Sunday 2nd September, 2007: Sanjay Gandhi National Park

The response was much better this time. There were seven of us this time as opposed to three during the first week… Abhishek, Dhwani, Sachi, Deepa, Guneet, Kartick and me. We had decided to visit the Sanjay Gandhi National Park… a spectacular natural forest that is probably one of very few to be found in the middle of a bustling city anywhere in the world. The citizens of Bombay are incredibly lucky to have a forest so close to where they reside. Anyway, back to the purpose of this post… to try and make you envious by sharing with you how we had a wonderful time at the park. :) Nah… just kidding! Nah…not really! :)

Some things never change… such as, traditions that are passed down through the centuries, not always genetically. Sometimes it is an idea that is transferred from generation to generation without being limited by time and space. These ideas somehow magically find their way across continental, cultural and other divides and show us how we are really more similar than we think. In this case, the time honoured tradition was late-coming! :) All of us had agreed to meet latest by 7 am at Borivali station. I was the sixth person from the group of seven to arrive, but at least I had the excuse of having to travel a distance of nearly 40 kms. Abhishek, who lives in Dahisar (the station right after Borivali), had the distinction of winning the coveted first… oops, last… place this time. :) Reminded me of school and how the people staying closest to school always rushed in to class just before the bell rang. Yup, some things never change! :)

It was the perfect day for such an outing. The sky was very overcast and the clouds were threatening to unburden themselves on us any moment. Ready for anything that the heavens were likely to throw at us, we proceeded to the main gate of the National Park. I hadn’t been inside the place for over twenty years. The sudden expanse of lush green vastness was a treat to the eyes. During my travels across the country, I have seen a lot of lush green places over the last few years. But being exposed to it in Bombay was such a refreshing change. As we walked into the park, Deepa suggested we could take a path known as Gandhi Tekri which would take us up a hill. Since most of us hadn’t been to the National Park in years, we followed her lead. The path, which has steps leading uphill, was very serene and beautiful. It didn’t take us too long to cover the distance though and soon we were at the top of a small hillock where several people were meditating quietly in an open structure specifically made for the purpose. It was really nice and quiet but still a bit too ‘civilized’ for my liking. I suggested that we could walk on towards Kanheri Caves, a series of Buddhist Caves deep within the forest that have been reasonably well-preserved. But the walk to the caves is a 7 km hike and would take us the better part of an hour. We weren’t sure we wanted to brave the late morning sun and so decided we would reserve that for another day. However, we agreed to continue walking along the main path towards the caves with the intention of finding an interesting trail somewhere.

A note on the trails in the park:
There are several trails in the park which lead into the forest but one usually would need to get in touch with the nature conservation office in the park to access these. Or an organization like the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) which also has regular awareness sessions in the park with experts sharing their knowledge about insect life, butterflies, birds and trees in the forest. Since there is a high population of leopards and panthers in the forest, it would be unwise to venture off into these trails without a guide accompanying you. There have been several cases of panthers attacking human populations within and outside the park, especially since a lot of new buildings have been constructed along the fringes of this protected forest. The park also has a Lion and a Tiger safari where visitors can travel into the forest and see lions and tigers in their natural habitat. Stories abound of how the animals in the safari are old, tired and barely alive. But perhaps I should refrain from judging before I have actually seen it for myself.

About an hour into the walk, we came across a trail heading off into the foliage. We immediately stopped to wonder whether we wanted to explore it or not. It looked very interesting and was definitely quieter than the road to the caves that we were on. Cracking nervous jokes about how the tiger and lion safaris were just adjacent to this area, we decided to take a walk down the trail just to see what lay ahead. It turned out to be an excellent decision. The trail itself immediately took us away from ‘civilization’… it felt much more natural and more like a forest now. There were tall green trees all around us, a narrow mud trail and a couple of old abandoned structures completely covered in moss just off the path. As we carefully negotiated a largish pool of rainwater that has collected on the path (hey, we’re still city-slickers… we didn’t want to dirty our shoes!), we heard a lot of voices ahead of us. As we continued walking, the path suddenly opened up to a beautiful stream rushing past us. The voices we had heard earlier were from a large group of vociferous men who were having a nice time diving into the stream and swimming. The girls stayed some distance away from this sight… a good choice, considering most of the men swimming were clad only in their underwear. And while men can look great in their undies (take Milind Soman in the Tuffs Shoes ad, for example... oops, he wasn't wearing one in that one!), this particular group wasn’t exactly what VIP Frenchie had in mind as models for their print and television advertisements.

Anyway, a suggestion came up from someone that perhaps we could take another path to the stream. Very conveniently, there was a stretch to one side from where we could see the stream and which looked like we would be all alone there. So we walked down through the tall grass and shrubs towards the stream. Guneet had decided by now that she had had enough of being quiet… it was time to show us what she was capable of! And she did so in spectacular fashion… while the rest of us treaded carefully along the side of a rather slippery section of wet and mossy rock, she decided to slide down the rock surface. We indulgently watched as she proceeded to first bruise her butt and then her ego by sliding down the rather hard surface of the slippery rock. We were really gratified after that wondrous display of what not to do! Thank you, Guneet. :)

The stream was super! We had the place all to ourselves. Most of us immediately took off our shoes and waded into the stream and found comfortable rocks to park ourselves on. Abhishek and Guneet exhibited the most courage. They bravely attempted a crossing of the swiftly flowing stream and we were soon rewarded with the sight of Guneet being swept away by the stream. Don’t panic yet… it was only about two feet deep and Guneet’s a good swimmer. However, she managed to cover almost 20 feet this way to rousing cheers from the rest of us. :) Don’t go by her quiet look… there’s obviously a lot more going on inside her than she lets on. Anyway, the good news was that she didn’t have to worry anymore about the slime covered backside of her jeans (after the rock sliding adventure)… she was now completely drenched! :) The rest of us were enjoying a more quiet time in such environs… Deepa and Sachi chatted happily while Dhwani was busy collecting some beautifully coloured pebbles from the stream. Kartick was reading from a book (I wonder what?) for a while and then he and I had a brief but interesting conversation about the draconian laws in J&K and the NorthEast. For those of you contemplating joining in on a Super Sunday, you are warned: this is one of my pet subjects! :) In the meantime, Abhishek decided he was going to use his time productively and try and make a cult leader out of me. His theory is that nothing fazes me and that the only way to do so is to make my every utterance a spiritual canon, a law for all ages. Brand me, market me, make a consumer product out of me… Vinod Baba’s ‘New and Improved 101 Spiritual Lessons to Easy Living’… nothing less would do! He got busy trying to get himself photographed falling at my feet, while I was trying to scramble away! :)

All this continued for a while and soon it was 9.30 am… time to leave for home. As we slowly walked towards the exit, I think we were all pretty happy that we could spend a few hours in the midst of nature’s gift to the city. Perhaps we all need to spend some regular time there to truly appreciate what we have and how close we are to losing it due to the unbridled growth of new constructions on the fringes of the forest. Man and forest can co-exist peacefully… conquering nature is clearly not the way ahead.