Mamacha Gaon Diary

Once, during lunch time conversation in the office canteen, an idea of one-day-outing was floated. An email thread was started for getting teams’ opinion. Even one computer program vPad was developed for voting to select preferred location. J And finally, after rounds of discussions, we zeroed-in for MamachaGaon, a resort near Boisar 120 kms from Mumbai on Mumbai-Surat-Ahmedabad highway. Among different suggestions the date was settled for 21^st January, 2012. Yes, our process was truly democratic…!  J National politicians…are you listening? J

One mini bus was hired as travelling in a group of 15-16 persons to 120 kms was comfortable in a vehicle with dedicated service. On the picnic day, the bus started from Thane at 6:30 am having Siddhesh on board. It was a beautiful and pleasant morning. Being Saturday, most of the vehicles were resting at home, not sure about their owners! J … Hence no traffic and clear road was visible. We rarely come across such a situation in cosmopolitan city like Mumbai. It looked like not only us but the bus was also enjoying its run on freeway! J .On the way, other team members were picked up from their respective locations. Every member was welcomed in the bus by a big round of applause, hooting and shouting. The entertaining mood was building up gradually. So, playing Antakshari was not a bad idea then. We started with few classic numbers. Lata ji, Asha ji, Kishor da, Rafi Sahab, Mukesh ji, Alka ji, Sunidhi, Abhijeet, Shreya, Mohit everybody was travelling with us through their melodious Bollywood songs…! Though it was clear with the outset of the game; nobody could claim to be a singer.  J  … Our voices were creating resonance with the harsh sound of the bus. However it was good to see few people had learnt many songs by-heart. Vinaay, Amruta, Neha, Vivek Vyas and Siddhesh were doing justice to almost every number by completing it…..doesn’t matter how good or bad the chorus had sung ! J

This way, having our chatterboxes working for us all the way; we reached the place MamachaGaon at about 10:00 am. When we got off from the bus and saw the gates of the resort; one could easily read all the faces with similar expressions like “Oh-no it’s not cool...its mind-numbing...not happening...  J ” Although nobody uttered those words but those were general feelings at that time. But we were left with no other option. Interestingly, after entering into the place the scene was quite different. Beautiful small gardens were there to greet the guests. Positive vibes of nature were flowing all around and our complaints were being vanished slowly but surely. A small office was located in the left. After furnishing some formalities there; we approached towards dormitory and got refreshed. The resort had other amenities as well e.g. swimming pool, facility for artificial rain with music and a number of swings and see-saw for kids. Few species of birds were inhabitants there and a small cottage was built to give the place a typical ‘Gaon’ (village) like ambiance. Also, there was a cafeteria crowded with few families and other groups of people who had come to have nice times at that quiet place. On our turn we had wonderful breakfast together.

पहुँच गए

After the breakfast, trekking was on the cards. Equipped with trekking gears we started walking towards neighbouring jungle. Haresh and Rama were leading us. Haresh started doing what he was most passionate about – Photography with different angles (in other words Angular Photographydevised by him J ). He was very much enjoying the allegations of being gender biased photographer. J. [Whatever...it is because of him we have a rich album of pictures that helped me a lot to recollect those moments and write this story even after seven months.] Our other leader Rama had come for this picnic all the way from Bangalore via flight. J Thanks to his passion for hills and rocks. Sponsor for his travel was MamachaAirways. J

पुष्प वाटिका से ...

Moving ahead none of us had knowledge of correct route but we were just walking through the woods. Not surprisingly; we lost the path… J . [It happens generally with amateur explorers like us. J] While searching hard for the right path luckily we heard distant human voices. While walking in the direction of those voices we found one group of people resting in shadows of trees on their way descending towards ground. They helped us with right directions and told us about approximate distance to the hilltop. Till that time every one of us was of the same opinion to complete the trekking. But some of us then wanted to go back to the resort. Actually Shilpa had got tired and was not willing to continue. Revelation of her wish worked as a perfect reason for many (who were seeking similar opportunityJ) to go back to the resort. Siddhesh, Julias, Sagar, Rahul, Shijith, Vinaay and Mayur preferred not to go ahead and to have good time at the cafeteria.

विशेष वर्ण :  श्वेत श्याम 

On the other side we; who had determined to complete the trek, were on our way, climbing difficult rocks without any rope or any tool. Helping each other we nicely managed to surmount the peak of the hill. On the top there was an open cave that had given shelter to some water making a small pond there! From that height it was nice to look around. The scenic landscape was very calming and soothing for all our senses giving a feeling of reconciliation to one’s mind and soul. The story had one more facet. All the facebook devotees had got good chance to have their profile photos clicked. They didn’t stop there J… it looked like they were testing battery backups of Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras. Therefore there had been rounds and rounds of photo sessions all the way making big albums and creating space crunch for the facebook servers J.

Once consumed millions of memory-bits with hundreds of photo-clicks J we started moving downhill. It was time for change of guards (commanders) then. Voluntarily Pravitha and Amruta decided to become our new frontrunners. They explored new ways for descending. Also they found few beautiful places on the way making all the cameras work for us. Continuing this fashion we reached the ground and then the resort. Exhausted and dehydrated, we badly needed, just one thing then – food. J

Delicious foodstuffs were served in the cafeteria where few of our friends were already waiting for us. Utilising their time they had created some fabulous masterpieces by SLR. Thanks Rahul Sir. Also one group photo clicked by Rahul was an excellent example of marvellous artwork.

Actually the highlight of our trip was quality photography in abundance. Two SLRs and 5-6 digital cameras were working for us all the time giving us an impression as if we were all celebrities. J

A little rest after the lunch and we moved towards swimming pool. Not all the people were swimmers. With all his brilliant swimming styles Julias was easily the best swimmer. On the stage of artificial rain an advanced acoustic system was playing high volume energetic music enticing any Tom, Dick or Harry to shake-a-leg and display high voltage scintillating dance performance. Siddhesh was superb at it. J Rest were not bad at all.

After having loads of fun there, it was time to pack our duffle bags as the Sun was slowly moving towards western hills shrinking all its empire of light steadily. Before bidding final good bye to MamachaGaon we had few rounds of fun-packed Housie game. Winners are yet to throw their party!!! J (Not sure whether Pratik or Vinaay had won the game.)

After Housie; the next was House… I mean Home. J Everybody got their respective seats in the bus and we left the place with gratitude towards MamachaGaon for providing good lodging, good timely food, good entertaining facilities, nice trekking and above all, loads of fun and amusement and beautiful memories to cherish for years to come…!

अतीत के पन्ने हो गए ...

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