in touch with us. You can email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (+91-9820992403).

Pumbai - Finally!!!

The much awaited Maha GSB event of the year was finally here. This event was announced a month back and within two weeks, we were looking forward to the event as though we have been waiting for this event since ages. It wasn't that we knew each other since ages, much rather, most of us were meeting each other for the first time. We were connected over whatsapp in the recent few days and all that we knew about each other were our phone numbers and to some extent our display pics. 

Being connected on whatsapp had built-up the enthusiasm to an extent that the topic of conversation on the group over the last few days before the meet was majorly on how early can we meet and the acitivities that we do. We had 3 cars from Mumbai and 3 from Pune converging at Vadkhal naka, on way to Alibag. It was a nice specatacle of 6 cars following each other thru the lanes of Alibag and Varsoli. Most of us were not known to each other till we reached the resort and it did not matter, cause the moment all cars were parked, we were helping each other with unloading the cars and settling in the resort.

The resort was just a namesake...we made it our second home as we settled in. After freshening up, it was time to hit the beach. And the beach we truly enjoyed to the core, from playing cricket to volleyball to water sports. Amidst all these, the kiddos (Ira, Shivam and Aditya) were busy splashing in the water, thoroughly enjoying their heart out. Even with a varied age group, there was not a soul who was idle or left out.

Fun and food are two words that are a inherent part of all our get-togethers. From chai and wada pav on the beach to an awesome chicken dum biryani for dinner at the resort, jawla-pav and omlette for breafast and then a full-spread lunch at Fulora (Alibag), we relished food all thru the meet. Fun factor was always on...from the moment we started our journey to Varsoli till we left the resort, then some more at Alibag while having lunch and the lingering moments at Pen when we had say good-bye, much against our wishes. We spent an hour clicking photos, not because we were photo-crazy, but we wanted those moments to last as long as possible. They will, in our memories, till we meet again.

This event was significant in many ways. Firstly, this event introduced the Pune team to the Mumbai team and was the grandest ever with close to 30 friends meeting. Most meeting first time, and yet within 24 hours being so close as though the friendship was ages old. Secondly, in a diverse age group, no one felt left out. Even the toddlers Ira and Shivam enjoyed to the fullest. Thirdly, whatsapp was relived that weekend. We were so busy enjoying and connecting offline, that except for sharing a few pics with those who missed the meet, there wasn't much happening online. A group that boasts of nearly 1000 messages a day was dry at less than 20 messages. Lastly and most importantly, there was no one at the helm. We did have an organizing team - Sanket (resort booking), Vaibhav (co-ordinating the Pune team and finalizing resort), Sanyukta (getting all information needed) and the rest contributed in their own way. It was a team event and everyone contributed in their own way to ensure that it was successful.

If you enjoyed reading the blog, do comment your thoughts. Do you wish to just read the blog, or be a part of the events as well? If you are interested and want to know more, do get in touch with us. You can email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (+91-9820992403).

Cloud 18

We 18 were in the clouds when the rest were way below. It was a sense of achievement, challenging our own limits and testing ourselves to the core, we had overcome everything. Hence were in Cloud 18. There is a myth that trekking needs good physique, stamina and a lot more. We proved it wrong. What is needed is perseverance, attitude and a rocking gang.

 

It all started over a coffee meet when we thought of doing something different. Trek was then, just a suggestion and it gradually shaped to Rajmachi. All experienced trekkers suggested this was not a first timers trek, but then we always stick to our commitment. As planned, we all met at CST for the Chennai Mail. (Yes, we preferred Chennai Mail to Chennai Express). At 2:14, when we got off at Lonavala, the entire General compartment would have heaved a sigh of relief. But then we can't control our energy and enthusiasm.

Before we proceed to the trek, a quick word that most of us met for the first time at CST. That did not matter much, as in this group, anyone who joins, just merges in. This attitude makes everyone comfortable...so much that we spent 2 hours at Lonavala depot as if we were all in our backyard chatting with friends. We will come back to this comfort making attitude again at a later stage. We began our trek at 5:00 am, walking thru the dark in the drizzling rains. Rains have something common with us, they love us so much that thru the entire route they stayed with us, pouring their love all the way. While that made the journey well drenched and drained energy in shivering and trudging with heavily soaked shoes, it also gave us some explicit views of nature and overflowing waterfalls.

As we moved on enjoying the nature, we enjoyed at every spot. Crossing streams, getting drenched at every waterfalls even when it was raining heavily and yet enjoying that. And with all this, we all never missed out on our own safety and safety of our colleagues. It generally is a very rare combination that you see uncontrolled masti going along hand-in-hand with a sense of responsibility. For that matter, the group was quite a diverse in age with difference varying to 15 years. When it was fun time, everyone made joked around as kids of the same age and when it came to guidance, everyone took on matured responsibility. Seniors helped, juniors supported...overall a cohesive act of unity. 

Eventually, we reached Rajmachi at 2:00 PM after some maggis, a few cups of tea, some chips, a dabba of yummy dhoklas and corn. The journey to Rajmachi had drained us physically, more as we were not used to such exertion. Oh well, we were just physically drained, mentally we were still quite fresh. The place where were to put up for the night was a nice village house at Udhewadi, the village at Rajmachi. Quite spacious, natural light passing thru the roof and good ventilation even when there weren't any windows open. It is a good point to wonder when we had such good eco-friendly technology sine primitive ages, where did we loose it? While we were freshening up on these thoughts, we had a call for lunch...and that was all we needed. A perfect lunch with bhakri, chole, batata and dal-rice with thecha gave a good reason to cancel the afternoon plans of trekking further to Shriwardhan gad. While some preferred to catch up a nap, the rest were busy with "Fuzzy duck" (more details when we meet) and capturing expressions (again something better not explained here). We spent the rest of the day at our Rajmachi home. We had made ourselves so comfortable with the family there that even they believed that we were a part of their family and no guests. This emphasizes the point on our attitude on making everyone comfortable with us. Next day, was a lazy Sunday. After an extended Saturday, we woke-up later than expected and had to skip the first part of trek to Manaranjan gad. We did a quick visit to the nearby Udaysagar lake and Godhaneshwar temple. The quick visit lasted two hours and spending energy there (except for some lovely dhoklas, carry-forwarded from Saturday), we were quite hungry and headed straight to the breakfast location. The breakfast of us 18 included 12 plates poha, 16 plates missal, 6 omelettes and 18 cups of tea. Done with all this and we were good to leave. Our stay at the beautiful home was done for this visit...and as we moved, we clicked this last pic for good memories (the home owners are a part of this pic, try identifying them)

We had trekked 21 kms in pouring rain the previous day and we were told that the return journey from Rajmachi to Karjat is not even half of that and complete downhill. With all that we had experience the previous day, the return journey would be a piece of cake. Rather we thought so. The normal start time is during the first half of the day and we were already at 3:00 PM when we begun. The start was good till we reached a spot where we could see what lies ahead. Surely a few of us had lump in the throat while the others easily skipped a few beats. In such scenarios, most mouths go shut (and some pants go wet), but we were different. We started joking, singing and enjoying so much that could put the serious trekkers to wonder whether the route was really a tasking one. As most of us were first timers, we were a tad slow at pace. By the time we reach Kondana caves, the sun had set and darkness was gradually taking over. At this point in time, as were just about confident that we are on the right track, we missed a turn and realized that we were on the wrong path about 30 mins later. Surprisingly and thankfully, at that point in time, no one panicked. We met a 3 other guys from a different group who had missed on the same route. Taking their advice, we walked back to Kondana caved and took the correct route to reach Kondivade, the base village and from there to Karjat station.

Through the adventure (and a bit of misadventure), every moment was a lifetime memory. We carried home some mud, some pain, some aches and sore foots...all those would fade away, and what would remain are the memories. And that is all that mattered. We have tried to share some bit of our experience, however the memories that we have are our forever. All those who have been for the trek vouch to one word that would have to say had they missed out this event "Regret" and one word for being at the trek "Cloud 18".

 

As they say, those who have missed don't know what they have missed. Don't want to be one's who miss? Join us now. For details on how, please email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (+91-9820992403). You can also join us on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/mahagsb/) as well.

Mesmerizing Matheran

Mesmerizing, mind boggling, mystifying…there are so many words that can be combined to define the trek, but there is no one word. It was an experience way out of dreams or more precisely Out-of-the-box trek.
Torrential rains, slippery rocks, untamed waters, sliding soil, steep treks…all against ten determined souls defying stamina and fear, stretched “impossible” to “I-m-possible”. Of the ten who trekked, there we seven daring ladies and three guys. There were no professional trekkers and the max experience was of hiking mountains on a known path with professional trekkers at lead. And here we were dealing with a nil experience on an unknown path.

To top it, we decided to take a shorter route and it was rather finding the route. As Nikita says, “The trek was complete package of expedition including rock climbing, mountaineering, jungle safari and waterfall crossing” or as Akshay says, “This trek was full of adventure-cum-treking-cum hiking-cum-rock climbing and mainly Lost and Found game. This was my first trek and I got good experience.” When the first trek of the season (and the first trek in life for most of us) is this complete package, then the memories are lifetimers.

The only thing that we missed was clicking snaps, which could not happen due to the continuous heavy rains. And we take that positively…looking at our efforts, “the Rain God too showered his blessings on us, throughout our journey”. For us, every moment of that trek will be memorable. All that we did like crossing a waterfalls holding hands and trust of a friend on the other side, walking along a one-person path half of which was down a land-slide, crossing a free-flowing downstream with the help of a fallen tree, watching awestruck as Komal’s bag rolled down the slope, seeing the trail end at a waterfalls and realizing that the we had just crossed a path which we would not be able to trace back. While we have the memories to share and talk about, there are not many photographs to show…so those who missed a lucky enough to not know what they missed. We have some shots describing the “blissful scenic beauty” to share, but that cannot give the experience of the thrill and adventure that we had.

This blog cannot be completed without due thanks to all the 10 who made it to the trek and made the trek so memorable. This special note is not just for attending the trek, but for the standing united in tough times, for the positive attitude and undying spirit, especially to ladies (for standing tough) and to all those first-timers (as the route was difficult for even seasoned trekkers).
For once we had lost and we learnt that losing is not necessarily a bad thing. We lost the route, we lost our lunch, we lost our booking. We gained a new strength, capacity to deal face challenge in return of the route we lost. We gained hospitality (and extra time at Matheran) against the lunch that we lost. And the lost bookings saved the day as there were a large number of drop-outs. It’s truly said, “Whatever happens, happens for good”

The more we learn, the more we know how less we know. The more we trekked, the more we realized that had we known more, the chances of us trekking would be lesser. Had we known that the route was so difficult (adventurous), we probably would not have ventured out on that route (and now that we know, it is very unlikely that we would do it again). Finally for those who missed it…better luck next time, but wait, will there be a next time?
Well, yes, there will be…might not be on the same route; may be on different route. And then too, there would be a few who would miss…but sadly would not know what they missed.

If you have missed this and you want to ensure that you don't miss the next one, stay in touch. For details on how, please email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (9820992403).

...आणी गड जिंकला!

Saturday early morning, Pune climate, chilly weather…an apt time to pull-up an extra blanket. It requires an extra-ordinary enthusiasm to step-out of the bed, pull-up your socks and go trekking. One of the source of motivation that is required to put-in these efforts, comes from the group you are in. And that is exactly what the Pune group displayed on January 16.
At times, we do feel that the number makes a difference, but when it's Maha GSB we make-up for the missing numbers. How?? Simply by enjoying so much that those who miss, realize what they missed! While the team strength was on the lower side, but not the strength of the team. Determined to make every event a successful one, we are ready to scale any heights and trekking Sinhgad wasn't a challenge (to the enthusiasm). First it was (wind)-cheating the cold and then beating the heat while scaling the heights. And by the time we reached the top, a lot many calories were burnt and energies drained. Or as we say in Marathi "खरच फाटली!"
Of course, when we meet "food" has to be there. And after so much of calorie burning, it definitely deserves a treat. When you are in Rome, be a Roman…when you are on Sinhagad, have पिठलं भाकरी and ठेचा. We do capture the food we eat so as to share the temptations, but I guess too many calories were burnt…hence the plates just have the left overs.
In all, another weekend morning exploited, another set of memories added, a different experience worth sharing and looking forward to meet-up again! We decided, we planned, we executed…आणी गड जिंकला!
Feeling like you have missed something?? If you don't want to miss it again, please email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Vaibhav (for Pune meets - 9860355206).

Conquering a Sunday!

Sunday mornings are lazy and there are no 2 ways about it. Rather the complete day is lazy. It's "the" day for relaxing, getting up late, lying on the sofa playing couch potato and watching the idiot box till hunger beckons lunch. Post a heavy lunch and an afternoon nap, it's evening tea, a movie may be and the day ends. Contrastingly, if someone offers a Sunday wherein the wake-up alarm rings at 4:00 AM to be ready in an hour and then walk uphill for about 3 hrs basking in the sun...what would you choice be??
We accepted the offer. And when we have a team that gels so well, that neither disturbing the sleep nor the hot climate can deter our determination to go trekking together. And with the nature's beauty calling, it was a bonus offer!
It was destination Lohagad...one of the majestic forts on the Sahyadri range and a perfect trek for first-timers (Most of us were first-timers) Though one of the simplest of the treks, the sun blaring heat and the long uphill trail together were a tough ask. It is at such points where the group matters, the bonding between the group matters. And this group gels as strongly as the structure of the fort.
Encouraging, cheering and clicking pics all the way, the whole group enjoyed trekking together. To add, we enjoyed the simplest of zunka-bhakar for lunch, followed by kokum sharbat. It was a completely different experience in all. A Sunday was exploited against the usual protocol of a "lazy" Sunday...A Sunday was conquered!
Feeling like you have missed something?? If you don't want to miss it again, please email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (9820992403).

आती क्या खंडाळा!

This call of "आती क्या खंडाळा??" was answered by 21 Maha GSBs from Mumbai and Pune. Half of them had performed at the Wadala Math and knew each other...but the rest of the group barely knew each other and few of them had never met anyone in the group. In such a scenario, it would be fair to say that getting around with each other would take about 4-5 hours and meeting in the evening would just suffice the intro session for the group. But this group was a tad too different...probably it is in-built that any member joining this group just gels in.We reached the venue at about 6:00 PM. There was power failure and darkness was seeping in. That did not deter the enthusiasm in anyways. It took us about an hour to get the momentum going and the fun-time started rolling (not that we did not have fun on the way to Khandala) and the enjoyment and merriment went on more than the clock could count hours...from evening to night to midnight to dawn to early morning...till the time that time took us apart and it was time to head home. And in all this while, we collected memories to cherish for a lifetime.
We joked, we laughed, we sang, we danced, we barbequed, we enjoyed. We never missed a second and yet we never knew how time passed. And when we realized it was time to say "Good-bye", we were left wanting for more. Even after returning, we all are still in the same mood...wanting to be back with each other and have even more fun.I am short of words to describe the experience we had, hence will be updating the blog from the feedback from those who attended the meet shortly. The experience is also shared very poetically by Amit Bokale [AmBo] on our blog Kavya Prabha

Those who were there know what it was and we promise to deliver more of such memories in the time to come. For those who missed out, still have a chance. For details, write to us at mahagsb@googlegroups.com

Badlapur - Neral - Matheran - Neral

In the train to Badlapur, I was telling Rahul about the Maha GSB group and the fun that we have, but he did not have the slightest idea of what was awaiting him at Badlapur. The whole team going to Matheran, was waiting for us. We had a slow dinner before we went to Nanda’s home. Kedar declared that no one would sleep as we need to catch the 6:30 local to Neral…neither was anyone interested in sleeping. After that…till 6:30, what we did for continuous 6 hours can be summarized as pure laughter. We laughed on anything, everything and even nothing…we were just laughing. Ajinkya’s monoact performance was the highlight of those 6 hours.

On Saturday morning, we reached Neral duly at 7:00 am, only to know that the first train to Matheran starts at 8:50. While we were waiting for the train, Shalmali and Nanda managed to take a good nap and Shruti and Shooter had a long walk.

The wait definitely was worth it. The 2 hour journey in the toy train was a wonderful one. We all crammed up into one compartment of the toy train…and Kedar started wondering how would the weight be balanced?
Anyways the toy train moved and our journey to Matheran continued. On the way we discovered some new talents. Though none of the cell phones were catching range, Shalmali managed to give a running commentary to her mom. Rahul was the only one who managed to have a nice sleep thru all jerks and movements of the train. And a very unique talent came from Shruti, the pincher! I know I am going to get a few pinches for this, but on the way to Matheran, Kedar was at the receiving end. Other than talent discoveries, we also had a splendid view of the valley.
We were all first timers at Matheran and knew nothing about it. We had our bookings at the MTDC resort and that is all we knew. Finally when we reached Matheran, we were informed that the MTDC resort (where we had our bookings done) was one station prior to Matheran. So we decided to walk down the tracks and we trekked for about 2 kms.
By the time we reached, we were completely drained out. We managed to have lunch and then we were snoring to glory till the evening. Evening was pleasant and we decided to spend the time near the rooms as we wanted to build-up energy for the next day.

I have never been up so early on a Sunday morning. I and Kedar woke up at 4:00 AM and then we walked to the Panorama point and the Sunrise point. The breeze, the view and the sunrise were just too mesmerizing. Getting up at 4:00 AM had actually paid off. We were waiting for the sunrise from about 5:30. The changing light and the blowing breeze made the wait peaceful. Then the sun peeked out of the mountains like a small kid peeking over a fence. Gradually the brightness began to spread and within a couple of minutes darkness had run away.
Surprise was awaiting us when we returned. Avinash (my cousin from Pune) had joined in with Gaurav. As we were chatting outside the rooms, a monkey approached our room and I casually commented “Don’t worry, shooter is inside”. That very moment, the monkey screamed and took to his heels…shooter was definitely inside! We then trekked to Gorbet point while the girls visited the Panorama point. Returning from Gorbet point, we took the route closed due to landslides…and that was an adventurous trek.We took the 1:40 train back to Neral and the trip to Matheran went into the memory lane. Matheran is a place to see. Cool and mainly unpolluted as no vehicles are allowed. Loose red soil all around, so prefer wearing trekking clothes that don’t soil easily. Taking no credits away from Matheran from making this trek a memorable experience, it was the team that ensured that all enjoyed to the max and made the weekend unforgettable.Thanks to all those who made this a grand success! Those who feel you missed this one need not worry…we are coming with more. If you have any suggestions for the upcoming treks, do keep writing to us at mahagsb@googlegroups.com