Lansdowne

So here was a much needed break from the daily headaches that our family subjects itself too. I have a teenager brother who refuses to follow any norms of the world and ends up getting in more trouble than our family can handle. SO after the major sneaking out in my mom's car episode that happened I thought perhaps we all needed a break from all the fighting and yelling at each other. You see a bit of running away from the wildlife of Gurgaon might calm down the nerves of all the creatures of my crazy family.

The invitation to go to the mountains was extended to my Mama's family due to the presence of similar aged cousins of ours. Ok Saloni is not exactly my brother's age, but he seems to be fond of her. I think my brother just fails to get along with kids his age and is more suited to hanging out with older folks. Anyway we short-listed the various places we could go to and the following list came up

• Manali
• Mcleodganj
• Bhimtal (the oft repeated family holiday destination)
• Landsdowne
• others

The only thing that could make my father excited about a trip to the mountains is the drive uphill and downhill plus the freedom  your own car offers. So another discussion followed where mom wanted us to take a train or any other similar comfortable vehicle. The bumpy ride on my dad's Sumo is a bit difficult to handle for my mom because of her back problems. I suggested we drive the other family car 

The Japanese Garden In pune

It all came flooding back to my memory. Those hours spent in the Archi Studios working on the history of Architecture project on Japanese Architecture. The perfectly symmetrical pavilions juxtaposition with the highly asymmetrical gardens. The various degrees of thresholds created by simply changing the surface textures. Funny how these fancy words just flow through my keyboard the moment I think of this big word called architecture.

 The raw nature of the wood, white pebbles and water. How many a times in my remaining years at the archi studio have I tried to "seek inspiration" from them. The Japani dudes! They v kept my faith in architecture intact. True materials used in their raw and absolute forms in nature.

Anyway it all happened on  26th of June 2013. My parents were in town and we were doing what tourists do in Pune - Site Seeing. I didn't know that the Garden was also on their list of things to do. After braving the showers, a few hours of shopping and a few screeming nieces and nephews, I did land up with the entire extended family of mine in tow at the garden.

So why was it a bit of a let down

1. Its out of the way. I mean its on the way of Singarh fort. So not for SIMC students

2. It has no sources of food and beverages anywhere close to it. So if u land up there, you could die of hunger. (don't take hungry babies with you)

3. Its so Serene that you might be tempted to sleep on the benches but there will be a man with a whistle watching you as you shut your eyes for too long. Yes its meant for the well disciplined lot. No sleeping - No eating - no lying down.

WHY IT WAS WORTH THE TRIP?

1. How often do you come across a natural park that's so well maintained?

2. The fishes are an absolute delight

3. The apvillions are made of real wood!!

Mulshi Dam RIDE

So here I OFFICIALLY start my travel blog. Last semester which also happened to be my first semester, I did end up travelling a bit. Not to the extent I would have loved to, but still enough was explored. i shall talk about the long distance trips to Alibag and Tarapur later on. First we shall start talking about the Short and Sweet Mulshi dam ride....


Exams had come to an end and so had the rains. Even the winter had decided to give us a brief break before announcing its arrival. Still we were being the reluctant nerds and wanting to waste a lovely free day away on a case study competetion I couldnt care two hoots about it. But it was Mhatre's beloved Coke that needed help in their advertising campaign and shit like that. I had tried to read the case study twice but unfortunately fell asleep even at my 2nd attempt.

So when Tejas, the 3rd Musketeer arrived at 3pm to prepare smthing for the Case study competetion, I just looked at everyone and made the puppy face that read cant we have some fun instead. Tejas agreed before a blink of an eyelid..but Mhatre took some convincing. While we were busy analysing the possible places we could visit without having to resort to a car, Mhatre was busy sulking cause Abhas had an exam and he could follow us to the end of the world. Nitipriya was also being the drama queen she normally is. "we should go somewhere CONCRETE"....to which Unnat replied jokingly, "I ll take you on a concrete Road, if thats good enough for you!"

Soon Mulshi Dam sounded like a "concrete" enough idea, with Unnat as the navigator for the two bikes. I was still thinking of a third biker so that Mhatre could be tagged along too. Out of the glaring sunshine appeared Malik who seemed eager to ride upto Lavassa and back in the evening. After spraying some fire extinguisher over his plans we suggested we make the short trip to the Mulshi dam next door and whether he doesnt mind some additional weight called Priyanka Mhatre on his pillion. He sounded genuinely interested and excited about the trip.

So started our bumpy ride to Mulshi dam...with 3 bikes...3 boys and 3 drama queens.

 

Off we go..!!

 

Dedications

This Humble blog shall be dedicated to the following people in no particular order whatsoever

1. All my design lecturers at NMMU (No more money university): who tried their level best to convince, coax and at times force me to use blank paper instead of ruled one, hoping that some fine day I would stop writing and start drawing my designs and concepts

2. All the lecturers at SIMC : who managed to convince me that I can have a second attempt at a career, hopefully in a direction I enjoy.

3. To all the women travelling in the Delhi Metro LADIES dabba: for being generous enough to squeeze in to fit another tiny female in an already cramped up seat

4.My one and only Female Boss : Thanks for making me realise that architecture was definitely not my cup of tea.

5. Lanel and Carol:  the two females: who made me realise that you ll find people in all shapes, sizes and colours. Its not just us Indians who are overtly emotional, traditional and spend quite sometime discussing the famous SRK and Hritik Roshan.

6. All the Men who walked in and out of this blogger's Life : thanks for telling me to grow up and face the world like a real woman.