Happy New Year!

Celebrations like this...


... lead to this!

Mine wasn't! Well, kinda, but I was determined not to wake up with my brain pounding about in my skull, so I made sure to stay hydrated and not go overboard. As the story goes, I went to Lonavla (a hill station on the Western Ghats, on the Sahyadri Hills next to Khandala, now only about two hours away from Bombay thanks to the Expressway, and not as far as Mahabaleshwar, but lovely and cool in the evenings), with a cousin and our friends. Here is a tourist map for your perusal. I hope you can see... it's on the Mumbai-Pune highway and an hour closer to Bombay than Poona is.) You could call it the Simla/Mussoorie of the West I suppose, though it's not really home to any flower gardens or boarding schools! Maybe Nainitaal.

The word 'Lonavla' is derived from 'Lonavli', a Sanskrit word meaning 'city surrounded by caves'. It was under Chhatrapati Shivaji's rule, hence the brand new copper statue of him on Market Street, and later under the Peshwas. Wayyyyy before that, it was an important Buddhist centre, and the caves around it date to the 2nd century BCE, with a famous stupa located at the Karla caves 10 km away from the town. Here's the link to the above info and more.

We were staying at a friend's friend's uncle's bungalow, who actually turned out to be my uncle's cousin! Talk about a small world! We left saturday afternoon armed witrh sandwiches and noodles and chips and juice and chocolates (thanks to us girls), starters and sauces from our host's (the friend's friend) mom, and soft drinks and alcohol, (boys' department). Had a pleasant ride with cassettes because our hero cousin forgot to install his CD player. He got the latest cassettes though, so we were continually regaled with Bluffmaster and Neil n Nikki and I just wanna spend the rest of my life with you from Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya.

Upon reaching Lonavla, we first went to a friend's parents' place to meet everyone. I like parents, they're so much fun to be with! Especially when they talk to you like an adult, on a somewhat equal footing and are warm and offer you yummy food! Then we went to the place we were staying at, a nice, multi-level, kitschy bungalow which we found after about an hour of meandering about dusty roads and housing societies, (but it was fun because i LOVE looking at houses of different architectural styles). Tanya and I arranged the frig, which was arranged in the most appalling, space-inefficient manner imaginable, and fixed ourselves coffee. We ordered pizza and waited for the couples who were staying with us to return from Poona (all us single people had come on Saturday).

We ate the pizza from Smokin' Joes (yes its in Lonavla as well, but the bread is softer and thicker, and don't expect it to come in half an hour!). Some other people also showed up, who were relatives of the people who owned the house. This led to politics galore about room arrangements from the cheesed off couples who wwere scared of bein deprived of their mojos (I'm mean - I'm sure some concern for us single girls also played a role!), leading to fights, yells and negotiation. Seriously, the mst tension-free part of the evening for everyone ionvolved was when the 5 of us single people went back to midnight to the parents' place. We danced there and had a good time. At the end of ALL of that drama, which was being cheered on by a couple of politically inclined pupperteers, and being ignored by me, we two single girls and 3 boys ended up sleeping on mattresses on the floor in the living room. Which I KNEW was going to happen even before i decided to go to Lonavla. The couples got their rooms and didn't emerge till noon.

We woke up, had FABULOUS Akuri (mushed eggs with tomatoes, onions, green chillies, dhana-jeeru and haldi) with hot and sweet tomato ketchup from Maggi, and Kejriwals (fried egg with cheese on toast with a sprinkling of chili and onion), and Chili cheese toast and juice. THEN we single people, who were showered and ready, went off to parents's place where we were fed idli-sambar-chutney and waffles with honey!!!! Then we went for some scenic walks, and 3 boys and i climbed a little island with a single tree on it! My jeans are muddy and chivalrous Sam's hands were bleeding and Tanya and I cooed over him and bandaged him and his mother was laughing away. I love rock clinbing - was my favourite adventure activity in camp. THEN, our food somewhat digested, we went off to LUNCH, through a torturesome 'shortcut' to Sheetal da dhaba, Sindhi-owned, with amazing food. Superb paneer malai tikka and Paneer Makhanwala, and good tandoori roti. Kali Daal wasn't that great. The non-veg people loved the chicken. Raita was also nice, and the coriander chutney was FRESH. Done by about 4:30/5, we all went our separate ways.

Armed with chikki and fudge orders, which Lonavla is famous for, Sam and his bro took Tanya and me for shopping, and we went a little mad. The backseat was filled with plastic bags of sweets, that I'd been repeating I needed to buy every 15 minutes ever since we reached Lonavla. Coopers supposedly has the best fudge ever, and I bought walnut and almond varieties. I tried Maganlal chikkiwalla's fudge also, and it tastes the same to me. I suppose it's all about branding. Maganlal supposedly has the best chikki, and it has stores all over the market, 2-5 minutes walk from each other. I reached home by about 9.

All in all, it was much better fun than I expected. I was seriously worried that I wouldn't be able to enjoy a weekend with people I only club and watch movies with, because we don't realy know each other at all, but I suppose small talk grows on you and kindness and good manners and non-involvement in drama see one through any situation. I've learnt lately not to burn bridges and to keep good relations with everyone, and the importance of little politesses and formalities with people. I suppose the rituals of society are stronger than me!

Happy New Year! I hope we traverse the year and the tribulations it may bring us with grace, value the good times, and, armed with experiences, move from each opportunity to better ones and higher (naturally induced!) states of being!

My resolution is to lose weight! (Maybe be polite to people even when I'm annoyed by them, and conversely, to control my temper!) What's yours?

P.S. Pictures up as soon as my cousin uploads them. I've also updated the "Earlier this week" post. You can see it here.