A trip from sands to bricks

       There goes the alarm bell, it's time to wake up, we have a plan to follow. The most irritating thing about outings is waking up early in the morning, leaving the cozy bed. Ohh! why should all these treks be scheduled so early. But they have to be, it's the only time of the day the sun looks at us with loving warmth. So up I am, all ready to get set and go...........

            Its 5.45am, I love walking on the streets at this hour. It's still dark but I can hear the birds, I wonder if they know its Sunday!!!! so lucky they are, not to be trapped in sundays, mondays and tuesdays. for them it's Today, it's now. I walk along, enjoying the sound of my hurried footsteps, yet completely present to watch, hear, feel the day that is ripening before me. It's funny when you walk like this on empty roads, you get this feeling that it's not you moving forward but the road that's moving backwards towards you. Like as if you are on a giant massive treadmill. Well it's high time I start moving faster now, so I hop into a rickshaw. The treadmill effect has gone, now I am on a jet plane. The roads are empty and the rickshaw driver takes full advantage of this and speeds up his rickshaw. But all this not for long, the roads have been dug up just a couple of blocks away from the station and we have a traffic jam. Wow! in the early hours of the day we are stuck. I decide to walk it down. Farewell Rickshaw driver, we can't have jet plane driving in our city. 

             Finally the train. There, it's not on time, but No, suddenly it decides to catch up. Now we have a jet plane train, and I have already misinformed a friend about the delay I had anticipated. Can anything be predicted right in this city??? I sit watching the stations, fields, creeks, clouds, pass by. The day has brightened up. The train now stops at Mira road and a lady gets in. She is a fisher-woman, What's striking about her is this thick long gold chain she is wearing, enough to compete with the ones on Bappi Lahiri, it has a pendant about 6 to 7 cm long and its a FISH!!!... a rich fisher-woman indeed. I should start selling fishes now..

Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

              Our meeting point is at Nalasopara station. Three have already arrived, I am the fourth one, four more to go. I reach and my misinformed friend is ready to pounce on me for the mistake I made, all this for fun hopefully. So the wait continues for others. Chit-chatting and teasing kills the time and after 45mins from the scheduled time we set off on our journey. The Bus Depot is right outside and we soon are on our way to Kalamb Beach in the bus. Friends enquire about the buddhist stupa nearby. We also spot it from the bus. 

               Soon we reach Kalamb beach.moving through the small villages on the way watching the fresh vegetables growing alongside.looking at the trees, listening to the birds. In the lap of nature there is so much to see and hear I wonder how we still find time to talk to one another. Words that don't mean anything really. Words that are always misinterpreted. Words that are mere perceptions. Not totally worthless although. They do help share information.

                    Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

            The Kalamb beach had trash here and there as a welcome note. but as we walked ahead it was a little better. Well I would call it a 'rock-less' beach, yet we had a rocking time. The nature had laid her designs on the sand for us to admire. Eeny meeny tiny crabs, too lethargic to run away from our intruding feet moved peacefully in their territory. I kept hoping I didn't kill some of them under my feet. One of our friends had a magnifying glass. Our eeny meeny friends now could be better stared upon. I wonder if they use their crabby telescopes to watch us!!! Or maybe they don't care a damn about us, the intruders in their territory. 

                   Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

Next was Frisbee time spiced up with photography.... running, throwing, catching, falling we enjoyed our game of frisbee. and with the help of our photographer friends we had our delight captured in pictures forever. I would say, if you ever want to forget all your worries, come play a game. Outdoor games pull you out of the maze of thoughts and gives you a clear field where you can just be.

                       Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

For the photographers a boat lying on the sand was a perfect model. Click!! click!! click!! they went with their cameras. The clouds, the waves and the sand posing just right for that perfect picture. Soon the game was over and the boat was taken into the sea too. One of our friends had a quick dip in the sea. This is one thing I longed to do too, but didn't. Water is always refreshing. Now the wait is for the waterfalls.

                    Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

After all this we had our quick meal of chips and biscuits. the best was the tea that we had just next to the beach made by locals living there. There in the background of quiet peaceful nature the songs on radio played. They played in my head too. So with Sridevi's "I love you....I love you..." playing in the background I had my tea. Even with those songs it was a nice place and I didn't feel like getting up. Shade, hot tea and Friends all on the beach. What more to ask for now. I love it....!!! I love it....

Beach done and now we set off for the Buddhist Stupa. On the way the villages again. This time we enjoyed the fruits of their farming. A friendly villager plucking and collecting Jaamuns(jambul) from the tree, noticed our unsuccessful attempts at plucking the ripe jaamuns. He rewarded our efforts by throwing a bag full of Jaamuns down at us. An Amla tree on the way, inspired the climber in a friend and up he went balancing on the pillar plucking loads of Amla which we all enjoyed eating later on. thus with jaamuns and amlas to munch on, we moved along. We even bought string beans (chouli) on the way and munched on them as we took the rickshaw to the stupa. Having fruits and vegetables like this made me feel like a kid again. in fact this entire trip from frisbee to fruits brought out the child in me.

                                            Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

      We reached the stupa. It's called the Sopara Stupa. Unfortunately it's in a state of neglect, with attempts being made to preserve what's remaining. I Still didn't get the idea of how old it is. 2500yrs old or made in 2500BC.. Are they one and the same thing? I made a mental note to find out about this. Although I could appreciate the fact that this was so old that Buddha or may be his followers of that time visited it, the understanding of the time scale is yet to come.

                             Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures

           History is a story, if you have the right storyteller, the place comes alive for you. It has a sense of mystery attached to it, and coming to historical places like this the mystery busters in us rises. Each one of us tried imagining how the stupa would have been. We went about discussing how the bricks must have been laid in a particular pattern and chantings may be done to invoke the right vibrations. How the kings must have used it. We even thought of aliens being involved in the design of the pattern, maybe it's their symbol or some marked head quaters. We dreamed about the treasures there. And for a while drifted to that era when this structure was whole. The dome intact, the gates standing. What a site it would have been. Dragging us out of this dream land, a friend explained how whatever culture is followed in a particular region is responsible for the preservations of monuments there. Now I truly wonder, considering the de-culturing that has set in. Would any of our historic treasures last for generations to come? Would we revere it and look after it or lose it to the want of space for our ever growing population. The answer lies in our choices, but we slyly call our choices as chance events. And so who can control chance??? With these unanswered questions and hopes that we will preserve the treasures what we have, we now return back to nalasopara station to enjoy a round of icy cold golas.. A sweet cool end to the trip.

Note: photos by Wanderlust Adventures