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And so the monsoon has come back. It is truly the most beautiful and sublime act of nature if we ignore its capacity for destruction. If in mood for destruction, it doesn’t leave anything or anyone. Disintegrates city life, with flooded roads, railway tracks and drains, mudslide and what not. Not only cities it creates havoc on mountains with heavy landslides, road blockages and the plains with unwanted floods.
But but but. Who regrets its arrival ? Not me. The farmers are happy; the birds start singing, peacock dancing and kids have whale of a time. The monsoon is widely welcomed and appreciated by city-dwellers as well, for it provides relief from the climax of summer in June.

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Let me give you a brief about Ashtvinayak (8 Ganeshas). It is a pilgrimage of 8 temples in Maharashtra, each temple having its own history. Some of these idols are Swayambhu (self-existent) which means they were not created, but discovered in that form.

This trip was pending since long and when we started we just had a rough idea of the route ( courtesy a sketch of a map pulled from the net). Now let us get going and let me take you along on this trip.
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Blue and red, is that the sun
Million magic in reflection
Billion colors, zillion hues
Here goes worries, there my rues.

No poet, that’s what I am. Yet these words came naturally, standing on the beach all by myself, an experience I had never had before. In a population of a billion people it is hard to imagine a sea beach just to yourself at six in the evening. And here I was facing the majesty of Arabian Sea in its full glory. The hushing sound of the waves echoed “welcome to Kashid”.

I know the name won’t ring a bell to most ears, and that is the best news. Located just 3 hrs away from Mumbai, this place only comes to life over the weekend, and then too you can find just a group or two on the kilometer long beach. The water is pristine, and the beach extremely clean.

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When I wrote about the boat ride to Elephanta caves, I didn’t know it would take this long to actually get down from the boat and enter the caves. :P
Ah well, I have been traveling for most of the last one month and hence the absence. But I believe in ‘better late than never’. So, here I am once again. Once you step onto the island, a mini train well adorned with fresh nimbu-mirchi to ward off any evil, welcomes you to take you to the main gate. Again, as we always prefer to try the options; we kept the mini train ride for coming back when we would be tired. So fresh and raring to go, we chose to walk to the gate, clicking some pictures on the way.

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