The Trek to Ratangad

The last trek I went for was Rajgad in January 2006. Difficult and happy times followed, and circumstance forced me to miss any trek I wished to attend. But eleven months and a hasty packing later, I found my self heading towards the Ratangad fort in Maharashtra with Trek’di. This trek was supposed to happen on the 2nd and 3rd of December, but I would not have been able to make it in that case since I wasn’t even in Pune. But with a little help from the little rioting here, the trek got postponed a little… as if, just for me!

So, when at six in the morning on Saturday, I reached the Fergusson college main gate, I was pretty excited and raring to go. Meeting Deepak uncle and Harshad after a long time, and Pinakin after a few hours was also good. At least I knew someone on the trek… at the breakfast halt on the highway, I met a few relatives. Small world! And I was still excited as I told them about the trek. But 4 hours henceforth, at the foothill of the fort, and just about 10 minutes into the climb, I wondered what I was doing there... Like all of my friends and classmates, I could be relaxing after a good meal in front of my computer or working for my presentation at home that very instant … But it was not to be. I was awoken by reality and the huge climb in front of me, to the realization that the spirit of adventure had got me here, to where I was then, there was no looking back.
And then came, the first break…
One third of the way covered, and still, no sign of the taxing climb. It’s like a good movie, the tempo slowly builds up… By now, the destination in was in sight, it was a beautifully grand sight: WOW! We have to climb so much!! And we were on our way again. With a few trekkers ahead, and a few behind, I was obviously in the middle. Some passed me, forging their way ahead, and I passed some forging mine, without overly taxing myself too much. Carrying my self load and the imposed load of the backpack can be taxing in itself, considering the fact that I’m not exactly the lightest person you will come across… But with the help of some borrowed glucose water, and immense will power, I continued… The climb was not exactly easy, but I was not going to give up. I knew that I could do it, and gradually, as I ascended beyond the trees and looked up, I saw that I was just about 3o meters away from THE cave… which we will call home for the night. That sight gave me the extra burst of energy to get there. And a steel ladder and rocky steps climb later, I was finally on top… well, not really, THE top, but that was out destination for the evening.
Modifying an old and popular statement to suit the mood and situation we may conclude that: It’s funny how when you are with your lover, a whole day seems like two and a half hours, but a two and a half hour climb on a mountain seems like a whole day… sheer exaggeration, or the profound truth? Call it what you like, but it was nothing like that for me. Two and a half hours felt exactly like the two and a half hours. Ask my legs…
So we were where we were expected to be, in the evening, hungry and thirsty but thrilled and happy!
Somebody sent me an sms a few days ago which said : If every thing is easily coming your way, then obviously, you are in the wrong lane on the wrong side of the highway!
Yes, it holds true. Since we had almost no problems reaching the cave, we had a problem after reaching there. Yes! It’s true that the area crunch is not only felt in the urban areas of the country, but also these rural areas and uninhabited forts! And especially on weekends and holidays, when a lot of like minded people from nearby urban areas like Mumbai and Pune and once in a blue moon – Hyderabad, flock to. And the little cave of an area of roughly 1000 sq ft is not sufficient to hold the temporary weekend migration of humans. And the space crunch is felt. So, a few trekkers from our group and a few other groups had, quiet literally, no roof over their head! Not that a roof over the head mattered much. It was just as cold. There was a stiff, cold wind blowing! Lighting a campfire was close to impossible, unless one had a small portable stove is one corner of the cave surrounded by people, blocking the wind. That’s what we had, and that’s how I could describe it so well. So one beautiful sunset and dinner later, we were in our sleeping bags, the air getting colder all the time. And as we got to know each other, conversations were inevitable, and there was quiet a noise in the cave! It was the earliest I had slept in a few months! 9:30 PM is not the time to sleep, but I could not have stayed awake for longer!
And so, after a near perfect sleep, I Awoke at 4 AM to realize that my ancient, but faithful sleeping bad got torn from the side at the top (I wonder how it happened) and finally, it was time to get a new one. But that was not possible at that very instant. So, I packed it up and waited for the sun to rise. We could see it from the cave itself. “Watch sunrise from bed” - A catchy line for a holiday resort to lure in tourists! But this was one grand holiday resort, and a grand daybreak! And it was time to get water for tea! So, we climbed a little more towards the small water source with the bone chilling verity that some one would have to dip their hands in the freezing water to get some in the bottles! Fortunately it was Mihir and not me…

So, after a nice hot tea we were finally ready to go on THE top! And we did… we saw the entire fort, in fact took a circumambulatory, of the fort to look at all the major (and still surviving) points of the fort of the Maratha kingdom! How grand it must have been then! We can only wonder. And the view of the hazy Konkan planes from the other side was just breath taking! The needle hole which was see from the bottom of the gad, the Konkan darwaza the water reservoir system … every thing was so impressive! The sheer descend from the Konkan Darwaza was just unbelievable, and when the Harshad told us that he had climbed down here, I felt like doing it myself… someday, maybe I will too! And once we were back to the base: the CAVE, we were greeted with the aroma of hot and delicious pohe made by Mihir and Pinakin, and were devoured by the hungry group! So, after some time amidst monkeys in the sun this monkey (a.k.a. myself) packed up to descent this magnificent fort, as did everyone else.

As we find similarities in population densities in urban cities and the Ratangad fort, there are traffic similarities too! The last bit of climb to the doorway and the metal ladder of the gad is extremely narrow… just about enough for one person a time. So, as you can imagine a roadblock due to a six lane highway converging into a single lane one, imagine a group going up and the other coming down, at the same time on this particular patch! But through mutual understanding and an unofficial pact, we managed to get everyone down the ladder within an hour. And more groups were making their way up… And we started our climb down. It was good. I was again in the middle of the group, with a few behind me, and a few ahead of me. Some passed me forging their way ahead, and I passed some forging mine. And at one point I found myself alone… I couldn’t even hear anyone… and that was the point where I knew I had got lost. So, I followed my instincts, and the small stream till where I found a few young girls from the village, who directed me towards to the right path. So, after a while, here I was, with a little blister on my foot because of my HUGE shoe and no damage otherwise, at the point where we started climbing almost a day ago.
After a refreshing foot wash in the cool water of the kund, really sweet nimbu pani, and some khichidi, we were all ready to mount again… not any mountain, but the bus, the same one which got us there. And then everyone slept. After the sleep, it was the sugarcane carried by the bullock carts which grabbed attention and we got some to eat in the bus. Everyone was hungry and so, we stopped at the same food place where we had had breakfast the previous day. It is said that on the titanic, if you were a women and on the first class, you had a hundered percent chance to be on a lifeboat. That is the kind of privilege that girls get, and that was apparent in the amount of cold coffee that I and Harshad got paying the same amount. A startling revelation by Harshad that he had never had cotton candy before prompted Mihir, Sahil and me to buy it. Everyone ate it with the exception of Harshad for who we bought it in the first place. He will probably never know how it tastes… So, we were three hours away from Pune and satisfied, with food in our stomachs! And enough energy to sing! So with a game of Antakshari, time flew, and we were in Pune, opposite the Fergusson College main gate… the same place we started the prevous day.

Some might say we came back a full circle – a Sifar, a zero. Starting from the same point and ending there. What did we achieve by climbing up to the ruins of what used to be a fort just a few centuries ago. But they would never know unless they went through this full circle again. The bond within the group, with someone you didn’t know before, the exhilarating feeling after reaching the top, the breathtaking views. These are not just big words, but actual experiences! No matter how small or big the climb is, it is a climb, and if given a choice, many may chose the easy way out.
So, as I end, I am reminded of the song by Pink floyd called “Fearless”:

You say the hill’s too steep to climb,
Climbing…
You say you’d like to see me try,
Climbing…
You pick the place and I chose the time,
And I’ll climb the hill in my own way,
Just wait a while for the right day,
And as I rise above the tree line and the clouds,
I look down,
In the sound of the things you said today…