sol kadi

i meet ATUL after a long time. i always felt, meeting him is like discovering a book you own, a book even you have forgotten about, kept locked in the shelf for a long time, away from all eyes, a book you liked the most, each page of the book a memory of the college days.

he was going to his village during the GANESH festival, which was around the corner. and he asked me the same question he had been asking since college days “jaya, chal yetos ka gaavi? dhamaal karu.” it was always in my heart to visit his village, but it could not happen so far. i made sure it happened this time. i booked my tickets to KUDAL.

destination MALVAN. a small coastal town on the western coast of MAHARASHTRA. atlya (as i call him) picked me up from KUDAL station. as we traveled in the rickshaw towards malvan, i could feel the immense joy within. in the next half hour i got a chance to appreciate all the lovely things god created on this earth. i never ever think of looking at the azure sky while in bombay, or the twinkling stars at nigh. too busy to see, is it? i questioned myself. the mountains with a green shawl, the creeks playing with the fishing boats, the smiling flowers, the shy trees, the birds, i wished i had been introduced to this “paradise” earlier. still there were seven days to go, i was overwhelmed.

we reached atlya’s house at noon. i received a warm welcome from his dad, his mom and his wife. i was seeing them after a long time. his father said “just the right time to have a hearty lunch”, we all laughed. i never experiment atleast with food, i prefer and stick to vegetarian. but too my surprise i was served with four different kinds of fishes!! even though my reservation on food, i had already made my mind this time to try the local cuisine, and here was the chance! in india, they say “the taste lies in the fingers of the one who prepares the food”, very true i thought. it was the courtesy of atlya’s mom. i simply relished on the food. later in the afternoon, when we all were having a casual chat, i came to know that the house had completed 100 years of existence this year. i had a closer look at the house, it was really amazing, i have stayed in so called five star hotels, with the best interiors and best architecture, but the simplicity here was incomparable.

each day i spent was full of adventure and introduction to new things. an insight to the malvani culture, malvani cuisine and the lovely malvani people. we hired bicycles to roam in and around the village. we visited the TARKARLI beach and OZHAR on the bicycle, a wonderful ride indeed. also on the tarkali beach we saw RAPAN, a method of fishing, where one end of the net is being holded on the shore while the other is taken in the sea for some distance inside in a semi circular path, and brought back to the join the other end on the shore, the net is then pulled on the shore by a group of fishermen. once we spent half a day at SINDHUDURG fort, the boat ride included. that fort is awesome by all means and a history in itself. the ROCKY shore and CHIVLYACHI VEL(beach) was just minutes walk from his house, going there for watching the sunset was a daily affair.

i was taught to eat CRAB by atlya’s mom. it is difficult believe me, for a starter! other delicacies included GHULE (shells), MAKHLE (squid), MOHRI (small shark), KAPA, and another 7-8 varieties. i would have never imagined eating so many varieties of fishes in my whole life.

i enjoyed the ganapati AARTI sessions held at his uncle’s place. especially this aarti “jay jay jay jay jay vithoba jay panduranga”, it was fast paced and needed you to take your voice to the highest pitch. we attended the aarti sessions twice a day, till the GANESH VISARJAN. we were treated with some snacks after the aarti sessions, and my favourite was the MALVANI MISSAL! the ganapati visarjan was quite notable, it was a huge procession, the whole family and friends included in it, dancing to the tunes of the band, till we reached the shore. the night sky was lit with fire crackers of all sorts. there was a last aarti on the shores in front of the ganesh idol, after which the idol was immersed in the sea. i could see the enthusiasm among the children’s shouting loudly the slogans “GANPATI BAPPA MORAYA, PUDCHYA VARSHI LAVKAR YA!!”

after the visarjan the DHAKKA (jetty) was not as peaceful as it used to be, it was the time when all the boats/trollers on the shores rested during the rainy seasons, are dragged back into business, into the seas. we once watched a group of fishermen dragging their boat in sea, inch by inch, singing along while pulling the ropes tied to their boats. it takes days to drag one boat into the sea, since the process involves sheer men’s and their strength.

the seven days i spent in malvan were one of the best times of my life. i felt the freedom, i always search for. i felt as if i was in the lap of the beautiful nature. i felt free like a bird.

it’s almost a month past after the trip but the taste of SOL KADI is still mingling on my tongue!