Crossing the boundaries…..

At about 6:30 a.m. Manikrao knocked on the door & me & Saish woke up suddenly. The surrounding was still cold and we were under our blankets in the staff quarters of Bhironda Forest Dept. The RFO of Bhironda Soil & Water Conservation Dept, Mr. Prakash Salelkar had agreed to use his room for a night stay for both of us. Mr. Prakash Salelkar is a dedicated forest officer and holds experience of 28 years of service to forest department. His passion and dedication to wild life and his duty separates him from rest of the forest officers. He is eco-friendly, rest are economy friendly.

The day before, we had a very nice time talking to this young lad in his late fifties. He told us several stories about the overall forest movement in Goa, how the things go on government level, the corruption etc. I may need a special blog to write about Prakash sir and his all round abilities in his duty as a ranger.

Saish passed me ‘Britannia Cream Treat’ biscuits while Manikrao, the staff in charge, served both of us with black tea. Ganesh, who was told to drop us on Bhironda bus stop by Salelkar sir, arrived at the office. We sat back his bike and marched to Bhironda stop. The morning was still cool. We reached the bus stop and caught a Kadamba bus which would drop us to Karanzol. The bus was almost empty except 2-3 passengers, conductor and off course, the driver.

My mind started running along the roads. The villages here were not as rickety as what I had expected. We crossed Khadakee, which is on the periphery on what can be called like a pseudo city. The further road was surrounded by cashew plantations from both the sides. We reached our last stop in a remote village called Karanzol where Gopal Kerkar, another staff member of Bhironda forest dept. was waiting for us to accompany us till the last spot of the trek. There is no road beyond Karanzol. The bus stopped near the temple of local deity “Devi Brahmini” which stood erect along a huge pimpal tree. An idol carved from rock is kept at the foot of the Pimpal tree. I asked Gopal, “Konachi murtee hee?” (Whose idol is this?). He nodded. Probably, he didn’t know the answer to my question. He changed the topic & askd me, “Khaisoon Eelat tumhee?” (from where have you come here?) I answered Ponda. Meanwhile, the little kids going to the primary school gathered around me & Saish. They were curiously watching the camera which was hanging from my neck. I gathered them and clicked their photo.
I held the Olympus binocular & asked one of the boys, “Baghtalai?” (do you want to see through?). He nodded & carefully took the binocular into his hands. He was fascinated when he placed them on his eyes. He passed it to every other kid present there. They were happy to see the mountains which stood tall and far from them, appeared over a walking distance. For a moment, they must have thought that the far off world has come near to them, but in reality, they lie on a far corner.

The bus started on its return journey. The base point for our trek was on a 15 minutes of walk from Karanzol. Gopal suggested us to catch the bus again so that we can reach the base point early. The bus dropped us on the base point. On the way, I spotted a peacock in the fields which ran parallel to the roads, sitting on a dry grass dump. I could not capture it from the bus. Saish said, “We missed a good shot.” I nodded. Wild life photography is all about such “missed” shots. The day before, we both missed a wild boar on our way from Shantinagar to Dhavali forest department office in Ponda. It’s a thing of fraction of second, and you miss a wild moment to capture in your camera.

The bus dropped us to the base point. Three of us started walking. Gopal was warning us about the three hours of continuous walk form the forest, but later appreciated our walking skill. ’Attitude makes it possible.’ I have experienced this several times that attitude overpowers the tiredness. We commuted a continuous walk of approx twenty kilometers (one way) with two halts to drink some water.
On our way, we spotted “Shama” and could photograph it too from a closer distance.The jungle was silent except for bird calls and the sound of flowing river “Mhadei.” After a long “attitude” walk of three hours, we reached our final point of the trek in Krishnapur. Krishnapur lies in Karnataka. We reached the temple of local deity named “Shree Pishteyshwar." Behind the temple, Mahdei flows over the rocks. This place is known as “Pishtyachee Kond.”

'Kond' refers to `kund' in Marathi which means a deep water reserve where water getssaturated. The place is undoubtedly beautiful & is worth watching hundred times.Specially, the manner in which the rocks have eroded stuns you for a moment.They look like steps carved out from giant rocks which descend down to water.

"Nobody ever fishes here, though they are plenty" Gopal adds upwhile sitting on a rock.ven swimming in this `kond' is considered to bea sin, he said. Many people flock here with their jeeps to see this place. Thereis a rough road to this place from the base point which only a jeep cansustain. After halting for half an hour near the `kond', we decided to start ourreturn journey. The return journey was bit tiring. Stomach was almost full ofhunger. Me & Saish, had only 2 cream biscuits each during the breakfast. On ourway, Gopal plucked some 4-5 cashews for us. I came across a jungle fruit called"Menkee", sweet in taste.On our way, we came across variety of species offlowers which I photographed in super macro mode. Mhadei is verymuch diverse in its flora & fauna. I could take a closer look ata chameleon stuck to the tree.Skinks vanished as soon asthey sensed our foot steps. Grey Hornbill was also spotted on thewayAfter a return journey of more twenty kilometers in three hours, I was almost sweating when I reached back to the base point. Three of ussipped a soft drink in a nearby bar. I & Saish ordered one more while Gopal refused. He said "Good Bye" to both of us and went back to his house in Karanzol. Still two hours were remaining for the last bus which would drop usback to Bhironda. It was an end of another expedition. On our way back to Bhironda in the bus; Saish asked "worth blogging?" "Worth blogging hundred times" I answered.