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!