A Trek to Rajmachi

A Trek to Rajmachi

"Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,

We fell them down and turn them into paper'

That we may record our emptiness"

- Kalil Gibran

On the World Environment Day June 5th 2006, Mumbai can still talk of forests in its suburbs Thane and Borivli belt, though it has lost lots of its green cover over the years due to population explosion. Mumbai can still talk of natural water bodies, though few and far in between. Like any other Indian metro Mumbai is dogged by the problem of reduction in ozone layer. It's time to sit up and take an account of the hazards posed on our ecosystem and biodiversity. We need to bring more and more nature studies in our daily interactions. One Mr.R.L.Chowdhary - a retired IFS officer and a forest conservationist whom I met few months back mentioned, he is trying to impart the idea of using nature as an example for explaining more and more scientific principles to school children. Wish he succeeded soon in selling his idea to the Maharastra government for putting his thought to practice.

On 1st June, 2006, my ex-college mate and 78batch Bitsian Mr. Vijay Nevrekar aka Nevri announced he and his son has decided to trek to Rajmachi that weekend, a popular destination near Lonavala for trekkers. Nevri, Dhrub Jyoti Deb aka Mac, another 78batch Bitsian, and Mohan (myself) along with Saish (Nevri's son) came together to make the trip. I should admit that I had the least experience and knowledge about trekking. Probably Mac had the maximum exposure to rocky terrain being born and brought up in the Shillong hills. However, for all the four of us, three in our mid forties and one in late teens, it was an unknown terrain and maiden trek.

Nevri in his usual style had done the master planning and circulated lots of data mined from the web sites. Little did we realize, we were planning to trek on a tricky and slippery track during monsoon.

In his usual self, Nevri our trek leader had all the apprehensions about the route, but little did he reveal. His confidence on his web data, gave me the comfort and mental strength to take the trip. He was giving instructions as if he had trekked often in that track.

"My preference for this trek is based on the following, considering that it is my first and perhaps the first for you guys too:

- Known territory - This trek is in the Karjat Region between Karjat and Lonavala. This is generally known territory to most of us (as against Malshej, Nashik, etc.).

- Ease of commuting - Mumbai is close and well linked to this region.

- Easy terrain - It is relatively easy trek and does not require us to enroll ourselves with any professional trekking group or avail of the services of any of the expert or guide familiar with the route. This saves our trekking expenses.

-Short duration - A single night enjoyable experience.

- Physical limitations - It is the best suited at our age and current state of physical fitness.

The trek can be commenced from either the Lonavala end where one would move downhill and end trek at Karjat end or from the Karjat end and move uphill to Lonavala." Nevri.

It all began only because Nevri said "I am going. Are you joining?" What if he had said, "Shall we plan a trek? What is your choice? Who should we call? Etc"... It is that leader's firm call that makes such adventurous trip happen.

We reached Lonavala on the morn of 3rd June. Few drizzles welcomed us when we alighted from the bus. The sky was overcast and the soil wet with first few showers of monsoon rains. Pleasant breeze blew as we commenced the trek at 10am.

We passed Tungarli village and took the first break after 3km at Tungarli Dam. Tungarli Dam was completely dry, parched surface was visible all over. After taking few photos at the dam, we moved further. We then passed a few private resorts on the way - Captans, Upper Deck and Patels (under construction). Till here the path was a graveled but motorable track and many Scorpios & Sumos passed us.

The road wasn't quite as motorable further. There was no recourse but to take the long winding path (with the occasional "ups and downs" of a hilly terrain) to Rajmachi. All along, we had the view of hills on the right and the gorge on the left. We could not see or gauge the depth of the gorge but knew that there is the Ulhas River that is flowing down below. At many places we crossed small streams of water coming down hill, crossing our path and flowing down the steep sides of the gorge. These water streams are visible as water falls during the monsoons, as one would see them traveling the Mumbai - Pune railway line. We were little early for the monsoon, the water flow was less, but there was stretches of muddy areas making it impossible for any two wheelers / four wheelers to move. Any slip, these vehicles would be down the gorge and hence it is not advisable to travel by vehicles to Rajmachi in monsoon.

The postman of Rajmachi, however, cycles everyday between Lonavala to Rajmachi. He is comes from a family of very skilled trekkers who can climb the steep rocks vertically with bare hands. He was born and brought up at Rajmachi and very few in the village can match his hunting skills as well. More importantly, he is the husband of the Rajmachi Sarpanch.

We met the postman's younger brother, Anil Wari, accidentally on the way. A young man in his mid-twenties, short and thin built. He was walking past us at a good speed. We could not stop him. He went on answering our questions, as he went ahead of us; He said he would be at the Rajmachi village and requested us to stay in his house, and he would keep the food ready for us when we arrive. What a blessing to hear such sweet words, when our legs have already started feeling the strain. He was pretty sure we would accept his invitation. He said he would reach the village one hour ahead of us. He is an insurance broker working in Lonavala and visiting his mother at the weekends. We saw him take few shortcuts and run, rather a very brisk walk to cover the distance faster. Slowly we lost sight of him. We kept walking at our own pace and ensured we had the stamina to walk for five hours.

We heard many birds humming and howling. Few were making loud calls. We happily returned their calls in similar