Magic Moments - A memorable trip to Alibag
07 Oct 2007
Abhay, Jay, Tushar, Jomesh, Kalam, Paro(sex - male), Ankit, Peji, Romel
07 Oct 2007
Abhay, Jay, Tushar, Jomesh, Kalam, Paro(sex - male), Ankit, Peji, Romel
At the age of 45, when you get together with old friends on a weekend, in your drawing room, you will recall some specific moments of your life. You will gasp to go back in time and live those moments again. Such moments are called 'Magic Moments'. [Of course, no disrespect towards our first love - Magic Moments is also a liquor brand.] On the 7th of October 2007, the 9 of us, friends since school, 'lived' such magic moments and there is no way to express what we experienced. Yet, here's an attempt.
4.30 a.m. in the morning, we all assemble at the KPCC headquarters, which is strategically located under the balcony of Jomesh's house. [Honestly, this place has earned itself the honour of being KPCC headquarters by hosting numerous 'magic moments' in each of our lives. It deserves an exclusive article on it and I promise to work on it in the future]. Our throats are sore because of unfinished sleep and hence our abuse for the person who insisted on starting this early sounds all the more harsh and genuine. Thirteen people had confirmed their availability the previous night; but as the moon traversed from over the head to in front of the eye, making way for the sun, 4 of them backed out. One of them was going to get his car and hence we are one vehicle short now. Jay rescues us dramatically from the situation - "I can get my car".
All geared up, letting our hair loose, dumping all the traveling paraphernalia in the dickey of the two cars, and chanting 'Ganpati Bappa Morya', we start at around 5.30 a.m. (only an hour and a half late) evenly distributing load in Romel's Omni and Jay's Indica. We are all just trying to settle and suddenly Jay's car stops. All those in Jay's car want to contemplate on the possibility of changing the destination. After a ten minute long brain storming discussion, putting a lot of facts about several other destinations into perspective, complex time-distance-speed-velocity-and-acceleration calcuations and lighting the cigar which Tushar had brought for us from New York (yes, the one in US and not the store in Pimpri), we come to the conclusion - we should not change the destination. It comes as no surprise because five of us are IT professionals and are used to storming our brains over serious issues only to find that the issue is not so serious and there is no point in storming the brain. Back in the cabs and back on the road.
As the sun bestows its first rays on us, the surroundings become picturesque and we have to stop for clicking. Abhay and Tushar flaunt their sophisticated cameras, which appear to have nothing less than divine powers, and Ankit hides his modest camera in his bag realizing that it would appear like an M-80 amongst Ducatis. A few clicks and we are back on the route. We enter Alibag village and the surroundings start to impress us immediately - yes, there are more and more beer shops around. Finally, we reach the Nagaon beach and begin a game of volley ball. Jay joins us a little late as he has to address some critical issues. He is helped by Paro - only for filling him a bottle of sea water (Fortunately, Jay takes care of the rest by himself). The three volley ball games turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. Abhay gets the ball bang on target every time, but in another court, Tushar keeps hitting the ball so hard that if it is not for its light weight, it might well cross the sea, Jomesh and Peji lead the cheating from their side with occasional intervention from Abhay, and Romel and Jay lead the cheating from the other side with Ankit to their support, trying to convince the other team to believe him as he was 'paanch waqt ka namaazi aadmi'. I have never been involved in a better volley ball game in my entire career of... 5 games. Anyway...
Three games suck all the energy out of us and we want to gulp something. We order tens of bhurji-pav, Omlet-pav, Pohe and then tea. Everybody finishes their breakfast and is burping and Ankit is still waiting for his Pohe. He doesn’t deny that the thought of giving away vegetarianism crossed his mind. Finally, to the relief of Ankit (and a few others, who were just supposed to be onlookers), Pohe arrive. [Kalam is still feasting on a pav with tea.] Having restored energy, we move to the beach again, this time with the cricket bat and ball. Experts lay down the rules, teams are created, boundaries are marked and the match begins. Once again, no matter how much one tries to keep track of the score, after every alternate ball there is a fight. It is all OK until Jomesh and Romel get into a virtually real fight, pouncing over each other. Ankit, whose both thighs combined would barely makeup for one bicep of these individuals, tries to intervene. No wonder he gets thrown a few metres away. The quarrel turns so fierce that a passer-by tries to pacify both of them. That is when they declare that it is Ok and they are not serious. Phew! sighs Ankit. The game is over and we are all exhausted.
A refreshing hour in the sea waters, then a shower and then beer and food. All of us are dead tired. Nobody wants to move an inch but it is about time we begin the return journey. Making ourselves comfortable in the cabs, we start towards Pune. We are back at Chafekar chowk at around 9 p.m. Least bothered about the expense, contribution etc., we bid each other adieu and disperse.
That marks the end of a memorable trip, which each one of us will cherish for the rest of his life. We don't know where each one of us is heading in life and may be time will part our ways soon, but at least we have moments to reminisce and get all nostalgic about.
-Ankit
Elite member, KPCC.
4.30 a.m. in the morning, we all assemble at the KPCC headquarters, which is strategically located under the balcony of Jomesh's house. [Honestly, this place has earned itself the honour of being KPCC headquarters by hosting numerous 'magic moments' in each of our lives. It deserves an exclusive article on it and I promise to work on it in the future]. Our throats are sore because of unfinished sleep and hence our abuse for the person who insisted on starting this early sounds all the more harsh and genuine. Thirteen people had confirmed their availability the previous night; but as the moon traversed from over the head to in front of the eye, making way for the sun, 4 of them backed out. One of them was going to get his car and hence we are one vehicle short now. Jay rescues us dramatically from the situation - "I can get my car".
All geared up, letting our hair loose, dumping all the traveling paraphernalia in the dickey of the two cars, and chanting 'Ganpati Bappa Morya', we start at around 5.30 a.m. (only an hour and a half late) evenly distributing load in Romel's Omni and Jay's Indica. We are all just trying to settle and suddenly Jay's car stops. All those in Jay's car want to contemplate on the possibility of changing the destination. After a ten minute long brain storming discussion, putting a lot of facts about several other destinations into perspective, complex time-distance-speed-velocity-and-acceleration calcuations and lighting the cigar which Tushar had brought for us from New York (yes, the one in US and not the store in Pimpri), we come to the conclusion - we should not change the destination. It comes as no surprise because five of us are IT professionals and are used to storming our brains over serious issues only to find that the issue is not so serious and there is no point in storming the brain. Back in the cabs and back on the road.
As the sun bestows its first rays on us, the surroundings become picturesque and we have to stop for clicking. Abhay and Tushar flaunt their sophisticated cameras, which appear to have nothing less than divine powers, and Ankit hides his modest camera in his bag realizing that it would appear like an M-80 amongst Ducatis. A few clicks and we are back on the route. We enter Alibag village and the surroundings start to impress us immediately - yes, there are more and more beer shops around. Finally, we reach the Nagaon beach and begin a game of volley ball. Jay joins us a little late as he has to address some critical issues. He is helped by Paro - only for filling him a bottle of sea water (Fortunately, Jay takes care of the rest by himself). The three volley ball games turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. Abhay gets the ball bang on target every time, but in another court, Tushar keeps hitting the ball so hard that if it is not for its light weight, it might well cross the sea, Jomesh and Peji lead the cheating from their side with occasional intervention from Abhay, and Romel and Jay lead the cheating from the other side with Ankit to their support, trying to convince the other team to believe him as he was 'paanch waqt ka namaazi aadmi'. I have never been involved in a better volley ball game in my entire career of... 5 games. Anyway...
Three games suck all the energy out of us and we want to gulp something. We order tens of bhurji-pav, Omlet-pav, Pohe and then tea. Everybody finishes their breakfast and is burping and Ankit is still waiting for his Pohe. He doesn’t deny that the thought of giving away vegetarianism crossed his mind. Finally, to the relief of Ankit (and a few others, who were just supposed to be onlookers), Pohe arrive. [Kalam is still feasting on a pav with tea.] Having restored energy, we move to the beach again, this time with the cricket bat and ball. Experts lay down the rules, teams are created, boundaries are marked and the match begins. Once again, no matter how much one tries to keep track of the score, after every alternate ball there is a fight. It is all OK until Jomesh and Romel get into a virtually real fight, pouncing over each other. Ankit, whose both thighs combined would barely makeup for one bicep of these individuals, tries to intervene. No wonder he gets thrown a few metres away. The quarrel turns so fierce that a passer-by tries to pacify both of them. That is when they declare that it is Ok and they are not serious. Phew! sighs Ankit. The game is over and we are all exhausted.
A refreshing hour in the sea waters, then a shower and then beer and food. All of us are dead tired. Nobody wants to move an inch but it is about time we begin the return journey. Making ourselves comfortable in the cabs, we start towards Pune. We are back at Chafekar chowk at around 9 p.m. Least bothered about the expense, contribution etc., we bid each other adieu and disperse.
That marks the end of a memorable trip, which each one of us will cherish for the rest of his life. We don't know where each one of us is heading in life and may be time will part our ways soon, but at least we have moments to reminisce and get all nostalgic about.
-Ankit
Elite member, KPCC.
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