3/7 Roadway

Shubham Sunthankar III Yr shubhamsunthankar64@gmail.com

We say a trip goes well when its unplanned. But this was a trip which was majorly planned. It was BTM paper I remember when my friend Vaibhav had approached me taking up this idea of visiting our dear friends’ houses this summer. Coming up with such a vague idea, we decided to leave immediately after the exams. Vaibhav, Suresh and Dedu had called up their parents regarding our arrival, making sure that we were leaving for this trip. I remember the morning when we were about to leave and my dear friend Harish had not yet spoken to his family about leaving, having his phone switched off got into each one of our nerves. Somehow, we managed to contact him and finally we started together from a common point in Hadapsar after a lot of disappointments which came up our way. So, there was six of us Vaibhav, Harish, Omkar, Suresh, Dedu and myself. Unfortunately, one more friend from our gang (Ayush P.) could not come due to a family emergency. On the way to our first destination, we halted at some architectural structures which included the Purandare Wada in Saswad. This is the location where some shots were taken for the Tumbbad film. Trailing along the roads in the hot May heat we finally reached Vaibhav’s House. There was time for lunch so we decided to trek ‘Jejuri Gad’, one of the main reasons to visit Jejuri. The spirutuality of people and the ‘bhandara’ in the atmosphere of the Mandir situated right at the top of the Gad keeps the space vibrant. Taking blessings from Lord Khandoba we reached home for some pet puja. After having our lunch and a great nap we decided to visit some temples around in the evening which included the Pandeshwar Temple which had a tall stone post which you could climb up on and look over the river Karha flowing alongside. There was still some time for sun to set, so we decided to visit Bhuleshwar Temple situated on Daulatmangal Fort having a huge architectural importance. The carvings we observed on each element of the temple truly carved a deep impression on our hearts. The setting sun on the intricate details added a highlight to the temple and our day.

On the way back, the five of us missed being with our mothers as it was Mother’s Day (though we had wished her while leaving in the morning) and hence we bought a cake on the way to give a surprise to Vaibhav’s mom. And what would be more cheerful than having a non-veg dinner with an IPL Final match of CSK vs MI to watch the nail-biting finish (but I personally believe it was fixed). Still discussing about the match and gazing at the stars we dozed off on the terrace. Our next destination was Suresh’ house in Satara which we had to reach the next day, completing some visits on the way before we reached. We started our day with Sangameshwar temple on our way in Saswad. The temple is situated on the Sangam of two rivers Chamli and Karha, hence called as Sangameshwar. We also visited Keykawala Balaji before going to Suresh’s house as it was on the way and had a lunch there itself. By the time we reached his home it was about 3pm. Seeing us exhausted, his mother served us ‘Taak’ and it was enough for a person to doze off immediately where they were sitting. By the time we got up it was nearly 5 in the evening and then we realized it was a waste of time to reach out for the fort as it was 1.5 hours away from his home. While we were in that dilemma, Suresh’s Daaji suggested that we could take a short trip to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani as it would take us approximately one hour to reach there. We hurried and decided to work out the details on the way. Firstly we visited Mapro Garden. Now, we still had time to leave so we decided to visit two points of Mahabaleshwar (Venna Lake and Sunset Point). After watching the beautiful sunset from a different perspective this time, we left for home. When we had started this trail in the evening, as we were going to cross Panchgani we remembered a project ‘Zostel’ done by Ar. Madhav Joshi, heard in one of the FEED Lectures. We were not permitted in the hotel due to some security issues. While returning in the dark, we were curious to know how it looked from the rear side. So, I and Omkar took some risk (I don’t know why) to climb down the hill in the dark with just mobile torchlights to capture the view. And at that point, we were satisfied because it looked beautiful at night. We managed to reach home with a cautious speed, then had a hearty dinner till we felt like our stomachs would explode. Again, sleeping on the extended corridor at the entrance, in an open environment, breathing in the ‘Gaavachi hawa’ was the best thing I experienced there.

Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad Bhuleshwar Temple,Saswad

You have experienced nothing if you have not managed to swim in a well, after being in a village. After having bath in the well, we had to leave for our next destination which was very far away from the location we were present at – Aurangabad. So, I and Harish left immediately after the breakfast on a vehicle towards my home in Vimannagar where everyone was supposed to gather again, to catch a cab for Aurangabad. We left for Aurangabad with six of us in a cab with a driver as the seventh member. Now, how did we manage to fit in? Let’s leave that to your imagination. Before reaching Dedu’s House, we knew that his father is a Police Officer and had an idea of the discipline he must be having at home, which we were ready to face. We entered the house with tip toes, like thieves. What a sigh of relief! Now, we had to decide the locations in the city to visit. So, moving out was the best option and there was time for dinner so why not take some breeze and make decisions for the next day. Came back with a firm mind to find the dinner ready and we were happy. There was sugar involved here in every item you had met with except Dedu’s father. After having a sweetest cup of tea in evening, for dinner we had Puran Poli with Aamras, a combination never tasted and thought of before. We slept early to rise up early as we had a lot of sites to be visited. We got ready and left immediately after breakfast. We had planned such that we trek the fort of Daulatabad in the morning sun when it was not too hot and then in the afternoon, trail in the caves of Ellora. We took a bus to our first destination for the day, Daulatabad Fort. From the entrance itself you feel the scale of this fort with Chand Minar standing 210ft tall just before entering the fort. We managed to reach the caves just before 4pm and rushed in directly towards Cave no.1 before passing by the entrance of 16th cave, situated right at the central axis of the 32 caves, Kailash Temple, for which we were actually here at Ellora. Looking at 15 caves was magical and yet time consuming. We just had 1 hour left to visit 17 remaining caves including the Kailash Temple. It was an easy decision to just visit the Kailash. You will realize that being at that very place is very important than just scrolling down pictures of the temple. Can you imagine the complete cave is just cut out of a monolithic rock? You will feel the scale only when you are present there and taking out cameras to capture feels like a crime. Spending almost one hour inside this cave, we thought we could have come here earlier and spend more hours exploring it. Nevertheless, our day went well and we were about to leave for Dedu’s village before it was dark. We reached a point by bus from where his village was 2 kms away as suggested by Dedu, pointing out a light saying that, “Te bagh ti light, tya light kade ahe majha ghar”. As getting a vehicle at that location was difficult, we decided to walk those 2 kms. But just after 5mins we got a rickshaw after waiting for almost 30 mins. As we moved towards the house, we thought we miscalculated 2 kms, where at every 2 kms Dedu pointed out a light saying that was his home. After almost 8 kms we had given up hopes on him, and we asked him to call up his father to get the location. If we had not made decision at that point, we would have definitely reached the moon, in multiples of 2. Hush! We finally reached his home far from home, lying on khaat introducing ourselves to his grandparents and other fa mily members, before dinner. The next day we got up late and Dedu’s grandfather (we called him as Baba) insisted us to wait till dinner as we did not interact much with him the last day. We had reasons to leave, but we couldn’t. We managed to find a tennis ball in the farm just ahead of the house and played until we got scratches on our body. When we got bored of playing cricket with just a twig, Baba called us to play cards with him, which he was a champion at. At one point, he also asked us to sponsor money for the game. In the morning we thought of how we were going to spend our time till dinner and then found it difficult leaving them while packing our bags. Taking a nap after dinner, it was time to leave. We headed towards our last point, Bibi ka maqbara- the replica of Taj Mahal. We bought tickets and moved towards the entrance of the monument. As soon as we entered, we were shocked to see our friend Ayush with his family, who was not able to come on this trip due to family emergency. It was a surprise for him as well as us. This remains a suspense for all of us till date. Our stories of the trip were told as we moved towards the monument through the long walkway. After viewing the main structure, we took a photo at the entrance, now with the complete family of Pirangut and Bibi-ka-Maqbara, so that we remember this incident by just looking at this photo. It was finally time to leave. We packed our bags with some extra space for memories and left for the bus stop where one more friend had come just to say goodbye - Yogesh Surkutlawar. After this trip, we had personally moved a mile riser deep in each one of our lives.

Kailash Temple, Ellora Caves