Matheran, one weekend

Photo Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matheran

Having nothing else to do, that afternoon Dinu and I decided to take a trip to Matheran. If I remember correctly, this was the time when Dinu had come to Bombay for his Ogilvey-Mather interview and was staying with me at YMCA, and had got a funky baniya fellow for his room mate who liked to wear round aviator glasses.

The day was absolutely beautiful with sun in full bloom and temps just right to enjoy it. We took early morning local from CST (it was still known as VT then I believe) to Neral, the nearest railway station at the base of Matheran. It was weekend and we had the liberty to choose the seats for us, a rare occasion on the Bombay local trains We had planned to take the toy train up but unfortunately we just missed it and they ran by the hour. So, instead we had to take a taxi. The taxiwalaas were no different from their colleagues elsewhere in India. They wanted to have as many people stuffed in as possible. At first we hesitated then we thought it was only a few kms and we would be fine. The roads uphill weren't all that great though and we prayed for our lives throughout. The taxi was not in a very good shape, either. For starters, the horn didn't work and the driver had to pop his head out of the window and yell at the herders in front to move aside, and on one occasion even the gear lever fell off. But we made it up there in one piece.

Having used to the hustle and bustle of the Mall road, Mussoorie, Matheran was a surprise package. It was not very crowded, and the best thing was that no cars were allowed inside the main town. In fact the taxi stand was 5-10 minutes away and road inside the town as well was not paved with tar, but just plain dirt. That made it really serene and kind of reminded you of an olden times village when things were not commercialized. The internal mode of transportation was handpulled rickshaws and horse driven carts. We spent time walking up and down the main road that wasn't too long anyways, and then sat down, often, at the designated scenery points. The hills weren't as new as the ones in Mussoorie, yet we were able to get our dose of nature. It seemed time had come to a standstill. The warm sun beat upon us with light breeze patting our hair. The quietness of the town mesmerized us as we sat in the lap of the nature. In the aimless afternoon, people strolled on the road, with no plan and nowhere to go.

In the evening, we found a nice restaurant with round tables covered with checkered plastic cloth. We dumped our bodies there, and sinked our souls in Gin and Lime. As our bodies started becoming lighter, the electricity decided to take a break, and we sat there in total darkness for a minute. The waiter then brought in candles and all of a sudden we ended up in the middle of a candle light dinner. That probably was the high point of our trip.

Buzzed out, we walked down to the taxi stand, singing merrily with our hands held on our chests as it had started to become a little chilly. As we drove down in the taxi, the small and windy roads were illuminated by the full moon, and the city lights down in the valley glittered like the gold ornaments in a jewellers shop. We were down and back on the local train in no time. As we moved farther away from the land of Matheran, the essence of the great hillstation started melting away into our own essence until we became one. The aroma of the dirt road still remains fresh in my memories, more than a decade later.