Shrivardhan trek - Rajmachi bike ride - Sep 13

Last Saturday it was a bike trip to Rajmachi and then a trek to Shrivardhan fort with office friends. Not to forget the tasty chicken at a villagers house. An memorable day as it was my first ever bike ride in the mountains through deep mud and slippery rocks, completed successfully without any fall or injury. From the point go i knew it was risky but on the insistence of office mates finally went for this ride. A 14 km ride which begins from Della adventure upto Udhewadi village. Thanks to the determination and sporting nature of all the participants, it turned out into an memorable adventure. ThanksDeepak Yarlagadda for organising this event. I am glad I joined you guys and made the most of it. I was able to discover another aspect of myself. Looking forward to more such rides. Thanks Amit Satam for your bike, my Dhanno wouldnt have made it that far.

Andharban trek - Sep 13

Trekked to Andharban yesterday. My first trek with Foliage Outdoors. It is a jungle en route Tamhini ghat to Bhira dam which goes through a jungle, streams, plateau and valley. An easy 14 kms trek turned out to be an endurance tester due to spoilsport by the rain god. My first trek this monsoon where there was not a single drop of rain. While on this route you get an amazing view of the Kundalika valley. The same valley where is the origin of the Kundalika river famous for it's white water river rafting. One can also view the Telbaila mountain from a plateau. Overall it was a good trek in the wild.

Movie Review - Chennai Express

Finally caught up with " Chennai Express " - A movie that broke most of the records in it's first 4 days in terms of business, collection, 100 crore club etc. It has been marketed as a romantic action movie but there is only drama. The romance and action is in patches. There nothing great about the script but the screenplay and direction is good. It also involves slapstick comedy similar to Rohit Shetty movies. Shahrukh Khan has done a better job than his last two movies. He has tried his best despite his age but it is not his fault. He does monkeying around and forcefully tries to act funny. On a serious note he is a misfit in the script. But the last 10 minutes belong entirely to him. Even Salman or Aamir would not have been able to do justice to this role. It may have suited Ranbir, Shahid or even Saif Ali Khan better. Why to watch this movie ? Watch it for Deepika Padukone who is the hero of this movie and for Rohit Shetty's directorial skills. If you like the Golmaal series you'll definitely like this. Deepika has aptly carried this movie entirely on her shoulders. She is definitely the forerunner for the Best Actress award this year. Her accentuated Hindi is too good. If you didn't fall in love with her after watching YJHD you'll surely do that after watching this one. The songs have also become chart busters. The picturesque locales are a plus. There is a lot of criticism about Shahrukh and I being his critic would still say watch it once. If you have not watched it yet. Just keep your brain at home, ignore Shahrukh's bad acting, focus on Deepika and you will enjoy the movie.

Movie Review - Once Upon a time in Mumbai Doobara

First Day First Show - " Once Upon a time in Mumbai Doobara " - If you are expecting the same treatment as the prequel you are in for disappointment. As the sequel is not a gangster plot or action but a romantic drama. The Don is shown as a lover who is crazy for love. Anytime the first part is better which had superb acting by Ajay Devgan and Emran Hashmi. In fact Emran Hashmi could have done justice to Akshay's role. Imran is just ok. Despite being a criminal he has that cool chocolate boy image. Sonakshi Sinha has done justice to her role as a bimbo. There are some good dialogues and there is not much action. There is nothing much to say about the songs. The script fails to do justice to the screenplay. Watch it only if you must.

Movie Review - The Conjuring

Watched " The Conjuring " - A movie in the horror genre which has been in the news off late and has been well received by the audience. It comes from the hit director James Wan who has previously directed SAW and INSIDIOUS. The plot involves a haunted house and exorcism. It is scary in parts and the fact that it is based on true incidents gives it more credibility. A good one time watch.

Visapur trek - 11th Aug

It was a trek to Visapur last Sunday alongwith a visit to Bhaje caves. A huge fort in the Maval region of Pune. It is also know as the elder brother of Lohagad which is just opposite. It has a vast area on the top . It should be atleast 3-4 kms from one end to the other. There is not much of fortification and it houses some unknown historic structures. Not many visit this fort unlike Lohagad as the route to the top is rocky and there are boulders and rock patches that you need after crossing a jungle to take during ascend and descend. After alighting at Malavali station we started on the Lohagad route and took the diversion at the left before Lohagad fort to take the jungle route to the Visapur fort. A waterfall was flowing through the route made of stones at the time of ascend. There are about 15 large water cisterns on top and a few abandoned structures. We tried to search for a Shiva temple but were unable to due to the heavy fog that had engulfed the vast area. Still we completed one complete round of the fort walking near the edges. After food and braving the heavy rain we started for the descend through another route which goes to Patan village near Malavali. The route is similar to the other route with stones and waterfall flowing through. Somehow we lost the way in the middle and drifted away from the route as we discontinued the rocky route and took for a path way. But with the guidance of the locals we reached Malavali station before dark. Thanks to Tejas, Manju and Menaka, we again had a great trek together this season.

Dudhsagar Waterfall trek - Rail route 4th Aug

Trekked to Dudhsagar Waterfalls last Sunday after a good 2 months gap with Trekmates India. It was more of a trip than a trek but quite interesting and enjoyable. Since it was a pilot trek for TMI a lot of instructions were passed around and there were some doubts about the train halt and the distance between the stations etc. The trek began with the train journey from Pune to Dudhsagar station on-board the Nizamuddin - Vasco Express singing songs, mashup some gigs etc. I was very excited as I was trekking in my home state for the first time and I had waited for this trek since the past 3 years. Also the fact that I was trekking withManoj Kalwar as the leader after almost a year. We reached Castle Rock station on Goa - Karnataka border and everyone were on their feet as we were told that the train would make an unofficial halt at Dudhsagar station for 30 seconds. With management and co-ordination skills in place a plan was chalked out to jump once the train became slow. It gave me the feeling that we were either fugitives running from the jail or dacoits come to loot a place. After getting down at the station had to wait for an hour for the sun to rise a bit. As it was dark and it was quite risky to walk in the jungle in the dark. Dudhsagar station is a 2km walk from Dudhsagar waterfall. The gigantic waterfall mesmerized me completely when I saw it for the first time. The scene was so engrossing that I could keep watching it for hours together. I wanted to climb to the top of the falls but couldn't as it was not part of the group plan. Still I manged to climb sideways to a certain height through a small flow of water but had to return. After that we had to walk along the railway track for about 12 kms to Kulem station. Some of the trekkers hitched a ride on a goods train for the entire track. I also joined them for about 5 kms which was again a first time experience of travelling in an open air goods train. We got some good rest and lunch at Kulem. I took this opportunity to have a tasty fish curry rice at a restaurant in the village. Perfect timing just before the month of Shravan. And we started journey for Pune in the evening. The return journey began by singing songs, the heavy rush of the nearby Kannadiga people. The best session was the late night intellectual discussion about life with Sai Iyer and a lady by the name Shweta which went on for a good 2 hours. Sai I am already looking forward to another brainstorming session with you and yes Adarsh Hemrajani a champion trekker in his own right. Thanks for the company throughout. My friends at TMI really make me miss the treks which I am not a part of.