Out on a Sunday Morning II

I. At Alibaug contd...

Hello there, we meet again! Maybe it was a stroke of fortune or maybe the fact that another adventure lay in store for me beginning from today evening (it's 05:35 pm as i write and at the stroke of midnight, i set out on yet another adventure!)

As you might recollect or let me remind you, we were at Alibaug and the ferry had landed us safely at the port of Mandwa. From here was a 45 minute drive across fields, pastures and scrubland into the town of Alibaug where our destination was located! We were to reach here by bus, whose fare was covered in our ferry fare.

There wasn't much excitement in the bus except that the passengers got a wee bit wild when the driver refused to start the bus on time. The crowd was composed mainly of locals and most knew each other quite well. The tourist crowds were yet to come.

Upon reaching Alibaug, the next task was to find an alternate means of transport to Secret Beach. Please remember if you ask the rickshaw driver to take you to exotic places in a village, he'd charge you a price which would be more than a day's earning for one trip. "Sahib, nobody goes to such places. How the fuck can i get a return fare?" he'd state quietly or heatedly depending on his disposition. Our chappie first quoted 100 rupees and refused to haggle. When we turned our backs, he was ready to drop us off for 90, but Ashutosh was sure of finding cheaper fares.

II. Getting there...

We finally found a ten seater rickshaw which actually carried more than 10 at one go and was ready to take us as far as the nearest bus stop to Secret Beach. We thought we're ready to start when the engine ran cold! "WTF, someone's got to get off and give her a push!" exclaimed the rickshaw driver rather non-chalantly. I was right next to the driver so i had to get off like it or not, but then i stepped out gingerly eager to get started, and what is it that i see?

I'm the only one who's ready to push a car full of 16 homo sapiens in all stages of life, from infantile to the senile! A bit of strong language and a kick on the arse of the rickshaw got out a few toughs who rolled up their sleeves for business!

"Heave ho, heave ho, heave ho; and off we go!!!"

We finally arrived at the bus stop and a two kilometer walk got us there. The villages surrounding the beach were still rustic and maintained their old world charm. "Arre, photo kadha na?" called out the kids who hadn't seen something of the likes of my digi SLR ever. For those not conversant with the local lingo, the kids wanted me to photograph them!

III. Birds abound!

It was a real shock when i got my first glimpse of Secret Beach! Not a single feather in sight, forget the birds! Closer inspection revealed there were a few birds but scattered all over the dark brown sands of the beach. On one side lay the terns and gulls in numbers i didn't bother counting. They appeared like a thick white swathe across the sands, so you can well imagine how many were there! And on the other side were dismal flocks of waders scattered as small dots on the beach.

"We're not going home empty handed boys" And so we set out on our quest for those elusive feathered folk who had come all the way from Europe and the Caspian Sea.

We were not far before the first of these little visitors came into view, and within shooting distance. "Click, click, click!" The camera's trigger knew no rest that day, and photograph followed after photograph!

And then it happened all of a sudden, out of the blue! The huge white swathe had become a white storm! Birds were shrieking and squawking in unison and scattering in all directions. What could've caused such a commotion? We were still far away from their sights! And then the reason for the commotion made itself visible. A juvenile Brahminy Kite had attacked the flock.

The Brahminy Kite closes in for the kill!

For the un-initiated, a Brahminy Kite is a fish eating bird of prey but not averse to Sea Gull or Tern either. The juvenile was looking for an easy brunch, but the crowd proved to be too much for him to handle, and he soon quit the chase content to pick crabs on the sands!

After this little excitement, there was a brief lull before the flock started up again; and this time we were the reason for the excitement. I had sneaked up close to them, but my camera's shutter click was audible enough to unleash Hell!

Sea Gulls

Feathers, shit and ultra high level noise are the terms appropriate to describe the melee. But the differences in the birds was soon evident when the Gulls and Terns went their own ways. The Gulls took to one corner and the Terns took to the other corner! All the more merry for me, for i could easily spot out the vagrant birds in the flock.

Vagrant here refers to a bird which is found in a place outside it's known territory of distribution. And there were more than a few such vagrants on that day!

Sandwich Tern

IV. Something fishy!

Enough birding for now, time for some refreshments. We headed to the best place in town for lunch! Alibaug was famous for one thing! Fish, fish and lots of fish!

After a round of Surmai fry, Surmai curry, Oyster curry and chicken curry washed down with copious glasses of sol kadhi. Sol Kadhi is a spiced drink prepared from coconut milk and other spices.
 After all this, we were hardly able to waddle!

V. Return home!

After a round of ice cream to add as dessert, we decided to call it a day! The return journey was not much eventful except for a heckled husband who was trying to placate his irate wife on the ferry!

And so with the fading rays of the sun, we concluded our adventure for the day tired but triumphant!

Adieos, until we meet again, with another adventure!

Secret Beach on Sunday morning!

Sunday morning! What comes to your mind when i speak out these magical words? Sunday, means a fun day! Time to relax, time to unwind, eat, drink, make love etc etc.....

All said and done, Sunday's one day nobody would ever, i say ever dream of getting up early in the morning, unless and until there's something really urgent at hand. "Are you nuts or something? What happened to you? Are your vitals in place? Are you suffering from delusion..."

I would agree to disagree with you here my reader, for there are a few people whose hobbies and duties require them to start at the break of dawn or sometimes even earlier. Let me take you through a journey, a journey to a place which has still survived the ravages of 'civilization' but the fight is still going on! Let me take you there on a Sunday!

I. Start!

It was the wee hours of the morn when we started from our cozy dens. We here implies i and two friends of mine, namely Viplav and Ashutosh. It was exactly 04:30 am when i was at Goregaon station waiting for the next fast local which would rush me to Churchgate. The station was desolate except for a few other people like me, but with more serious occupations (is what i think!) and citizens of the dark who found this to be the ideal time for business!

Viplav was waiting for me at the gate of the train as it pulled in. Two in, one more to go for the entire team to assemble. The train ran faster than usual. That's because there were hardly any signals for our train to wait for! Funny isn't it? Trains run faster than usual when they're not required, and crawl when you need them the most! Hah, Murphy's Law! Get over it human!

It was early in the morning but then we were not the usual type of travellers who'd prefer to doze in the train until destination arrived, and so we had an eventful discussion on 'Gallicisms', the origin of words in English, and correlation between European languages, and of course need i mention the local colourful gossip!

We reached Churchgate station well within time (approximately 05:30 am) and we here refers to Viplav and i. Ashutosh had started but was yet to report. Time was aplenty, and i was high! Time for some doodles!

Early morning and late evenings portray people in an almost surreal light. Normal average people appear so thoughful, engrossed in work, or simply in a state of bliss. You'd agree with me, blissful ignorance never did anyone good! It just so happens, i strolled around Churchgate station with a digital SLR camera at the ready, shooting every God damned thing that came my way! Why? Man, didn't i tell you i was high? The bliss here was for the security guards who completely missed me out with my camera. By the way if you didn't know, it's a breach of security to be photographing a railway station. Wonder what would they say if i got an M-16 fully automatic with me!

And so, ranging from the druggie who'd finally found his measure of peace to the newspaper vendor who was not so peaceful, i went around clicking, trying to capture a few moments i could bring back to my less fortunate readers who were not wont to wake early!

My druggie!

II. For a few minutes...!

You'd be curious than ever to know why the fuck are these people doing on a perfectly fine Sunday morning heckling people at Churchgate station? Well, we were headed to Alibaug to indulge in a sight few places around Mumbai would ever offer! 'Twas winter, and migratory birds from all over Europe including Siberia had come down to India for their annual winter pilgrimage. We were looking out for these migrants precisely!

We were speaking of trains running faster than normal, but Ashutosh had to deal with the reverse case of Murphy's law. "Thou shalt be late when thou needst to be on time!" His train was caught at a signal, and he arrived at Churchgate a wee bit too late. By the time we reached the docks at the Gateway of India, the first ferry for the day had already left! "I'll pay you whatever it takes for you to call back your man on the ferry" spoke the tempter in the group (no prizes for guessing who would it be!). "Sorry sir, nothing doing! I just finished the math, and i don't need more!" shot back the clerk handling the bookings. What now? F*** you man, it's morning, and people are hungry, and pissed off at missing the ferry! We went out hunting for food, even a blimey omelette would do for me!

Lone Sentinel

Cafe Mondegar seemed promising, and the thought of kippers, eggs, jam, toast, omelettes, ham, coffee, pastry and tart raced through my mind. Ah, breakfast is served! WTF, the place was open, yes but service was to start a blimey 30 minutes later! "Hell Murphy, somedays you just have it your way!"

Our next ferry was a good 40 minutes away, and we were hungry! And so with empty stomachs and glazed eyes, i nevertheless maintained my erstwhile high and went around heckling people at the Gateway of India until it was time for the ferry! My friends didn't mind it as long as it kept me from heckling them!

III. There

Wondering why there was no mention of the 40 minute ride to Alibaug? Well, monotony is the best way to kill a high, and the sight of an endless stretch of water everywhere made me somewhat drowsy, and it was breakfast with whatever we had in store. And thus, 90 minutes passed us by without rhyme or reason!

What lay in store ahead for us...? Read it all here! You'll find it here when i feel like posting the rest of it! Until then, adieos, cheers!