From a week, I seem to moving into a month..between posts... You might call it laziness, lack of time management, drive to write or whatever.. . I don't intend to give any justifications fr not writing....

The interesting addition to my life after having moved to Belapur.. apart from cycling i.e is getting back to the ROCKS..... something I resisted for long..but couldn't hold on to any longer.... Self control.. phew.. Now what on earth is that supposed to mean.. I have tried it ample times.. It has been a lost cause.. So why bother..Might as well make the most of the time spent @ Belapur..climbing apart from studying.. If this news were to find its way home, I can expect my mom giving me company out here.... Anyways, let me leave it @ that.. The fact is ... most of my climbing mates have shifted base fr their wknd passion from Borivili ( SGNP) to Belapur Hills...
Speaking of Belapur Hills, kindly read this article ....
http://www.newbombayplus.com/fullStory.asp?articleID=NBP1ART0372006

Woke up today mrng..with the hangover of an impending exam .... distorting my dreams... to find the sky sparkling bright @ 4.30am.. It couldn't have been the cash starved MSEB, going on overdrive to brighten up the dawn of a new day... The thunder that followed lifted my spirits.... fr soon; the first drops of the same liquid that had swept Mumbai of its feet in the deluge of 26th July started sprinkling the balcony & the courtyard.... This was immediately followed by the sweet fragrance of earth scented from heaven.. ..( ah a..Now i seem to be getting nostalgic...)

Well... let me tell u it was the best stress reliever.... when issues like Capital Budgeting, Cost of Capital have tormented u over the previous night... in tandem with the mossies...

Staring @ the overcast sky with a garam chai in hand.... blindly admiring the lightning razzmatazz & egging for the big thunder to bring in the downpour.. ..( I need to confess.. The motive out here was to get the rains be reason enough to postpone my exams.. Come on .. Who would want to sit & exercise the forearms, scribbling on a piece of paper; when the weather was so inviting....!!)
I am sure, by now..u would have empathised with my plight & shared my state of mind...

My place @ Belapur, has the luxury being infested with sparrows who make a fly past through my room, given the slightest opportunity.. Now that I have been feeding them Bajra .. has made these plumpy sparrows demanding fr more..

With day break, I could see the pigeons & the sparrows roaming along the footpath... as if playing a game of "cutting the cake".... The place was steaming with life.. Didn't realise, 2 hrs had gone by, while the chai & me was engrossed in this delightful spectacle.... With energy levels high, rushed to the college in a pair of shorts.... ( dress code exists only in the prospectus... who said.. to get gyan; one has to get enclosed in a cocoon....hmm Man, Society & its crazy ... idea...are just meant to make u a slave of screwed up ideologies... those who don't agree, kindly read the book FREEDOM by Jiddu aka J .Krishnamurthi...might help open up u'r shrunk heads..)

But, anyways, why am I diverting from the topic.. ( must be my excited state of mind..with songs from Rang De Basanti.. blasting in the bkgrnd).. The exam went of much better than I had expected.... took a light nap later & then convinced my frnd to accompany me fr a cycling trip.. This was along a new climbing route... a beautifull uphill road; which takes u along the Belapur-Khargar Hills right to the top of Pandav Khada.... Had done 3/4th of the route earlier, on a hot sunny afternoon... & had got roasted.. But was equally excited @ the thought of doing it , when the weather was as good as it was today... Breeze, drizzle & the charged up environment.. Need u ask for a better invitation to cycle.. After a good grub & chai @ my favourite chai shop, pushed off to the hills..

It is a steady uphill; which keep tempting u to move up a gear @ every turn.. Since I didn't have a gear; was more keen on working out my legs which had undergone some stressful workout @ the gym; a day earlier. Well, honestly..geared cycles are a pleasure to ride..especially when u r doing long distance..But for such power cycling workouts, gearless is the way to go about...Else, might as well push pedals on flat grnd.. I know, some of u might not share my logic.. Don't bother... !! Now that u have read so far, might as well take the trouble to reach the end...

The route, does provide a great overhead view of Belapur-Khargar-Panvel, the Hill Range of Matheran starting from Haji Malang, Karnala, with the creek snaking its way along.... resisting the rampant reclamation that threatens its very existence..... The new road, bridge connecting Belapur to Uran & an assortment of man made & natural sentinels enthral you.. until a bunch of brash / generation next dikros & dikris create a rumpus as they buzz through in their cars & bikes... Well, there are no issues with that, as long as they avoid littering the place with plastic & other eyesores... Which made my frnd comment.. Human being take enormous effort to blast a way through these hills; only to find others like them putting in greater pains to turn the clock back in time... But still, things are not as bad as SGNP....

There is small village @ the top by the name.... PhanasWadi.. a small hamlet .. who, thanks to the new road have to endure the blaring of the hifi car audio spkrs .....

Finally, was time to descend back to civilisation.... & have some hot chai & kanda bhajji...
Now wasn't that a bright way to end .. what was a wonderful trip...

In the 3 months @ Blpr, I seem to have experienced Winter, Summer & Monsoons.....I just hope, the heat doesn’t come back to haunt us with a vengeance....

Untill, if the weather holds.. Its time to pedal push towards Rajmachi via Lonavala....