Malshej Ghat, Bhimashankar, Koyna : Maharashtra

This last week of December was my last ditch effort to make anything of this year. Sure I have learnt much and possibly grown in ways I have not before.. you know adding to the shallow pool of knowledge and wisdom in my head and things. Yet somehow I have also dealt with more deeper wrenching philosophical questions which have made my soul huff a little and want to catch its breath. It seemed to tell me that it would appreciate a short break from constant worry, thank you very much and could it please come with a good book to read, some finger food and quiet time to put its feet up and just be.

When I reached back home Mumbai, I was already on the verge of a cold. So the shade green at home was unfortunately not the plants in the house but me, looking annoyed and sick. Yet there was nothing that was going to rob me of the road trip I had planned with my parents! So heres a quick round up of places and experiences:

1. Malshej Ghat



The Western Ghats or the Sahyadri as they are called in this region, are majestic and rather lovely. I know that the best time for them are post monsoons, when rivers and streams cascade down from all directions like white sheet off the sheer cliffs and the trees and shrubs go green with a vengeance, yet there was something unique in the marvellous unending dry yellow of the grasslands which covered the ghats in the winter. Another kind of stark beauty, an equivalent of which one experiences in the desert. There isn't much to do there but visit temples, sadly not tops on my agenda. Yet I quite loved the landscape and got the time to sit down and indulge in some sketching.

2. Bhimashakar



The central focus of the trip for me was to spot the state animal of Maharashtra – the shekru as they call it here in marathi, widely known as the Malabar hill squirrel. Bhimashankar is one of those spots where apparently spotting this otherwise elusive creature, is the easiest. Yet the major issue with this forest area is that it has a temple within it. Its a really famous one too, so this means on occasions such as Shivratri, the place gets around a lakh visitors. Now of course this is a very well off temple trust but they do nothing for the region. There isn't any proper garbage management, no bathrooms – so well guess where the lakh and their filth ends up. The forest. It was really pathetic walking down the trail looking for the shekru. Bits of plastic all over the place. Can't help but wonder how much of it ends up in the poor shekrus belly. The Bhima river flowing through that region was equally tragic and gloomy looking. Spotted the squirrel 20 minutes into the walk – quietly sitting high above nibbling comfortably on a bunch of leaves, watching us as much as we watched him. Such an adorable looking creature with the most lovely rust colour. They say that its colour changes to a lighter shade as one moves down the Sahyadris. He made my day and for some time I forgot all else.

3. Koyna / Sahyadri Tiger Reserve



Let me begin by declaring that this is the place that salvaged my year. Koyna river emerges from Mahabaleshwar along with its better known sister, Krishna and then here generously sprawls itself through the Ghats, growing in volume. It is also here that it has been dammed. The reservoir spreads to 65kms behind the dam and is supposedly quite deep. It certainly is extremely picturesque! A one hour, 11 km, ride across the water on a boat will get you finally on the banks of the reserve. Thanks to the expanse of blue separating it from all else and restrictions on tourism and commercialisation, Koyna remains one of the slightly untouched regions - in direct contrast to Bhimashankar. Its highlight in the region a nature enthusiast can traverse, is the climb to Vasota which is the top of one of the highest hills in the region. We began by taking a short stroll but later took on the longer trek. It was a lovely walk through the jungle... with all its sounds intact! Here and there our enthusiastic guide would point out holes dug by the asol (bear) or the gigantic footprint of a bison, the tree scratched by a tiger, signs of a hunt – very entertaining :) In the end though thankfully we actually managed to see an animal – a lone bison in a thicket, eating its fill. Also had our path crossed several times by very busy looking wildly colourful jungle fowls. We finally made it to the top and right there I saw the magnificent serpent eagle hanging mid air watching and waiting! There were also loads of extremely active butterflies busily flitting about – tailed jays, mormons, emigrants, lemon pansys. Of course the point of it all was the lovely view of the wonderful ghats which extended in all directions! The only place I got a little shaky was to get to one of these viewpoints which is another section of the hill we climbed, thinly connected by a strip of land. On two sides is sheer cliff and a long fall . I think my legs panicked a little there and so they kept wanting to not move! But made it across and it was worth it! Ah the mammoth land thrown up in these undulating shapes, tall yet flat topped plateaus!The stratified structure of the cross-section, how many million years represented in soil and rock! And me there, little insignificant human, all self occupied at barely 30!

This is probably why nature is so good for health. It puts things in perspective and makes your eyes wide with child like wonder.



Happy new year all!