Rajmachi

Rajmachi

Even the most insipid Mumbai Pune traveller will find it difficult not to be captivated by the proud peak jutting into the sky, just across the valley from Khandala , carpeted  lush green , rimmed by breathtaking waterfalls & protected by steep cliffs. This is Rajmachi , the sentinel of the Bor  ghat.

Rajmachi for T2B has always been a hit and miss affair, the last time we decided to go, the count was just 2! When Chanderi was cancelled, the toss-up was between Rajmachi & Bhimashankar and we all know who won that one . So once again Rajmachi was announced & we had 2 plans - 1 team approaching from Lonavala & the infamous endurance team approaching from Karjat , both meeting at Rajmachi , staying there exploring & returning the next day .But since it was Rajmachi , there had to be a twist involved .The Lonavala team couldn't spare two days ,hence decided to do it in one day .Personally I had my reservations about its feasibility considering the distance involved , approximately 12 kilometres one way .The 1 day team found a workaround for this in the form of a hired Sumo which would take them up till a certain point from where they could walk .That settled , the 2 day team opted for rail travel to Karjat followed by a 6 seater till the base village .

For this trek , we had a special participant,Dr.Manisha, all the way from Goa .She was ex army and came with the promise of cashews & other things Goan .The gang, comprising of Sarah 'D'costa' ,Mansi 'Manku',Sachin 'Guptaji' ,Rohit 'Dongardev ' Tariq, Anu and me, met Manisha at Dadar & boarded the Deccan Express .The most promising thing about this super slow train was the in house breakfast which would save us time later on .Having had our heart's fill of bread omelette & veg cutlet ,we alighted at Karjat , BUT we didn't have Diwadkar's wadas as we were too full ! Sorry Dr.Kotnis ! Once out of the station , a very helpful newspaper vendor gave us precise directions to Shriram Pul from where we were to catch the 6 seater to Kondana village .He also warned us that the rick drivers would try to fleece us , but to be firm on Rs.15 per head as the fare.Thanking him, we made our way forward through the colourful market of Karjat & were puzzled when Guptaji suddenly stopped .Our surprise soon gave way to glee when we saw the reason , piping hot jalebis served straight from the kadhai ! Those who were allegedly full just a few minutes ago managed to polish off 250 gms of jalebis in no time ! Now for some tea to wash it all down . At the tea stall ,Anu & me got talking as to how the scenario in Rajmachi was bleak due to the weekend & that we would be lucky to get a bare room to sleep in , forget bedding and other luxuries .At this, the practical Anu decided to buy a chatai to lessen the hardship for Tariq and her , seeing that all the others were well equipped with huge carry mats .With Anu on her shopping mission , Tariq was regaling us with various hypotheses , which only he could have thought up , some including cows & their methane content etc .And while he was doing so he managed to finish off a cup of tea immediately followed by seven up, increasing the incredulity in the observing public's eye ! Tariq being Tariq didn't bat an eyelid & went on to his next theory .By this time Anu was back with a double chatai , which was promptly branded as the honeymoon brand chatai for Anu & Tariq .

Seeing that Manku was a Jain , Tariq tried to clear his doubts regarding the Jain philosophy of 

vegetarianism .Tariq, for your information, eats vegetables only when they are stuffed into some

sort of an animal.Manku,innocent that she was, explained that since plants have fewer senses as compared to animals ,it is allowed to eat them.Tariq got it clarified from her that plants have 

only 3 senses & then he came up with this stunner, suppose , he says , suppose a jain man has a 

deaf & dumb child , is it ok to eat it ? it has only 3 senses right ?  Manku kept a safe distance 

from Tariq after that , who knows when hunger may strike ? 

With important tasks out of the way, we reached Shriram Pul where there was a 6 seater stand with around 15 6 seaters & their drivers  eagerly waiting for passengers ( or prey ,depends on your perspective). Guptaji & I went forth to engage one of them & I could actually see the gleam in his eye , tourists , adidas clothes , expensive bags - this is going to be good ! 400 rupees ! The warning of the newspaper vendor echoed - only 15 Rs./head which worked out to 120 rupees. We were ready to give 20 / head taking the total to 160 & toss in an additional 40 making it 200 .Which is what I told him and it was his turn to give me the 'Alibaag se aaye hai kya ?' look .

I politely told him to go fish in the adjacent Ulhas river , at this his fellow driver friends came to sort the issue & gave us a generous discount of 50 rupees .I told him don’t go by our fancy clothes, we know what the rate is & we were willing to give him over and above, but not the extortionate figure which he was quoting .He had a mocking , challenging tone when he said that you were welcome to find anyone willing to take you for less, knowing fully well that we had no other option. Disgusted with his exploitative behaviour , I walked off & we had a huddle .Guptaji tried to talk sense to me saying that 400 wasn't such a big amount , but the point was not the amount ,rather the feeling that we were helpless and they could manipulate us as they wished .

Rohit in the meantime was making inquiries elsewhere for alternative modes of transport and came back with the same news that there was no option but to bow down to their demands .

Practically, that was what even I was foreseeing , but decided to play a waiting game to see who would blink first .I decided to use the time to scout for other jeeps , tempos , trucks etc.

Imagine my joy ,when within the minute an ST bus pulled up & the cherry on the cake was that it  was empty and it was also going  where we wanted to go , talk about Divine retribution .We just couldn't wipe the smirk off our faces as we waved goodbye to the 6 seaters .

The ST drive was scenic, along the Ulhas river to the village of Khandpe.Once there, we had to walk around 20 minutes to reach the base village of Kondane.There was a lone 6 seater standing and he quoted 150 & the go fish routine was repeated , this time with renewed vigour & freshly won confidence .We started walking & he followed us & was ready to take us on our terms .Pays to stand your ground , this was turning out to be an interesting trek after all .

Kondane caves are Buddisht caves in the style of Karla & Bhaja caves with intricately carved figures & designs , though, as so many sites in our country, it is in utter disrepair with just hints and suggestions of its past glory .Now we have loud & shrill picnic revellers and their discarded beer bottles , still noteworthy is the presence of the original wooden arches , which must be dating back at least a thousand years.All the carvings affected Dcosta,who had an inspirational moment and struck an Apsara pose , ably directed by Guptaji & duly captured by all & sundry , only Manisha had the foresight to capture Guptaji's pose , which has to be seen to be believed.Tariq had more immediate & earthly concerns like thirst & hunger which were promptly addressed by one of the numerous stalls dotting the path .Kondane caves are a short 15 minute walk up from the base village and is nowadays more famous for its waterfall and the associated rappelling.

Once we had our fill of touristy attractions , we applied ourselves to the more serious task of trekking , after all this was part of the now famous ( or infamous) endurance series. Continuing right from the caves there is a winding path ,helpfully marked with arrows going towards Rajmachi .The initial part is pure bliss , continuing on a horizontal level traversing numerous streams & waterfalls heading through the forest .After some time the path takes an upward turn ,the steep incline is broken at one or two places by grassy plateaus .The first plateau was where we had our Tang & soya chips break .This was where we played spot the train too , since we were right opposite the ghat section of the railway track .

Refreshed by the infusion of sugar , we started up the incline again but to our consternation, instead of rain we were greeted by brilliant sunshine , which made Tariq unleash a string of invectives  & us to halt at the next plateau .We threw our bags , Guptaji decided to catch a quick nap , Dcosta  & Manku decided that they were cats and started prowling on the grass - the heat does that to some .Rohit did the most sensible thing & located the nimbu paani stall & were soon gulping down multiple glasses of the blessed elixir. This halt made us appreciate our surroundings , on our left was a sheer cliff extending hundreds of feet , right in front was the steep climb , though steep it was beautiful through thick forest , on our right was the valley dotted with emerald green fields and across the valley was the mountain with the train track.

Manku , though being the youngest .made a profound observation as to how small a part we were in this huge beautiful scheme of things .

With fresh nimbu paani coursing through our veins we decided that we will stop only when we have completed the concluding climb and so we did .The final ascent got us to a fortified structure ,identified as the boundary of the village or ves in Marathi .We took a well deserved halt there & could see the broad expanse of the plateau extending till where the eye could see.

On our left was the proud ,solid, yet compact Manranjan fort which was rising from the plateau to quite some height.There was a general question regarding the various terms used in fort terminology & we had an impromptu class on machi , buruj , chilkhati buruj , killa and balekilla .

Anu had got rice noodles & omelettes from home but no one was in a condition to eat much and with a heavy heart we had to disappoint her . 

Dcosta tends to exhibit masochistic  tendencies sometimes or probably we could blame it on the heat , she decided that she was game to carry my rucksack , which probably weighed as much as her .You could actually see her axial skeleton twist and turn as it adjusted to the load .Though it was just a 15 minute walk now to the village called Udhewadi,Sarah swears that the cursed sack has irreversibly notched her scapula and i was to blame for the same !

Once at Udhewadi , just a hamlet of about 20 houses , we could see that it was actually overrun with tourists - the smoking drinking kinds and we had a tough task ahead of us finding accommodation.Unknown to me Rohit had already negotiated with the nimbu paani wala at the plateau for place at one of his relative's house .I too knew someone whose wife i had treated when i was in GDC , so using that advantage , we got a 3 bhk bungalow with an attached 'semi' restroom.The 'semi' part was that it was just a small enclosure with an even smaller drain .Tariq took pains to explain how you had to precisely aim and i left it at that .Tea was served & it was a

such a joy after the day's exertion , it even had lemon grass , what else could you ask for ! Tea was accompanied by Goan cashews & biscuits and the effect was such that till a few minutes everyone was ready to call it a day , but now everyone was eager to go exploring ! 

Rajmachi, as the name suggests , is a plateau with twin fortified peaks rising from it viz.Manranjan & Shrivardhan .As it lies in a strategic position , it could control movement from the Konkan to Pune and beyond .Both the forts have excellent natural defences in the form of steep cliffs & dense forests , thick stone walls & bastions make them even more impregnable.Guptaji was mighty pleased , 'we have visited so many forts , but there is nothing there , at least these have a substantial fortification remaining'.Manranjan, being closer to the house, was selected as the gad of choice to round off the day .It was almost 5 pm , but the tea & cashews had filled us with extra vigour and we were confident of acing it , plus we had enough illumination to light up the entire mountain courtesy Guptaji's headlight ,Savitha's floodlight & many other such implements.

A gradual climb got us to the first imposing Buruj or bastion & so cleverly was the entrance hidden that we were momentarily confused as to which direction to take .A small path to the right of the Buruj lead to the still standing entrance , inspired the martial setting Guptaji & Rohit decided to block the entrance to the fort using their state of the art retractable swords , which in non war situations double up as hiking poles .Making sure that everyone had proper security clearance ,

they allowed the others to troop into the fort .The view from the fort was awe inspiring , humbling and stunning all at one go.There were huge storm clouds all over and you just had to reach out to touch them , so close were they . The scene was perfect - rolling hills , rumbling clouds and a tumbling Tariq .After soaking in the scene , we decided to explore the fort further .

On our way we encountered a small rock patch ,which our cats i.e. Dcosta & Manku negotiated 

with nonchalance .The good thing was that we were prepared , we even had a rope with us , small problem being that it was only a foot long . After the rocks, the cats spied a large water tank,it was perfectly carved out of the rock with large steps leading down into it .The climbing exertion had made the cats hungry and they tried their hand at fishing using , you guessed it , the multi purpose sword which also serves as a fishing pole .The only restriction was that fish with no more than 3 senses were allowed .

There were also remnants of a Waada present , a rare occurrence , giving us a glimpse of the glory the fort must have experienced in its hey days , from dust we came to dust we go .By now everyone was bitten by the exploration bug and it was unanimously decided that we would not go out by the way which we had entered . Rohit & Dcosta boldly sallied forth & forged a path right onto the outermost fortification wall .It was  dusk now and the interplay of clouds , wind and the varied pallet made for a memorable experience , one which will remained etched in our memories for a long time to come .Manisha commented on the futility of capturing such a grand scene using the inadequate devices which we had and how it would be better to just soak it in.Manisha was quietly going about her photography capturing moments and individuals alike and one of us saw a photo where a gang member was standing right at the edge of the wall with the sky merging seamlessly with the depths of the valley below creating a stunning composition.And that was it , everyone had to have a similar photo .This created comic scenes of a censored nature , needless to say they involved Tariq . 

It had got quite dark now , but we weren't in any sort of hurry , we had managed to leave that particular trait back in Mumbai , we were also reassured by the overkill of illumination which we had .Making our way back to the steps we decided to take a halt and . . . just do nothing !

After gossiping about  a certain individual in the dental field , we decided that we had had our fill of atmosphere , now it was time to actually fill our stomachs with the feast which awaited us.

Making our way down in the pitch darkness , we reached our host & he said that since he was catering to around a 100 individuals , he had set up a time block system , and our group had been

allotted the 9 pm slot .We made our way back to our house revelling in the misty air creating 

known and unknown shapes in the interplay of light and shadows .This prompted the now mandatory paranormal story and by the time it ended , we were ready to be served dinner .

Dinner was wholesome rural fare with rice bhaakris & chicken for those ate it .After graciously letting everyone take one round of chicken , Tariq took possession of the pot & divested it of any 

remaining avian remnants .There was a tinge of disappointment for him though , as normally he can polish off a bird alone and this quantity fell a little short of his expectations.expectations. Anu's rice noodles & omelette were heated and once finished , we didn't feel so bad about her efforts going waste any more . 

After a long day covering large distances with myriad emotions and experiences ,  we retired to our thatched roof abode to rest bodies and minds and prepare for the excitement of the coming day .

DAy 2 as is the norm started off with the all too familiar 4.30 am alarm .After a round of cursing Guptaji and his Ukrainian affinities , we dozed off again . When we finally woke up at 7 , it turned out that our curses were misdirected , it was Manku who was the culprit .Ukrainian standard time seems to be spreading ! While  everyone was bustling, doing their thing & finding the appropriate spot for it , Dongardev and I were lazing around in the yard outside. Our morning was

enlivened by a PYT with a typical SoBo accent enquiring if we had seen her slippers , how we wished we had ! When we turned to go back in, Dongardev gave a roar ; his slippers were missing ! Thankfully the mystery was solved when Manku walked in a wearing a pair of oversized flipflops.

Day 2 needed to be run on a tight schedule, keeping in mind that Lonavala was at least 12 kms away .Our agenda for today was Shrivardhan , breakfast and then the long march back to Lonavala.For Shrivardhan we needed to go a bit further as compared to Manranjan .It was the taller of the two as also the more imposing. The path to Shrivardhan went via the KaalBhairav temple , an old temple dedicated to the village deity .There were a few stone carvings and a canon near it and the path turned right towards the tall mountain .The path was for the majority of the time through rock , but since steps were cut in it , fairly simple .Dcosta had put her foot down ( figuratively as well as literally ) that she was not interested in the routine path for Shrivardhan and needed something exciting.Hence after about 15 minutes of the routine path ,

we took a diversion & the road less travelled .This led to a breach in the fort wall and would take us into the lower fort .The detour heightened the warrior instincts of the gang & with drawn swords & mobiles on silent , everyone stealthily approached the entrance . There was wild celebration when the mission succeeded & we trooped into the fort untroubled by the enemy.

The cat instinct got back into Dcosta & Manku and they bounded off in a direction diametrically 

opposite to where were supposed to go .It was left to Guptaji to tame the runaway cats and get them back on track.Shrivardhan has a distinct lower fort & an upper balekilla .The walk up to the balekilla was truly mesmerising , at one moment you were walking through dense clouds , which would suddenly clear to give you a panorama of the surrounding hills & vales , at another the sun would strike just a particular patch of green , rendering it even more fluorescent and not to mention the intermittent drizzle adding to the drama . After about 10 minutes of walking through the clouds , suddenly an imposing structure rose up commandingly , it was the balekilla buruj.Seeing this we had a story session with the exploits of Hirkani at Raigad being recounted & how this particular buruj was similar though much much smaller in scale .Dcosta got it into her mind that if Hirkani can , she can too .Tariq swiftly disqualified her from climbing the balekilla via the buruj by pointing out that she didn't have any small baby waiting for her at the top .While this was going on Dongardev , who was in his element , discovered an innovative yet non destructive way of carving the T2B logo on the hill side , he simply patted down a few plants with his multipurpose sword and voila ! there you have it a T and a 2 and a B ! 

We proceeded to the left of the buruj along a narrow path with a sheer drop right to the invisible valley floor and encountered a water tank cut into the rock on our right. The water was crystal clear due to the rains .Across the valley we could see the spur of Dhaak cha Bahiri which was agreed upon as an upcoming T2B event .Continuing on the path for a few more minutes , we came to some steps which directed us towards the highest point atop the fort .Here we had someone click our group photo and came to the realisation that the group photos always looked nice as compared to the individual ones , and someone offered a diagnosis that , it means we are not good photographers whereas the passersby helping us out were better,whatever ! As  it had become de rigueur , the view was fabulous as ever, considering that we were on the highest point in Rajmachi.After chomping on stuff from Manisha's conductor bag , we started our descent .

On the way we encountered the origin of the Ulhas river from where our water bottles were duly filled , further on was a grassy plateau well defended by heavy fortification .Beyond that was the famous horse shoe shaped waterfall for which Rajmachi was famous , as this was a must see sight we skidded , slipped & ran to the end of the plateau & stood in awe of the beauty & power of nature .The buruj here had a small secret entrance which led downward into the chilkhati buruj.

The entrance was so narrow that it was effectively sealed if Dongardev just stood in it .I won't describe the view from here , suffice it to say that it was superlative. Since the way back was pretty steep and we wanted to try a new route , we asked the people sitting if there was a way around the buruj to the grassy plain .Everyone was pretty sure that there was none .Manku & I declared that we were explorers & that if there wasn't a way , we would create one ! And we did,

and the entire lot followed us , they even had the cheek to say if those girls i.e. Manku  & Dcosta 

could do it, we can to.These were the same people who till a few minutes ago were pretty sure that no road exists there , if Sarah had her way quite a few of them would have been languishing on the valley floor .

The rest of the descent was uneventful save for the lone tea stall where Tariq wanted to eat egg burjee that too of 4 eggs , he was cruelly denied the pleasure , we had a train to catch , more than that Manisha had a train to Goa to catch .On our way back we had an interesting experiment , there was a cave with good resonance & Manku used it as recording studio, needless to say the results of Manku's vocal rendition were good . As we reached back to our host , we were served breakfast which unfortunately was omelettes & not the burjee which Tariq wanted .To top it all there were just 5 of those ,Tariq himself could finish all in a jiffy . Nevertheless , with breakfast done , we said our goodbyes to our hosts , with a promise to come back and savour the beauty of Rajmachi once again .It was almost 12.30  and we had a long way to walk .The walk was originally beautiful but with ever increasing traffic & an attempt to get vehicles right upto Udhewadi the path is an ugly mess of muck .It was fun walking on it though , you could use a sort of skiing motion & glide over it .If you overdid it , like I did , you slipped & fell and everybody laughed .Apart from the muck , there was a point where you could observe the waterfall from a little closer , having done that .The road was innovatively categorised into different forms of molten chocolate by Dongardev ranging right from liquid dairy milk to crackle , depending on the consistency of the  muck.

Though the walk was unparalleled in its beauty, the hurry & the slipping sliding detracted a 

little from our experience .On our way suddenly Tariq spotted an egg burjee stall.Having made good progress till then, we decided to fulfill his long standing wish of a 4 egg burjee .While the burjee was being prepared , Rohit & Sarah  wandered off to the edge of the cliff to see what the crowd gathered there was doing .It turned out that a group from Pune had a organised a rapelling event there and were just on the verge of winding up .Seeing the rope ,Sarah got all fired up & she just HAD to do it , the rapelling that is .Since the burjee was going to take time anyways , I consented & told her to charm her way to getting them to relent , they were winding up you see .The organisers couldn't sustain  Dcosta's onslaught & she got her way.After a quick but exhilarating rappel , Sarah was beaming as she came back . On the contrast Tariq was still frowning as his burjee  had still not turned up .After a lot of persuasion , it arrived .

After our rather extended break , we checked the time , it was almost 4.45,and panic bells started to ring ! We were definitely quite some way off from the destination , on top off that the exact timing of the train was in doubt , was it 7 pm or 7.30 pm .If it was 7 , we might even miss it !

We started to march rapidly and everyone except Anu ,Manku , Tariq and me had covered quite a distance , we were so behind that we couldn't see the other group at all .As we were walking Manku came up with 2 valid doubts ; 1.Is it really 12 kms ? seems to be ages since we were walking .This was allayed by promising to check on Maps once we got a mobile network.

Her second doubt was , are we really descending ? We were going on & on ,on a ghat like winding road , this time no explanations were offered .Matters were compounded by an old villager with a heavy head-load effortlessly cutting across short cuts on the incline and waiting there to offer encouragement when we reached much later . By this time Tariq was lagging behind & he requested a halt , after replenishments , he again requested a halt just after 5 minutes .In the meantime we had managed to get a network & Maps informed us that Lonavala station was still 4 kms away. 

I resigned myself to alternative modes of transport or to even stay in Lonavala itself , given Tariq's bad state . At this time ,Rohit called , he had found a Rickshaw who was willing to take them to Lonavala station for 100 rupees , sounded reasonable until we saw that the distance was barely 2 -3 kms. Another rickshaw was willing to take Manisha to Panvel for 1400 rupees , interesting.Since this trek was against fleecing they gave both of them a miss & carried on walking.Rohit and gang were easily going to make it , but we were still dicey .Seeing the time crunch , Manku & I decided to hail down any passing vehicle & get Tariq into it , which would serve both objectives of getting Tariq to the destination & freeing us to walk faster.A kind  family in a Wagon R helped us in this ,

and all of us were on our way ,Tariq in the car & we on foot .After some time , we saw someone like Guptaji & Rohit getting into a rickshaw & we shouted & screamed abuses against them as it was against the spirit & anyways Lonavala staion was just some distance away.They put Tariq into the rick & since the train thankfully was at 7.25 we reached just in the nick of time to even have a Toofani thanda celebration! 

The inevitable question then popped up , where next ?