Visit to Anandwan And Hemalkasa

On one nice pleasant morning at around 8 am some small children were playing on their school ground, some were just sitting and enjoying the early sunlight. I saw a small girl of around 9-10 years of age who was sitting alone on the ground and was doing something on the sand. I just went to her and started a normal conversation about her and her school. After sometime I asked a question to her “तुझा आवडता विषय कोणता?” (What is your favourite subject in the school?) and in fraction of second she replied “इंग्रजी…” (English).

This was the reply of the girl from ‘Madia Gond’ tribe which is the most backward tribe among the Adivasis. Let's see the work of the people who gave her that confidence...

Every year we just celebrate our new year by going to some expensive restaurants or to some DJ parties but this year we a group of ten people decided to start out new year by visiting Anandwan and Hemalkasa.

From school days I have heard about Anandwan that one man named Baba Amte have treated leprosy patients and rehabilitated them and from that time I had a curiosity about his work. What exactly he had done? Rehabilitation for leprosy people means what? and many more such questions… But that quest came to an end when we reached Anandwan.

Entry gate to Forest of Joy

As we entered Anandwan we felt that everything here is so perfectly planned and so well maintained. After seeing such a properly planned village our quest regarding Anandwan increased rapidly.  

As many visitors come to Anandwan they have prepared a documentary on how it was established and how it functions now. After the documentary one young guy of age around 67 named Tulsidas Paranjpe met us.  He promised us to show the work which goes on in Anandwan and we started walking with him. 

While walking he started to share his experiences about Anandwan. He said “When I was at the age of 25, I first time came to Anadwan and saw the pain of the people who are suffering from leprosy and one man Baba Amte who left his luxurious life and started working for this people.  I also decided to quit everything and start working with Baba Amte. Initially Baba didn’t accept me as a volunteer. He used to say go back and enjoy your life, don’t come by my way it’s very difficult. But finally he accepted me as a volunteer.”

Then he shared his experience about the behavior of other people towards leprosy patients. He said “At that time people used to be very inhuman to the leprosy patients. Once they give their patient to Anandwan they don’t use to turn back even for their funeral. Some of them were so inhuman that they used to take the thumb impression of the dead leprosy patients for the property. The same was the case with the physically challenged people. Baba used to be very furious and then he decided to train those people and give them work so that they should not dependent on such inhuman people for their remaining life. And these workshops are the product of those thoughts. Everything here is managed by either the people who are cured by leprosy or the people who are physically challenged. Even the Sarpanch of the village was a cured leprosy patient.”

Till that time we reached the doorsteps of the workshops and I think I should not write much the workshop work because photos will speak more about it than my words.

First we went to the workshop where they made showpieces and greeting cards out of waste. Showpieces and greeting cards made here are very much in demand. We can also give an order by an email. For details you can visit their website.

Made up of chocolate, biscuits wrappers

Made by people who cannot speak or hear.

Great work in progress…

Greeting cards made by colourful threads.

Then we moved to a place where they have kept wooden carvings done by physically challenged people which is really unbelievable.

Amazing Wooden Carvings...

Then we came to the place where the people made cycles for physically challenged people and also made cupboards of steel themselves.

Special cycle for Special people under construction...

Then came the handlooms and powerlooms where literally blind people used to run those machines…

Blind Women running a handloom

She is making such a beautiful carpet with so much of efforts and concentration.

People here also make sweaters, sandals, travelling bags etc. There is also a printing press. There is also a music group named “Swaranandvan”. We went there and they sang for us…

इतनी शक्ती हमे देना दाता

    मन का विश्वास कमजोर हो ना ...

Which really touched our heart and they gave us the power to not to lose hope in any situation. Here is a YouTube link of the song.

Paranjpe baba then took us to the Samadhi of Baba Amte and Sadhana Amte. Place of Samadhi was previously a graveyard. Baba Amte said that entire life I have been serving people so let me rest between them only. Sadhana Amte also said that entire life I was with Baba Amte so now also I will rest in peace with him.

Samadhi of Baba and Sadhanatai Amte

Near the Samadhi he said “Baba would never have done such a great work without help of his children. His children helped him a lot. Dr Vikas Amte designed all the projects and executed them very well. He has also written a book “Anandwan Prayogwan” which explains how these projects were thought and how they are implemented.”

Finally we went to the old age home, a place for very old people who are cured from leprosy. Their family didn’t accept them but Baba Amte accepted them and cared for them. All of us got a bit emotional by seeing the helplessness of those old people. There were some visitors who came with us and were taking photographs of those helpless old people. All of us were very disappointed by their act. We had one question for those photographers “Would they have taken photographs if their grandparents were in that helpless condition???”

It’s my humble appeal to all the readers that please think before clicking any photograph anywhere.

Now apart from their projects I would like to write some observations which we made during the entire day. Everything is very properly planned. Vidharbha is known for scarcity of water but in Anandwan there is no scarcity of water due to proper water management. Everybody here is very punctual. All the workshops are closed between 12 pm to 2.30 pm but at sharp 2.30 pm everybody will be back on work. No one will be late by a minute also or no one will be lazy to do their work. Workers who work in the workshops are given merely Rs 200-300 monthly as a stipend and not a salary. But still they are happily and sincerely doing their work because there needs are less. Everything from wheat to vegetable is produced there itself using organic farming. One more very important thing we noted that there was not even a single temple in entire Anandwan.

Idols found in excavations

There are some idols which are found from the excavations but they have not given any special treatment to them which means everybody here thinks that hard work is worship of god and nothing special has to be done to worship him.

Anandwan was all about the work being done for the leprosy patients and physically challenged people. Here the process has being somehow saturated according to me because nowadays there is much more awareness about leprosy. So the leprosy patients get the treatment on time and save themselves. Awareness of people and acceptance of the leprosy patients in the society is the real achievement of Baba Amte.  

This was how we ended our 2015 at Anandwan and on the 1st day of 2016 we went to see another great work at Hemalkasa.

Around 1970’s Baba Amte came to a village named Bhamragad which is on the border of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. He saw the lifestyle of the people of Madia Gond tribal community and got shocked. He was restless by seeing the difference of the lifestyle of other people and this people.

Lifestyle of Madia Gond Community in 1970's

So he decided to work for this people. Start a project for the upliftment of this community. His son Dr.Prakash Amte decided to take the responsibility of this project.

Dr.Prakash Amte with her wife Mandakini Amte shifted to Hemalkasa in around 1975 and named the project as ‘ Lok Biradari Prakalp’.

Entrance of Lok Biradari Prakalp, Hemalkasa

There were major healthcare issues in the community at that time. As it is a very dense forest, most of the people used to die because of Malaria but no one was aware about it. It was a very difficult task to gain the trust of the people because they have never seen a doctor or never had a medicine. Dr.Prakash Amte did many things to gain their trust. One thing we see today also is the clothes that he wears; it is just a Banyan and a half pant. Most of the adivasis do not have sufficient clothes and if we go infront of them with proper dress they will never trust us, they will always treat us as an outsider.

Due to his consistent efforts he started to gain the trust of the people and people started to visit him if they are not well.

We all know that Dr.Prakash Amte likes animals and he has animals in Hemalkasa. We were also seeing those animals. While seeing the animals I saw the name of the place where the animals were kept. It was “प्राणी अनाथालय“(Animal Orphanage). I was very curious about the name so I asked the person who was explaining the work done in Hemalkasa. He said that there is a long story behind it.

In the initial days Dr.Prakash Amte saw that this Madia Gond people go for hunting for their food. They used to hunt any animal and take the dead animal as well as the babies of the dead animals with them. Eventually those babies of the hunted animal used to die without their parents. Dr.Prakash Amte noted this thing and made a request to them ”You kill animal for your food so I will not stop you to do that but whenever you bring the baby of that hunted animal please give it to me.” Those people gave a thought over it and discussed among them that this man is working for us so selflessly, we don’t give him anything so we can give that baby of the hunted animal to him and there is no loss in doing that.

So these are not the animals of the zoo. These are animals which do not get love from their parents but they get the same love and care from the Amte family so I guess it is wrong to call them orphans.

Cat and leopard together... Very rare Scene...

Owl looking at visitors

The next challenge before the Amte family was to convince the people to get their children for education. The story of getting children for education was told to us by the person who was explaining the work of Hemalkasa. He says “At that time there was an orthodox tradition to kill the person in the name of god and mostly small children used to be killed. So the adivasis got afraid that we will kill their children. Those days were very frustrating for us but Prakash Amte used to motivate us and then again we used to go for convincing them. After around 2 years of continuous efforts we got 5 students from one of the village and then the journey of education started for this people. And now there are seven hundred students including 350 girls and 350 boys.”

We got stunned by listening their efforts and the patience they had.

He said “Now there is everything for these students. They are number one in sports. Some of them have gone to national level, some are doctors, some are engineers and some are teachers. We also have a computer lab where this children use Linux and Windows operating system. They learn the lessons online.

Madia Gond Students using computers for learning. Do we???

And they are nowhere behind the students who are in cities.”

After listening the stories of foundation of “Animal Orphanage” and school for the Madia Gond people. A thought came to mind connecting these two stories that Amte family didn’t try to save the parent animal and also didn’t try to educate people of Madia Gond community but they saved the future generation of that hunted animal and educated the future generation of the Madia Gond community. Which also tells us that we should not think on whatever is gone but we should focus on whatever we have in hand.

After seeing such a great work with lot of questions in mind we moved to the Triveni Sangam to see the sunset. Everybody was lost in their own thought. Comparing the challenges which are faced by this people to do something which they didn’t have any guarantee and the challenges we face in our day to day life or to achieve something. Comparing the confidence of these people to overcome such a difficult situation and our level of confidence in tackling the small problems of our life. Sun was settled but our thoughts were not settling down.

A peaceful sunset

In the night we got a chance to meet Dr.Digant Amte son of Prakash Amte who along with his wife looks after the hospital work of Lok Biradari Prakalp. We asked several questions to him and he answered all the questions very patiently. This was our conversation.

We: After spending so many years in this project what changes do you observe in the community? Both good and band changes.

Dr.Digant Amte: Yes, definitely there is more awareness in the society. If they are not feeling well they immediately come to hospital and get the treatment. People come to us and insist for their child’s admission in the school. These were the good ones. Some bad changes are also there such as some got government job so in 1st payment they get a bike and start drinking alcohol which leads to accidents. Again they come to us we treat them and try to show the right way.

We: What shall youngsters like us should do in their life to serve society or to enrich themselves?

Dr.Digant Amte: They should give atleast one year of their entire life for a social cause. I do not mean they should come to Hemalkasa and stay; they can join any social cause which interests them and spend their one year with full dedication.

We: What do you expect from the visitor’s like us who are not from the medical background?

Dr.Digant Amte: If you talk about people from non-medical background, they cannot help us a lot because our main work here is of hospital. There are people from IIT’s who are ready to teach this students but we desperately need people from medical background because there are lot of patients and only a handful of doctors. I expect students who are in medical field should come here and serve for atleast one year because in a year approximately 40 thousand patients visit the hospital and it will be a very great exposure for a fresher to practice here and then start a career.

We wished him a happy new year and thanked for patiently answering our questions.

The next morning was one of the most memorable mornings. We went to the Triveni Sangam to get some fresh unpolluted thoughts like the fresh unpolluted air. After coming back we spend our entire time with the school children who were full of energy and enthusiasm. The school started with the exercises and then with the classroom sessions.

Early Morning Exercises 

As it was the time of winter, it was quite cold there and small children used to feel cold so their lectures used to be taken in the ground which was one of our dream.

Classroom under the sky...

Teaching here was very impressive. Whenever anyone makes a mistake the teacher never scolded. Inspite of that teacher used to give a smile and then explain the mistake till that student is convinced.

When we saw some students repairing a broken plastic chair, we realised that there was not only bookish knowledge but also a practical knowledge given to the students

Students are skilfully repairing a broken chair...

These students were very much focused and were working with a pin drop silence. There was coordination between them but there were no words. Everything was going smoothly…

Then we saw a OpenAir class of English and were stunned.

Example of interactive OpenAir class in the video

After that we packed our bags and started a return journey with lots of experiences, lots of positive energy, lots of hope and a desire to do something for our society.

PS: Travelling Details

• Mumbai to Anandwan (Warora Station) by Sewagram Express
• Anandwan to Hemalkasa by public transport

• Warora to Chandrapur (45 km) by State Transport bus.
• Chandrapur to Allapali (120 km approx.) by State Transport bus.
• Allapali to Hemalkasa (70 km) by local transport.

• Hemalkasa to Balharshah (180 km) by State Transport bus
• Balharshah to Mumbai (Balharshah Wardha Passenger then connected to Sewagram express)

If you have a bit more time it is advisable to go by public transport to Hemalkasa because firstly it is very costly to book a vehicle from Anandwan to Hemalkasa and secondly you also get a chance to interact with the local people if you go by public transport. Entire five days trip’s cost was only 2800 per head and we were a group of ten people.

To know more about the work of Amte Family:

• Official Website of Anandwan: http://www.anandwan.in
• Official Website of Hemalkasa: http://lokbiradariprakalp.org
• Documentary on Anandwan (Youtube link): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etoWJTeYG1E
• Documentary on Hemalkasa - Arnyatil prakashvata  (Youtube link):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpk1fa-lYw

Torna to Raigad Trek: An Enriching Journey...

Maharashtra has a very rich culture of historical forts due to which there are many people who are interested in Trekking. This blog is dedicated to all the enthusiastic trekkers.

            We are also a group of college friends who are very much interested in trekking. We have done many treks and the interesting part is that all of them were night treks but those were not very tough. As this was the last summer of our college so we decided to go for a long trek which should at least take two days. It was my wish since college days to have a trek from Swarajya's first fort 'Torna' to the capital 'Raigad'. I proposed a plan of this trek and everybody happily accepted but was a little concerned about the hot summer. Our desire to complete this trek was very strong so despite of this heat so we decided to go.

21st May 2015 to 24 May 2015 was the decided dates according to everybody's availability. After reading some blogs and collecting all the necessary information we were ready for the trek with the rough route map. 

On 21st May we decided to meet at Swargate Bus Stand Around 5 PM We went with the expectation to catch the last bus from Swargate to Velha which is at 7.15 pm but luckily we got a bus at 6 pm which is very irregular and most of the times it gets cancelled.

            Our group of ten people including 9 college friends and our 55 years Young Sir started our journey towards Raigad.

Left To Right :Samadhan, Ashish,Vipul, Rahul, Prashant, Pandit Sir, Sachin, Vishal, Ankur, Swapnil

After travelling for approximately 2 hours we reached Velha around 8 pm and had our dinner in the hotel in Velha which is the only hotel nearby. There we had our tiffin as well as Misal which was the only dish available in the hotel. Hotel's owner is a very kind person. He asked us to refill our water bottles as there is no water to drink on Torna. He gave us the very important information about the weekly Bazaar of the Velha which was on the next day i.e. Friday. 

After taking all the necessary information and refilling our water we headed towards Torna. The atmosphere was very cool and energetic. The sky was full of stars and the wind was keeping us cool all the time. Some of us were from Mumbai and after experiencing such a cool breeze they said that when will we experience such a cool and fresh air in Mumbai. But we all know such climate is not in the fate of Mumbai and so we should go to forts and enjoy the peace.

The exact trek route was difficult to find because of full dark night but we had our ‘Sure Shot’ guide Vishal who always leads the group in such difficult routes. Slowly but steadily we were going towards the top. In between we also missed the traditional trek route but came on track later. When we were off the traditional track our friend Samadhan found a bamboo tree and he detached one bamboo from the tree and after that the bamboo was his companion till the end of the trek (which we can make out from the later photographs).

  

We took almost three hours to go at the top of Torna. We reached Mengai Devi Mandir at around 12 in the night. The temple is a nice place to stay. It can accommodate almost 30-40 people comfortably.

We decided to get up early in the morning at around 5 am and make a move towards Walanjai Darwaja which will lead us to Bhatti village. There were 5 hours to sleep and everybody pretended to sleep. At 2.30 am one of us got up and discovered that everybody was awake except Sachin. After 2.30 am everybody slept quietly.

As said all of us woke up at 5 am and went out. We were amazed to see the nature’s beauty.

In this photo the left most mountain we see is the Rajgad and the mountain range which is covered by the clouds is the trek route from Torna to Rajgad. By looking at this scene it feels that the nature has wrapped the surrounding area by the shawl of clouds so that they will be safe from cold winds that are blowing.  

This was the amazing sunrise which most of us don’t take efforts to see when we are at our home.

After getting refreshed by these beautiful views of nature we headed towards the Walanjai Darwaja which is a bit tricky to find. We have to move towards Budhla Machi having an eye on the right side. As we move ahead we can see one saffron flag on the right side which was the Walanjai temple now shifted to Bhatti village. Our way to Bhatti village is from that saffron flag but the Walanjai Darwaja is around 200 m ahead from this flag. Once we find the Walanjai Darwaja we have to traverse back to that saffron flag.

As we have noted that there is dirty water near that Walanjai temple. We just saw it and ignored as we thought there might be some water which is just accumulated but after we reached Bhatti village one of us asked the local villager about that water accumulated. The villager told that there is cave inside and the space we see is the entrance in which we have to go very carefully and once we go inside there is enough space for a person to stand and go. The villager himself went inside it before some 30 years. We just listened and were stunned and naturally the respect came for the people who constructed such a cave.

Anyways as we reached near that saffron flag everybody was hungry and we halted to have a little breakfast. After the breakfast we were roughly able to see our destination i.e. Bhatti village.

It was a steep descend of Torna which is the highest peak in Pune District. The route was very slippery but with the help of small shrubs we were able to go down safely. There was one point where the route was full of hay and we have to move very carefully but Rahul, Sachin, Swapnil came down by sliding on the hay like a small child coming down through a slide in the garden.

Around 9.30 am to 10 am we reached the Bhatti village. It was a very peaceful village full of greenery and lots of water. After such a tiring descend from Torna everybody was exhausted but as soon as we saw water everybody got refreshed and had lunch under the tree which was very dense. After having the lunch all of us were having rest under the same tree.

At this point one third of the trek is complete. The next target was to reach Mohari village which is on the boundary of Pune and Raigad District (Konkan).  It was very far from Bhatti. One can go walking to Mohari with the help of local villager or if one is lucky enough to get the vehicle till Kelad Khind then he can go from Kelad Khind to Mohari.

I used the word lucky because there is no state transport bus which goes by this road and the private vehicles are also very rare. The villagers assured us that there is a chance for us to get a vehicle because of weekly bazzar of Velha which is the Taluka. In that hope we were all relaxed and really the luck was on our side. We got a truck which was heading towards Kelad. On the way to Kelad, we get spectacular view of Torna from all the sides and also we see the mountain ranges which join two great forts Torna and Rajgad.

It dropped us on the Kelad Khind at around 12.30pm which is about 15-20kms from Bhatti. The truck driver was a very kind person. We were giving him some money but he refused it saying that “You are not passengers. You are fort lovers (Gad Premi), you are our guests and it is our honour to help you”. We were surprised to hear that from people whom we never saw and probably never see again.

It was a hot summer season going on and there was no single tree on that road. And we were walking and walking in that hot sun.

This part really tested our patience, stamina and the determination. Strictly everybody was carrying enough water to prevent from dehydration. This road is very boring, tiring and energy exhausting. After continuously walking for one hour we found a place which was full of dense trees but the base was full of ants and some small creatures. If we were in city or if we were not on trek we would have not even thought about that place to wait but as we know trek teaches us many things and when there is question on survival anyone can adjust anywhere.

After resting for an hour we again came out on that dry muddy road and started walking. Some of us were motivating each other; some of us were consoling each other by saying that “thodech rahilay 2 km”. Again at one point everybody were tired and slept under one very small tree. Ankur and me were searching that Mohari village on Google maps but were unsuccessful. In search of network we went a bit ahead and found one tree which was lush green covering entire road by its shadow and we started laughing thinking that we would have walked for two minute more??? how impatient we are?

Everybody woke up and again started walking with the same energy and enthusiasm. After an hour we again took a halt under one tree and unexpectedly Vipul took out Chivda, Gul Shengdane, khajur, Laadu. After filling our stomach we were again ready for the walk on that same boring road but now the climate was getting cooler as it was around 4.30 pm. And after a walk of around an hour we were able to locate Raigad (the final destination), the Lingana (a huge pinnacle) and were experiencing the cool breeze coming from the Konkan side. We were stunned to see the Sahyadris around. The huge mountains, deep valleys every sight of it was giving us energy and motivating us to do such treks so that we can go close to nature and indirectly to life.

Finally we reached Mohari village around 6.30pm by Singapur bypass road, which was funny to know that we have tribal area called Singapur. As soon as we reached there we stopped in front of one small house for water. Again the villagers were helpful. They served us water gave us there vessel which is used to take out water from the well. They also helped Samadhan by modifying his bamboo.  One thing I observed which is very unusual in cities or in families that whenever a stranger comes into our house the women is always in the kitchen or not in front of that stranger but the scene was different here. When we reached near that house the women of that village didn’t moved at all. They were also sitting and playing a major role in answering the questions which we were asking them.

It was an evening and that too evening of the summer and also we were on the top of the Sahyadris so how can we can miss the sunset???

After enjoying the beautiful sunset the entire day’s tiredness just went off and there was a feeling of satisfaction.

We had dinner in the same house were we stopped for water. They served us two Gavathi chickens for non-vegetarians and Pithle-Bhakar for the veggies. All of us enjoyed the food and slept in front of their house at around 11 pm with a plan to wake up at 5 am and start the most exciting journey of this trek.

The next day no one was in a mood to get up early at 5 am but still we managed to wake up around 5.30 and we headed towards the Boratyachi Naal around 6 am. As we started the area was a forest type area with dense trees. We had our breakfast by eating the fresh fruits from the trees such as Jambul,Dongarchi Kali Maina (Karvande) and it was a very nice experience to have fruits direct from the trees which are fresh and cold. During our natural breakfast Ashish used to get the benefit of his height as he was the longest among all of us. He used to just extend his arms a bit and reach the branch which was out of our range. Enjoying this natural breakfast we reached in half an hour to the point from where Bortyachi Naal starts.

The route is full of rocks and we have to go down with the help of these rocks. It is a very steep descend but not that difficult but make sure that you are not using loose rock for support/grip. After going down for about half an hour there is one right turn to take which leads us to Lingana. This turn would have been tricky to find if earlier trekkers have not marked the arrows.

This was a bit risky point. If we make a mistake in keeping our foot we might go a bit down. The space to keep our foot is very less. Though we do not need rope but we have to be very careful. This was the challenging point for all of us but especially for our sir because after crossing this point sir was on the peak of his confidence and his face was giving a victorious expression. After this point sir was very enthusiastic and he leaded the way till the point from where people go to Lingana.

We have to traverse for about 500m to reach the point from where people go to Lingana. While traversing the scenic beauty of nature is incredible. You just look at the scenes and get lost in the beautiful nature.

Finally we reached the point which is in between the Lingana and the Rayling Plateau.

After such a thrilling experience we reached this point and had rest for about 15 minutes and again started descending towards Lingana Wadi. It took around 1.30 hour to reach this point from Mohari.

Again there were huge rocks and again we had to go down. The route was the waterfalls route in rainy season. Now the legs were not giving the desired response. They started shivering and it was very difficult to balance ourselves with the 10 kg sack on the back. But there was no place to stop so we kept on walking over the big never ending rocks. After two hours of continuous descend finally the point came from where we need to take left turn to Lingana Wadi. We identified the right turn by seeing the small stones arranged upon each other and were painted by the Chuna.  The forest was dense so there was no effect of sun but the legs were not supporting our desire to walk and needed a rest for at least an hour. Finally we reached Lingana Wadi at 10 am and had Bhel.

Our actual plan was to take halt at Pane Gaon but after such a long stretch no one had energy or daring to say that we will move towards Pane.

Everybody was exhausted but Vipul had tremendous energy. He was just running here and there in search of mangoes and Fanas. He was accompanied by Rahul who used to be last in the entire trek but as he saw mangoes he overcame his tiredness and went with Vipul.

Ankur was checking whether the Fanas is ripped or not. He was the expert among us for all such kind of things. Yesterday also while having chicken he was telling us which part of chicken’s body he is eating.

Mangoes were on the ground as if that is the shower of mangoes by the trees and no one to eat except Rahul and Swapnil.

This many mangoes were collected and finished in almost 10 minutes by everyone. We were having mangoes as an alternative source for water as our water was finished.  

Around 1 pm we were very thirsty and the thirst for water motivated us to go towards Pane gaon. Though some of us were not ready to make a move but still we managed to convince them and started walking under that hot sun. In the jungle it was ok to walk but once that jungle finished there was not even a single tree till that village. We had to cross Kal river which had no signs of water in that hot sun. Finally around 2.30 pm we reached in that Pane gaon and once again we experienced the love of villagers. As soon as they saw us they invited us to their home and said that “First of all get relaxed. Take water how much you need. Refresh yourself and then only go ahead.”  After the long walk in the hot sun the two words of care and love relaxed us.

We refilled our bottles and gave them the Mangoes which we brought from the Lingana Wadi as a return gift. And we had rest in the temple till the evening.

At around 5 pm we again started our journey towards the final destination. Villagers explained us the route and gave exciting information that there is a river in your route and you can take bath in that river. All of us got excited and started walking rapidly towards that river. Finally we reached that river and it was a kind of pond not exactly river but who cares…

As soon as we saw the water we went inside it and had a nice bath for almost an hour. Those who knew swimming were guiding others. When everybody was in the water sir proposed a game. The game was to hold the breath inside the water for a long time. And as the game was proposed by sir, he was the only winner. Swimming makes you hungry and all of us were hungry after staying in water for such a long time. I took out the Methi Parathas and Shengdana Chutney which was brought from home. And in no time it finished. Till that time the sun was going down and the cool breeze was making that evening a pleasant one.

When we are travelling or doing a trek we always get a very unexpected place which gives us all the happiness, peace, silence, everything…

This was the place which gave us such things. Everybody just rested on those warm rocks and enjoying the cool evening breeze which takes us close to nature, close to ourselves. We all were sitting near to each other but all alone in our own world of thoughts…

In entire trek I was the one who was forcing or pushing everybody to move ahead but at this point everybody forced me to move. I was just not able to leave this peaceful place. When finally the time came to leave that place my mind was playing the verse of famous song ‘Aaj Jaane ki Zid Na Karo’ sung by Farida Khanum 

"वक्त की कैद में जिंदगी हैं मगर चंद घड़ियाँ हैं यही जो आज़ाद हैं

इन को खोकर मेरी जान-ए-जां उम्रभर ना तरसते रहो... आज जाने की..."

But as we all know time doesn’t stop for anyone and if you are a traveller you have to move towards your destination without considering how much you liked the place where you stopped for few moments.

As this beautiful place, evening went back, we again were focused on our final destination i.e. Raigad. The local people guided us for the shortcut to Raigad via a small Adivasi Wasti. Otherwise we have to go via Warangi, Chatri Nizampur and then finally to Raigad.

There was a proper road to go which was again very boring because it was a type of ghat and we know that in ghats there are lot of turns and twists. But we had no other option other than going by road because it was dark night. After continuously walking for 2 hours everybody was exhausted and took an undeclared break. We were sitting on the road with no light and suddenly we were able to hear some vehicle coming and saw the focus of its headlight. Everybody got excited and stood up to stop that vehicle. It was a Mahindra pick-up taking up some grains of a local shopkeeper. We were successful to stop him and he was granted us permission to get inside it. Once again we got an experience that if your determination is strong you will get some unexpected help to complete your aim.

That Pick-Up dropped us at the base of Raigad from where there are proper steps to go up. He dropped us around 10 pm. We rested there for almost half an hour and gave a call to our home (as it was the only place after Mohari where everybody got there network) that we have almost successfully completed the trek and will come home tomorrow.

After that again we started climbing up Raigad with the high determination but with very low energy. This was the proper test for patience and determination after walking continuously for entire day. Vipul and Swapnil were leading the way. Ashish, Sir, Ankur, Vishal and I were in the middle and Sachin, Rahul and Samadhan were the last. No one had water to drink but luckily we found water in the hut were we get Sharbat in the day. We refilled all the bottles and happily moved ahead. At around 12.30 am we reached at Maha Darwaja. As we reached at Maha Darwaja everybody just fall down on the steps in front of that Darwaja and the view of the sky from the Maha Darwaja was ultimate. Huge Walls of that Darwaja were surrounding us and were creating more darkness and up in the sky there were beautiful stars twinkling. The shadow of one side of Darwaja was getting on the other side and it was looking very scary in that dark night.

Finally we went to a small hut which was a shop in day time. Some of us were hungry and some of us just needed sleep. So we had the remaining of whatever we brought from home and found our places in that small hut and went to a nice deep sleep.

We got up at around 6 am in the morning and moved ahead to see the Capital of Maratha Kingdom and to give a Manacha Mujara to the Maratha Emperor ‘Shivaji Maharaj’.

We first saw the huge Bazarpeth which gives an idea about the golden period of Swarajya.

Then moved to the Jagdishwar temple and then to the Samadhi of our Shivaji Maharaj.

After giving Manacha Mujra to our Maharaj and his loyal Mawales, the time came to execute another very interesting plan to make food for ourselves. Sachin and Samadhan just gathered the necessary stones and started working to make the Chul. We had two options, one was rice and the other was Maggi (which was luckily not banned till that time). So everybody went with Maggi.

And finally the delicious dish was ready to eat…

Everybody was satisfied and relaxed after having two-two plates of Maggi. No one was in mood to leave that place but there was one pending work i.e. to view our entire journey from Torna to Raigad in one stretch, To see that we all came to the famous Tak-Mak Tok  and just looked back to see whether we can locate Lingana and Torna. It was a cloudy weather so we were only able to locate Lingana and unfortunately not Torna.

Finally we came to the place from where the Shivaji Maharaj used to control the entire Maratha Empire i.e. Raj Darbar.

Finally we owed our respect to this great man. Stored all the things of this great king and the Raigad in eyes, heart and made a move towards ropeway which will send you to the Pachad (Base) in less than ten minutes. From there we got a vehicle for Mahad ST Depot which costs around 30-50 Rs per seat. Ankur, Samadhan, Ashish and I moved to Mumbai and the remaining six went to Pune. 

A journey from Torna to Raigad gave some nice experiences, brought closer to each other, closer to nature, Taught how to adjust in difficult situations, met some really caring but unknown people, got a chance to give a thought about the time of Shivaji Maharaj and realized the greatness of him and his Mawales…

And this is how the Torna to Raigad: An Enriching Journey comes to an end…

P.S.: Brief Route of this Trek

1. Swargate to Velha (60-70 km) by bus takes approximately 2 hours (Buses are not very frequent).
2. Velha to Torna takes about 2 to 2.5 hours to reach on top.
3. Torna (Walanjai Darwaja) to Bhatti Village takes about 1 to 1.5 hours.
4. Bhatti to Kelad Khind is about 15-20 km by vehicle (Very less frequency of vehicles except on Friday and Monday due to weekly bazaar of Velha)
5. Kelad Khind to Mohari (10-12 km) dry muddy road.
6. Mohari to Paane Gaon via Bortyachi Naal and Lingana Fort which takes about 4-5 hours.
7. Paane Gaon to Base of Raigad is about 10-15 km.
8. Pachad to Mahad is about 30 km.
9. Mahad to Mumbai or Pune is around 100-120 km (Frequency of buses is very high).