goggly

Happy B’day Maharashtra . Mumbai, Kalyan, Igatpuri, Nasik, Shirdi, Sangamner, Chalisgaon, Nagpur, Pune, Alandi, Aurangabad, Karad, Satara, Sangli, Miraj, Kolhapur, Hatkangale, Gadhinglaj, Roha, Pen, Panvel, Chiplun, and thats all. I am run out of the places in Maharashtra that i have spent my time. What a pity !! I have passed through Akola, Amravati, Badnera , Wardha on way to Nagpur and Kolkatta by Kolkatta Mail or Geetanjali or Solapur, Barshi by night when I took a journey to Chennai. But a vast trackland of Maharahtra still eludes me. I am yet to touch my feet on Matheran, Mahabaleshwar , Pandharpur and yet to traverse the country of ‘ hard and toughened stones and people ‘ . A description that described of Maharashtra in poetry of Vasant Bapat ' Rakat Desha , Kankhar Desha, Dagdanchya desha ' . Few more descriptions that I can think of Maharashtra are ' Mangal desha , Pavitra Desha, Maharashtra Desha by Govindagraja' ' Bahu asot sunder sampan ti mahan, priya a...

I had heard about ' Vadkhal Naka ' in the context of some alleged smuggling scandal involving A R Antule . I also knew about Karnala being famous for bird sanctuary and existence of the fort. Last week, I passed by both Vadkhal and Karnala on route towards the discovery of ‘Vile Bhagad ’, a new industrial township being built by MIDC . But the travel past MIDC till Mulshi Dam made our day memorable. Our ride started from Mumbai at 9am and culminated at Koregaon Park in Pune at 6pm. We passed through Panvel - Karnala -Pen - Vadkhal - Kolad - Vile Phata - Vile Bhagad - Bhira ( Tamhini Ghat) - Mulshi - Paud - Pirangut - Bhoogaon - Bawdhan - Chandni Chowk - Pashan - Kothrud - . Alternating between plains, steep mountain curves, along the contour of an expansive Mulshi lake encircled by Sahyadri ’s massive mountain range, this journey was turning out to be spectacular. This was a surprise package that we did not envisage. Road from Panvel to Vile Bhagad ...

A long ago, a business friend from South Korea had arrived in Mumbai after his visits to other parts of India. I took him to the Elephanta caves - the cave temples to Shiva, on an island ,10 km from Mumbai harbour. This was my visit to this place too. During the chat, he commented ' I have been to different parts of India, every one was enthusiastic in showing me the great monuments of India of different centuries. Why no one is showing me something of this century ?'. His comments made me realize the validity of his remark. We tend to preoccupy ourselves with history leaving the current accomplishment unnoticed. At jewellery shop in Shivaji Park while keeping Akshta occupied and entertained, my probing eyes reached for a box that stacked some books. What more can I ask for ? I pulled up a nearby wooden stool and started flipping through this hard bound Marathi book that talked about the famous personalities from Konkan. What impressed me about this book was the quality...