Mahabaleshwar – The Land of Strawberries

“I will come in the first week of June” Lakshmi said. “I will bring Shardul along” she added. My heart leapt with joy and I thanked Lakshmi whole heartedly. Just recovering from a surgery and I was in the 8th week of convalescence. I had requested so many of my friends to take my children out somewhere but each one got busy with his daily routine and it was left to me to feel bad I cancelled their vacation to Thekkady and rue over it. So this sudden unfounded offer of Lakshmi , my sister coming down with Sharan, relieved my upset mind and I mentally planned to compensate my kids by taking them somewhere.

We had to go to a place which is nearby yet enjoyable. After much dilly dallying and choose and pick we decided to go to Mahabaleshwar. Lakshmi came and we just relaxed for the first day. The next day we booked a car and left at 7 in the morning. The Pune Expressway is a blessing for those who travel by that route. I don’t like travelling by these cars which are air conditioned or by cars which have their back windows closed. Why for God’s sake they don’t make open windows I fail to understand. Yet in spite of all this, we set out happily. Lakshmi, Shardul, Kavya and Shiv my children and me. The way was laden with wide open roads and beautiful scenery. There are innumerable tunnels on the way to Pune and the small hill station at Lonavala looked lovely. There were toll taxes everywhere and I was upset that they took so much as tax.

I had earlier gone to Mahabaleshwar with my husband and children and so I remember that there was a Ganpati temple at Vai. This temple was very famous and I wanted to visit this place. My mother had told me that this was one of the temples of Ashtavinayak. The ambience and surroundings at the temple showed that this was a very ancient temple.

Then we took the road to Panchgani. This is a place that is just before Mahabaleshwar starts. We had to pay a tax again at Panchgani. Here we saw a building called the Harrison Folly. My kids were very excited to be able to sit on the horse and ride. Shardul too though 18 years of age, enjoyed the horse ride.

As we proceeded upwards, it was getting misty and so rightfully when we saw a local vendor selling coffee, we halted and had this energy giving beverage. With the picturesque surroundings offered and with the scenic beauty completely overtaking us, we felt we were in a canvas painting as the gurgling stream came flowing by. We were very exhausted so we thought of washing our feet in this stream and give some relief to our tired feet. With the light drizzle falling on our faces, the atmosphere getting colder, the car went up and we were simply loving the cloudy day that it was turning out to be. I actually thought initially that it was fog. I suddenly realized that the whole area was so high that we were being enveloped by snowy white clouds. Wow!

“See Kavya and Shiv, see these are clouds.” My son was so excited and we all laughed as he tried to catch hold of the clouds that seemed to be so close to him outside the window of the car.

With all this experience in tow, we checked into our hotel. A quick tea and snacks and we refreshed and rested for some time. Then we set out for site seeing. We took the same car that we had come in and went to see the Venna Lake. This was such a different experience that the entire tiredness of having travelled in the car eased out. First of all, we had a very nice boatman who took us around. He sang a very lovely local song with the odes of yore being told. We got chatting with him and asked where he lived and all. He showed us a village in the distance and said that he had a son going to college who knew to speak English. He gave us roti from this lunch box and said his daughter had made it. A happy contented family man, out to make a little out of his life. The nice windy morning was making the scene look really picturesque and beautiful.

Then we had a tour of the many points in the area. We saw the Kates Point, then the Echo Point and the Needle Hole Point and the Elephant point. The Echo Point was very exciting for my children as they heard their voice come back as they echoed. All these points are adjacent to each other and we could move around seeing them easily.

We were exhausted and tired by now, so we decided to take a break, go back to the hotel and then continue the next day. We came back a tired but happy lot. We had a good dinner and rested in the hotel lounge watching some games activities going on. My children took part in it and so did Shardul. Lakshmi and I had fun playing the scrabble game. We went back to our childhood and I forgot all about my operation for a change.

The next morning after breakfast, we thought we would go around the market place and see what was around in the city.  It was like a melee there and we were struck by the vibration and activity around. As soon as we entered the marketplace  we were surrounded by a number of drivers who were trying to ask us if we needed a vehicle. But we already had one and so we just looked at their animated activity amusedly.

After going round the market, we proceeded to go to Pratapgad Fort. We had breakfast on the way and my son was just literally living on strawberries and raspberries.

“Mummy look, waterfall!” cried out Shiv. Sure enough we saw a magnificent waterfall. We got out of the car and watched the sheer water beauty. After taking enough photos and videos in front of the falling graceful beauty, we proceeded further. As we approached the fort at Pratapgarh, my son was very excited as he was seeing something he normally had seen in his history text book. The 3600 feet climb up was a little difficult for my kids and me as we have travel sickness. So we laid our heads below and Lakshmi and Shardul were regaling us with the scenic beauty outside.

“Mummy you know Pratapgarh fort is the highest fort in Maharashtra.” Asked Shardul

“Yes, I do and I also know that it was built in the 16th century.” I added and my daughter said that it was built by the Mughal Commander Afzal Khan who came to kill Shivaji Maharaj.

My son snuggled up to me and asked, “Then what happened?” I continued, “ Shivaji Maharaj decided to meet here so that the height would be an advantage. He then killed Afzal Khan and there is a tomb in that place. “

Lakshmi is a tourist guide, and so we didn’t have any problem going around. She knew all the places in Maharashtra and Goa so she guided us around the fort. We went to cave which lay in the bottom level of the fort. This was a place where the mavlas of Shivaji were to hide when the fight between him and Afzal Khan was to be had. We then saw the main gate of the fort and the balekilla, and the Rajmarg or the main path which led to the temple of Goddess Bhavani.

Lastly Lakshmi took us around the Bhavani temple where we saw a magnificent sword studded with stones. This belonged to the Commander of the Maratha battalion.

“Do you know that around 600 soldiers were killed with this sword.?” Said Lakshmi. “Wow! “my son exclaimed in awe. We then went to the place where earlier the palace of Jijamata was there. The British soldier destroyed this palace so went to see the spot where it once existed. The sheer grandeur of the past and the historical value it had took our breath away and my son was continuously beside himself with excitement to be inside the fort which was there on his history text book.

My daughter was more than happy to shop for her friends at the handicrafts center that was there at the bottom of the fort. Shardul was getting bored waiting for her prolonged shopping and was pulling a long face. Our time passed in sorting out the small argument cropping up between them.

It was only after we got down that we realized that we were hungry. Such was the impact of the place that we had forgotten ourselves. We came down and looked around for a small place where we could have our lunch. We found a small inn which sold Punjabi food! Punjabi food in Maharashtra! After a hot lunch and totally exhausted and tired, we proceeded back to the city.

Picking up some strawberries and a lot of smalltime shopping we decided to go through the points in the city. The heat seemed to somewhat come down and we were excited to see the points. The point was a flat surface on a high mountain, and it was looking beautiful. It was the Arthur Point. The point was supposed to be the most majestic of all points in Mahabaleshwar. We then went to the Savior Point, and the Monkey Point, All the points enthralled us with their mesmerizing beauty and I was just going beserk taking the photos. The beauty of the valleys around and the hypnotizing effect that it had on us, was taking us in completely. The Kate Point and the Echo Point kindled the imagination of my son who was completely surprised to see how his voice could echo around. There were many monkeys around and we were so scared to walk around.

“Ouch! “ my daughter screamed as a monkey just took away the mango she was eating. She was uncontrollably trembling in fear and was unable to get out of the shock for days to come. I explained to her that Mahabaleshwar was a land of monkeys. The longest walk we had was when we headed for the Elephant Head Point . The Lodwick Point was also wonderful.

As we got down, we saw the sunset, and this was something that is still there in my mind. The lovely sun going down against the beautiful calm, horizon, was emitting out the best rays of hope ever. As we all sat down, tired but happy, relaxed but excited, the sun looked like a flaming princess in orange robes ready to settle down for the day.

“Mummy, I want to go to the bathroom.”  My son whispered to me. “The Bathroom!” All of us said in unison. We looked at each other. All here in this lost forlorn place where Mother Nature was smiling at us. Where would we get a bathroom from? And with all those tourists, there was no way we could use open space for this sudden nature call. We all got up and rushed down trying to find a place for Shiv.

“Mummy ho gaya” my son mumbled meaning to say that his pants had got soiled.!

Till today, we laugh at his uncomfortable position, and the way we had used our water bottles to clean him.

Mahabaleshwar – A journey to Paradise and back. It was lovely, exhilarating and exciting. It was relaxing, lasting, and memorable. I would want to go back there again,  and I am planning to take a break for a weekend by periodically visiting this garden of Eden.

My say : Live Maharashtra, feel Mahabaleshwar.