kala khatta – think twice nish

Konkan is the coastal plain region between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. It is home to many beautiful beaches, forts and temples. This is the first post in the series of my experience of the Kind Konkan. I hope you enjoy the read and perhaps learn something new.

I had yet again chosen to travel over something else more important. I had an extreme guilt of being selfish but I knew my decision wasn’t wrong and kind Konkan did prove me right!

As planned, we took Mangalore Express train from Thane station at 10:30pm. We were hoping to at least get on the train, but we not only got in, but we also got seats. The place wasn’t enough to get some sleep yet somehow we managed to relax and reached Kankavli station at 7:10am.

Eight of us freshened up and started walking towards the bus stop. We managed to have tea before we stepped in the bus to Ramgadh. Peeping through the window I saw the landscape of small houses and fields touching the horizon and in minutes we reached our first fort.

Ramgadh fort has the most unique Ganesh idol with a wobbly trunk and asuras at the base. There are seven tofs kept in line with a lot of grass and trees around it, obviously making a beautiful frame.

This intriguing fort kept us exploring it for more time than planned and we missed our bus to Achra from where we would head further to Sindhudurg. Soon, we hopped into a tumtum to Achra.

I and my friend sat behind and couldn’t stop smiling the entire ride. It was like living our ‘khwabon k parindey’ moment. The road had trees on either side, the clouds in the sky forming various shapes, the warm smiles of people in intervals, the leaves on the road following us for a while and the calm breeze soothing our souls.

Luckily, we managed to get this tumtum to ride directly to Sindhudurg. We kept our luggage outside and headed to our boat ride to the fort. Sindhudurg is a 16th-century architectural marvel made possible by the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The entrance to the fort is hidden like that of the other sea forts built at the time. The purpose was for the enemy to never find it. Only locals can point the correct entry, no tourist can locate it.

Yes, the fort has a beautiful structure and amazing history but my attention was totally driven to the sea. The waves kept thrashing the fort walls, the sound of which was so serene I got lost in my own world.

The mighty sea waves many time hit the fort walls so high the water fell inside. The waves managed to fall on a few of us as we walked past the entire fort wall churning excitement among all of us the entire time.

If the waves could climb the fort walls and reach us, I kept thinking of all the things even I can do and think are impossible. Like the endless efforts of the waves, even I can and I should keep giving my all for my masters and hope to achieve what I think I can.

After a thoughtful walk around this historical fort, it was time to leave. By now, the heat and hunger both were unbearable. As we returned from the fort, we had a kala-khatta gola and headed straight for lunch. The old lady serving us food reminded me of grandma so much, it made me cry within.

As usual, instead of being low about missing grandma, I acted weird and made all around me believe I was annoyed with her being so much keen on me eating. She kept looking at my plate, conversing to me about food and other things, just like grandma.

I wish I had courage enough to hug her and say thank you, you made my day. Her kindness made my soul smile and heart cry. It definitely felt like grandma had come down to say hello, please take care and eat well one last time.

We had some time before our bus to Vijaydurg and we had a walk around. I crossed the lunch place twice, thinking if I should go in and thank the old lady, but I couldn’t. I think I need to get more emotionally stronger for that.

We boarded the bus and saw one of the most beautiful sunsets. The cool breeze helped me have a nap despite the ride being extremely bumpy and scary. I think the BEST drivers should be given special rewards and recognition for their driving stints. They are really underrated F1 drivers.

It was dark when we got down near Vijaydurg fort. A visarjan was going to happen soon and a procession was approaching towards us. The dhol was so amazing, I began dancing in reflex. Not for long but we all did a little jig of our own for a few minutes. It felt odd yet refreshing to dance at a distance from a procession.

We attended the visarjan aarti and I witnessed my first ever visarjan. I don’t have feelings about what I saw, kind of blank about the whole festival itself, I have no clarity of thought on the festival as it is just my second year of actually understanding it, I’ll surely write more on it when I know and experience more about it.

Soon after that, we finished our dinner and then the moon appeared above the sea. Deep pink, calm and as if smiling and welcoming me for a conversation. I sat near the edge of the sea and saw the moon reflect over the sea.

The waves hitting the rocks at the shore felt like the moon was responding to my questions. I clicked a few pictures and hummed a few songs. I was lost in the divine beauty of this moment after that.

My mind had zero tabs open, perhaps still somewhere some music player was on in low volume but nothing more. For a few minutes it was just me and the moon, its reflection and the sound of the waves at the shore, it was a soulful conversation with the moon.

I saw the moon rise above and observed the change in its reflection pattern. After spending these moments of peace it was time to head to our rooms and have enough rest for the next day. We headed back, played cards for a while and slept.

I slept with a big smile on my face. I thanked the superpowers for a beautiful day where I saw the power of the mighty waves in the start and for the beautiful end with the moon and everything serene that occurred in between. I knew somewhere within, that this was just a start and there was more madness in store in the coming few days.

I love bike rides. It has a different charm. I and my usual bike partner cousin were on a roll as we sang through the whole drive. From Sukhvinder’s “Oh ho oh ho” to “O mere dil k chein” our playlist had a smooth ride with our bullet.

We finally parked our bikes at 4am and were given an hour before we left for the trek. Almost all as expected dozed off. I looked at my friend and in a blink we knew what we were up to next.

We both did our own bit of research and found the best place to lie down and star gaze. The view was mesmerizing. It was last in October that we star gazed. We both have less understanding of the stars but same awe for their existence.

Eyes up at the sky, mind drowned in thoughts, without realizing I went into the world of stars. What a beautiful nap and dream it was !

It was dark, we all had torches and a few were ahead leading the way. As we walked a bit ahead we spotted a Night Jar. It looked stunning. A musical night bike ride, soulful star gazing with a nap and then the Night Jar, this trek surely had the best start!

The kind of trekking I have done and the average experience of the group I go with is quite good. We use harness and equipment only when it is really essential. Bhairavgadh (Maroshi) is one where we decided we will use it and hence a suggestion to anyone who is reading this and would wish to go, kindly take all safety measurements.

There were two people ahead who climbed the harness part. When I reached I couldn’t find them. I thought they must have gone ahead so I climbed all the steps and reached the top. I shouted their names but no avail. I was scared for minute.

People down said they have come up. There is no other way than these stairs, where have they gone then? I didn’t wish to go right at the top of the fort all alone so I climbed back down.

I saw that my group still hadn’t got all members up the harness. I decided to walk up again and find my two mates. I climbed up the stairs again, shouted their names but couldn’t locate them. More scared than before I climbed down again to get someone with me to find them.

I and a friend climbed up again and finally met the two. We saw the top most part of the fort and four of us began our journey down. As we did our entire group was up by the harness. We four were asked to climb up again for a group picture at the top of the fort. We hesitated a bit and then finally gave in.

This is my first ever trek saga where I got bored of a fort. Not because it was boring, because I climbed it a total of four times. However, the time spend at the top of the fort was worth it. And no don’t get me wrong, the fort is not at all boring. It is full of adventure and the scenic view is class but just make sure you climb up only once!

When I was waiting for my turn to rappel it down, the sun was right above my head and I was sweating like a pig. I had bought all my sun protection things, caps, glares, scarfs etc. It all lay in my bag down which I could reach only after rappelling. And there were a few people who were yet to go down before it were my chance.

Melting in the heat I realized that how we all have the necessary resources to face a storm in life. But it is locked up in the depths of our hearts and by the time we find it we have lost it to the storm. Let us therefore always be prepared for a storm and never let it win over us.

For me personally climbing up a mountain is easy as compared to walking down. This is because when I am climbing up, it is all up to me where I set my feet to head up. When I have to get down, it is not so easy. And this becomes a tad more difficult when I have to rappel it down.

The first step is the most difficult. And during rappelling especially for the first step my feet felt heavier than an elephant! I let go of this stupid feet thoughts and imagining why my feet is feeling heavy and rappelled down. And to my own surprise I did well.

Almost all of us were exhausted and so were our water resources. To our surprise an old man appeared out of nowhere guided us to a water body and disappeared again. Lord works in his own way and this old man proved that to me.

We all drank water to our hearts’ content and filled bottles before we left. We had lunch in the middle of the jungle and started to walk down. I wished to reach our bikes before the heat killed me and walked down as swiftly as I could.

I and two of my friends reached down without taking many water or shade stops and hence reached a good 45mins before the rest. This made me regain the lost energy. I was happy with the whole trek and didn’t expect much more but life is about surprises. And a kala-khatta gola in the crazy heat ended my thrilling trek on a high note!

Tag: kala khatta

The Konkan Kind – I

A Tantalizing Trek Tale