The Nowhere

The beach reflects the purple sky as the waves wash our feet. I stand, accompanied by myself, watching the infinite expanse of ocean. My friends are playing in the water, small waves breaking surf around their bodies. I am waiting, for the sun to rise, for the fifth element of nature to unite with the rest four in salutation and service to the Human in me and His pleasure.

The Sea and The Sky
The Sea and The Sky

We are in Mandawa (Mandve), a small neglected town on the Konkan coast, known (or rather unknown) as a mere stop on the passage to Alibaug. People rush past it in a hurry to reach the more popular destinations further South. Yesterday, we took the most indirect route to reach Mandawa from Pune.

At Dadar Station
At Dadar Station

Instead of driving straight from pune to Mandawa, we caught a bus to Mumbai and got down at Dadar after relishing the scenic Mumbai-Pune Express Highway. From Dadar we took a local train to reach the Gateway of India, the southern most tip of Mumbai which is separated from Mandawa by just a small stretch of water, part of the Arabian Sea. On a map these two places appear to have frozen midst an attempt to touch each other.

Last night, when we were playing in the ocean, under the moonlight, we could see the lights sparkling miles away inΒ Mumbai. The sea was swollen in the high tide and the waves were rocking us every now and then, but the shore was absolutely inhabited at that time as well. Mumbai’s lights looked like a loud noise desperately trying to reach us, but the silence of the crashing waves shielded us from the disturbance and kept us tranquil in our nowhere. The two shores are frequented by powered boats which ferry people to and fro. We will take another ferry back to Mumbai sometime later today. It will take us barely an hour to reach Mumbai and some more time to return home, back in Pune. But we will take a long time to leave this place (and this place will take a long time to leave us).

We are staying at a small farm house, located a couple of kilometers from the beach. The Cheulkar Farm has all basic amenities and people with a splendid sense of hospitality. The owner of the farm, Mrs. Cheulkar is a gifted cook. Sea food is her forte, and for the first time in my life I regret being a vegetarian. But, I am thoroughly enjoying all her Maharashtrian veggie treats. In fact, eating was our major exertion yesterday. We had left Mumbai at noon, so the mercury was high when we touched Mandawa’s port. But the greenery and the cool breeze from the sea saved our asses. We walked to the farm and died at the swings on the patio.

On the Hammock
On the Hammock

After quick showers we came back to life at the dining table. We ate as if it were the end of the world and died again in the clean and cozy bedrooms. The food was really delicious and worth a second mention.

Hugging Nature
Hugging Nature

We got up real early today, and came to the beach immediately, to see the sun rising. The winding road to the beach is full of natural beauty, the trees and their smell, scores of birds, each chirping in its unique voice. It’s a pleasure to walk through that road, despite availability of auto-rickshaws. Last evening we had taken a wrong turn and drifted to the wrong side of the beach, but we eventually stumbled here. It was different back then, the sun was setting and the sea was rising. We all wanted to soak up in the saline water and played till our bodies ached. But today, all I want to do is to stare at the purple beach, our footprints on the sand and the ebbing sea and wait for the sun to rise. I just want to be in the moment, in an effort to preserve its sanctity and vitality. It is a matter of just few more hours before we go back to the sea of human beings waiting to engulf us and steal our identity.

Footprints
Footprints

All six of us who went for the above trip are thankful to Smita Dhavale for suggesting this amazing destination. We are also thankful to Mrs. Cheulkar and the entire staff at the farm for making the trip extra special.

25 thoughts on “The Nowhere”

  1. People, will upload some pics too once my broadband goes up. My life is connectivity challenged right now. No thanks to Sify.

  2. Sounds like a really great place
    and kudos for trying out new places new routes…
    well i guess it pays to be adventurous πŸ™‚

    and u know what? your write up motivated me to do the same
    at least i will go and try this awesome sounding place n what you knw! mybe we’ll get another great experience ! B-)

  3. katai slumdog jaisa screenplay likha hai chore ne, last tak interesting banate hue story ko..
    Well some details I want you to check once.

  4. nice composition and quite interesting too..just dont agree on the title… also if pics r thr then one can relate more to what u really saw…

  5. The beaches were empty, the roads were empty, the nature was untouched and pure, and most of all people passing by it were least concerned about the place.. hence Nowhere. πŸ™‚

  6. I Donno u as a person….but frankly telling you..don’t take it otherwise..you always use typical words of english and an awry way of expression wich makes me feel weird and doesn’t help in relating to any of your experience..seems like you have passion for using heavy and not so common english words which lends an alien touch to watever you are trying to convey..
    but sometimes its easier to convey in a simple , mundane and colorful πŸ™‚ english rather then typical GRE typo language..tat makes reader interested to read tat….i hope u understood..its like reading bachi karkaria’s article in Sunday TIMES OF INDIA..where evrthng luks like french even though its english….I like articles like shobha DE or JUG Suraiya..tat make me feel better…

    1. Ya.. my teenage was spent with Charles Dickens and Shakespeare. I gained my adulthood with Ayn Rand by my side.. I wanna grow old with Freud and Foucault.. hope you get the trend.. words are my companions. But still I would like you to quote specific lines which you found made intentionally heavy.. would help a lot. All this is my life, I take it a tad too seriously.

  7. dude.. got a chance to visit your website after long.. great writeup.. m planning to do something similar but the theatre of weekend is keeping my occupied.. thats no less fun either.. anyways.. nice to read it.. to be very honest i was just confused a little in between to understand where exactly are you at that moment.. mumbai, mandwe or pune ;).. viz… ‘It will take us barely an hour to reach Mumbai but a very long time to leave this place.’.. i thought as if u r leaving for mumbai.. :P.. anyways.. but the description was waves n sounds was nice.. keep rocking mate

    1. thanks so much.. I have written it in the time frame when I was in Mandve.. I know it creates a bit of confusion because of the frequent jumping into falshback and back to present.. and specially for that line I had to really think a lot.. it was difficult to put it.. what I want to say here is.. I am standing on the beach right now.. will be leaving for mumbai in few hours.. but we wont be able to leave mandve till a very long time.. I think I’ll change that to Pune instead of mumbai.. would help. Thanks again for appreciating.. nothing like a genuine “Good!!.

    1. Arey yaar I tried all I could. Its not getting fixed. I guess I have settled with the problem. This yellow Black combo looks slightly intentional. I’ll just let poeple assume that its the way I want it to be. πŸ™‚

  8. nice trip bro… u fuckin enjoying ur life…still a veggie?? have’nt u tried drinks either?? been 2 goa?? i thought u had an experimenting attitude.

    1. Yes it was an awesome trip.. Better than Goa I bet.. It’s way too crowded.. you are one person who would have loved those crowd less (read sacred) beaches.

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