Purushottam Thakar, Giridarshan Trekking Club, Pune
Still in the euphoria of Torna Trek, not sure how to start, it’s been days I have written something. So kindly bear with me if I could not provide you the same excitement as like previous blogs.
24th June, Friday, 7.30 PM GTC HQ
“Kay re kiti?” every leader who was planning to come to Torna Trek was asking the same question and refering to register book at office and eyebrows were raising , some of the shouted, some of them just went dumb, and some could not react at all, it was mix feeling , excitement with sense of responsibility. Everybody’s mind was floating back on number of participants at Dhaki Bahiri on the new year day… That was 100….you know what? Something big was still waiting for all of us… it was Torna…Rain… The Rock patch…the logistics…all frowned and planning started….because….
Its 155...YES! Damn it!155 people were attending Torna… giant crowd…What a blockbuster start of monsoon treks….tikona ended with 70 odd of them…and now Torna …155….
“Dhink Chika Dhink Chika”, Vikas was murmuring and following steps from the famous Salman Khan song from Ready… i felt like a kid at that moment….remember anything good happened to you, or fiasco happened to others, or something big achieved or received a gift from someone, as a kid we all used to say this “Dhink Chika Dhink Chika” right? It was the same feeling….”E bhau..155…ekdam raada..Mast re…Mast”
Nevertheless, GTC has exhibited that strength in earlier treks and we were damn sure… we can do this….
So the plan was this, 2 ST Buses, one 17 sitter private bus was booked, since a gang of 16 was coming from Fatima Nagar we had to pick them up. Send as many people from 6.30 bus of Velha to the base; send 17 sitter also to velha… Send remaining till Cheladi Fata by any other bus to Bhor and then do round trips of 17 sitter bus to and fro Velha to Cheladi Fata…done deal.
26th June, Sunday, 6.00 AM Swargate
I started from home at 5.30 it was already drizzling a bit, reached swargate had the 1st cup of tea in the morning, Rajendra Mali along with his friend also joined me there….and we entered in to the bus stand near Mumbai Platform….The platform was just flourished with people…all colors….ruck sacks…3-4ths, caps, jerkins, shoes, water bottles, goggles, scarfs and what not.
Neeraj had the responsibility of collecting fees from who had not registered to the office. Sardar was as usual co-coordinating stuff. Satish Daba was on top of everything. He was still receiving calls from many people whether they can make it to the trek and he was relentlessly answering all of them. Myself, Rajendra Mali, Sachin Dhavle, Amit Govande were looking for buses.
Amit Khaladkar and Sangram Dhongade had the responsibility of 17 sitter bus and picking up the crowd from Fatima Nagar…they are on their way….
Modak, Akshay and Vikas also joined in by the time….
Good Part…..so much crowd but no chaos…everything was smooth sailing….Sardar was going to stay back at Swargate to attend the spillover of people who would not make it in time….
6.30 bus ….40-50-60-70 don’t know how many we packed inside….3-4 leaders started towards Velha…..and rest were packed in Bhor-Mandhardevi Bus which will leave us to Cheladi Fata….
All aboard and here we go….
26th June, Sunday, around 7.00 AM Cheladi Fata
We got the jeeps hired for Velha from there….again packed and stuffed with people….The Rain gave its first shot…nice weather…all to Velha…it was Raining, drizzling all along the way….
Rice paddies left, right, absolutely lush green, watery….Nature had revamped all worn and torn features….it was a picturesque… still on mind….155…rock patch…torna…
Not a bad ride…Finally at Velha….All paid…way to Torna Vihar….
26th June, Sunday, around 8.30 AM Torna Vihar
It was drizzling …. The smell of soil mixed with rain water has spread in the atmosphere and it was refreshing …..green,green.green everywhere….Torna was hiding amidst the clouds….yellow occur color of walkway was looking so rustic and beautiful….
Everybody settled in Torna Vihar… ”Garama Garam Kanda Pohe….sheng dane ghatlele….Garma Garam Chaha…..Ahhhhaaaa, Kya Baat Hai? Ajun kay pahije aayushyat….Paus..ani Torna…basss…Dhink Chika Dhink Chika”
Forms were getting distributed and filled….
It was gathering of the new trekking birds…. Hi-fi’s and cheers, shouts, chit-chat, all sound of music J
26th June, Sunday, around 9.15 AM Trek Starts
Cameras are already out, small ones, big ones, professional ones..32 GB, 64 GB...memory sticks, batteries….
Fresh and excited crowd started towards Torna…Boys, girls, kids, families, uncles, aunties, kaka’s, mama’s, yaar-dost, dada’s mix blend of everything…
Chetan Naik and his brother came cruising on his new Enfield, followed by Sanjay and Suyog, we hastily followed the crowd….by that time people had already started their enjoyment….
Our own cheerful leaders were already giving bath to everybody by sprinkling stream water on everybody….Danga-Masti…. Fresh Stream water….the little waterfall was flowing full this time….
Most of the waterfalls had started roaring already…..Torna still in Clouds…it was foggy, misty….drizzling…
Satish Dada as a habit, introduced the club and the leaders to everybody….Mandar borse at a little bit height and he roared “Go brahman pratipalaak, khshatriya kulavatns….Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jay…Akraman….”
Everybody emotionaly charged by bowing in their minds to the great king, Shivaji Maharaj and the ascent started….Vikas, Modak , Avinav, akshay, amit govande, Sangram , Sachin Dhavle, mandar borse, harshal kukarni, Pratik, Chetan Wagh, Mansi Wagh, Swati Marathe, Amit Khaladkar , Rajendra Mali, Satish Dada, Vivek Ranade, myself..Phew…..GTC Strength was here….No worries….
Somebody was going to join late so Satish Dada went back to Torna Vihar to receive them, me and khalya started ascending last as usual. It was 9.45 by then. On the back drop of Torna, Green outfield, one could see the Line of people ascending through muddy way…. All along the Hilly route... Trek started….
I could see somebody fumbled on the first 10 meters only….bad choice of footwear….floaters…no way….all slippery…”Are baapre…aaj pan dumper nyayla lagnr varti”
Somehow managed to take that participant almost pulling through the first hill. Halted and started…me and khalya went to see the dam and backwater, i think its chapet dam…what a beautiful and original site what was….
I could see some people absolutely colored in MudJ, hands, face and almost every part of body had some Mud on it….
26th June, Sunday, around 10.30 AM Varyache Pathar
“Yooooohoooooo……Are awara…ya varyala.” The usual place to stop by….Varyache Pathar…. The wind was flowing with full speed and in top gear….some megawatt electricity can be generated on this wind power for sure…. Phew! This wind is so powerful that it can make somebody fly....it can just take away somebody just like that…it was that windy….people were walking like a drunken man…nobody can walk straight here…the wind pushes you so hard…you have to hold your nerves till you reach the other end… Enjoyable yet scary….
“Khichick… Khichick…Khichick”, everybody was just snapping crazily…. Single Modeling, Multi Modeling, Group Modeling J
“Dhink-Chika Dhink-Chika”
Now something crucial waiting for all of us…the rock patch ahead….and the line of 155 people on the rock patch….
26th June, Sunday, around 11.00 AM Rock Patch
Supply Chain Management Started J(Modak can comment being SCM Expert), Leaders have taken their places already to give hand to participants to cross the rock patch…should be around 50ft. of broken route….Railings are raised for safety…but it’s still tricky being slippery….Leaders helping out participants for every step carefully…. It’s not that deadly fall through but could break your bone if you slip…so be careful and mind your step…
Some people managed it swiftly, some of them required assistance and for some of them all fatherly-motherly relations were out “mummy, papa, aai-ga etc. etc.”
The first question was being asked by every participant that crosses the rock patch “Ajun Kiti Rahilay?” hahahahaha!
All clear…. “Dhink-Chika Dhink-Chika, Atta Majja, Dhabdhaba”
We finished terribly fast considering 155 people. Everything on schedule by now.
26th June, Sunday, around 12.00 Noon Waterfall
The Waterfall was flowing ample enough….Every passerby was going to waterfall…getting the freshness from the water on their head and in body…..bottles filled with fresh water again….Danga-Masti… and Free bath for everybodyJ
All leaders were happy to see people enjoying their trek… after all that’s all we want… Happiness for all our participants and satisfaction of completing the trek…..
With all photo sessions, bath sessions…we started towards Darwaza…
Nothing could be seen in the valley, we were already in the clouds, and the valley was filled with fog….all white…..it was deep fog… nothing except the fog…
26th June, Sunday, around 1.00 Noon Mandir
Tiffin’s were already out… we could just see outline of people due to dense fog….”Ekdam Dhoosar”
Satish Dadas tiffin was the attraction of the day….”Ummmm….Mugacha Shira”….everybody go their Prasadam”, Modak had something in Plastic Bag, that was still untouched ‘coz everybody came to know very late that it was “Paav-Bhaji”, Rajendra Mali ….“Poli and Shev”, all options available….Paratha’s , Chapatis, Dahi Bhat, Khichadi, Moong Usal, Batatyachi Bhaji, Kairiche Lonche, Pohe, Maggie, Choti Idli, Chips, Chiwda, Shrikhand, Amrakhand, Bhendi etc. etc.
But the one that was kept top secret was on the side of kokan darwaza… Khalya along with other leaders was distributing “Gulab Jamoons… Oye-Hoye”
The gang visited Kokan Darwaza and Zunzar Buruz …but it was all in the clouds….nothing could be seen except fog….
It was all pleasant and amazing…..
26th June, Sunday, around 1.45 noon Descend Started
“Ab Aayega Mazaa”… Hard Rain has slashed us for 2-3 minutes….the route has become muddy and slippery…and here we go…traffic jam right from the start…. 1…2…3…4..5…10…11… Slip…slip..slip…slip….slip.. Ghasargundi….Bappa Moraya”…. The game has started…..Hard to hold your foot against the mud….slipping, falling the line has started descending….
And guess what? A gang of monkeys….making all sorts of noise… their throats were filled with small fruits … looking like little monsters and scary for a while… I had already secured one big stone in my hand in case they jump on us….one of them Jumped off on to one participant….he was carrying a plastic bag with all trash , keeping in mind that no plastic or trash on forts….has tied that bag to his belt loop….it was tied very tight…so he could not even untie it…Finally he had to stand silently… I could not hit the monkey with the stone…fearing that the gang would attack… the crowd behind was wonderstruck…amazed…and scared…..watching the monkey tearing down that plastic bag jus to discover it to be a trash and finally went away…Phew! Lucky chap! Survived of beating up by monkeys.
Traffic jam at main darwaza as well….its narrow passage and slippery and muddy by now….so hard to descend… people were carefully tapping the steps and descending….the line has started again…..through the waterfall and again “Dhink-Chika Dhink-Chika”
“Atta majja…Bhali Mothi Ghasar gundi” Again the same rock patch which we climbed now has become extremely slippery and muddy by now…. no worries we are there to help you….
26th June, Sunday, around 2.30 noon Back to Rock Patch
All traffic jammed at the start of Rock patch descend… one by one carefully….Sangram telling the first step….Chetan Second step….Mandar third step….Suyog fourth step…..lastly Khalya …. Some of them were very scared…. But all leaders helped them to come down nicely… you have no choice than sitting down and doing “Ghasargundi” if you are new….and scared of that slippery rock patch….
I managed to go through and stood on one rock just before khalya….
Meanwhile, Akshay, Amit Govande, Vikas have already managed to go down and help on the other difficult spot….Avinav, harshal are already down with the first batch….Satish Dada joined the Rock patch gang….i was traffic coordinator for upstream and downstream….modak and mali were last….
Chetan wagh helping the participants to face the rock patch start….so all set…but the flow of people going up and coming down started increasing other than our group which was delaying to finish the rock patch….it was railway crossing…. We had to give preference to those who were climbing up since they had to climb up and come down before it gets dark. We have that mountaineering spirit rather than holding them back off climbing.
With fumbling, slipping, struggling, jumping, walking all managed to get down nicely. No Injuries by far.
Through to the Varyache pathar….all started downwards since we had to catch the bus at 5.00 that’s the last bus we had ….we still have to manage logistics for others….
26th June, Sunday, around 4.30 noon in the middle
The route had become extremely slippery; it’s hard to keep tight foot …
“Damnnnn!” Khalya just passed me and attained top speed…. He could not control his speed nor he could put breaks….i was scared…’coz there was nothing in front of him to get hold of…he was going down speedily….i was watching helplessly….finally his right leg got locked and he fell terribly hard on the ground…thank god. Except bruises on palm and knees he was fine…
The last hill slide…1….2…3…4…10….”Dhoom3, 4, 5…Bappa Moraya”…. The group from Fatima nagar was enjoying a lot…. Some of them were taking a controlled slide on the mud using ruck sack and raincoats as if they are in snow….
An the stream down and mini waterfall….Everybody was having a free bath of natural shower formed by rocks and at the edge of rice paddy and water flowing over it….people under the stream ….some of the leaders were already in “Get RAW” and trying to climb that little waterfall from just below the stream. As usual I guess Vikas topped the charts.
“Ye re Ye re Pawsa, tula deto paisa, paisa zala khota, paus aala motha” and all other rain songs were running through everybody’s mind. Everybody had become a child and enjoying in their own moods.
“Garma-Garam Chay” It was a must after the showers J, One room was arranged to change the clothes… It’s so comfortable feeling when we changed to dry clothes back….although tip for the next trek…carry a separate pair of floaters or chappals or slippers, ‘coz even if you have dry pair of socks your shoes are not dry…it becomes pathetic to put your dry feet inside wet shoes once again…..
26th June, Sunday, around 5.30PM Return Journey
First batch of 57 has already started towards Pune…the gang from Fatima Nagar has their bus ready….and remaining as decided started back to Cheladi Fata…we waited for buses which would take us to Pune back but no luck…finally Dhavale and Harshal decided to arrange Jeeps to Katraj Bus Stand and then we all would travel to swargate using BRT. It was A/C Bus at Katraj BRT Stand waiting for us….The entire bus was ours….nice to see development in transportation services….nice clean A/C buses what else you want to end your trek…..
26th June, Sunday, around 9.00 PM Swargat
I formally announced the end of the trek, numbers exchanged, handshakes exchanged, promising each other to see for the next trek and keep trekking always….
Myself, Modak, Mali, Harshal, Vikas had bye-bye tea at the stand... looking forward to Dukes Nose and betting the numbers….I believe with this response to torna…we are going to touch 500 participants at Dukes trek….
Signing off from a memorable and Rampat monsoon trek…..Dhink Chika Dhink Chika!
