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Adventures of Lonavla - Part II


Links to Earlier Parts:
Part I : http://abhishek-nandgaonkar-blogs.blogspot.in/2012/08/journey-to-lonavla.html


                                                              PART II



    We entered the bus with our luggage; it was a 2x2 seater bus. We approached our seats and found out two of us were to sit together while the third had to sit on the adjacent row besides what seemed like a pretty face behind 'Life of Pi'.

    We all started hurrying up to get that prized seat. Aditya was in the front and I was right behind him. I somehow managed to find a way towards the seat. I kept my hand on the seat and was about to sit when Aditya pushed me and sat himself. 

    I shouted, "Hey!", loud enough for the whole bus to listen. 'Life of Pi' went down and what emerged was actually a guy with long hair. Aditya's jaw fell while me and Daksh started laughing uncontrollably; everyone else gave us a disgusting look, quite understandably.

   The rest of the journey went by pretty quietly as Daksh got himself into reading Sherlock Holmes on his phone; Aditya was listening to music, chatting and talking on the phone. I got myself into watching a couple of movies on my phone. It was a two hour journey to the junction where we had to get down on the Expressway.

    I got a call from my girlfriend.

   "Where are you baby?", Ananya asked.
   "Got into the bus, the Shivneri ones."
   "But those don't go to Lonavla. Where are headed? You lied to me!"
   I laughed. "No sweetie, we're going to get off on the Expressway and take a rick from there."
   "How stupid of a plan is that!"
   "Really, try convincing that to Daksh. You want me to hand over the phone to him?"
   "Oh, I got the point. Daksh says and you guys listen as usual. Why can't you ever listen to me? Daksh should be your girlfriend. I said come with me for shopping just for a few hours; you said no but you have time for your friends to go to Lonavla. Don't you ever talk to me". She hung up.

   I was all confused. Daksh looked at me with a puzzled look. I shrugged my shoulders, nodded my head. "I have no freaking idea what got her started. I've been with her for three years now and I still don't understand her. Why the hell am I with her. I swear man, the moment I get back from Lonavla, I'm gonna break up with her."

    My phone rang again. It was Ananya. I picked it up and said nothing.

    "Sorry baby, I got mad at you for no apparent reason.", Ananya started.
    "I just can't understand why you do this. Spoilt my trip right at the beginning. Why do you like doing this.", I winked at Daksh while I said that.
    "I'm really sorry", she said in a low tone.
    It was time for me to play the sacrificing guy. "Its ok;but don't do this again. We'll go shopping the very next day I return."
    "You are so sweet honey, I love you."
    And I had successfully dodged that one. As a boyfriend, you either succumb to your girlfriend or you eventually learn to deal with it the smart way. You know what I had reached to.

    "So you're still going to break up with her?", Daksh asked me with a surprised face.
    I smiled.
    "You should write a book for all husbands and boyfriends."
    "You bet!". I loved Ananya but then she was a girl and how much ever a girl says that she is different or she won't be a typical girlfriend, she eventually turns out to be one. And you have to devise ways to deal with  the issues in a way that both of you can be content and happy.

    The rest of the journey went by pretty quickly and it was time that we got off that bus. We got down right on the highway and started walking down a slope to get to Ground Zero where we could get a rick.

    We reached the spot where we were to get a rick. There was just one rick as if it was waiting for us but without the driver. We looked around but couldn't trace him. Out of nowhere a man turned up dragging his slippers. He was black (I'm not being racist, he was actually that black), had a thick moustache, simple shirt and trousers but noticably bright yellow scarf around his neck.

    "Where to?"
    "Lonavala City. Here is the address." Daksh gave him a piece of paper.
    "Can't read Sir."
    "I know the place, you start the rickshaw.", Daksh said.

    We loaded all our luggage in the rickshaw and set off to Hotel Lonavla Palace. Since it was one of the popular hotels; it was not so difficult to find. We had a room booked for three days with three single beds; of course.

    It was evening so we decided to roam around and eat some chikki; a popular food item from Lonavla. But then buying and eating is so common. There are roughly five shops to your sight from wherever you stand in Lonavla and we decided to feast for free given there were so many shops and most of them so desperate for some business.

    "Boss, you have Kaju Crush", Aditya asked the 20-odd year old guy at one of the hundred Khandelwal Sweet shop. He showed us the container; we asked for tasting the same. He gave us three pieces; we had those. It was my turn next.

    "What about Chocolate Fudge; do you have that?"
    He gave us that to taste too. Daksha asked for water and that guy showed him the way to the filter.
    We then 'tasted' five-six more varieties and hurried out of the shop saying "No man, we get better chikkis at A-1. We'll buy it there".
    
    We did the same thing to a couple more shops and then got bored. Money can buy you food but happiness usually comes free of cost; we just proved it.

    It was 7; pretty early to have our dinner given we just had our free meal. So we started roaming around and the number of pretty girls we encountered were just too much for our eyes to feast.

    "I just wish we could catch a glimpse of a group of these beautiful birds so we can have a good time for the rest of our trip.", I said.
    "Someone has a girlfriend.", Daksh interrupted.
    "Yeah Aditya; poor you."
    "He means you fucker", Aditya promptly replied and I realized how lucky those two basterds were. But nevertheless I had something to be content with. Aditya tries too hard with girls; reason because of which he is still single even after spending thousands after every alternate girl that he must have met. And Daksh doesn't get that attracted to women which sometimes worries us if we are safe with him.

    We went to the garden; bought a box of beer and spend our rest of the evening there. We had a little dinner in nearby restaurant and ended the tiresome day.

    The next morning, we decided to go to the famous Lion's point of Lonavla. We hired a rick and after thirty minutes of a beautiful journey we were at the Lion's point and it was beautiful. Breathtaking view of the entire valley, strong breeze and greenery wherever you could see. We neared the railing that was setup; bought ourselves cold drinks and stood there just admiring the beauty of nature. It is this time when people usually start thinking of the beautiful people they have in their life. We were busy observing beauty around us. Girls wandering around in their hot-pants and tank tops and that strong breeze did no good for them. For us, oh yeah.

   We started walking towards the far end of the peak; reached there and started clicking pictures. I am very fond of photography and thus got myself busy taking pictures of the landscape, the leaves, flowers and the small monkey family sitting on the large stone.

    While clicking pictures, my eyes fell on something shining a little lower. I presumed it must be a wrapper but I was very curious to find out what it was. Daksh warned me not to go as the stones were slippery due to rains. I told him not to worry and went further anyhow. Bent on my knees and leaned forward to pick it up. My left hand was holding the end of the rock, my right knee supporting me while my right hand went near to what looked like a beautiful flower to me from there.

   My hands touched that silky flower and when I was about to pluck it out, my right knee slipped.

TO BE CONTINUED...

PART III: http://abhishek-nandgaonkar-blogs.blogspot.in/2012/09/adventures-of-lonavla-part-iii.html


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