The monkeys at Matheran are notorious. Everyone has a monkey story - here's mine. I stepped out early in the morning, and was charmed. I love the freshness of mornings, and Matheran was exceptional. It was one of those times when I felt I simply had to share the morning withe everyone, so I went back into the room and tried to wake everyone up. Unsuccessfully. Before long, I myself had slipped back into bed. The warmth of the bed was as enticing as the cool outside. I woke up with a start. Sitting on our chair, with a packet of milk powder in its hand, was a monkey. It had pushed open the door and had taken what it saw first. As the sleeping humans slept on, it surveyed the room, wondering what else to grab. Unfortunately for it, the sleeping humans awoke and shooed it out. It bounded out casually with its milk packet. Later, I saw it in the trees. It had bitten a hole … [Read more...]

At Matheran, all we really wanted to do is get away from all the people and explore. So, the day after our visit to the market, we decided to walk to 'Nature of Panorama Point'. I, for one, could not stop smiling at the name. The moment we left the smell of people and horses behind, there was no one. Everyone wanted to go to the market, it seemed. We left them far away and walked along a mud path, breathing in freshness that seems to have disappeared from Pune. The weather was not consistently pleasant - it did get hot - but who cared? I love walking through a forest of greens. I love leaves brushing past me. I love the smell of the hills! We saw dragonflies and butterflies everywhere. Even though we were with someone who is afraid of butterflies (lepidopterophobia), we were enchanted. After over an hour of walking, we met a few people, cheerily greeted them … [Read more...]

Everyone keeps talking about Matheran. All my life, I've heard about how beautiful it is. People keep telling me that there are no cars, only horses, and that it's a breath of fresh air. This Diwali, I finally went to Matheran--and realised that everyone was right! In The Toy Train, I wrote about how the steam engine in Darjeeling was pulled off the tracks because there too many accidents. And guess what? That's what happened to the toy train at Matheran. I don't take ownership for that; I promise! The moral of the story, though, was that we drove to Matheran and then walked everywhere instead of taking the train, and it was simply lovely. The day we reached, we made our way up the narrow gauge rail track to the market area, a place bustling with life. The sun set slowly as we wandered around, watching the street light up. People say all kinds of things about night … [Read more...]