Sitting together at a club, celebrating the success of our recent event AGT (ABN’s Got Talent) , we were trying to anticipate future opportunities for our celebration. We discussed ‘One day trek’ and we shot out some emails to our colleagues who could also be interested to accompany us on our adrenaline rush journey. Almost 80 people decided to join us and we were more than happy to ask them to tighten their seatbelts and take them on an exciting Rajmachi Trek.
Rajmachi Fort is one of the many historical forts in the rugged hills of Sahyadri mountains (Western Ghats). It consists of two twin fortresses Shriwardhan Ballekilla and Manaranjan Balekilla, with a wide machi (plateau) surrounding the two Balekillas. Udhewadi is a small village of about 22 houses situated on the machi, at the southern foot of Manaranjan Balekilla of Rajmachi Fort. There are two approaches to Fort Rajmachi, (a) from Kondivde or Kondhane village in Karjat and (b) from Lonavala.
We connected to Mumbai Rockers, MR Group who were responsible for planning out this event.
The day started early and it began with picking up people from various locations around Mumbai and continue for further destination.
We started with a warming breakfast. As I was a part of the organizing team (along with other colleagues) , we split our spoc team so that it would be easy to co-coordinate between the participants and us. It was our responsibility to lead the team and we did it gracefully.
I, Sandeep, Atharva, Suhal and two MR group’s member Mangesh and Atul decided to be the last on the trek so we could make sure that no one would be left behind.
We started with our trekking, and on the way stopped by the Kondane Caves to take a group picture. The massive waterfall rejuvenated us, just with its tiny small drops that fell upon us while trekking. The sun rays kissed our faces and took away all the negativity. Trekking is not only an adventure, it’s also a passion for few people.
Many of my colleagues lost their energy in just an hour and somehow they felt to quit. We as spoc, had the responsibility to make sure that we take everyone with us. We had to motivate them to complete the adventure. I know for some it was quite hard, but they had to do. Self-realization can be the biggest takeaway of this adventurous journey. It makes you acquainted with your fitness level, your capacity to push your boundaries, your physical strength and your mental power. Not giving up and going on no matter what is all you have to think about.
“The close you remain to the nature, the closer you get to yourself !”
The mind gives up first than the body. So it is very important to keep a positive mindset to achieve your journey up to the mountain. I would say, it is not only this mountain strategy but rather a life strategy.
The other highlight of this journey was a social cause. As a social worker, I always try to contribute whenever possible and this time I decided to free mother earth of the burden of the waste around her. Last time, it was the Versova beach clean drive and this time it was the turn of a beautiful mountain to breathe free. It was well-received by my colleagues and they extended a helping hand to my cleanliness drive.
Thanks to Akshay for sharing this video.
We continued and we reached the top and lunch was waiting for us. I never had such tasty food in so many days. Made on a traditional stove, the simple food satiated our hunger better than the expensive burger and pizzas.
Now thrilling part starts :
At 6pm we started to descent through a different route. This made the trek unique as our ascent and descent were entirely distinguished and this only created more curiosity for us.We were still in the forest while the sunset and the mobile lights guided our way down the mountain. The road was dark and quiet and we had no one to ask to.
Some places also witnessed landslides and this news only created fears in our mind. But this fear however only kept us going and we didn’t want to stop till we reach the destination. Some fears are good. We hoped that we were on the right track and finally managed to get down safely back.
The journey was tough but was celebrated again with great food served at the last meeting point. Many felt drained, dizzy, tired, and we were already running late by 3 hrs as per the schedule.
Success can only be felt after hard work. And this was it. We did it !
These treks are the best memories for me. Thank you, everyone, for making this trek memorable. Hope this will be cherished for a long time.