Magic of Millions of Fireflies

The memories of my Enai's ( that's my maternal grand mother) home in Meleng, Jorhat are many and one very vivid memory that I still have in my mind is that of hundreds of twinkling fireflies. Enai's home has quite a big ground in front and there were paddy fields around. I am talking about 1985 here. In our summer vacations all our cousins would gather at her place and spend some time there. Electricity was erratic and it still is. Evenings when there was no electricity, we would sit in the long verandah and listen to Puthau's ( grand father) stories. And then fireflies would come twinkling. Some of us would run after them to catch them in our hands. Enai would shout " Don't touch them. Otherwise in the night you will have to go to the toilet!" Now that's something all of us wanted to avoid. The bathroom was outside of the main house. Just outside in the backyard. But if you had to go to the toilet at night, you had no option but to wake up an elder. If there was no electricity then, imagine the shadows on the wall from the flickering light of the hand lamp! No way.

Last week, I and P had been to Purushwadi. We heard about the place from a friend. She said " You have to see it to believe what I am telling you." We were intrigued. Every year just before the monsoons, millions of fireflies come to this tiny village and put up a spectacular light show, which now I also say " You have to see it to believe it." 

The Valley

We went to Purushwadi through Grassroutes They aim at , in their own words, " to create 1 million livelihood opportunities in Rural India." They have various stay options available. We opted for the canvas tents. There are shared western toilets with running water too. But please donot expect all the luxuries of the city life that we are used to there. That is NOT the idea and we must respect that. 

Valley facing Tents

We went by local train to Kasara from Dadar. In Kasara there are shared jeeps available which will drop you till Rajur, the nearest "town" to Purushwadi. From Rajur another jeep to Purushwadi. You can take your own vehicle too. Purushwadi is about 220 km from Mumbai in Ahmed Nagar district. The jeep travel part can be a bit harrowing. They stuff people into one vehicle way more than it's capacity. 

Lunch

We reached the camp site by afternoon. All your meals will be at the village at a villager's home. Our hosts were ready with lunch. It's a simple vegetarian meal of what they also eat. We loved every bit. We thought of lying down for about an hour as were up since 4am. But it was too hot. But to our surprise, by 4pm we could clearly see the clouds coming in. The breeze got cooler and suddenly the sky opened up. It started pouring heavily. We enjoyed the weather with local mangoes. Since it rained we were in two minds about the sunset trek. But thanks to another couple that we met there, we just went out for a hike. Grassroutes assign one household in the village for each of the guests and that keep rotating thus making sure that everyone gets equal opportunity. All four of us were hosted by the same family. We went up to the Sun set point even though there was no " sun set view". But for all of us, we enjoyed the small hike, rains and the weather. 

Our gracious hostess

There was no electricity in the village after the storm. The camp site was lit by solar lamps. As we walked to our host's home for dinner, already the tiny twinkling lamps were everywhere. Our guide told us that it was just a trailer and the full show was still to come. How true was that. After dinner we started our walk to witness the magic of million fireflies. All along the way there were thousands of them. Then we were there. Standing across a bridge, we saw a light show put by amazing nature. The tree looked like glittered with thousands of tiny Christmas lights. The fireflies were illuminating all over.  But it was so synchronized that we were awestruck. We just stood there silently witnessing this phenomenon. We returned to our tents happy.

Magical Fireflies

Next morning after a delicious Poha breakfast, our guides took around the village giving us a glimpse into their daily lives. Even though it had stopped raining, the weather was little humid but thankfully not scorching hot. We walked till the river, but we did not take a bath. Just sat there remembering Enai - Puthau and the fireflies.

Friends met there and our guides Sandip & Avdesh

Monsoon Potluck

“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” 
― Mark Twain

Meeting friends for a potluck during monsoon or Bihu or any special occasion has become a ritual since last few years now. This year was no exception; but this year we decided to get surprised items but surely "not desi"  but try to keep it as Asian as possible. 
Of course we decided on who was getting starters or main course or dessert. The result and the spread was simply super. 

Bonding over good food with varied conversation with good company make all the difference. 

Here are the photos of what we ate..

Starters : 

We had Devilled Eggs with a Mayo and Tuna twist.

Noodles with stir fried vegetables and chicken in orange juice.

Grilled Chicken with Kaffir Lime

Garlic and Orange Mint prawns with Avocado and Wasabi Guacamole.

Starters

My plate of Starters

Main Course :

Main Course

Chicken Rendang
Nasi Lemak
Malaysian Sambal
Roasted peanuts, salads and boiled egg.

Dessert :

No bake cake with Icecream and Mascarpone Cheese
Coconut Macaroons

Dessert

Every dish was simply delectable and the love that had gone behind preparing and presenting shone through each one. 

One Confession : Both the starters; Grilled chicken and Prawn with Guacamole were prepared by my better in kitchen half. I just ate. 

A monsoon drive and 2 chance discoveries



Monsoon is THE month for Maharashtra. It turns the state into a lush green wonderland with places like Lonavala, Khandala etc coming alive with water falls and the hills / Ghats turning into a very bright shade of green. It is only after shifting to Mumbai I realized the love for Monsoon that people can have. I come from Assam, where rains are abundant. I used to love rain when I was younger. I was always fascinated by the sound of falling rain drops on the tin roofs of our "Assam type" houses. I said houses, because all my relatives, grand parents stayed in such Assam type houses. Gradually after moving out of Assam and staying the hostel in Gwalior, and then flats in Delhi I lost that fascination. It's only after staying in Mumbai, I fell in love with rains all over again.








So as the monsoon was bidding adieu for this season, we went out on a small day drive to Igatpuri. My father in law had been to Mumbai many times. But he had never been out of the city during rains to see how amazing the places turn to be. We started very early in the morning. It was not raining when we started. But as soon as we were out of city limits and reaching Shahpur it started to pour. The drive itself was amazing. We stopped at Krishna's Udupi restaurant for an amazing breakfast of fresh idlis, vadas and upma.

The bridge on Vaitarna river

P was at that area few days ago on work. So he lead the way. We entered Vihigaon. Saw the sign board Ashok Dabdaba but we did not head there as to reach the water fall you need to walk downhill for sometime and my father in law was not fit enough for that adventure. Instead we went further towards the bridge on Vaitarna river. It was beautiful. For us city weary souls the quietness that it offered that stroke me the most.

FIL on the bridge on Vaitarna



The main gate at Vipassana Center

Then we drove up on the road for sometime towards Upper Vaitarna. But did not go upto Upper Vaitarna and returned as we wanted to go to Vipassana center at Igatpuri.




We reached the Vipassana center only to come to know that the center was closed for visitors that day. They allowed entry only till the hall. Point to keep in mind every alternate Saturday the center is closed for visitors. It is advisable to check once before you plan on a Saturday. As we were returning after spending about half an hour there; P just asked the security guard at the gate for his suggestion as where we could go to get a clearer view of the mountains. He said "Railway dam". We drove along the railway track asking people the way. Finally we were there at railway dam. I don't know if it has some other name. But the place is breathtakingly beautiful with a clear water body, lush florescent green fields and am amazing view of the hill. Besides that, there was no one else. Only us and so many butterflies.



"Railway Dam"

Father in law was exhausted. So he decided to stay inside the car. I & P sat there for a while soaking in the nature, the silence and the breeze. It was a feeling I cannot put in words. You must experience this to feel that.

While going to Railway dam we had crossed one very interesting looking old church. While coming back we stopped there. P and I opened the closed gate and entered the church premises. There was a small hut but no one came out. A dog came running to welcome us. There was an old cemetery. Peeping though the church window we could make out that it was a functional church.






The grey clouds, rustling of dried leaves, the curved crosses over graves and an old church dated 1892 - it was a perfect setting for some "para normal" activities. P commented " This is what ghost stories are made of ". We have to admit, we were so intrigued by the church and the surrounding. There was a letter box at the entrance of the church. We thought may be in old days, the church also acted as the post office for the village. Stories we would have loved to hear if got a chance.

The old church



Waiting for his master's mail!

Sometimes just wandering may lead you to places you do not find in guide books. The Railway Dam and the old church were such discoveries. This sure hardens my urge to wander even more!