GANPATIPULE-THE UNLIMITED FUN

• THE MESSAGE:

Its December end and I received my classes’ message regarding the annual picnic. NANDAS ENGINEERING CLASSES located in MULUND WEST organizes a fun trip each year so that the students are who are exhausted studying during the sems feel relaxed and are ready to start the new semester with a great amount of enthusiasm. Their only motive is maximum students should join and enjoy the trip! Therefore this trip cost was reduced to 1000 from 1800 rs. It was a 2 days 2 night trip to Ganpatipule.

• MAKING UP MIND TO GO:

I had already visited this place the previous year with my cousin and her friend. But I had an experience of classes’ picnic too and the fun we have. So I decided to go on the trip again. I was feeling a bit dicey to go because none of my friends were joining me. Then I received a text from my seniors in classes that their entire group is going and I could join them. I agreed upon readily.

• BRIEFING ABOUT TRIP:

We all gathered in our classes on the picnic day. Most of the people were strangers to me and knew only a few out of them. The rules that were to be followed were explained by sir. Then we did the cake cutting with everyone crammed into the class and our jokes were started already. We went downstairs and booked our bus out of two. After a small puja, we took our seats and started our journey at 1.00 am.

• ENTERTAINMENT JUST BEGAN:

Now it was time to start our games for the overnight journey on the bus. We started with ANTAKSHARI followed by various versions of it including rapid fire and singing songs of actors, movies, singers etc. Then we switched to DUMSHARAAS. After that sir asked randomly anyone to come and perform. We all were enjoying each other’s performances and cheering them.

• FIRST BREAK:

At around 3.20 we took our first break. It was cold outside and we could see vapors coming out of our mouth while speaking. We had some tea and snacks and then continued our journey. Full of energy we continued with our games too. When we were trying to sleep at around 5.00 am in morning but sir wasn't letting us sleep and then sir himself asked us to sleep because we needed to preserve our energy for the next day. But at that time we weren't letting sir sleep.

• GOOD MORNING KONKAN:

Eventually, we didn't even realize when we'll fell asleep. My eyes opened to see our bus completely surrounded by fog. It was freaking cold. I had my gloves, monkey cap and sweater on yet could feel the chill. Sunayana then informed that she was awake the entire night. I woke at around 7.00 and yet everyone one was in a sound sleep. I went ahead in the bus to shoot for my vlog. In spite of being on a ghat, the driver was racing and over taking other vehicles on road. The turns were quite sharp and we were being thrown on sides. Slowly everyone woke up. We had some beautiful songs being played in the early morning.

• SECOND BREAK:

In some time we took our second break. It was hotel in Chiplun. We had morning tea and biscuits. Suchita and few others were experiencing nausea and vomiting due to the ghats. Still it was a 2 hours journey to go.

• REACHED HOTEL FINALLY:

We reached our destination finally. We had an entire floor booked for us. We formed groups and took keys to our rooms. We had to quickly brush and come down to have our breakfast. It was hot idlis with chutney and sambar.

• GANPATIPULE TEMPLE:

Then we went to have bath. We quickly got ready and assembled for going to the ganpatipule temple. But before that it was photoshoot time. Luckily there wasn't much crowd. So our darshan didn't take much time. Mahesh Sir was fooling girls with his lame jokes. We sat for a while inside the temple and then took a few snaps outside the temple. We returned to our hotel which was at 5 min walking distance from the temple.

• LUNCH TIME:

We changed for the beach and went to a nearby hotel for lunch. It was a complete MAHARASHTRIAN THALI. The food was simple yet so fulfilling. The gulabjamuns were tastiest. We were now full of energy to enjoy at beach. All were set for clicking their amazing portrait shots. I was ready for our photography contest which is held every year.  Sir had already created a hype regarding my past win so it was time to raise the bar.

• SUNSET AT BEACH:

Krishna mam had also brought a DSLR but forgot to carry its charger. Hence we had limited battery to shoot. After that, I was using my phone's camera for photography. Some shots turned out really well. We were trying the same old poses like jumping, etc. And also some new ones like the infinity symbol as suggested by Rakshanda. Some other guys and sirs were busy playing rugby, cricket, throw ball, etc. I was busy capturing the sunset. Then I joined others who had gone in the water. The sand fight was on. We also played CHAIN CHAIN. Then simply laid back in the clean water enjoying the sunset. It was so peaceful and relaxing there.

At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun.      

                                                                                                    -Sandy Gingras

• BACK FROM BEACH:

We came back to where we had kept our shoes after we heard a siren and now it was getting seriously cold. We were all wet. I was praying that we would have hot water in our hotel because it was using solar power. We all cleaned up at the entrance of hotel and went to our rooms. We asked everyone to wrap up with their bath soon as everyone was shivering. We used to order a new soap for each bath. Shockingly there was amazing hot water running through the taps. We changed and got ready for our dinner.

• TASTY DINNER:

There was a huge line already at the counter. So we went to play table tennis and carom. We checked if the girls were ready. But as always they still needed some more time. Rajendra and I decided to sit for dinner because we were really hungry. The dinner was so tasty and better than our lunch. It included all of my favorite items- Manchow soup, schezwan rice, aalo jeera, Paneer masala, naan, roti, bata bhajis, papad, dal rice, and last but not the least aamras. We had a satisfying dinner. The girls still didn't show up. They came after everyone was almost done. Rajendra and I went to search for the charger of DSLR batteries in local shops. Unfortunately it was not available.

• GAMES AT NIGHT:

After the dinner Sir had planned games between bus A and bus B. It was a cold drinks game. We started with DOG AND THE BONE followed by the GUNFIRE. Sirs had specially purchased new fun games for this trip. During the games the videos that we were shooting helped us as a third umpire in game because cheating was obvious in the games. We had so much fun playing these simple games because sir had added twist in the rules. Also we were enjoying amongst ourselves. We were shouting, screaming and yelling really badly. The other families were getting disturbed because of us. We wrapped up with our games with score of one all.

• THE NIGHT WALK:

Now it was time for bonfire. But unfortunately it got scraped and everyone was asked to go to rooms and play whatever they wanted silently. Swapnil sir and we were still down. We decided to go for a walk. On our return from walk the dogs accompanied us scaring the girls. We returned to the hotel and sat for a while in the garden. We were chatting discussing untold secrets of life and thinking of various games to play at night. We went upstairs at 12.00 when they were closing the main entrance of hotel.

• TIMEPASS IN ROOMS:

We all went to our room and turned on the dim lights as Rajendra was sleeping. Then we were going to have some performance but before it could start it ended as Mayur sir asked everyone to return to their respective rooms. But still there was the game of uno on in other room. So we went to girls room and played ludo and some other games. Discussed some horror stories post which Sunayana was really scared. Then the girls were feeling sleepy so we went to our rooms. I didn't want to sleep early so i thought of joining uno. I went to other room where Hemkrishna sir, Mahesh sir, Suchita and Rakshanda were chatting. I sat there for a while and then we decided to go our respective rooms to sleep finally.

• SLEEPLING FINALLY:

My room was kept open for me. But when I entered I noticed Raju bhai sleeping on my bed and an extra person in our room. I didn't want to disturb anyone who was in sound sleep as it was already 2.30 am so decided to take the space between two joined beds. My pillow was also taken. I fell asleep within minutes and nothing mattered anymore.

• WAKEUP CALL:

We were supposed to meet up at 6.00 am for going to the beach. But we woke up at 6.30. Many were still sleeping in their rooms. So sir and us took mugs of water to splash on their faces and wake them up. So now everyone was playing holi- throwing water on each other. Soon we got ready and changed for the games at beach. Everyone was already falling short of clothes as we didn't know how many beach wares we needed as we were visiting beach multiple times.

• THE MORNING WALK:

By the time everyone was getting ready I decided to go for a quick walk near the hotel I had stayed during my last trip here. I ventured out for some bird watching.  There were mangroves, open fields and beautiful birds. But unfortunately they were difficult to capture in phone camera. After many clicks I decided to return back to the hotel. Everyone had left for the beach with only few of us remaining.

• MORNING SPORTS  AT BEACH:

When we entered the beach already everyone was busy playing different sports. Main game was of cricket as usual. But I decided to join rugby as it had been a long time since I had played that game. The rules here were mixed of contact and touch rugby. I truly started enjoying playing. Swapnil sir also joined us. We were falling badly in sand. The sand was over us and in our mouth, ears everywhere indeed. Once when I had the ball in my hand and almost 8-9 people were over me. Shruti was giving a tough fight to the boys too. Last game was epic which was won by us. The other kids on the beach were watching our match in amusement. I think they had never seen a rugby match before. Then I went to build a sand castle with Rakshanda. It was left incomplete as we had to return to hotel for breakfast. Suchita broke our castle. Then we took some group pics and left. Mayur sir was driving us away when we were stopping for pics in between road as were getting late for breakfast.

• BREAKFAST:

We went to the hotel and had our morning breakfast 10.00 am. It was a complete breakfast with KANDEPOHE, UTAPPAM, SAMBAR AND CHUTNEY AND BREAD BUTTER. We were asked to have heavy breakfast as we would wait for lunch late. After breakfast we quickly went to our rooms to have a bath and change for the second visit to Ganpatipule temple.

• SECOND VISIT AT TEMPLE:

First we paid our tribute at the temple. There was a huge line this time. So we all decided to play games. We divided ourselves in group of two and played another version of DUMSHARAAS. The line was moving forward and we were busy with our game so there were falling big gaps in between. Other people were getting annoyed because of it. After our darshan we decided to go for the 1 km PRADKASHINA around the mountain behind the temple.After completing it we again walked back to hotel to check out and start our return journey back to Mumbai.

• RETURN JOURNEY:

We started our journey at around 2:45 pm. Then in a few time our games started. This time it was passing the parcel with punishments as performance. Everyone was sporty enough to complete the punishment. We had laavni, yoga, ramp walk, singing, belly dance, etc.

After few hours we took a stop for lunch at a hotel. But unfortunately the cook wasn't available in that hotel. So we returned back to buses. I had got down to refill my bottle. When I came to the bus it had just started. I was being left behind. So I quickly ran behind the bus and few students noticed me from the window and stopped the bus. Sir had arranged some snacks (hot samosas) for us in the bus. Also we shared the snacks which we had brought from home. Sunayna had specially brought a lot of stuff to share.

• GAMES IN BUS:

We also took SPEAKOUT-an interesting and new game from Mayur sir. It was really fun playing that game. Shruti played the longest. Then we switched to the game called-the fish market. Ranvijay was made a target in this game. Then after a long time we took break for dinner at Hotel Udipi at around 8.00 pm.

• SHOOTING FUNNY VIDEOS:

While everyone was having dinner we guys and sirs were shooting some funny videos. After that we sat for dinner. We had DAL KHICHDI WITH RAITA AND PANEER MATTAR AND NAAN.  Suchita took many lemon slices for preventing a pukish feeling. 

• DANCE AND SONGS:

We got back in our buses and started with our return journey. Now it was time for dance face off. Then we all shook a leg to some songs. After dancing to quite a lot songs we all finally sat in our seats. Now we started singing random beautiful songs. We continued singing till we reached back to Mulund.

• BACK TO MUMBAI:

It was  1.15pm. The last train towards CSMT had already left. I was figuring a way to go back to home. Sir asked us to check out OLA. There was three of who wanted to go in the same direction. Luckily we got an OLA cab back home at rs 70 per head. It was a quick and comfortable journey back home.

• NANDAS PICNIC EXPERIENCE-

Every year we guys are eagerly waiting to receive the classes’ picnic message after our exams. Hoping that it is fantastic location and the dates are well suited for us. We don't doubt whether we’ll enjoy or not in the trip because the experience of one trip is enough to make up your mind to join each year. Right from start to end there's no moment of feeling bored or lonely. We start our journey with a few friends but end up making so many. The games and sports we play gel us together well. We laugh our hearts out and completely relax in the entire journey. The sirs are in a different AVATAR. The trip starts and ends with equal enthusiasm. We literally feel like not returning back from the trip. This trip freshens us and we are ready to start the our new sem with entire dedication.

• GANPATIPULE EXPERIENCE-

Konkan is indeed a beautiful place in itself. It is a region famous for its Heritage, Art, Culture, Lush Green Hills & Pristine Beaches. Its beauty lies in its beaches which have crystal clear water and white sand. Visiting in the winter months, one can notice the amazing marine life. The GANPATIPULE TEMPLE stands tall right on the shore of the beach. Its said whatever you wish at this temple is fulfilled. You can also visit many small attractions to visit nearby like prachin konkan museum, wax museum, magic garden, etc. The locals are found selling AMBAPOLI, FANASVADI, CASHEWS, KOKAMS, SYRUPS, LADOOS, etc. Also there are various toys and articrafts for sale. Instead of traveling straight to Goa to experience the exotic beaches one can explore the Marvelous Konkan.

• ABOUT GANPATIPULE:

The Ganesha temple in Ganpatipule is unique because it is one of the few temples in the country in which the presiding deity faces west. The 400- year-old temple is one of the prime tourist attractions of the town.The Ganesha-shaped hill behind the temple also attracts a lot of devotees who circumambulate it. The top of the hill itself offers panoramic views of the beach up to Kotwade, Malgund, Varawade and Tivari port.Ganpatipule’s beach is another attraction of the town and has one of the few white sand beaches in Maharashtra.

• STAY AT 

GANPATIPULE:

Ganpatipule has hotels for all budgets but the facilities offered by most hotels is ordinary. The state-run MTDC holiday resort near the beach is highly recommended.

• WHAT TO EAT:

Ganpatipule is known for its delicious food served by the locals and at restaurants. MTDC restaurants and Tarang serve scrumptious meals. Fish curry, Kokam curry, Modak, Alphonso mangoes and Sabudana khichdi are few of the special food items of Ganpatipule. Ambapoli (thin pancakes made of mango pulp) and phanaspoli (thin pancakes of crushed jackfruit pulp) are must haves during a visit to the beach town.

• BEST TIME TO VISIT:

OCTOBER-FEBRUARY

Memories of journeys never leave the mind. The most beautiful ones keep replaying, leaving one yearning for a trip like that, again. Such was our beautiful journey.