Problem 1: We had no camera!
Rahul has a cam but as it wasn't planned so he hadn't bought it that day to college...We tried asking a few friends with decent cameras in their phones to lend them to us for a couple hours. As nice as they always are, they were very possessive and insecure about the idea. For a minute we almost canceled the plan because of this. But then someone told us a guy named Kiran had a cybershot phone. Now I must mention we weren't that good as friends but when I asked him he said yes first then asked what it was for. I was very kind of him to behave that way. And that's how kindness can help you take snaps...
Problem 2: I needed a helmet!
Now, Rahul comes to college on his bike but I travel by local trains considering the fact that I live around 65 KM away from my college. So the problem? I didn't have any helmet to help me with the summer heat and dust getting in to my eyes!! So, then we were running around finding someone to lend us their helmet. And as it turned out, every other guy in class who used to bring their bikes to college didn't, that day...Well, everyone except Aadhitya. At first he refused to lend us his helmet, I don't know why. Then we tried again and he agreed but he kept warning me. He said "If you loose it, I'll kill you" Wasn't that too dramatic! He seemed worried because on his way home, he would have to pay a fine if found without his helmet. Anyways,we got what we wanted and we didn't mind anything now...
Problem 3: There was no problem 3! We were already out on the road by now!!
While we were riding, I was constantly thinking about how different people are everywhere. Rahul always asked me to come with him for a ride. I am a lazy ass and didn't respond well to that. That day was different. This year to me is different. A lot many things seemed to evolve me from inside since the year started. I am going to write about that evolution in my personal blog soon, but this is about the ride. It felt free. I am not the kind of guy who always bunks classes to have fun. I am not the kind of guy who has a lot of fun. Really. But I wanted to have some that day.
We went towards Panvel and we had two options - To go on the Goa highway or Pune. I could have really gone to Pune itself but I didn't want to miss the practical. So we go on the Goa highway for as long as an hour. We stopped in between for a few clicks. The fact that we didn't have a camera bothered me and that is the reason we don't have much pics. But the roads, as lonely as they can be, were surrounded by many beautiful scenarios. At times, there would be vehicles all around us and all I would want is to ignore them and enjoy the birds around. Other times, there would be no one at all, but trees. And big ones. like the one's we never get to see here in the city. There is this Karnala sanctuary that I wanted to go to. But we didn't have much time.
At one point, we stopped to take a few pictures of birds playing besides a small lake. I felt a bit afraid to go down and shoot some pics but Rahul managed to push me anyways. He was not in his shoes so he stepped back. At first, it did feel scary. I thought the slope was too narrow but the view was worth it. I mean how often do you get to see a flock of beautiful birds..playing amongst themselves..flying free..drinking water..I am not that good at painting pictures with words but I guess you know by now what I mean.
After halting at around 4-5 places, we thought we'd have lunch somewhere and go back. It wasn't easy to find one. The only one we got was not open although there were two guys there. There was like a small hill there. We thought we would go up and have the lunch we had in our bags. Rahul drove all the way up and there we sat watching the road where we came from look very smaller now. It was hot being noon but the winds were blowing and surprisingly there was not much dust there. We quietly had our lunch and had a little talk about the trip. Suddenly, there comes this man who we met down at the hotel. He walked all the way up to the hill to talk to us. At first I thought he would as us to leave. I guessed that from the looks of his face. But he was nice. He offered us to sit in the rest room if we wanted and have our lunch there. Rahul talked to him in Marathi (which I am not quite good at) and told him we rather enjoyed it on the hill. He smiled and went away. Rahul sensed my thoughts and we talked about how people are friendlier in village areas. He knows more because he's a frequent traveller...that's where the name comes from - Insane Wanderer...
It was a nice trip overall, but I don't remember much to write about. Its very unfortunate that I failed to write before because of preoccupations. Apologies to Rahul for that, who's been pushing me to write this since a month now...actually more than that. It was March 24th 2009 as the picture says...Not a very exciting fun trip, but it was sure an experience to remember and purely instinctive as the title says...
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