A quick trek to Korlai Fort

It was noon time. I was caught in an extremely complex traffic jam. Two 4 wheelers facing each other were blocking each other from going forward. I was driving one of those two. The other was driven by an equally 'competent' driver :-). There was no room left for both of us to navigate. It was matter of few inches. It was a classic dead lock.

How would you respond to this situation ?  I chose to be happy :-)

I was on a 6 ft. wide mud track. On the left side there was a cliff and on the right side there was an excellent white sand beach just 10 ft. below.  It was a narrow 2 km long mud track along the Arabian sea. There was no way any one of us could have taken our vehicle to our left sides.  The only option was to make way inch by inch with extreme care. Driving skills, patience, judgment and extremely good command over the accelerator as well as the steering wheel were put to test. It was a close encounter. I mean even the right hand side mirror had to be retracted.

Hope you got it  ;-)

After an interesting manoeuvre, the exercise was over. We both exchanged smile and waved hands. I might have crossed thousands of car drivers in my driving career. But not many had the privilege of getting a smile filled with admiration for the driving skills.

My fellow passengers were impressed by the driving skills of the ... other driver. For me it was one of the many moments to cherish in future.

It all started at 5:30 AM. Yet another Saturday morning. Yet another trek. Fort Korlai. On the Arabian Sea. Covered by the sea through 350 degrees. And a narrow land strip connecting the mainland to the fort.

Fellow trekkers included Smita, Ganesh and Ashwini.

We took the Mulshi - Tamhini Ghat route. Early morning drive through Mulshi and Tamhini Ghat is refreshing throughout the year. Plus Valley crossed at 7 AM. We were making good progress. By 8:00 AM we reached Kolad on the Pune Roha state highway. At Kolad this road crosses the Mumbai Goa highway. Ironically, the state highway and the national highway have no qualitative difference. Both are two lane roads without dividers. We continued on the Pune Roha road and reached Roha by 8:30. We continued on this road that lead us to Salav village followed by the Rewadanda creek bridge.

At this point, taking a right turn takes you to Alibaug, while continuing on the road takes you to Kaashid & Murud. We continued on the Murud road. Within 3 KMs there was (an extremely tricky, almost non existing) right turn for Korlai village.

From here, the road is single lane. I mean one vehicle at a time, in any direction, through the small Korlai village. Fishing is the primary business here. Most locals have Portuguese roots. Almost five centuries back the Portuguese people arrived here, built the amazing fort, stayed here with pride and managed to maintain their culture. Even today most of the houses are typical Portuguese style.

We reached the end of the village and reached a T junction. In front of us was the graceful Korlai fort. On the left was a narrow mud track along the sea coast. On the right was a narrow mud track along the sea coast. The view was beyond imagination. As if I had known this place for ages I took the correct turn.

Readers, if you are reading this carefully, you will know which way was the turn. Right or left ???

The road was heavenly. Imagine yourself driving your car through a lonely narrow track. On one side you see the Arabian sea and a white sand beach. On other side you see a grand mountain.

This is an ideal gateway for all kinds of groups. Trekkers, nature lovers, bikers, people looking out for romantic destinations.

The road suddenly came to an and end. Only a government agency can think of putting a metallic gate and a impregnable compound  at the end of such a lovely drive. That was our encounter with the Light house, at the base of the fort. The enclosed premises is under the control of the Ministry of Shipping.

I parked the car and went to the gate to see what can be done. Luckily the caretaker was around. He was happy to receive us. He took us inside the campus. The lighthouse campus was maintained well. The campus included a neatly done garden, some cannons, small houses for the people staying there, the lighthouse and huge radar dish.

The caretaker offered us a package that included visit to the lighthouse with running commentary at Rs.10/- per head and Rs.20/- for the camera. Best deals are signed off verbally with a handshake. This was not an exception.

We proceeded towards the lighthouse. We entered the building, climbed up 2floors via a normal staircase. Then we had a tricky, almost vertical climb for 10 ft. But that was not the end. The final climb was a real vertical climb. This was turning out to be one of the most interesting vertical climbs in my trekking experiences. Finally we wee at the top of the light house. The view from here was amazing.

The caretaker was a seasoned guide. For the first 10 minutes he gave our own time to see the breath taking views of he sea, the fort, the narrow road that we had taken to reach here. After the euphoria was over he took over and explained us the way the light house functions.

All four us being engineers, it was interesting to know the functioning of the light house. Each light house has a unique signature, I mean a unique pattern of light signals. In this light house there were four levels of backups to deal with power outage as well as any other unforeseen failures. They were broadcasting GPS information for the ships that needed it. There was a radar very close to the light house which keeps on sending images to the central control system managed by the Shipping Ministry.

It was interesting to know how the entire lighthouse functioned. Ganesh almost claimed that he could run it for few days if needed.

Thanking (& of course paying the dues to) the caretaker, we started our journey to explore the fort. Carved (and huge) steps from the lighthouse compound took us to the fort. The actual climb is only 15 minutes, but is steep and tiring.

Korlai Fort is a Portuguese fortification in the town of Korlai, built in 1521, on the Alibaug - Murud road. It was built on an island which guards the way to the Revdanda Creek. It was meant as a companion to the fort at Chaul. At this strategic position the Portuguese could use it to defend their territory which stretched from Korlai to Vasai. Korlai fort was strategically very important as it guarded the mouth of the bay.

Sambhaji Maharaj tried to take it over but failed and had to withdraw his forces. The fort was later taken by the Marathas who held it between 1739-1818.

The fort is 2828 feet long, and its average breadth is eighty-nine feet. The enclosing wall is 5' 3" high and has 305 battlements for guns. It is entered by eleven gates - four are outer and seven are inner. At the north point, within pistol-shot of main battery is the water cistern named Santa Cruz - major source of water. The area within the fort walls is divided into three enclosures by two lines of bastioned fortifications. Each of the seven bastions bears the name of a saint. The two westward bastions are named São Diego(after Didacus of Alcalá) and São Francisco (after Francis of Assisi). The others are São Pedro, São Inácio, and São Filipe.

The top of the hill is bastioned as well and is and surrounded by a parapet. It has a large rain-water cistern with three mouths, each one foot wide, and the ruins a church. The church was built in 1630 for the use of the army and was functional until 1728.

There are three Portuguese inscriptions. One, over a doorway in the centre and highest part of the fort, reads as follows:

No entry without fight

This is the height of bravery and self confidence. Can you imagine someone coming thousands of kilometres away from home, building a fort at such a location and having the guts to say "No entry without fight". Hats off to these people. I mean I am proud of Maratha history, but that does not stop me from acknowledging the 'attitude' of these people.

We saw the entire fort. Took rest for 15 minutes. Had some snacks and decided to start the return journey.

We reached the parking place. From there we had an easy access to the sea shore. It was a bright and sunny day. And we were on the shore at noon time. Sea shore is a great place for photography, but at sunrise and sunset. Noon time is not worth attempting photography.

The beach was secluded. We had almost private access to the beach. We spent some time there and then started our journey back.

What happened after that is well known, I mean at least to those who are reading this blog. If you still don't get that, it was a classic traffic jam :-)

While coming back we visited the Birla Temple at Salav. It is a well maintained temple. Somehow it has a corporate feel, not a great thing for a temple. But it is architected and maintained well. Worth visiting once.

Our next stop was Roha. We had lunch at Hotel Roha Pride. They offered a good vegetarian Thali. Post lunch Ganesh had the privilege to drive. He did a great job. And we were back home by 5:00 PM. That was the end of a memorable drive and trek.

Elevation	Sea level
Difficulty Level	Low
Endurance Level	Low
Adventure Level	Medium
Fun Level	Great, especially the drive along the sea shore is amazzzzzzzning
Ideal for	Trekkers, nature lovers, bikers, people looking out for romantic destinations (especially the beach).
Notes	1. Do visit the light house. 2. Do visit the Birla Temple.

A trip to Kaas Plateau

Photography was once described as painting with light.

No prizes for guessing what's there in this blog. An amazing journey into the nature, and the reflections captured by my DSLR.

Most of my treks & trips are driven by an urge to see the beauty of the creation. Post monsoon, nature is at its best in Sahyadri. Rivers, hills, sky, everything in nature offers amazing variety of colours. Kaas plateau is no exception. Come September, flowers start blooming at Kaas.

For those who haven't been there, Kaas is a huge plateau (around 1000 hectars) at an elevation of 3900 ft. It is situated in the Western Ghat Sahyadri range, 25 km from Satara, a district place on the Mumbai Banglore NH4 Highway. The major portion of the plateau is reserve Forest. The plateau is largely formed of basalt which is directly exposed to atmosphere. The basalt rock is covered by a thin cover of soil formed due to erosion and has accumulated a layer of not more than an inch or so.

At certain places water gets accumulated because of uneven surface. The plants growing on Kaas plateau are typically like grass. Kaas Plateau is rich in its Bio-diversity. Many species observed on the plateau are unique. Its an ideal place for students of botany and photography (including your truly). These days it is crowded by tourists during the peak season that starts in September and last for three to four weeks.

On being a student of photography, in the book 'Outliers', author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in any field. And most people agree with that. With less than thousand hours of practice, it's a long way to go for me. Going by the snaps that I could capture, it has been a learning journey. And of course,I may be few years (and few lenses) away from the hobbyist level.

Readers, are you reading between the lines ? Does this sound like a gifting idea ;-)

This time I was with a group of people on the spiritual path. We were accompanied by our Guru (an evolved soul) who would prefer anonymity and a highly advanced disciple. Evolved souls like our Guru are like Chintamani (wish-fulfilling jewel). Their presence has a magical touch to everything. It was going to be a great day.

We started at 8:15 AM. Reached Virangula, a well known restaurant on NH4, near Satara. Had breakfast. Proceeded towards Kaas.  By 10:30 we had crossed Satara. Ajinkyatara base, Yavateshwar, some great views, lot of greenery, and soon we were very close to Kaas.

There was no need for any sign post. The flowers along the road were suggesting the arrival of the heaven on the earth.

I had been to Kaas in 2008, with my parents and wife Smita. That time this place was not known so widely. Things have changed, not sure for good or for bad. Good part is vehicles are not allowed to be parked on the plateau (of course you can be a government official or a minister
to park your car on the plateau).

There is a nominal charge for visitors and car parking. The parking area is far away from the plateau. On busy days, government officials arrange for eco-friendly buses that take the visitors to the plateau. Other days you have to walk :-)

The entire plateau is now safeguarded by railings. While the aim is to make this place secure, there are claims that this might impact the eco-system. There is some debate among experts on whether a certain amount of grazing should be allowed on the plateau to ensure that grass species do not start dominating the landscape. Anyway let the experts debate on this.

The plateau is so large that one can walk for an entire day and still not see the plateau fully. We had to make a wild guess about which area to cover. Most part of the plateau was covered with flowers. But the 'carpet' effect was missing.

Next 90 minutes were spent in enjoying what nature had to offer. We could see different types of flowers. It was an amazing experience. Thanks to my lack of understanding of botany, I was free to enjoy the flowers without knowing the 'technical' stuff.

It was post noon when we decided to move to the next destination, Kaas Lake. Its around 5 km away from Kaas Plateau on the road towards Bamnoli. Its a mid size lake that supplies water to Satara city. We spent some time there and then proceeded towards Bamnoli.

Bamnoli is situated 35 kms from Satara city.  It is a very small village.  This village lies on the shore of Shivsagar lake formed by koyna dam. The road to Bamnoli goes through dense forest. Throughout the ghat one gets to see amazing view of backwaters below.

At one point, we decided to have lunch. It was a working lunch with parathas and thalipeeth (Spicy indian rotis) with curd rice and some sweets.

Post lunch we proceeded towards Bamnoli. The village welcomed us with a breathtaking view of expanse of the lake that spreads for hundreds of square kilometres. What an amazing view !

It was time for boating. We booked a ride for the triveni sangam (confluence of three rivers, Koyana, Solashi and Kandati) point. It was a 45 minute ride. At the actual sangam point, the lake appears to be far bigger than anything you can see in this part of the country. At that point you are covered by a huge lake. The huge lake is covered by towering mountains on all sides. And the mountains are covered by sky at the horizon.  Amazing experience. By the time we came back on ground, it was 5 pm. We were at least 30 km inside dense forest, covered by mountains on all sides. It was getting dark. Time to start the return journey.

 

River rafting in Kundalika river - part 2

Do what you like.

If it earns you money, call it a profession.
If it doesn’t, call it a hobby.
 
In any case, do what you like.

You might be wondering “But this is supposed to be a blog on river rafting, right ?“

Right, but that’s what the river had to offer as an insight.  If you haven’t read the part 1, please visit .. http://www.thefortsofsahyadri.blogspot.in/2014/05/river-rafting-in-kundalika-river-part-1.html

The rafting was ON. And I was thoroughly enjoying it. But something was not right ...

There are three key positions in a raft. The back position, always occupied by the guide. And the two front positions (left and right). These should always be occupied by the strongest people in the raft. And more importantly they need to be mentally there, liking every moment of the journey (I guess the latter part is more important than physical strength). The people at the front are supposed to be in synchronization while paddling. That is the key to successfully paddle any boat.

I was in the front left position. Within 15 minutes it was clear to me that the person in the right front position was not here for rafting.

Most likely he was here as his partner wanted to do rafting. Matter of obligation ? From his body language, he had no liking towards river rafting or for that matter any adventure sport. He was neither interested in synchronization nor in paddling. And that was impacting the movement of our raft.

And at that moment this thought struck me HARD.

DO WHAT YOU LIKE. 

The guide definitely was liking river rafting, and getting paid as well. That's profession.

I was liking it, but not getting paid :-). That's hobby.

This guy on my right side wasn't liking it. What is that called ? Boredom ?

Am I doing what I like... Time to reflect.

Not just for me. For YOU as well. 

Are you there, my dear reader?

And it is not just about what you are  doing right now. Its about what you are doing about your life.

Are you doing what you LIKE?

Are you one of those who like to develop software but end up managing the software development ? I mean just as an example :-)

To be frank, not just as an example. I had gone through this, exactly this, for a brief 18 months period. By choice. And learnt the lesson HARD way.

In any case everyone is different in terms of what they LIKE to do. But probably it does not matter. What matters is, are you doing what you like.

It's a choice between happiness and boredom. Have you made your choice ?
 

Back to rafting ...

The flow of the river was powerful enough to get my wondering thoughts back to actual rafting. Next rapid was arriving. Forward, back & relax were the

keywords we had to hear carefully and act on ASAP. River rafting involves physical exercise and is an engrossing activity. Since we began the journey, river was everything. Nothing else mattered. We had to keep an eye on 'what next'. Each rapid was brining new experiences. And the best one came suddenly.

At one point we reached a place where the river did not have a rapid for a very long distance. Time to jump into the river and start swimming. I was waiting for that signal from the guide. And when that signal came, I was in the river in no time. Floating on the back, eyes closed, the river was moving with decent speed. Those 15 minutes were one of the best moments in my life, EVER.

Eyes closed. The body floating and flowing through the river.  Strong belief that the river knows where to take the body. That's the gateway to your inner self. Doors opened. Suddenly there is intensely bright light everywhere. Nothing else. The state continues. There is no sense of time. Just light. Nothing else. This could be an ideal state, state of deep sleep & loss of individual existence. Perhaps that's the state of ... use any keyword of your choice (peace, nirvana ....) and feel it.  

The problem with such experience is that everything else becomes irrelevant.

Some sequence of events (probably the co-passengers shouting at each other?) and I am back to sane state. Time to get back into the raft. Rafting continued for some time. The last patch was physically tiring. The river was moving slowly as the Thokalwadi dam was approaching. The river had become deeper. The end point was now visible. 10 more minutes of paddling and we were on the river bank. It was time to off-board the raft, lift it and take it 20 feet up to the parking point. Lifting the raft and carrying it up was a tough task. Somehow was managed by the team.

Time to say good bye to the river, the raft, the other folks and the guide.

The tumtum (Read part 1) was waiting for us. The return journey to the car parking point was through typical Kokan road. By the time we reached the car, it was 12 noon. We started our return journey. We took the lunch break at Kokan Gold Valley (at the base of  Tamhini Ghat), a well maintained place. They offered a 3 course buffet lunch. Good food at an affordable rate.

Post lunch we started back towards Pune and reached by 4:30 PM. The day had been memorable one for all four of us.


For me, life was not going to be the same. Something had died and made way to something new.   The key message was 'do what you like'. But there was more. The more I think the more it becomes clear.

Live Young.
Live Free.
Risk more.
Learn more.
Be strong.
Show courage.
Excel.
Lead.
Laugh.
Simplify.
Exude passion.
Shatter your limits.
Transcend your fears.
Inspire.
Dream big.
Act now.
Don’t stop.
... and that's the full STOP for this blog ;-).
Can't test your patience more :-)

  

  

A strenuous trek to Kokandiva

I was in the busy city traffic. On my bike. Watching my bike zooming ahead of a multi axle truck and a Volvo bus.  In fact watching my bike zooming ahead of the two biggies, between the narrow gap of 2 ft offered by the two vehicles.

One can't be so close to excitement (read accident, if you consider yourself sane !) every day.

If you like that kind of excitement, get introduced to Alok, the man who was driving my bike.

The day had been exceptional. We were coming from an adventurous trek to Kokan Diva. And that was Alok's way of saying good bye to that trek. For a split millisecond I thought that was probably not the best way to say good bye to the world ;-)

Coming back. Kokan Diva.

Kokan Diva

8 ft by 20 ft is not a really big terrace, going by today's standards. But what if it was at 700 meter height from three sides and 200 meters from remaining one side,  And what if you had to climb 100 meters on a 70 degree slope to reach there ?

Yes, that's Kokan Diva fort, a watch tower fort (if you know what that means!), very close to Raigad. In fact the closest (fort Lingana is another one).

All watch tower forts are interesting climbs (Tung, Telbail, Karnala, Lingana to name a few). And Kokan Diva is no exception.

Remote location, steep climb, dense forest, no crowd, what else do you need for a great trek ?

A busy week, new bike, free Saturday morning, and natures calling. That was the state of affairs on Friday evening. I called up Alok and proposed a trek to this relatively unknown fort. He agreed. We decided to start late, at 5:30 AM. That's late by my standards ;-). Check the other blogs to know what I mean.

Kokan Diva is a small fort located on the west side of Pune. Around 70 KM from the main city. I mean the old city. We took the Sinhgad Road. Khadakwasala, Sinhgad phata, took right towards Panshet, reached Panshet dam at 6:35. We were making good progress. The weather was good. There are 5 different (& interesting) roads from Panshet. First one goes to Velhe (thorugh Kadave pass). Another goes to Panshet back waters from the left bank. Third goes to Panshet back water from the right bank. The fourth goes to Lavasa via Varasgao back waters (right bank). And the fifth goes to Neelkantheshwar.We took the third one, the road that goes to Dapsare & Ghol village.

The road was in excellent condition, especially for biking. It was going up and down and offered many curves. We reached Dapsare village at 7:15. The road from Dapsare was a small ghat section.

On the way

The view from top was amazing. The landscape was refreshing & entirely different than whatever I have seen, ever. We had many small hills and deep valleys in front of us. The quick downhill route took us to the entrance of the Ghol village.

We took a left turn just before the Ghol village, and that took us to Garjai Wadi. This last section was a Kachha Road and was fun to ride ... for Alok. I had handed over the bike to Alok at the Ghol village.

Towards Garjai Wadi

Garjai Wadi is a small village. Electricity reached this village couple of years back. The villagers were happy that they could recharge their mobile at home. Not kidding. It is one of the many remote villages in India where mobiles have reached BEFORE electricity. India is a wonderful country !

Coming back to the trek.

We reached Garjai Wadi and parked my bike at the end of the road. The road ENDS at Garjai Wadi.

Garjai Wadi

Advice: When you reach such remote place, it is better to reach out to the local folks and inform them about your plan and seek their advice / help.

As we went near to the small houses, one old lady & few gentlemen appeared. I told them that we want to park the vehicle in the village and want to go to the fort. The lady offered to help. She asked two of her nephews to take us to the fort.

Our journey started with a lot of excitement. We walked through a dense forest. It was a mild uphill climb for 15 minutes.

We reached a pass. KokanDiva was visible from the pass. To reach the base of the fort we had to descend for 15 minutes through dense forest, and cross a DEVRAI.

Devrai

Devrai is a forest dedicated to GOD. The universal rule in the Devrai is that the trees and bushes should not be cut EVER. Additionally, in this Devrai no one was allowed to wear footwear while crossing the Devrai (Not sure whether this rule applies to ALL Devrai's. I am not an expert on this subject, so I may be wrong). We removed our shoes and walked barefoot for next 10 minutes through the Devrai. The Devrai was a thick forest. On a lighter note, for a moment I thought Sun rays are not allowed inside Devrai :-)  Some things cant be explained in words. Its sufficient to say that one should experience a Devrai once. It was an humbling experience.

We crossed the Devrai and reached the base of Kokan Diva. The climb from this point onwards was steep. We were out of breath in no time. It was real tiring climb. In 20 minutes we reached the first level of the fort, after crossing a small rock patch. There were two caves

and a water tank. The top of the fort was very close from here but was again a steep climb. The first step in that uphill journey was another (easy) vertical rock patch. In another 10 minutes we were at the top, breathless, and tired.

The view from the top was panoramic, beautiful & refreshing. Raigad was in front of us. The entire Rairi-Guiri hill range, Lingana fort, Kaal river, Kavlya-Bavlya khind (pass), Sandoshi village were seen from the top.

Breathless

This reminded me of the history of this fort. After the death of Sambhaji, Rajaram was crowned at Raigad on March 12, 1689. As the Mughals started laying siege to the region around Raigad on March 25, 1689, the widow of Sambhaji, Maharani Yesubai and her minister Ramchandra Pant
Amatya sent young Rajaram to the stronghold of Pratapgad through Kavlya ghat. The Maratha army fought with the Mughals and led the new Maratha king, Rajaram to escape through Kavlya ghat to the fort of Jinji in present day state of Tamil Nadu via Pratapgad and Vishalgad forts, where he reached on November 1, 1689. This is known history.

What is not so known is as follows. Mughal knight (sardar) Shahabuddin (there are multiple versions of the name, so consider it as place holder name) was sent by Aurangzeb to help Zulfikar Khan capture Raigad in the month of March, 1689. Zulfikar Khan had already closed most of the escape routes from Raigad by that time. The east side of the fort was not well covered and Shahabuddin was supposed to close the gap. In that journey he had to cross the Kavle Bavale pass at the base of Kokan Diva. A fierce battle was fought between Shahbuddin and Sarkale Naik (the Maratha knight responsible for Kokan Diva and the surrounding area). The Mughal army was bigger in size by order of magnitude (according to some claims it was 10 to 1 ratio).

The battle was won by Maratha's at the cost of many lives including that of Sarkale Naik. In some sense that victory ensured that east side of Raigad was still open for escape and Rajaram was able to escape. Rest is all history. Rajaram escaped & survived for 11 more years. Aurangzeb had to stay in Deccan plateau. After spending 27 long years in Deccan, Aurangzeb finally died without fulfilling his dream (that of capturing Deccan plateau).

The entire history of Aurangzeb's "Mission Deccan" & its failure has a lot of inspiring stories. The fort and the surrounding area were silent observers of one such story. A small monument was constructed in the honour of Sarkale Naik, and is still there at the base of the fort. Local people offer divabatti (lighting ceremony).

I love history and geography.

Kokan Diva was a great open book for me. But time was running out .. I had to make a choice. Going back to history (I mean the further trek through the Kavale Bawale pass) vs going back to Pune.

Pune was the choice :-)

A quick photo session and video session, and

we were all set to start the return journey. We stopped in one of the caves during the return journey and had a breakfast that included Apples and Chikki. With Alok around, return journeys are always exciting ;-) We missed the route

back to Garjai Wadi. That just added 30 minutes more to the walk and lots of karavande (local black berries) to the tummy on the way back. Missing the route is (sometimes more) exciting (than the actual journey). By the time we reached Garjai Wadi, the Sun was on our heads. The return journey on Bike was uneventful, except for the Dhoom style biking :-)

Elevation	1020 meters
Difficulty Level	Medium
Endurance Level	Medium
Adventure Level	High
Fun Level	Great
Ideal for	All trekkers except first timers. Monsoon is the best season to visit this place.
Notes	1. Get local help to understand the terrain and the way towards the fort 2. Avoid items / activities that may disturb the ecosystem 3. Follow all instructions given by the locals

River rafting in Kundalika river - part 1

"Thanks to the mega NH-4 highway, one can travel from Mumbai to Banglore without seeing anything !"

Every time I hit this road, such thoughts come to my mind. Thankfully, today we had nothing to do with this road. A brief encounter at Chandani Chowk and that's all.

We were on a different track. On the Mulshi Road.

Mulshi road is amazing. It takes you to ghat sections, water bodies, forts, hills, valleys and last but not the least, the hill stations for the rich (Lavasa and Amby Valley). Yes, one can go to Amby Valley from Mulshi Road by taking the Ghusalkhamb road. But being rich is not enough on this 'Ghusalkhamb' road. You need to be adventurous. Even with your SUV's. But that's a separate thread. Coming back ..

Mulshi road is a fantastic road for photographers, bikers, trekkers, investors and prospective civil engineers ("How not to build roads for Dummies"). I have been all of them, one at a time, excluding a prospective civil engineer. Today I was in a different role. The role of an adventurous guy. White water rafting is an adventure in itself, the bigger one is to take your spouse & her relatives, especially when they dont know what white water rafting is. Brave guy (I mean yours truly) !

Kundalika river offers a unique white water rafting experience for rich enthusiastic people. Its the only place in India to support river rafting 365 days a year. And that's because of the hydro power generation plant by Tata Power that pushes lots of water every day in the Kundalika river at around 8:30 AM. The water is discharged only for two hours and that's the time to do water rafting in the fast moving river. Which means one should reach the starting point before 8:30 AM.

It is almost impossible to convince IT folks to get up early & start moving at 5 on a Saturday morning. But Smita (wife), Ashwini (Smita's sister) and Ganesh (Ashwini's husband) know enough about my planning & were eager to follow the instructions. After all, the day was going to bring up some surprise for all three of them.

At 5 AM we were in my car. Chandani chowk at 5:15, Pirangut at 5:30, Paud at 5:45, Male at 6:00, Nive at 6:40, we were doing pretty good on the time front. Time for the breakfast in the Tamhini Ghat at 7:15. A seasoned trekker can spot Kailasgad, Raigad, Telbail and Ghangad on this way. We reached the main office of the rafting agency at around 7:45 & parked the vehicle.

The starting and end point of the river rafting session are different & are typically 10-15 km away from each other. I mean its not like boating where you board the boat at some point and the boatman takes your for a ride :-) and drops you back to the starting point. River rafting is different in many ways including this one. It starts at higher elevation, uses the natural (and fast moving) flow of water and takes you downstream. This poses a commute problem. There are two solutions for this at Kundalika.

One is to get a chauffer driven car. The other is to park you car at the office (which is yet another place @Sutarwadi), get a 6 seater (taxi, AKA Tumtum). The 6 seater will drop you at the rafting start point and will pick you up later (in time and space, both) at the end point. They charge a fixed rate per 6 seater (Rs.700).

River rafting was adventure for us & business for locals. And the meeting point was money, I mean Sutarwadi :-). The moment I parked the car, a 6 seater suddenly arrived from nowhere. I confirmed our booking at the prevailing rate. I was told to show the rafting booking challan in the office. (BTW, you need to pre-book your rafting ride through internet). The rafting folks were preparing their rafts for the session. A quick exchange between the 6 seater driver and the rafting agent was overheard.

"Kitne aadmi hai" (how may people have booked the ride for today), the driver. "Sirf 22" (Only 22), the agent. "Pawasalyat khari gardi honar" (monsoon is the peak time), both at the same time :-). Suddenly they realized that I was party to their discussion. Without sounding offending, they suggested me to have tea. Thats when I realized that the three co-passengers had opted for a quick walk around the small village. While they all liked to see 'village life', having a tea at the local tea shop was not their cup of tea. I went to the chai shop and got a special cup at Rs.12. Business is flourishing in Sutarwadi :-)

It was time to board the Tumtum. The journey started. The road was scenic, going up and down. A quick 30 minute drive took us to the starting point.

To be frank, the scene was disappointing. There wasn't much water in the river. Reminded me of mutha river :-( Believe me, it was that bad.

Within few minutes the 3 rafts arrived. The rafting guides and the agent were looking comfortable. They told that within few minutes the gates will be open and the Bhira dam will push gallons of water in the river. At that time an alarm was heard, which was apparently the indication that the water will be released in 15 minutes. 

In few minutes 3 other groups arrived. With each raft carrying max 8 people, accommodating the 4 groups without disturbing the groups was a (routine) challenge for the Lead guide. He decided to take 4 of us + a mother & daughter pair + 2 members from another group in his raft. Each one of us was supposed to carry helmet, life jacket and a pedal. That's when most of the folks realized that its not just a ride, but "do it yourself" sport ! That was the moment of truth for some of them.

While we did a round of introduction with the fellow passengers, I realized that the mother-daughter pair was supported (from outside) by father-son pair. It was really amazing to see the father (middle age) and the son (youngster) were not participating in the adventure while the mother & daughter were into it ! 

'Living young & living free' has nothing to do with age or gender or for that matter anything. Its an attitude. Gifted to me by my Guru.

At around 8:45, another alarm was heard. The gates of the Bhira dam were opened and within 15 minutes the dry river was converted into a flooded river. The guides took the rafts to the flooded river and we started our journey. We were total 9 people on the raft. 8 passengers and 1 lead guide. The first 15 minutes were spent on hands-on training.

Within 15 minutes the guide made all of us comfortable about how to paddle, instructions to follow, safety measures etc. BTW, the instruction were simple, clear & countable on fingers. FORWARD, BACKWARD, DO NOTHING, JUMP INSIDE THE RAFT, that's all.

'Living young & living free' is all about simplicity, clarity & keeping things minimum.

And then we were into the wild kundalika river ... the fun began.

Within few minutes we encountered our first rapid, 'Good Morning'.

The guide was extremely capable person. He gave us instructions, made us feel that we were driving the raft in the right direction, ensured that all of us got a chance to face the white water waves on our faces, and made if appear as an extremely simple and exciting thing.

What followed next, for 180 minutes, was a life changing experience. The river was flowing through a dense forest and hillocks on both sides. Rafting through the flooded waters was an unparalleled experience.  There were grade 1, 2 & 3 rapids on the way. After couple of rapids we came across a patch with deep waters. The guide asked us to jump into the river to get a comfort feeling about the life saving jacket. I was waiting for this opportunity (I am told that cancer is a 'water' sign, what an easy to way to find my own sun sign. If you get it, laugh ! Else forget it, it's not worth figuring out).

Swimming / floating in the flowing river is always fun, especially when you are sure about the safety aspects.

It was time to float on the back, eyes closed. Anyone who has done this in a fast moving flooded river would know what that means. Going with the flow requires much more than 'knowledge'  (swimming in this case or for that matter the knowledge that the safety jacket is safe).

There is something more  ...

It requires a strong belief that the flow will take you through the path of least resistance. 

It requires a strong belief that the flow knows the destination, much better than you.

It requires a strong will to go with the flow rather than clinging to the known safe river bank.

Elemental forces & nature have always been my best friends, philosophers & guide. Winds, storms, rains, dense fog, rivers, forests, hills, valleys, they all have something to teach.

River is all about life & flow.

Go with the flow ... live free .. each breath is new ... and is reminding the existence of time. There was no raft, no guide, no fellow passengers, nothing. For a split millisecond (or second ? minute ? minutes ? .. who knows ? .. and who cares ?) there was nothing.

Life is all about flow. Once you are 'one-with-the-flow' nothing matters.

While clinging to the river bank was a bad idea, clinging to the raft was not so bad, after all I was in a fast moving river. After floating in the river for some time, I came back to the raft.

Flowing in the river is different than

clinging to the raft while you are in the flowing river , which is again different than

being in the raft which is moving in river, which is again different than

being on the river bank, which is again different than

being in a city like Pune.

Wow, one can exist at so many levels and can experience so many different things, all of them being unique. 

The next section of rapids was going to start in few minutes. Now the entire team was assured about the safety. The confidence level was high. And then we were into the main stretch of the rapids.

Still interested in what happened next... check the next blog (available at http://thefortsofsahyadri.blogspot.in/2014/08/river-rafting-in-kundalika-river-part-2.html) that covers the unforgettable experiences including a break on the isolated river bank, catching mangoes while rafting through the river, and some real philosophy that a river had to teach that day.

By the way, photography during river rafting requires a water proof camera. I don't have one :-(  So no real photos while rafting. There are few photos and videos that cover the river. 

Rafting distance & time	12 KM (1 hour in monsoon, 3 hours in other seasons)
Difficulty Level	Easy
Endurance Level	Easy in monsoon / medium in winter / high in summer (during summer you need to paddle a lot in the last section where the water is not moving so fast)
Adventure Level	High
Fun Level	Great (In monsoon it is Great++)
Ideal for	* Young people willing to experience nature. * Monsoon is an ideal time, but expect crowd during monsoon. * Summer is an ideal time for a great inner dialogue. * Its many times better than going to a water park. * This is a sport activity and not suitable for physically disabled people.

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