Karnala Pics address........

http://picasaweb.google.com/ashishag.iitk/Karnala24May08

KARNALA accomplished @ 24th May 08.

As promised last week I have completed the unconquered peak(for me atleast….) of Karnala. I completed the task on 24^th May 08, as usual alone…but ya again enjoyed it and think to go again there in monsoon.

Start for the trek was not good, I thought to start it early in the morning. Planning was to leave home at around 5:30 am, but was very tired. So finally left at 8:30 am!!!!(Ashish is lazy boy!! Ashish is a lazy boy!! ae ae ae :P :P :D ) Reaching to Kurla took more time than I expected. Andheri Kurla road was heavily jammed and I was stuck there for more than 30 minutes. But because of my companion “radio” I was kind of enjoying it. I have to agree it was really hot, sun was at it’s peak, I was feeling uncomfortable, instead of sitting in space for two :D.

I reached Kurla in about 1.5 hours, much more than I expected, from there I took a train to Panvel. I have read on internet that private auto rickshaw will charge 50-70 rs. till karnala. But I was not in a hurry and also not in a mood to spend that much. As bus station was very near, so I decided to take a bus to Karnala. Bus was not ready, but was about to arrive. Utilizing this time I had some refreshments, also bought some eatable stuffs for journey. (This I should have done one day in advance…..but my laziness….Ashish is lazy boy :D)

Bus arrived, it was a local bus till Alibaug. Till Karnala I was charged only 8 bucks. Reached Karnala at about 11:30 am, as soon I reached their I took photograbh of the map, so that in case on confusion I can refer it (though I never referred it because the route to fort from main path was very clear and straight). I started at around 11:40 am, on map it was written that the main trail till fort is 3 kms only, distance wise it should have not taken more than 40 minutes. I started to climb, there was no sign of anybody else around. As I said sun was really harsh that day, so I didn’t expect anyone else to be a part of such stupidity (but I proved to be wrong…does that means there are lots of “stupid” people like me in this earth ;-) )

Climb was steep without any plain patches. I have to agree that just after 15-20 minutes my body started demanding some rest. But I was in a hurry to reach the peak, so I kept walking. Suddenly I saw a person climbing upwards, it was a sign of delight for me….instead of taking rest I decided to catch him. But to my disappointment, the guy was aged person (carrying a stick, but hats off to him for walking alone just like me :D). I wanted to start conversation, but he was slow…talking to him would have made me slow. So instead of talking to him I overtook him and went ahead. On the way up, I was feeling very weak and thirsty, moreover heat was making it worse.

I reached the base of the port in around 50 minutes, which was more than estimated. But considering the heat and steep climb it was OK. Wind was blowing once in a while, but was really very soothing. The path was on the edge of mountains, so it was lacking shade and I had to walk continuously in scorching sun. As I reached the base, I met two guys, they were not in a position to climb till the fort. Their two other friends were already in the way to fort. They were thirsty so I offered them my water. (A word of caution, if you ever trek in summers you must carry at least 2 liters of water per person. Especially if you are going there for the first time) I asked them to come with me but they were not in the position to follow me. I started climbing the final steps and finally reached the fort. In total the time taken was more than 1 hours!!! Being my first “formal” trek for this season I was comfortable with the speed.

I must tell you that Karnala fort lacks in caves and hence proper shade. The space present below the Karnala “thumb” was filled with water. (I really don’t have any clue from where the water came) I was madly searching for such place but there was no good place to lay down. I met other two guys (of the same group whom I met at base) they were also looking for such place. They told me that some local villagers are in the back of fort. I was really eager to know on how to climb on the "thumb", so I went to ask the local person. It was a beautiful piece of rock, but horrifying too!!! Villager showed me the path which professional climbers take during their expedition. For the first time I felt the absence of a group with me, I really missed my friends who are more enthusiastic than me in such activities. (Bhuts, reddy, thapa…. I will try to bring you all here someday, then we will plan how to climb on this mighty rock)

Anyhow I explored the fort and took some photographs. Time was around 1 pm, and it was no point in sitting there, and most importantly I wanted to search for the route no. 2 (according to map – “Steep route”). I started descending, with my eyes open for alternative route. Suddenly I found a route going to left of main trail into the forest. I still had 1 litre of water with me and time was only 1:15 pm, I decided to take the risk and to follow this path. This path was really steep and full of slippery mud, I covered most of part sliding down in the mud. It didn’t took me more than 15 minutes to reach down. As per my “calculation” and the map I reached the trail which I followed last week. The place was very near to staff quarters, not more than 10 minutes of walk was left. The signboard near to it says – “Mor Tanka”. So first timers - Keep looking for this signboard if you want to take the steep route.

I reached the staff quarter safely and then sat there for half an hour taking rest. Till that time the group of four has also descended, we sat and shared our experiences. They told me about some place near Virar called as Brajreshwari, according to them it has a good climb with river flowing sideways and few hot springs as well. It sounds to be a interesting place, may plan it sometime :-)

I had some other plans back at home, so I took depart from them and reached Karnala sanctuary gate quickly. Luckily I got lift in a bike, then I quickly caught a local train till Kurla and returned my home by 5:30 pm.

Overall it was a nice journey but would have been better if climate had supported me. I learned few things about sahayadris in this trip and would use this experience in coming treks. I hope by next week monsoon will arrive in Mumbai to make this place more beautiful…

Mumbai Radio and me......

"Mumbai Traffic" sounds like a horrible term na?? :-). Be it either trains or buses, all are crowded to the extent of maximum it can be. Traffic jams are so common that sometimes people reach their destination earlier while walking rather than taking bus/autos. But it seems that all are enjoying these traffic jams and getting late to office, sounds strange?? what is the reason?? What is all behind this mystery?? It's none other than "music" and this music comes straight from the wide network of RADIO.

Radio network in mumbai is awesome. All the time you will find whole lot of things going on. Approximately their are 6-7 channels (atleast which I am able to catch using my new cell, provided by my new company ofcourse :D). If in one channel there is some "stupid" competition going on, in other you will found them playing cool hip hop songs (but I still prefer old songs )

Radio has become a part of my daily routine. When I left early in the morning for my office, I listen to radio for around 45-50 minutes (including daily news :-) ). And even while returning also I hear it for cool 40 min. Moreover most of the songs they play are super hits and mixture of new-semi new-semi old-old songs. Occasionally I get chance to listen to those songs which were my favorites, but which I have not heard for so long. These songs really make my day, they are really refreshing and soothing.

In Mumbai you will never get bore if you own a cell and it's earphone of course (This is beyond my understanding, why all cell needs earphone to start radio? Does any one know?? ). Radio will always keep on entertaining you.

As such everything about radio is good, but sometimes they use very cheap publicities. In one channel they are distributing money for free. They play 7-8 song in 1 hour and then they select one of the registered person(I don't know how they select one out of may be thousands or more !!!). After every hour they ask the person all the songs in serial order. For each rite song identified the person gets 1 grand :O !!!!! It's just like distributing money for me........ I mean, I have no problem with one poor guy (may be rich though.... ) getting those money. But it sounds very lame to me?? Does it not nullify the important fact of life that without hardwork no one can get comfort. I mean if you really want to distribute it, and make your channel popular, do it in style man !!! Make your program somewhat challenging that after winning it no one will feel it to be just because of luck.

I believe Radio is a very strong means of media, it can bring revolution if used in such spirit. I have just one request to "all radio channels". For just 15-20 minutes please forget all gaana- shana, competitions, paisa-vaisa and lets start spreading awareness and knowledge about issues which are very important but usually neglected. Some of these topics may be on Politics, Corruption, Global Warming, some facts about our past, new technlogy etc etc.......

I know radio do it occasionally, but we always put our deaf ears to such talks and switch the radio channels to other. But its now high time to think about these issues and to come up with a viable solution. If radio guys will do it at the same for few minutes, I think it can really make some difference....what do you think???

Mumbai ke "mamu" log......

Their is one thing in Mumbai which I am really sacred of. No it is not Raj Thackery guys :D, but it's none other than "mamus" of Mumbai.

"Mamu" sounds like someone whom who loves or a person very lovable, but it's just the opposite (atleast for me). I don't know how it got started, but people in mumbai call "traffic walas" or in general "police walas" as Mamu. I swear to God whenever I see them I feel as if they are calling me and I will be fined for "nothing".

I know it's good to make people follow the rule, but you feel bad if someone follows all the rules and still get fined. Sometimes people get fined for sth which they even don't know is wrong or rite(It's like you have to pay them when ever you are called for)...One of unique things which I have noticed is, the majority of people who are fined are riding two wheelers. Rarely I have seen any four wheeler fined for breaking rules. (Btw which they do more oftenly)

I agree that to maintain law and order situation traffic person need to be harsh. But fining people for some rule which they don't even know is totally wrong!!! If we really want to improve our traffic order conditions in busy towns we need to improve the system of issuing Driving Licenses. RTO should tell all license holder's what is rite, what is wrong, what are the rights of rider and what they can do if they are harassed unnecessarily.

Actually this should be done in every part of system which is full of corruption. This way we citizen of republic of India will understand their rights and what we can do to protect them.

One of my all time favorite song is 'Kallu Mama' from movie 'Satya'. It has one line which is totally apt for such "dil ke kale mamus" -
"Soch voch chod bheja kahe ko kharochna, apna kaam hai maal aaye to dadochna" :D

First Trek of the Season.(KARNALA)...Unsuccessful :(

I had never expected it. ....but unfortunately it has happened.....

I always thought of Karnala fort as a easy place to climb. I would have completed it before, but kept on postponing it. The reason for postponing was that all internet sites say - it is a easy trek and can be completed in one day. And apart from this, this place is very near to Chitu's home. So I was kind of planning to go for this one while visiting Mumbai with him (In his indica of course ;-) ).

But now as I am in Mumbai (of course after resigning Godrej :) ), I was spending my second weekend here. My roommate left for paragliding, leaving his bike with me(Pulser 200 man :D). Bike was shouting loudly and was asking me for a ride. So hastily I turned the pages of travelling magazine "Mumbai 52 weekends", net surfing for about 2-3 hours and few calls here and there I fixed my "date" with Karnala.

Karnala is about 65 kms from Mumbai. I started around at 6 am, stopped at petrol pump to fill petrol. Considering average of 200 cc to be around 35 km/litre, 4 litres were more than sufficient. I was all set to go, but I had no idea about the road route. I live in Andheri and bus no. 523 and 524, directly go to Vashi from here. Previous night I thought of following one of these buses, coincidently as I started my engine I saw Bus no. 523 just in front of me passing by the road. So this way I started my journey following this bus.

I followed it till Powai but unfortunately lost it from there. Anyhow I decided to reached Vashi with the help of signboards and using my sixth sense :D. From Vashi I went to Panvel and then reached Karna in about 2 hours. As it was early morning, climate was very pleasant and I enjoyed the ride. I was very cautious while driving as I have not drived 200 cc bike before and moreover I didn't want "bund" to fire me :P. The route from Vashi to Panvel was quite confusing and even people having walks beside the street have no idea of the same. But thanks to all Auto walas and Taxi walas that I reached my destination - "Karnala Sanctuary"

As I was alone and I had fear about sth happening to bike, I took it along with me to inside of sanctuary. Some bikes were parked near the staff quarter, it was not looking safe but I had no other choice. So I parked my bike and started the trek. As I told you earlier I was taking this trek as an easy one, I started it without any guidance. It was totally an unplanned move and I didn't expected any problem while trekking. I was not carrying anything with me, no water, no food, nothing. But haan I had Airtel connection with me :D.

I took a trail and started walking, I had no idea where this trail will lead me to. I walked for about 15-20 minutes and noticed that trail was taking me away from the "thumb" of Karnala fort. But as I had no clue, I kept on walking. Trail was very confusing and I was getting very worried my bike as well, so I decided to go from one steep trail. But it ended somewhere in the middle, so I came back and again started moving ahead. After 10-15 minutes I found a much clear side trail moving away from main path. I was kind of sure that this will take me to peak. I started it well, but suddenly I reached place where the climb was full of "muram" (slippery mud, small pebbles). It had no vegetation on it and even no sign of rocks. The inclination of around 60 degree, as I covered such paths earlier I decided to move ahead. But there was lot of difference between what I had done and what I started, the main difference was absence of good "support".

I somehow climbed half of the path, but suddenly my leg slipped. It was the first time when I struck my mind that I was in danger. Problem was I was not able to take a good hold(grip) of anything. Once I even inserted my hand and black ants was all over my hand. I could have climbed up, but it was very clear that I was in the wrong track and may face more problem ahead. And if unfortunately I slipped again, it would had been difficult for me to hold myself. Combining all these fear I also had "bike" in my mind. So I decided to go back very slowly and patiently I moved downwards. Believe it was lot more tougher than climbing up. As I came down via different path, main trail was missing, now I was really scared (hindi mein meri "phat li thi"). Sun was getting harsher and I had not eaten/drink anything for so long.

As Karnala is near to highway, so I decided to keep moving believing that I will reach somewhere. Luckily I found a new trail, following it I reached the main trail after some time. As I was already late and worried about the bike I started moving fast and after 30 minutes!!! of walking reached staff quarters.

After taking some rest, I saw a map on a board. It made me realized mistake I have done. It was very clear that there were two paths to reach Karnala. One was simple and was only 3 km long(that means not more than 30 minutes for me). Other was through steep trail which starts from very near to main trail. I missed it and kept on walking in the wrong direction.

I have already decided to go back for this next week, without bike of course. This time I will do it via both the paths. The easy one and as well as the one which "defeated" me.

--
Ashish