..ShAdOwS...

its hard to get rid of my shadows
following me like a foe,
Be it in light or night
forever,walking slow.
Haunting me like memories
which refuse to go,
I wished to be alone
since a long time ago,
but its hard to get rid of my shadows
following me like a foe.
They serve no purpose,
and run no show.
Because they are only my shadows
and not yours,
Wish if i cud swap them
Given u mine,and taken urs,
and walk with it till the end
where my journey ends and breath goes.

Dastan-e-pachmarhi

16th march 2007

Time : 5:00 AM

Place : 302 vasila apartment,New Palasia

Shreyas : abe ankur... uth... train nikal jaegi teri..aur please ye alarm band kar.

i got up... looked my watch..holy shit...

me : abe gaye kaam se...bhagna padega...naha bhi nahi paunga

shreyas : abe to waise tu kaun sa roz nahata hai...

i washed my face.. got myself relieved of all sins.. arranged my bag... and out ..

Time: 5:30 AM

Place: Somewhere on chappan

my phone rings...

Nikks: abe shanky kahan hai..... salle sab yahan pahunch gaye hain..

me: abe nikal gaya hun... chappan pe hun... auto nahi mil raha hai...

Nikks:abe Sharma ke saath aa jata ... wo kissi junior ki bike pe aa raha hai..

me:kamine ne mujhe bataya nahi....
Somehow i got an auto who took 50 bucks for a distance of less than 3 kms ( chappan to station).

Time: 6:10 AM

Place: Indore Railway Station.

At station i cud see everyone.. joshi,Dhavle,Rathi,Nikks,Bakshi,Nemani and me myself..As expected ...one name was missing...

me: abe ye Sharma kahan rah gaya... tu to bola ki junior ki bike le kar aa raha hai..

Nikks: abe aa to raha tha.... pata nahi kahan reh gaya..

Joshi: EBLA kabhi time par aaya hai jo aaj ayega...

Time:6:20 AM

Place: Indore Railway Station

everyone was looking here and there... hoping to catch some glimpse of Sharma the gr8..

Bakshi: abe aa gaya....

we all can see Sharma running towards us....

me: abe kahan reh gaya tha..

Sharma: (panting) ... abe wo bike nahi thi... milne me late ho gaya.... raste me band ho gayi...etc.etc.

Time: 8:00 AM

Place: Inside Indore-Bhopal superfast express (somewhere between Indore and Dewas)

Joshi : abe train late chal rahi hai.... Dewas pahuchne me time lagega.

Nikks: arre yaar... hope fully time par pahuch jayen... nahi to Vikas pure indian railways ki laga lega....

We all laughed...i imagined vikas fighting with lalloo prasad yadav..in his trademark style.

Time: 9:00 AM

Place: Dewas

our train is 30 minutes late.. we all can see vikas standing on the sation...

Dhavle (shouting): abe oye.... kahan dekh raha hai..... yahan..

Vikas waves...

Vikas ( after coming inside): abe itni der se kahada hun.... tune to kaha tha ki 8:30 ka time... ek phone kar dete ..etc. etc.

Dhavle: abe to hame kya pata train late ho jaegi

Nemani: shant vikas bhai shant... agli bar se train mein khud chalaunga......

Sharma cud barely control hi laugh....


Time:10:30 AM

Place: Some Station b/w Dewas and Bhopal....

Bakshi( listening music on Nikks walkie): abe kaun sa station hai... kuchh kha lete hain...

we all agreed...had some chips and trademark poha....

Time:11:00 AM

Place: Bairagarh ( train's last stop)

me: abb yahan se bhopal kaise jaienge..

Joshi: do options hain... ya to taxi kar ke jao.. ya bus lele....

Dhavle: oye Joshi ...tu taxi ka pata kar.... mein bus ka dekhta...

Time : 11:20 AM

Place: Bairagarh Bus stop.

Everyone sitting on their respective seats in an old rickety bus..(cheap option taken)

Bakshi: abe shanky.... check out that chick....

me: hmmm... must be miss Bairagarh...

Time : 12:00 Noon

Place: Bhopal bus stop.

Nikks: pipariya ke liye bus 1 baje hai.... tab tak kahin kha lete hain...

me: abe Manohar dairy ka bahut naam suna hai... wahan chalte hain..

Sharma: abe bahut door hai yahan se..... wo samne wala dhaba better option hai...

Everyone being aalsi no.1 opted for the second option.We had some edible things.

Time : 2:30 PM

Place: Somewhere between Bhopal and Hoshangabad

Everyone was sitting at there respective seats... enjoying songs of 90s being played in the bus...i

was made to sit with a stranger and was given the task of getting some info. About Pachmarhi.

me: ...yahan se pipariya pahune me kitna time lagega..

Stranger: 3 ghante aur lag jaenge...

me:hmmm... aur wahan se Pachmarhi...

Stranger: aur 3 ghante....

me:hmmm... matlab raat ho jaegi...

Stranger: app log itna late kyon likle.... aur jaldi jana tha..

me(showing curiosity):..kyon... koi problem to nahi hai na..

Stranger: ...hmmm... raat me rasta bahut kahtarnak ho jata hai...aap log aaj tak nahi dekhte kya...hamesha to khabar aati hai.... pura jungle ka rasta hai... kya kuchh nahi hota wahan par,,

me: ...jaise ki chor daku...

Stranger: are chor daku to alag bat hai... mein bhoot aur chudalon ki bat kar raha hun...kuchh din pehle hi to aaj tak pe aaya to tha

me: ohh...

Normally i never belive on these things.... but its always good not to take chances.Who knows...

me(continuing): to kya karna chahiye abb...

Stranger: aap log pipariya se pachmadi tak ki bus kar lena... taxi mat lena...bus surakshit rehti hai..

me(thinking): abb bhoot ko bus ya taxi se kya matlab....nyways..

Time :4:00 PM

Place: Hoshangabad ( Bus midway stop)

We all got out to have some sugarcane juice.I shared with everyone the things that the stranger was telling me.After having juice we went back into the bus.When i got back... i noticed that the stranger was nowhere to be seen..vanished in thin air.

Dhavle: abbe kahin wo bhi to koi bhoot ka rishtedar to nahi tha... kahan gaya ho gaya...

me: usko yahin tak aana hoga....

Hopefully..i thought.. dhavle's words are just a joke.

Time:5:30 PM

Place: Pipariya

Dhavle ,Sharma and Rathi were busy gobbling omelets ... rest were having pav bhaji....

Rathi: abe meine pata kiya ... pachmarhi ke liye bus to 8 baje hai... hum log taxi hi kar lete hain.

Everyone else nodded.The words of that stranger were still fresh in my mind..but i decided that this is our only chance of getting a real glimpse of a Ghost... if that stranger was not one.We booked a taxi for 500 bucks.In the mean time we also booked our train return tickets to Indore from Pipariya station.

Time:7:30 PM

Place: Between Pipariya and Pachmarhi

Everyone was busy singing songs and adoring the beauty of nature.Our taxi was going zic-zac on snake type roads.It was almost dark.I kept my eyes open ..in case i get to see some lady in white clothes right in front of our taxi or maybe flying by.The entire area was covered with dense forest,which came under the Satpura ranges.

Time:8:30 PM

Place: Pachmarhi

Rathi : Bhai sab log do-do ke group me bat jao... sabse sasta aur accha hotel dhundna hai.

We all set in different directions.After 30 minutes of searching ,we were able to find a decent place.We booked two rooms.Rooms were equipped with a TV,greaser and other basic things.We divided ourselves in group on 4 and 5.

Time:9:30 PM

Place: Hotel's resturant

We all ordered food which we realised was too less and had to order some more.All of us eating as if we were given food after months.We tried to chalk out plans for two days.After dinner we spoke to the hotel manager about our options.

Manager: Pachmarhi me total 25 se 26 spots hain ghumne layak.... do din me aap pura cover kar lenge....lekin agar apko nation park bhi jana hai to usme 1 din aur lagega.... app log decide kar legiye... kya karna hai.... lekin uske liye apko 8000 aur lagenge.

Rathi: abe chalte hain national park... mujhe sher dekhna hai...

Bakshi:abe rehne de yaar... yahan sher bahut kaam hai.. faltu paise waste ho jaenge.

After a much discussion ,we finally decided to quit the second option...i.e.going to the national park.We all called our homes from a nearby PCO....since there was no signal in any of our mobiles.Sharma and Joshi had to make calls to some special ones.

We came back in our rooms and retired for the day.

17th March 2007

Time : 7:00 AM

Place : Hotel Room

Shama : abe bakshi ... kitni der tak baithega.... late ho rahe hain...

Bakshi : abe aa raha hun na.... abhi time hai..... doosre room ka bathroom use kar le...

Sharma : wo bhi busy hai.... tu jaldi bahar aa..

We all had a breakfast of bread and butter and some namkeen......dressed up and waited for our jeep that we had booked for sightseeing.....

Time : 7:30 AM

Place: Hotel Lobby

Our jeep was standing out.... driver was a middle aged guy with a big moustache....He told us that today wll cover all the temples, tomorrow all the falls and day after the remaining spots..We set out for our first spot.... JATASHANKAR ..... Our jeep was going zip zac,up and down through the roads of the town....we saw some beautiful cottages of colonial times and various army installations.Entire town was like a dream. Time stood still still , an evergreen plateau , Pachmarhi’s pristine beauty lied in its innocence and its unspoilt splendour.

Time : 8:30 AM

Place: JATASHANKER

We hired a guide for 50 bucks who started telling us about the history of that place. It seemed as if he had mugged up an entire textbook,the same way like the girls in our class used to do. He told us that how this place came into existance and how it got its name after lord shiva's hair.He also mentioned the importance of herbs that were found there and their medical importance.The actual temple was in cave which we could reach after walking for 15 minutes.It seemed as if we had entered some prehistoric cave .Nature is such an amazing artist.We could see water coming out of various points in the cave.Our guide took us to a shop where medical herbs were sold.It had herbs for everything,from heart diseases to asthma.Bakshi and Joshi showed special interest in herbs which gave power.There were herbs which were used in Vaigra.It took a 15 minutes session by Nikks and Dhavle to Rathi to make him understand what viagra is and why it is used.It took us 2 hrs to move around the place and get back to our jeep where our driver was waiting.

Time : 11:00 AM

Place : On our jeep towards ???

Driver : ajj hum log do points aur dekhenge....

Rathi : Kyon?? bus do point.... abhi to pura din pada hai...

Driver : Jo agla point hum log dekhne ja rahe hain... wahan jane ke bad aap logon me himmat nahi bachegi...

Rathi : Huh... aisa kya hai... hum sab log khiladi hain... aise nahi thakte...

Driver : tabhi to bol rahi hun ki do point .... agar koi buzurg hote to ek hi point bolta...

Time : 11:30 AM

Place : On Chauragarh ( this was tough)

Vikas : abe ye ( pointing towards the Chauragarh temple).... ye to ek ghante me chad jaenge...

poor guy.. he never knew what the future had in store for us...We started our trekking towards the hill top around 11:45 AM.Making our way through the forest ,chatting ,singing... the initial half an hour of walking was cool.We stopped at various points to take snaps.During our pad yatra we noticed that after walking for about 1 hr. the temple never came nearer to us.Then we realized the nature of climb.It was like up and then down and then up.... we have to cross four hills before we can reach the actual temple ...and each hill was of similar size.Expressions on the face of Vikas and Dhavale clearly showed the torture they were undergoing.There were people selling lemonade on the midway.We almost saw the face of lord shiva in each one of them.During this journey i realized my potential as a hill climber.Surprisingly I was leading the way.Even the captain of our cricket team (Sharma) was lagging behind.

Time : 2:00 PM

Place : Chauragarh ( at last)

We felt so close to lord Shiva himself. The temple had a mystical charm.We offered prayers and took PRASAD .We went around the place.It was like,top of the world.

Time : 2:30 PM

Place : Chauragarh ( Amol's encounter with the monkeys )

Amol : Shanky, kamine.... ye packet pakad.....

Amol was surrounded from all sides,he could not escape... 3 huge monkeys were chattering their teeths at him....they wanted the packet of prasad that Amol was holding on to.

Amol : abe koi ye packet catch kar lo yaar.... ye mujhe hilne bhi nahi de rahe...

Nemani : abe bandar ke katne se rabbies ho jata hai...

Amol : abe @$#@$ mujhe pata hai..... kyon meri phad raha hai...

Rathi : abe aise hi reh mujhe ek photo lene de....

Amol : kamino mein packet phenk dunga....

And finally that was the only thing that he could have done... and he did.

Time : 4:30 PM

Place : Back at the footsteps of Chauragarh (from where we started)

There was one more temple rite at the foothills which was named Gupt Mahadev....so we decided to have a look.We gathered our shoes at the entrance and appointed Mr. Dhavle to look after them..( he decided to sit and regain his stamina).

Time : 5:00 PM

Place : Gupt Mahadev ( the great Nemani Show)

We all were wearing our shoes after coming out of the temple.All of a sudden ,from nowhere a guy came and claimed that he was the one who took care of our shoes ( and not Amber)... and asked for 30 bucks from us.

the Guy : Bhai aap logon ko 30 rupaye to dene padenge... ye yahan ka niyam hai...

Vikas : Kis bat ke 30 rupaye... jooton ko rakhwali hamare khud ke aadmi ne ki hai....

Guy : paise to dene padenge.... yahan joote rakhne ke paise lagte hain.

SAGAR : agar bhik mangne ka itna hi shok hai to wahan ja kar baith jao....( where rest of the beggers were sitting)..hum dedenge...

Truth is always bitter when said in one go.That guy never expected this kind of a reply.

Guy : kya bola... mein bhi bhikahri hun....

Dhavle : abe tu dimag kahrab mat kar...... warna..

Guy : warna kya karega be..... oyee...

He started shouting and gathered few people ....

Guy : ye log mujhe bhikari bol rahe hain... inko to sabak sikhana padega...kaunse hotel me thehare ho tum log...sahi salamat wapas nahi ja paoge.....

Dhavle ,who was flexing his biceps untill now suddenly realized that it was not a good idea to fight with the locals..

Dhavle : achha achha... sorry bhai... hume ladna nahi hai.... galti hamari hai... oye Nemani sorry bol...

Dhavle forced Nemani to apologise.... and the matter was resolved...After coming out....

Joshi : Wo to mujhe gussa nahi aaya...warna ek ek ko dekh....

We all laughed.... Joshi is always good in producing these kinds of humor....

Time : 5:30

Place : Some sucide point...... on the way to sunset point.

Driver told us that it became a sucide point when some couple commited sucide after jumping from there.

So we made the people in our group also to pledge that they would repeat the act if they dont get their respective girls.And if they cudnt do it themselves then wll help them by throwing them from here.

Time : 6:00

Place : sunset point ( last point for the day)

Nothing to say much about this point.Pics. can describe it better. There were honeymoon couples

lined up to see the sunset together....

18th March 2007

Time : 7:00 AM

Place : Hotel Room

Night before probably was the shortest night we ever had.We all slept like anything and wanted to sleep even more.

Nikks ( banging at our doors): utho be.... kab tak so ge....

We all got up .Today we were supposed to see the waterfalls.In 30 minutes we all got ready.Our jeep was waiting outside.

Driver : Ajj hum log ek waterfalls jaenge... lekin uske pehle aap logon ko ek guide karna padega... ye yahan ka niyam hai..

Vikas : huh... ab ye kahan se milega...

Driver : Pachmarhi museum.....

Time : 8:00 AM

Place : Pachmarhi Museum

Driver introduced us with our guide.Cant remember his name..but he was a middle aged guy with a moustach.We could smell liquorfrom his mouth.They showed us the museum.It was like any other museam telling us about history and flora fauna of that region.

Time : 9:00 AM

Place : Pandav caves

Guide : ye pandav gufa hai... kahan jata hai ki banwas ki samay wo yahan par ruke the...

Nemani : kamal hai... ye pandav to pura india ghum liye the chal chal ke.....

Joshi : hum log train se ghum lenge...

That place had a beautiful garden.We could see five seperate caves...which the guide told was used by each pandav.After a bit of exploration we finally set out for our next destination.

Time : 10:30 AM

Place : Silver falls

Guide : hame jeep yahin chodh ke paidal chalna padega

Dhavle : Kitna chalna padega...

Probably he wasnt able to come out of the tortures climb of Chauragarh the previous day.

Guide : bus teen kilometer...

We all had a sigh of relief.After walking for about 30 minutes we could finally have a view of the water fall.It was amazing.

Time : 12:00 AM

Place : On our jeep

Guide : Ab hum lo apsara falls jaenge... ye wahi jagah hai jahan film "Ashoka" ki shooting hui thi...

Amol : Hum log wahan naha sakta hain kya....

Guide: han naha to sakte hain... lekin nahane ka kaam aap Bees fall pe kariyega...wo behtar rahega..

Time : 12:30 PM

Place : Apsara falls

As soon as we reached apsara falls...we can visualize Karina Kapoor talking a bath ( dont think dirty).That place was perfect for a film shooting.We all took out our shoes and went straight into the water.

Sharma and Rathi lifted bakshi and manhandled him....

After spending 2 hrs. there and an extensive photo session,we finally set out for our next destination..the BEES Fall.

Time : 2:45 PM

Place : Pachmadhi Gardens

Before going to the Bees Fall ,we decided to have lunch at Pachmadhi Gardens.The place had a nice ambiance.We ordered some food and coldrinks.

Time : 4:00 PM

Place : Bees Fall

Rathi : bhaiya isko Bees fall kyon bolte hain...

Guide : ye to mujhe bhi nahi pata yaar... angrezon ne naam rakha tha... abhi tak wahi chal raha hai...waise kaha jata hai ki iske nichenahane se madhumakhi ke dang jaisa lagta hai... pani ka raftar bahut tez hai..... lekin yahan nahaye bina gaye to pachmadhi aana bekar hai....

We relieved all our clothes and..... probably the pic. would describe it better... If i would have posted few more pics here then i could have got a good offer from the Playgirl magazine for selling those pics to them.

Time : 6:00 PM

Place : Dhupgarh (The highest peak of the Satpuras and Madhya Pradesh)

After spending unforgetable moments in the Bees Fall we reached Dhupgarh.It was the highest point in the whole state of MP.Fortunetly it was reachable by the jeep.It was another of those beautiful sunset points and it had a cottage which was used by the British as a rest house.That ended the day for us and we waved goodbye to our guide.

19th March 2007 ( our last day in Pachmadhi )

Time : 9:00 AM

Place : Hotel Lobby

Till now we had covered all the important points in Pachmadhi and since we had one more day and we were not going to the national park..so we decided to use the day by visiting some secondary points.

Time :9:30 AM

Place : Some temple

It was some temple of the godess durga.We offered our prayers.The best thing about this temple was that somehow our mobile phones started catching network.So we could find everyone busy with their respective special ones ( those who had),normally the list included Sharma,Joshi,Rathi. But we observed that Nikks was also busy with someone.The indentity of that someone was however revealed after 3 months of that trip.Till then it was a suspense.Rest of us called our homes.

That day we saw few other caves.All the caves were equally beautiful.

We roamed like vagabounds cracking jokes,sharing laughter,that still echos in my ears.

We ended our day by doing some Paragliding.We distributed ourselves in couples.Nemani Bhai lost his balance and fell down.Latter on Vikas ( his partner) told us that the the sail was disbalanced because of unequal weights.

Almost everyone was slipping while landing.So our Sharma ,who was coupled with Bakshi declared that he would never fall.We all appreciated his confidence and waited for his turn.

What Sharma claimed got true,he did not slip,but fell on his face.All of us cud hardly control our laughter.

Around 9:30 in the night we started for Pipariya,from where we were suppose to catch the train.

At 1:30 in the night we boarded the train to Indore from Pipariya.

Almost 15 months have passed since that trip of ours.All of us are passed out from the college now, busy in their own lives.But the memories of that trip are still fresh...

" Woods are lovely dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

and miles to go before i sleep

and miles to go before i sleep "

-- Robert Frost