Matheran -- A Town Lost in time!!!

Matheran is a city and a Hill Station municipal council in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a hill station in Karjat Tahsil and is also the smallest hill station in India. It is located on the Western Ghats range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level. It is around 90 km from Mumbai, 120 from Pune. Matheran's proximity to these Metros makes it a popular weekend getaway for urban residents. The name Matheran means either "forest on top" or "mother forest".

Matheran is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. Thebest thing about Matheran is that the vehicles are not allowed, which makes the place different from others. Matheran takes you over a hundred years back in time when there were no vehicles. Because of vehicles being banned in Matheran, the place is quite peaceful despite the thousands of visitors coming to visit throughout the year.

There are lots of lookout points that provide spectacular views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Matheran has a reasonably dense forest cover. There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Khandala Point; from this point, the view of sunrise is breathtaking. The Louisa Point offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Hart Point, Panorama Point, Monkey Point (there seems to be no point visiting this point as there are monkeys all over the place in Matheran), Porcupine Point, Rambgh Point, and more. The Lord point is spectacular for its lake and the view you get if you march on a little further, especially in evening with the sun setting.

The food can be a problem though, as there is lack of good restaurants. But, be sure to dine at Diwdakar's Bar & Restaurant. The food and drinks is cheap, worthy of good savor. You can also have your morning breakfast at Ketkar’s. Ketkar’s batata vada sambhar is a delight and so is the onion and tomato uthapa.Try avoiding Park View hotel as the food sucks, so does the cook. Customer satisfaction is last thing in their arsenal. Food you choose from the menu is more likely to be unavailable. It is mighty expensive on your pocket as well.


The only sorry sight is the amount of work put on the horses and the senseless tourist littering everywhere.

Getting there is not much hassle, nearest airport being Mumbai; from there you can either hire a car or take a train to Neral station. By road it should take an hour or two and by rail around three hours to reach Neral. From there on the choice is yours. A winding hike of just over a 9 km's is easier said than done. The same goes while coming down. The mini train is another way to reach Matheran, hop on and enjoy the scenic ride of an hour or so. The easiest and the fastest way to reach up is cab making you Rs. 50/- lighter (I guess it depends on the number of people traveling in one cab). Make sure you inquire about the mini train reservations, if taking one, as there are on 30 general seats available at one go and the booking starts prior to 45 minutes of departure. I suggest you take a cab and from there on take hike of around 2+ Km's enjoying the quiet, calm and menacing monkeys.

The best time to visit is whenever you have time.

MIGRANT BLUES

 Every day hordes of people migrate from their native to

different parts of the globe to fulfill their dream. Some travel to

study, some for pleasure, but most for work. Settling down in the city

of unknown is a challenge of sorts for any individual. Away from family

and friends, life in city can be a bit monotonous. It is like making a

new beginning altogether.

       For person moving to a metro has to grapple with lot of issues.

Accommodation for one, a person has to go through tedious process of

house hunting,the rents as it is are sky high in most cities. One also

has to go through the hassle for house hunting every year or at least

get in with all legal matters of renewing one (this is the law I guess

so no complaining, but imagine doing this every year). After procuring

the house, one has stuggle to get the basic amenities required. Traveling is

also a dilemma, considering the fact that one has never traveled in a

jam packed trains of Mumbai or Tokyo, facing the maniac traffic in New

York or New Delhi. One also has to deal with various political parties

(at least in Mumbai), rooting for localities right for job, house & what

not. You also have to adjust with the pace of life in a city.

Maintaining the monthly budget is difficult to adhere. The biggest

factor that one face when move to new city is intimidation. Some get

intimidated by the concrete jungle, some by the free spirited

localities.

You have to sustain and make some sacrifice to achieve your goals. As

the adage goes, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'.

Do we really need one?

Hi,

Recently I came across an article in one of the leading newspapers & had also heard about the developments about erecting a statue of Shivaji Maharaja in midst of Arabian Sea. I was astound to here the sum required to build such a monument. It was a staggering Rs.350 crores! State is willing to build the figurine on the behest of some political parties, who are just out there just to prove a point or two. Just because the US has a liberated women standing on Liberty Island, doesn’t mean we have to build one too.

One of the political parties head also commented on how the amount does not matter, their leader had even gone a step ahead & said we can even spare Rs. 10,000 crores if required. If city is prepared to spare on sea link & other projects then why not the monument, was his question. But, can some one explain this to the man that the money invested in infrastructure helps the common man better.

No doubt it will attract a lot of tourists to the city, will look magnificent & will add glitz to the city. If state plans to fund this memorial, then why can’t we have a bail out to the poor suicidal farmers in vidarbha?, or invest in better amenities required for the city.

No ones denying the fact that Shivaji was a great leader. But is it really required to put a mammoth sum in building such a monument? When farmers are dying, our roads are clogging with rains (even in light drizzles), traffic woes & host of other problems in this mega city.

THINK OVER

RESPECT

Hi,

Ask yourselves a simple question. How much do you respect your national flag? Don't tell me that respecting the tricolour is about standing up in theatres when played. I-Day has come and gone for another year & I am not writing this for the sake of it. This is to make everyone aware about the disrespect shown by one n all.Especially on I-Day & Republic day's.


I have seen people buy the miniature flags to put in on the shirts,cars, or just to carry then around to show your value to the historic day. I have also seen people throwing away these flags after the ceremony. I alone have picked so many of them from streets, nullhas,bins & god only knows from where all. I have a box full of these collected shunned away flags. All I ask the people is to show some respect & not throw them away when not required.


JAI HIND

THAT (s)INKING FEELING

Hi,

This time it's the voting process that captures my attention(rather than the election & IPL, which is on every one's mind....minetoo).

I had chance to make my vote count & put ink to finger (that tomiddle one). Very few people are aware of the candidates & their mass of workdone by them in the past. We can have pamphlets / election manifestosdistributed by the candidates along with the news paper or better stillhave them hand delivered at the doorstep of the individuals, I believeis far better option to reach out to the common man rather than theuseless rally held by the contestants. (it only increases the trafficwoes of the over congested city).

The voting process in India is such that it is pain in the a*#to start with. People here have to search for their respective votingbooths to exercise the voting rights & to do that one has to get in aqueue of large number of people flocking at that one desk of thepolling officer (or whatever they are called), who will look into thesheets containing the names of the hapless souls. Why can we havecomputers at these desks so minimize the efforts of gazing throughdifferent pages? We can also have this simplified through internet/sms.(If there is such a process very few people are aware of it).

The long weekend / heat or other such abysmal excuse should notbe a reason for not voting. Long weekends can be had any time of theyear but, elections are purely a five year affair (if the GOVT. electedis stable enough). Then there are people who can vote but do not, it isbetter to go & choose the no-vote option. The point here is to VOTE atleast and choose the lesser of the two evil. Hopefully we all get abetter GOVT. this time around who will fulfill the promises (for achange).

CIAO.......

CINEMA

Hi,

Cinema or films is a great medium to put across your thought on a bigger scale & to a larger audience. In the past Indian movies were very typical, same stories of rich girl poor guy, lost and found, a melodramatic revenge saga in short the topics which an average India will be entertained. Today there are films made not only on diverse range of fictional topics but also based on real issues that are grappling our society; be it terrorism, autistic children or even harsh realities of the glamour world.

I am staunch believer that movies are made for masses & masses only but, of late with a boom in multiplexes the trade pundits have come with a new one, “Movies are for masses & some for classes”. Masses here are the average common man & the classes being the multiplex audience (never understood the term but, what the heck).

Generally I would not have agreed but, a one day at the movie theatre changed my perspective towards the notion. I was at this cinema hall with a friend for a light hearted movie (AALOO CHAT) & there were people who I believe were not enjoying projection on the screen. I agree the movie was not a great one but, with commendable performances from the cast. People in there were craving for item number (who’s to blame them, practically every release has its own version) & some skin show too. Then there was serious film (FIRAAQ) which captures the trauma faced by the group of people post riot. The film was from the view point of a certain community, when faced by the adverse situation & their reaction to it, which I believe can be the same for any society if confronted with similar circumstances. I simply loved the film & the emotional undertone that it projected. Here it was criticized by a group (some local political group) for depicting a story from the angle of the people in minority (at least in the movie). To end the day on lighter note the next film that we went for was a light hearted movie (BARAH AANA). Again a good movie with a terrific Vijay Raaz in the lead (he outshone Naseer if I may say so). But the same expectations from people, more skin show, girl dancing to villain’s tune & more of such absurd demands.

The difference here I think were the audience, not that it would have run to packed houses in the multiplexes, which can be only done by the so called superstars. But at least one cannot hear such remarks there. Movies cannot be made for a select group of people for commercial reasons of course. It’s the perspective of the movie goer that makes it audience specific.

One thing is for sure, no matter how much we evolve at the making films for world market, you simply cannot ignore the masses. They will want their share of cake & will want to eat it too.
CIAO……..

STOP WHEN IT TURNS RED

Hi,

This is me going blah blah again on a topic which I have seen on the roads of my country. This time it’s the Traffic signals that have my attention. To all of us across the world RED light @ the signals signifies to STOP, AMBER (that’s the color I believe) is I guess to slow down your pace to Zilch & GREEN is definitely GO. But here it’s the complete opposite; I mean people are literally color blind to these signals.

People here don’t respect the signal (Me being no different). It’s the chalta hai attitude that sucks big time. For instance if there are no cop patrolling the signal’s (that’s the case most of the time) it is mandatory to break the signal; not doing so is a crime. There are places where people respect the signal even at the hour not required (read 02:00 am).

Then there are the famed ZEBRA CROSSING, now usually these are meant for pedestrians to CROSS the road, but here these are meant for cars crossing them when sometime they do take a pause at the lights (with their engine running of course); not because of the big RED dot on the side road, but to prevent their pockets being cut by the bribe loving thulla’s.

Can’t we all try & respect the person who invented the three lights if not the lights.
CIAO………….

Earth H(OUR)

Hi,

This is my first one & wanted to write about a topic which I believe every one could relate to. So what better topic to begin with than the recently held “EARTH HOUR”. It was great to see so many cities participating & spreading the awareness about the climate change/global warming affecting out Planet.

Although there were in numerable print advertisements, media coverage, celebrity endorsement for the cause, there was a huge misconception about the implementation or say execution of carrying out this kind of major awareness programme; the problem being, almost everyone who did not participate thought that there will be a power cut from their respective electricity board for the said hour, which I think may be a good idea for this kind of activity & can be implemented say every week/month across the globe on a pre decided date.

Why wait for such kind of activity to take place, we can do our bit & prolong the effect of global warming, I mean there a places in Mumbai alone where people do face power cuts frequently (north Mumbai, suburbs of New Bombay) when so many parts of Bombay get electricity which is useless or not required at all, the electricity provided to the malls/advertising boards can be cut to 3/4th or to that matter even half of what they are getting now, we can ask the governing body to use every alternate street lights which are on beyond the required length of time.

It would be wonderful if everybody takes it to themselves to make a difference to save our planet. Better late than never

CIAO………