Saturday, 21 June 2014

If this a dream I dont want to wake up- at Alibagh

A day that  could be easily classified as one of the happiest days of life when nothing went wrong happened when we were holidaying at Alibagh, some 120 kilometres off Mumbai. After a lazy breakfast of Vaada Pav we set of for Murud, a resort 50 Kilometres from Alibagh. As usual we took a wrong turn and landed going along the sea front across vast stretches of mangrove forests flanking us on both sides. Slowly the vegetation changed to the more dense coastal forest, with coconut, palm and other thick foliage. Suddenly we spotted some beautiful ruins which was actually an old temple- the Rameswar temple. We barged in to find the typical wood carvings and beautiful murals that one finds in older temples.
Dont expect a spotless vehicle when your pet joins you in your adventures
The thing that struck me as heart-warming and strange was that there were dogs roaming freely inside the temple - even in the sancto sanctorum- I felt that this is a place which is truly a place of worship where all living beings are treated as creatures of the One above.
na mange sona chandi
Untouched by human degradation
if you can call this a road
The beautiful rocky Arabian Sea
We moved on towards our destination and saw a fort at a distance atop a hill- Like Columbus we took the turn to go through a sleepy fisherman village and un-metalled roads to reach the Korlai lighthouse and fort.Driving through the fishing hamlet,the mind started going on an imagination overdrive as yours truly looked around expecting the fisher people to break into song and dance Bollywood style as Raabert went about quietly smuggling crates of foreign liquor and Gold. 
Looking out for Raabert

It was out here that the strangest thing happened again- the beach was uninhabited by any humans or dogs save the five of us.Needless to mention but the odd hours we spent there were the happiest - it was as if we were the masters of our universe- the sea was in low tide, the water calm and Neuton proved his water dog credentials. Set free of all shackles, the bugger spent his time swimming chasing crabs and warning us whenever we treaded too deep into the water. Even the spouse who normally hates water was loathe to get out.
 With great reluctance we got out and headed towards Murud- not because we wanted to, but because we were hungry as hell and there was nothing commercial to be seen within miles. So we headed back towards civilization and after getting out of the dusty road and speaking to the locals we were told that Patils at Murud is the best joint for sea food.On reaching murud we hit straight for Patils and discovered that their fame was not ill gotten. Our bellies filled we hit back again for the beach- this beach though not crowded was inhabited- we drove the car right into the sea and let ourselves loose once again- bathed, swam till we could do it no more. Tired and blissfully happy, we got out of the water shivering as the breeze dried us out. Neuton looked like a grubby urchin - cant say we looked very much better though! As we were hitting back for alibag we saw the sea coming in and mercilessly sucking in a chevrolet parked near the water- the rescue operation was a long drawn affair, but happily they were able to save the car. On the way back we stopped at kashid beach rested on the hammock and made plans for the next day.



 We were supposed to hit for Mumbai darshan that day but we chucked it up as we wanted some more lazing in the sun and sand.So after a repeat breakfast of vada pav, we hit for the Kashid beach.Now let me give you a brief run up on the beach- its a long stretch of golden sands dotted with rocks - the sea is incredibly calm and in low tide one can venture in as far as 2kms.However the USP of this beach is the parallel pine grove dotted with shacks which have used the pine trees to hang up hammocks. We had made arrangements yesterday with the owner of a shack- a lady who was kind enough to whip us a typical maharashtrian fish meal if we got in the raw fish.We picked up Surmai and pomphret on the way -and handed it over to her who said that she would take around two hours to whip us a fish curry fish fry and rice meal.




 We had the day to ourselves, so after fortifying ourselves with some snacks and raw coconut(dab),we walked right into the sea till we came across some waves which were worth riding. Swimming some, riding waves playing ball(you get footballs on rent) in the sea, watching young couples making out like crazy in the sea(this brought a smile on my face as certain memories of days gone by flashed across),its difficult to actually pinpoint how the time flew.The spouse went on his rock collection spree- we even caught a big crab with my rubber slippers(we let it go though).Neuton went ballistic like before and he started swimming with the waves and barking at us sporadically urging us to follow him. All too soon we found ourselves hungry- and trooped like the wet brigade to the shack to find a steaming meal of kokum based coconut gravy surmai and pomphret fry with rice.between the four of us we wolved down over 2 kilos of fish and around a kilo of rice.
The spouse and the daughter went off on a sandcastle making spree while yours truly plonked myself on the hammock and tried to sleep some, somewhat sceptical whether the hammock would hold the 75 kg plus weight. Fortunately it did and there are no tales of injured dignity regaled over parties for the rest of my lifetime.



The sea looked serene and with the sunlight shimmering on the water my mind captured the image because no camera could express the emotions that surged through my heart on the view. However when there is water dripping all over and the comfortable sea breeze cooling you further- sleep is difficult to come by and one feels recharged and ready for more action. So after resting for over an hour I trooped back into the sea where the family was riding the waves- so just for this once all 5 of us went crazy- what I feel good is the fact that hubby went berserk in water- a first in my over 2 decade years plus of marriage- he has never been a water baby- hates getting wet on principle.
Finally it was time for us to dry up and get into the car- so out of the sea again- this time with the sun throwing the evening rays it was actually cold- the drying up process that is.However I said what the heck if I have to die of pneumonia let me at least die happy - so I hung on the hammock sipping tea till I dried up enough to be allowed into the car. Happy and tired we hit back for home. Ready for more…

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