Life beckons

Dear Kavya,

Hope you are doing well. I am sure as usual you would be well prepared for your forthcoming exams. My best wishes are always with you. Just yesterday I was thinking that soon you would be out of college. Now that you have spent two decades of your life in your academics I am sure you would have learnt a lot. You have always been well read and up to date with the latest happenings.

We took the Bhor – Varanda – Mahad route towards Dapoli and given my condition your father wasn’t in a rush. He ensured it was smooth and less bumpy. We reached in around 5 and half hours.

As soon as I entered this sleepy town I was in for a surprise, it was way different to the other Konkan villages that I had visited. Before leaving Pune I had managed to get an accommodation after a long search online. It was a home stay and after a discussion of around 5 minutes over phone I got to know the toilet wasn’t attached, rather outside the house. Considering it needn’t be shared I was fine with it. As soon as we reached Harnai we enquired with the locals for directions to reach the homestay.  As I alighted from the car I was amused, for a moment shocked.

The stay was in the fishermen’s colony and the smell of fish hung heavily in the air. I had started to have non vegetarian after a good long twelve years so it wasn’t that I wasn’t used to the smell of fish. But then I had never ever imagined to stay with the fishermen community and wondered if they would be decent and well mannered. I was skeptical of their behavior towards us. As we walked down the lane, led by a lady in a typical Koli (fishmonger) outfit I was wary of the eyes following us.

I got to know her husband owned one of those bigger boats that set out into the sea fishing for days together. It was one of those nights when the boat would set sail for its catch. She was busy cooking and ensuring all the supplies were available to be stocked. At the same time she was wary of the safety of the men on board. The sea was their God and they prayed for the men’s well-being and a bounty catch.

Trawlers and Boats at Harnai Port

We left her with her preparations and headed towards the Kadhyawarcha Ganpati temple at Anjarle. This temple is located on a cliff and the route was narrow. The road snaked up and down the hill and gave a bird’s eye view of Harnai and Murud beach.

Harnai

Murud Beach

We paid our respect to the elephant headed deity and then drove towards Keshavraj temple. En route I quenched myself with the scenic beauty of this land. Cashew nut, betel nut, jackfruit and mango trees lined the road.

Women at work – shelling cashew nut

A state transport bus approached us from the opposite direction. As the roads were narrow your father had to take a reverse and park the car to the side. Well there was a slight miss in his judgment and the left rear wheel slipped into a gap between the hill and the road. He tried to get it out of the pit by pushing the pedal but the car refused to budge.

Kavya, I can say sitting there for hours together and gazing at infinity you feel relaxed and free of all the mundane pressure and issues of life. You ought to witness it to feel it. The calm and soothing feeling just eases and drains out every ounce of weariness. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Though you have seen this place through my eyes I would want you to visit it and relive every moment through your own eyes. Get connected to your inner self.