A Drive in the Sahyadris

When Delhi airport's roof flew away on Friday evening and flights got cancelled I was pissed. Not just because it meant that we have a lame system in place, but also because it could have meant that my flight to Pune the next morning could be rescheduled/cancelled. And I was in no mood for yet another flight fuck-up. Missing flights always tops such fuck-ups. I indulged in that earlier in the month. But things at the airport were thankfully in control.

I landed here at 10:30 a.m., reached campus by 11:45 a.m., had a nice lunch in the mess (yes) with a couple of guys who were already here, and that's when we decided that we should go to the Mulshi Dam in the evening.

Nishant had Regil's car, so we were going to pool in for the fuel and drive down to this place which is about 50 kms from our campus (The taluka of the village I live in is Mulshi only). So, Venky, Kausik, Nishant, I, and my camera with the new lens (:D) took off around 4:30 p.m.

The almost empty campus before we left

Kausik at the petrol pump he helped us find

From the moment I sat in the car, it was fun non-stop. I had not laughed that much in ages!! So much so that I lost count of the number of times I lost my breath while laughing.

We never got to the Dam. Instead, we stopped at Mulshi Lake a few kms before the Dam. It was much prettier. And obviously more serene too. The water was absolutely clean and made the most musical sounds. We walked over a few slippery rocks to reach a perfect point to sit for the next hour or so. We enjoyed silence, and we talked a lot too. I clicked my pictures as well. :-)

I was having fun !! :)

Good I wore these. Those rocks weren't too easy to walk on.

Nissant aur main

On our way back, we first had bhuttas. Then we stopped at Pirangut (a small village) for vada pav and bhel. And then we headed straight to Dhole Patil Road in the city for dinner. These guys wanted to try something new, so we went to a place called Southern Spice which serves authentic Mallu food. Yours truly was obviously most apprehensive because she cannot try new food. But she was brave! Appam with veg khorma, and payesam. Not bad, I say. But that's only because of the company I had. :D Oh, I had to confirm with Venky that south Indians like to enjoy their food in peace because every time I burst out laughing, everybody in the restaurant turned around and looked at me. It was a little awkward, but I was too happy to bother. Our Tam-Bengali-Gujarati-Punjabi combo was also turning out to be fun. Venky ko sikhaya gaya 'kutte ki maut marna', and Kausik & I learnt 'vaa pollam'. :D Nishant is a Gujarati Shah, but has lived in Chennai for long. So non-stop 'machan' punctuated the entire drive too.
Then we heard stories about spirits from Nishant. He believes in them. Kausik does not. Uff! The sarcasm running through my blood felt alive yesterday.

The bhuttas we had

The place where we stopped for the corn

Got back to campus around midnight, and I closed the perfect day by going through the pictures twenty times. :-)

The side we felt kinda lazy to walk towards

We found a juvenile home for Venky and Kausik

Auto mode!! :-)

A trip of sorts was due considering that it's becoming a routine to do something like this every two months. I am so happy this happened. Especially because after a two-week break the college is going to fuck our happiness with all seven days working and LOADS of classes. :-|

PS - I watched Kaminey last week. The movie was good, but it is the music I am tripping on nowadays.
Meri dosti kameeni...
Mere yaar bhi kaminey...
Ik dil se dosti ki...
Ye huzoor bhi kaminey...

UFF! Gulzar!!!