“I have to join on the 25th of this month, Kaka.” My nephew Dipankar told me and then looked at me expectantly. “Oh No! “ I groaned within myself. I knew what that look meant. I exactly could sense it when my nephew made those imploring glances. With his big eyes rolling up in expectation he used to make himself look so innocent, that one could only but succumb to his requests.

Now that he was saying that he was going to the Boarding School in Panchgani and that he had to join on the 25th, and also gave that innocent “I never asked for anything” look, I had to just agree to his whim. Dipu was joining the Boarding School as his mother, my sister found him extremely troublesome and naughty at home. She was finding it difficult to take care of her 2 year old daughter. Dipu had his sister coming after 10 years. So the situation was such that my sister and my brother in law decided to get him admitted to a Boarding School. My aunt in Mumbai said that Panchgani was the best place. So it was bon voyage Panchgani for us.

Much against my wishes I had to ask my boss to permit me a weeks’ leave whilst I go, escort my nephew and come back. Diplomatically, I also ensured I had some office assignment in Mumbai wherein I could combine personal responsibilities yet not waste on professional time. With all this in tow, I set out with my sister, her husband, the two year old infant Sneha and Dipu. We boarded the Gitanjali Express from Howrah Station. The Station so old still weeked with the embers of Indian patriotism that once thrived here. The red walls of the station bore testimony to being witness to a city with a thousand stories to tell. With the afternoon heat, bearing in on us, we just were more than relieved to get into the air-conditioned Gitanjali Express. As the train sped past, we were quite settled and looked forward to leaving Dipu at Panchgani. The one and a half day journey just sped by over cutlets, tomato soup and puri bhaji in the train! As we stepped out into the Dadar station, we were greeted by my aunt who ushered us into a SUV she had brought. Ensconced in the warm surroundings of a lovely curtained room, I looked out into the open garden that overlooked my aunt’s house – Shivaji Park. I looked at Dipu sleeping soundly and my heart melted at the thought of having to leave this 11 year old in a Boarding School. I hugged him and went to sleep.

The next morning, we took the hired car and went towards Panchgani. We reached the place in around five hours. The driver was good and we didn’t feel any bump. But the climb up the Ghats was quite giddy and my sister had a polythene bag ready in case she felt puky. Sneha the infant was the best of the lot. She slept through. After the formalities in the school, we escorted Dipu till his room. He could keep his luggage there and had to join school after two days. We looked around for a place to stay and we intended to return after two days. After some considerable searching we got a bungalow belonging to an old lady. She was letting it out to people who wanted to stay for a short time. We liked the ambience a lot and decided to go for it. The lush green expanse behind her bungalow grew in on us and we relaxed the moment we got into the room. The room had a double bed, with a wardrobe, a table and a fridge. Not bad we thought. We got some cold drinks and kept it in the freezer. It was around 2 in the afternoon. We had lunch at a local hotel and then decided to take Dipu around in Panchgani before he started his boarding school life.

Panchgani lying in the Satara district of Maharashtra is about 258 km from Mumbai. Situated at a height of 1344m, it is a very pretty Maharashtra hill stations. Earlier most of the Hindi movies were shot at Panchgani.

A very popular and favorite of most of the Mumbai travelers this is the easiest getaway for many people. Tourism is a mainstay for the locals of Panchgani who consider this as their earning.

We decided to first go to the Kamalgad fort. This is also known as the Katanga fort meaning death fort. This is a small square shaped hill fort in the Wai area. It lay around 10miles from Wai and was historically famous in earlier times. Those days a mokasaddar or a manager took care of the fort. As we reached the fort, we saw that the fort was almost in ruins and there were writings all over. This script in which the documents were written called the Modi script referred to the fort as Kattalgad.  History has it that Kamalgad surrendered in 1818 after fighting with a British detachment. Major Thatcher commanded this army.

Dipu was quite enthralled by the fact that he was in a fort. It was around 3-4 acres in area. There was a steep rock surrounding it. We reached the fort by climbing it up. There was a huge boulder at the base.

“What’s that uncle?” asked Dipu. I said that that was a tunnel in olden times. This tunnel is now closed with a rock which fell there and no one removed it. This fort was very strange as it did not have any building or walls protecting it. We walked further on and we were completely exhausted. Dipu was liking it but Sneha didn’t like the heat. There was a ruin of an old well on the top of the fort. This well went deep into the ground. The hole must have been some 18 to 25 feet deep. The well looked as if it were a quarry where red stone is found.

The tour of this fort was worthwhile.  The scenic beauty here was seen to be believed. There was the Dhom backwaters in the distance with the thick forests making the place look even more beautiful. My mouth almost fell open on seeing the lovely surroundings and Snehashish, my brother in law made me stand at the edge of a cliff and took a lovely photograph. The entire scene was breathtaking and with the River Krishna in the far distance, it was the perfect tourist spot.

We came down and then decided to go to the Panchgani Bus Stand. It was only 2kms from here to Sydney Point. This is a place which is located on a hill. This hill was facing the Krishna valley. The scene was so beautiful with the Dhom Dam waters in the distance glittering in the light. Besides there were the Pandavgad and Manhardeo hill ranges which also gave a beautiful sight to the sore eyes. I felt really refreshed after seeing the verdant expanse of the Krishna valley from the top. From here we went to see the Dhom Dam.

This dam was around 21kms from Panchgani. So we hired a car and went there. As we sped past the trees and mountain ranges following us, we were looking forward to a lovely sight, when Sneha cried loudly. She went on ranting for some time. We had to stop the car and reduce all the heat and tiredness which made her cranky. After considerable cooing and cajoling she calmed down and we went ahead. Finally we reached the Dhom Dam. This beautiful spot was very good for kids as it had facilities of scooter boats and speed boats. Here we saw the Krishna River in full glory and it lent more beauty to the surroundings. We wanted to go in the scooter boats but he said that it was temporarily closed. Consoling a heartbroken Dipu, we went towards our next spot.

“I am hungry Momma,” said Dipu. Bipasha my sister and Snehashish said we would have to take a break as Sneha was also getting cranky. WE stopped by at a nice hotel we found on the way and had a good lunch. The hotel also had facilities of a restroom and a washroom. While Snehashish and I waited in the shade of a tree in the garden beside the hotel, Bipasha went around changing diapers and also changed Dipu’s clothes. He was dirty. We were wondering how this kid would manage alone in the hostel. With such thoughts in mind, both Snehashish and I were just looking at the verdant expanse in front of us when Bipasha came and said that she was ready.

We proceeded further and went to the famous table land. This is located at a height of 60metres. As we approached the table land I was struck by its formation. What geography can do to a place! “These are laterite rocks” Said Snehashish.

“This incidentally is the second longest mountain in the whole of Asia.” Said Snehashish.

“Look Uncle! “cried Dipu in wonder as the entire hill station of Panchgani unfolded in front of us. The mystical beauty of the entire region was mesmerizing and I took out the best pictures possible. No amount of videos or photos were enough to capture the beauty of this land. This table land also is the venue for many film shoots. There was this rustic travel guide who tried his best English and was educating some other tourists about which movie was shot where etc. There was a gap between two mountains that was visible in the far distance which was supposedly the venue for a major Hindi movie.

“Look there, that formation of rock do you see?” said Snehashish. We all looked at where he was pointing. That is the Pandav’s Feet.

“Pandav’s feet?” asked Bipasha, bringing Sneha closer to her. “Yes” replied Snehashish. “It is supposed to be the imprints of the Pandavas.

From here we went to see the place where a single tree grew on a rock. This was the One Tree Point. Apparently many movies were shot here.

We seated Sneha in the merry go round and she looked like a little baby doll sitting on it. However she started wailing in fright the moment the merry go round started. So we took her off it. There was also a horse ride. Dipu sat on the horse and enjoyed the ride. All of us took turns in sitting on it and taking photos. Bipasha was too scared and screamed out loudly when she sat on the horse!

All of us laughing and teasing each other made our way towards our next destination. The next destination was Parsi point. This famous picnic spot is actually located on the road to Mahabaleshwar. So we had to go a little afar. This place was a lovely spot from where we could see the Dhom Dam, the valley created by the River Krishna and also the lovely scenic beauty of the Wai village. The cool and tranquil surrounding here totally hypnotized all of us and we were completely taken in by the entire region. This is the best part of visiting a hill station. It calms frayed nerves. Quite happy and content with our day’s visit we reached the cottage, completely exhausted. It had been a long tiring day. We had one more day after which Dipu would join school. The night was spent in discussing the events of the day, teaching Dipu to be a good boy at the boarding school and deciding what to do the next day.

Early morning at Panchgani is like paradise. The mist, the fog and the dew were like those angels on the prowl and trying to put the tourist into a sound sleep even in the wee hours of morning. I woke up and went for a walk. The sun rose in the distance and I could see it through the branches of the trees that came in between me and the sun. The orange beauty rose in the blue horizon and gave the sky a light red hue. I loved it and came back to find both my sister and brother in law already up and ready. I had a shower and joined them for breakfast. After this we went to the Devil’s Kitchen. We had wanted to go there from Table Land the previous day but we didn’t have the time. It was getting dark, so we went there the next day. Believed to be the place where the Pandavas cooked food during their exile, the Devil’s Kitchen lay to the south of the Table land. The mythology attached to it, attracts a lot of visitors and we could see that even as early as 10 in the morning there were lot of tourists who had come here to see history and mythology unfolding.

The sun was rising and so was the heat. Yet we were quite oblivious to it as we were more focused on enjoying whatever we were seeing. Rajpuri Caves was our next halt. Situated around 10km from Panchgani, the drive to the caves was memorable. The greenery outside and the pure air that we could feel as we sped past was enough to soothe our tired nerves. These caves are famous for their nature and also for the temple of Lord Kartik that is present here.

“Actually we should have come here during harvest time.” Said Bipasha carrying Sneha on her baby holder. Sneha peered out of the baby pouch and she looked like a small kangaroo inside it.!  “This place has a fair during harvest time. People from my school saw it when they had come on an excursion.” Bipasha was a teacher in a school and had taken a sabbatical because of Sneha.

The caves were looking so beautiful that I just wanted to be there, seep in the beauty and capture the whole of the caves on the camera. As we went up the brick steps which took us the caves, I was feeling we were missing out so much by not visiting these places often. The place was romantic and looked every bit out of a fairy tale. As we walked by, I saw a water kund.

“Yes, these are supposed to have healing powers too.” Said Snehashish. “One of my acquaintances had a relative who is said to have been cured of some body ache after washing his body with this water.”

“Surprising, intriguing and thought provoking.” I thought and continued to enjoy the ambience, as Dipu holding my hand was getting more and more curious about the history and geography of India.

After this we went to do something which I was eager and dying to do – Paragliding. Paragliding is a sport which not everyone would want to do. But I am an adventure freak and would surely not have wanted to leave a chance to glide over a height with such panoramic views coupled with the gentle breeze blowing over. The lovely green expanse of Panchgani along with the scenic beauty was enough to make me feel like jumping over and flying like a bird.

So we went to the paragliding spot with Bipasha completely nervous about my gliding in the air. Bipasha is scared of heights. So the fear. As we approached the spot, I saw many adventure weekenders like me who had come there simply to enjoy the sheer thrill of the sport. This too me is eternal bliss. The height of 4500 feet gave Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar reasons to be good paragliding spots. We reached the spot and we saw people giving the joy rides of paragliding. There was a large glider where two people could sit. One was the instructor and the other the person who would ride. Since the pilot was there to help, I told Bipasha she needn’t worry. I signed the Indemnity Bond that we normally have to before embarking on the ride. I paid the amount of Rs.1, 500 and got in with the pilot. As we went up I saw my family getting smaller and smaller and the feeling was beyond description. I had taken my camera along and was clicking away to glory. We had reached almost 2000feet and my family was seen like small speck of dust. Wow! This was fun. Since the pilot was managing the ride, I did not feel any jerk and simply enjoyed the feeling. The winds also helped so we were not swaying in the sky. After some time maybe around twenty minutes, we started descending down. I could see Dipu waving frantically at me, I waved back. I took out my straps as the ride landed and Dipu came excitedly towards asking me how it was. I asked him to sit and try it out. Dipu was more than willing but Bipasha was scared. I told her he was joining Boarding School next day, she has to steel up. So Dipu went up the next ride. He was screaming in delight and he didn’t go as high as 2000 feet. He just went up a little 500 feet and came down. He was too excited and he had much more excitement to express when he came down. Done with a memorable tour of paragliding we were just walking down to the car when we saw an advertisement for a stay over at a camping site. After making enquiries we came to know that it was a place called Eco camp. When we reached the spot we found the place to be a dream paradise. Surrounded by hills all over this beautiful site overlooked the valley below.  We met one Mr. Andre here and we were really excited that we could pull it through. We had camps and tents and we spent the night there. It was a true adventure with all the ingredients for perfect excitement. With music and good food available and with many more like us there, the experience was so nice that even Sneha went off to sleep too tired, fatigued and contented.

With Dipu’s school starting from the day after the next day we rose early in the morning and saw the beautiful sunrise from there. Gathering our belongings and thanking Mr. Andre for the lovely stay in the tent, we proceeded to reach our cottage. We had not taken any change of clothes as the camping idea was impromptu so we were eager to get back and have a good shower and change.

Thus with thoughts of the beautiful two days spent together at Panchgani, the land of the British, we got ready to get separated from Dipu.

“What is the meaning of Panchgani, Kaka?” asked Dipu. I said Panchgani is named after the five hills Dadeghar, Godwali, Khingar, Taighat and Amral. With the River Krishna flowing nearby and the Sahyadri mountains surrounding it this is an ideal tourist spot for everyone.

“Tell me more Kaka.” Said Dipu. As we waited for the rest of them to get ready I told how the table land was formed due to getting raised by the pressure between the earth plates. I told him how there is lot of seismic activity here with the Koynanagar Dam being the main point and how there is a hydroelectric power plant built here.

After packing and paying the lady in the cottage handsomely for her lovely food and the comfortable stay, we went to show Dipu around to two more places. One was the Parsi Point and the other was the Mapro farm.

The Parsi point was on the way to the school and was a lovely spot from where we could see the entire valley in full bloom. The Dhom Dam was also visible from here and the water was shining in the sunshine.

After this we went to the Mapro Garden. This was a lovely place located on the curved road leading to Mahabaleshwar. This place had a lot items of confectionery like syrup, jams and squashes. We could taste the jams and also buy as much as we wanted. They were being sold fresh. We also had fruit juice there and strawberry was available in plenty here. Mapro Foods Pvt. Ltd had its factory here. Dipu was quite thrilled seeing so much together and there was this place which had some snow like substance and it looked as if we were in Shimla under snow.

As we went ahead, we also had an opportunity to look at the British constructions here. Panchgani is home to a lot of British mansions and their style and elegance was beautiful to look at. There were also lot of Parsi houses which looked very graceful. After this we went to baby Point which was another beautiful scenic spot.

There were some similar other Points we went to like the Grover Point, Apex Point, and Kacchawari Point.  We were happy that we could cover most of the areas in Panchgani.  The next destination was the MRA or the Moral Rearmnent Camp. This is a place which a person coming to Panchgani should not miss. This completely rejuvenates mind, body and soul. A camp here is a must as it teaches to handle simple things in life in a nicer way. The place was around 70 acres and the lovely scenery here along with its variety of trees and birds would certainly leave a person completely revitalized. We just saw the place and moved ahead as we had to leave Dipu in his school the next day.

The final destination was the Pratapgarh Fort. Without this, our trip wouldn’t have been complete. This was the fort which found itself in all the history text books in Maharashtra. It was nice to see the fort come alive in front of our eyes. This was one of the forts that Chhatrapati Shivaji built to strengthen his empire. People trek to the fort up from Mahabaleshwar. But we didn’t have the time so we took the bus and reached the fort in an hour. There were 500 steps which we had to climb to reach up to the fort from the foot of the hill over which it was situated.

“Why is this fort so famous in history, Kaka?’ asked Dipu. I told him that Shivaji built this for with the main mission of winning back the land of the Marathas from the Mughals. The mid afternoon sun bore down as we climbed the steps. Bipasha was quite energetic as she was climbing with Sneha in the baby carrier. Quite appreciable. There were bastions supporting the forts. The main gate was called the “Maha Darwaza”. It was a towering construction with vertically cut slits. AS we climbed up, we felt we were part of Shivaji’s army. Such was the vibration of the past still lurking around in the fort. We went to the Bhavani temple. This temple was built here as Shivaji was not able to visit the temple at Tuljapur. So today this temple is very famous. Built in the 17th century, the temple looked every bit a victor’s base with the era of the past exuding out of it. There were two pillars here. they were rugged. Then we went to a Shiva temple there. This was located in the upper fort. There were lot of residential buildings here. Today they were in ruins. Barracks also showed up as we walked ahead. These were made by Shivaji for fighting the Muslim attackers.  AS we walked further we saw the tomb of AFzal Khan, the General of Bijapur who was killed by Shivaji with his “wagnatch” or steel claws. This Dargah of Afzal Khan is popular and also has a memorial service held by the Muslims every year.

This completed our tour of Panchgani and it was really a very informative, excellently planned, organized visit. As we came down the fort and proceeded to Dipu’s school, we were more overwhelmed by the places we visited than by the fact of leaving Dipu.

As Dipu walked away from us from the office room, his silhouette disappearing in the distance, I said I could always come to see him at Panchgani and get one more opportunity to see many more places which we couldn’t visit.

A month later, Dipu said on phone and told that he had won the first prize in an essay writing competition. The topic of the essay was “A Memorable visit with the Family.”

No guesses to say which place he wrote about – Panchgani!

My say: Just visit Panchgani for its history, geography and landscape.

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