Why does it always happen that the worst laid plans tend to be the best ones? Okay, that’s an exaggeration (I work in the advertising business, can you blame me?). But honestly, the last 2 days have been a whirlwind of on the-spot plans and rushing around from one place to another. And, I have enjoyed every moment of it. Well, almost.
It all started when we realized that we had a long weekend coming up – 4 days away from work sounded like an idea that begged to be exploited. And, boy were we ready to. We all wanted to take off somewhere. I, for one, had been craving to run out of this city for quite some time now. So, we started throwing ideas around – Goa, matheran, lonavla, nashik. As more people got involved, the options thrown out got proportionately bizarre and grandiose.
After much talk and no action, all our plans fell flat. As if the universe was laughing at us, none of us were able to get the Friday of that week (the only working day of the long weekend) off for various reasons. Undaunted, we decided that plan or not, we were going off somewhere, dammit.
On Friday, all the interested parties showed up with a backpack – location unknown. We didn’t even have a place to stay once we reached - wherever we were planning to reach. I am so aware, that this sounds like the most ridiculous idea ever. Hey, we were heady guys and gals – to many, even an excursion to my house was more or less like a trip because I lived so far away (that was our last last last resort in case we ended staying cooped in Mumbai – a weekend at my place). Thankfully, around lunch, I pulled names of some resorts/lodges in Murud Janjira and started calling just about each one on that list. An, what do you know? We got lucky and actually found a place – a decent one, with clean toilets that flushed promptly and check this out, beds – mattress, pillow and blanket ke saath!
So, there we were with a place but no way to get there. Enter Mumbai’s public transport system. Post work, we rushed to the closest bus station and got onto an Asiad to Murud. It isn’t the classiest thing ever – even a Greyhound ride is a limo in front of these ancient roaring things but we had to make do. Besides, we were so excited that we were finally making this trip that our excitement colored everything in beautiful, sun shiny colors.
Transport proved to be a logistical nightmare with 3 different groups on the trip – one that got on the bus, one that was to meet the bus on a transit stop en route and a third group that decided to ride on the motorbike from Bombay. Needless to say, we were on the phones constantly coordinating. The rains and lack of network weren’t much help at that end, one constantly lashing at us and the other constantly giving up on us. Grrr!
We landed at Murud after 7 long hours of painful journey – asses hurting, mentally exhausted and sleep deprived. The dark circles under my eyes were darker than the pitch black of the idyllic rural hamlet. But I can tell you, our faces lit up on seeing the care-taker of our lodge when he came to pick us up. Even though this trip could not have been more ill-planned, it was filled with joy, excitement, spontaneity and adrenaline that even the best laid out adventure could not have measured up to.
Damn, it feels good to be a maverick!
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