Have you ever been there - when no matter how much you are rested, and how much you are at peace with your surroundings, you just feel the craving to ditch the routine and ditch the regular faces - family, friends and colleagues alike, and just want to ride to a land of serenity far far away !!
Well, a similar ball park - but of course, the ditching part doesn't apply to the wifey - so, it was two of us - who made a random decision to go riding a bike to Kaas Plateau. As Satara is my home town, we took the ride on evening of earlier day until my home, and then went to the mountains and the plateau next day morning.
And there it was - a plateau spread across multiple miles, blooming with wild flowers of different varieties, covered in shades of yellow, white, purple, pink and violet patches all over; plus there was the Kumudini lake covered all over with white lotus flowers - all-in-all a good place to visit.
But that's not why I am posting this blog - there is more to this experience.
When we are going to any touristic and crowded place in India, in general, there are a few observations - and this place, this spot right in my hometown defied so many of those conventions - and that's the reason for this post.
When you are trying to earn your livelihood in Hinjewadi, often times, you hear the power phrase "I am local" - may it be in some brawl on road for incorrect driving or may it be in some queue when somebody skips it - of course, it is a general phenomenon everywhere - from temples to tourist places - people just love to use the L word to show their influence and power over others. Well, welcome to Kaas plateau - where everyone is a tourist and needs a visitor booking done online to get through - where no one is going too close to flowers just because they are locals and no one is hustling the guards and fellow tourists using the L word. +1 to the happiness.
Then there is a fact that for all those miles - and we walked at least 4-5 miles on both sides of the road, there was not a single piece of garbage - paper, plastic, bottles, empty water bottles or snack packets - nothing seen. For a place which sees thousands of visitors daily, in India, this was another major plus we observed. A clean and green plateau - sounds fantastic, ain't it. +1 again to the happiness.
In fact, the locals have taken it to the extent where the food that is sold, is brought in small steel containers and leftovers are taken back in the same, and is only cucumbers, Nachni bhakri, pithla and some buttermilk/lime water. There is no food like the usual touristic bhuttas which create a lot of garbage. Not to mention, the homegrown Nachni by local villagers using their crude farming techniques is as close as you can get to the urban longing of "organic" food; plus, those who follow Rujuta Divekar for diet tips would be overwhelmed with joy eating Nachni bhakri for breakfast. +1 and +1 again, isn't it?
This food sold by women of local villages and hamlets plus the fact that most of the guards employed here are local elderly men also assures that the people from surrounding places get some earnings out of this whole touristic affair, even if it's seasonal in nature. +1 to that too as well readers !
And the part which I love the most about these mountains surrounding and shadowing my home - a few kilometers of ride and you enter a world of fresh air, serene nature, lush greenery, calm weather - your mind can't help but to relax itself. It sets itself on auto-pilot when it comes to getting relaxed. That happened to us too. May be that is why I took up blogging again after such a long gap. So, another +1 to the happiness.
And then there were people actually caring about the nature and about fellow humans that we saw - making sure there are no selfies taken at dangerous places, making sure that there is water available after long walks, making sure that those who seek information get to know about the flowers and the place, and of course, the occasional voices among tourists of - "hey, don't touch the flowers, let us retain this nature's gift for the future generations to enjoy" ! Wow ! yes, people do care. +1 for that too.
What started as an attempt to just go away from the urban routines of back stabbing and politics and exhaustion, soon turned into a celebration of happiness - I was happy to be at the place, and enjoy the flowers and the view and all the good things about the place - I was happy that this place in my home town was making me so happy - I was happy just breathing the magical air on the plateau.
So, a place - which was far away from the city noise, a place where people talked with sanity and care, a place where there was no electronic interference thanks to the less network coverage, a place where air was clean and mind was relaxed, a place where food was delicious and nutritious at the same time, a place where the landscape was full of bright colors all over and green meant an array of different colors, a place where even the tiniest wild flower understood that to make an impact, it has to stay close to many others like it, and that culminated in such a natural beauty - and that place is Kaas Pathar, in Satara.
What can I say, this time around, when I went home, I found my Neverland :-)
- Parsooram
(Pictures that we took in this place can be found in the flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94951116@N04/albums/72157701803239284 )
