If dreams make life, then is
life itself a dream? Dreams arise out of desire, passion and many more reasons
unique to each, but not all translate to
reality as they need pure commitment and relentless toil to turn the luxurious
dream into an event in life. Some dreams are easy to realize though, as
this one of mine, and all they need to become an event in our life are simple
sacrifices, detailed planning, constant passion and a robust stamina. I had
this dream sparked in 2012 when I was on a long drive away from my home, with
only one friend for company, in pursuit of the then relatively unknown Dudhsagur
falls (DSR). It was the beginning of a beautiful dream on a beautiful monsoon
weekend as we pushed ourselves hard to get a view of the DSR falls under difficult
circumstances, nevertheless, me and my friend had the most amazing moments of
our “life on the roads” as we climbed over the Western Ghats, drove through
Honnavar, made a night halt at Karwar, fell in love with Konkan, walked the
last 14 Kms on a railway track, photographed DSR, waited for the next train
until midnight under pouring rains, drove back to Chennai through the
unforgiving Anmod Ghat engulfed by the dangerous monsoon winds and darkness,
lost strength and eventually fell asleep on the highway in a remote village
until the rainy dawn woke us up the next day. That night, when I was struggling to make myself comfortable inside the
warmth of the car, as rains were pounding, I had a beautiful dream and it was
to see myself on top of the DSR falls and look at the trains in the distant
Braganza Ghat. I then thought it was a fantasy and not possible until I
really went up there and got the view I craved for in the September of 2016,
which was dangerous as the monsoon was still active and the risk of rains in
the distant catchment areas turning the cliff we were standing on into a death
trap was always imminent, if not certain. That was an amazing journey,
completely satisfying my heart, ego and desire but not exactly what I saw in my
dreams 4 years back as I seriously felt I was missing the “essence” that added
so much beauty to that exotic dream when I was not even having a proper
sleeping position that night. As I
departed from the remote home stay in Castlerock that evening, I promised its
owner I will come back sometime later and wanted to see what I saw in my dream
4 years back, what that had been disturbing my dreams through all of these 4
eventful years. Just before leaving Castlerock we stood on the bridge over
the railway tracks, with long freight trains chugging beneath us, and smelt hot
coffee while looking at the distant, mist clad Braganza Ghats as I got clarified that the answer to my
beautiful dream was lying quietly somewhere up there in the densest of forests,
where few had ever walked through when rains were at their ravaging best. I
drove back home with my dream now very much active, alive and adamant…
With age, the transition
of a year to the next seems so much seamless that life events really begin to
appear as dreams, so fast and so unpredictable. As I was wondering whom to ask for a company to live through my
beautiful dream, an unsuspecting companion in the form of an office colleague
signed up for the 2017 edition, an edition that was bound to drench my old
dream with enchantment and ecstasy. We kicked off the long drive to Goa on
a rainy night, liberating ourselves from the hectic confines of Chennai city,
through the ever inviting national highways with an unusual target of reaching
Konkan for lunch by the day next. With only a single stop strategy @ my
favorite tea shop near Tumkur, we managed to hit Hubli by 10 in the morning and
from here on it was going to be a relaxed drive all the way unto the frontier
village of Anmod. Anmod is an exotic
village where the highway enters from Karnataka into Goa and more than this, it
is the beginning of the notoriously dangerous and beautiful Anmod Ghat section
that takes the vehicles under its gripping control for the next 25 Kms with its
demanding curves and head turning beauty. Monsoon winds from the west are
blocked by these Ghats, and in doing so, rendering the drive to be a
mesmerizing event that will even make the blind crave. With Mollem, one of
the gateways to Konkan, calling across the Ghats we made no more than couple of
halts on the Anmod Ghat to relax and refuel the mind and reached the plains of
Konkan for lunch as planned, tired and drained though. Normally when coming
here, I prefer the extended route through the much norther Chorla Ghat road as
it enables me to extract ecstasy, even before I had entered Konkan, through its
mind boggling geography and tendency towards being dramatic. It also completes the day 1 of my trip
through its never ending photographic temptations that further lead me into the
romantic & setting Konkan dusk as the rains begin to wreak havoc over my
speeding car through the dark forest road that connects Valpoi with Mollem.
This time though, we made it bit relaxing by; checking into the resort @
Mollem, having our lunch, carrying an immense quantity of sleep and tiredness in
our eyes and hitting that chillingly lonely and nostalgic north bound road at
the Mollem junction. The rains were
absent for some time now and the usually drenched road wore a dry look on a
noon that reminisced one during my “late twenties” when I used to think magic
and fantasies indeed existed. The drive was eventless, though not boring,
and gradually gained enchantment as we climbed up the legendary Chorla Ghat with
the guardian of solar system slowly disappearing behind us into the west, thus
forcing us to expedite the drive. Like
any time in the past, Chorla mesmerized with its ability to wrap itself in a
cocoon of beauty, mystery and dreams thus making time seem non-existent and
death, just an ordinary antonym for life. It was now time for couple of
chilled bottles of beer and this urge, amplified by the slowly dying eyes, took
us back to our resort through the “desire in the depths” like forest road under
pouring rains and blinding darkness. Hot water from above my head never seemed
to be such an addiction than during that night, until I decided to turn off the
shower and open the bottle that contained bubbling malted barley and instant
refreshment. Anything that is first time is bound to disturb your sleep, but my
awaiting “first attempt” atop the baffling Braganza Ghat the morning next sent
me into a deep sleep sans dreams, for I had already dreamt about that event for
more than 5 years now…
The dawn was humid and
sultry, typical of a morning that graces a tropical rain forest, slowing down
our enthusiasm, but the fact that Ghats must be already getting thrashed by
rains kicked us both to hit the road winding its way towards a romantic
village, the Castle Rock. Castle Rock is the gateway to Braganza Ghat section
and we will be driving 5 Kms further beyond it, from where a 4 wheel drive Jeep
will pick and drop us at the starting point of this much awaited trek. There is
an option to even hike all your way up the Ghat from Castle Rock itself, but
that’s more than a day of time you will need to do it in comfort and safety. The rains were pounding the mystic meadow,
intersected by a wild stream, pumping in the much needed enthusiasm to embark
on this 6 hour hike through the mystic forest tract strewn around with
thousands of blood suckers, and an ambience to overcome the threat imposed by
their formidable presence. Mists made the path dark, rains made the ambience
electrifying, sustained stream crossings made the experience exhilarating and
the very fact that our destination was still a good 150 minutes away, thus
giving the opportunity to enjoy all of these until we called it a day, pumped
in an incredible intensity of contentment. We were heading to the top of a
hill that sat exactly opposite to the world famous Dudh Sagar falls in an
attempt to get a glimpse of the new perspective which I had dreamt for years, a
perspective that even the “natives” of this region had rarely seen or bothered
to see for it was tough to reach here when monsoon was rampant. The trek to the
point of conclusion, which was just a small clearance amongst the massive
rainforest, would land us on a precarious slope facing right at the monsoon fed
fury of this massive waterfall. When we
reached there, it was as an incredible moment on my timeline as one of my long
dreamt dreams culminated in a nostalgic and secluded manner that I wanted to
close my eyes now and hear the distant gushing of her, braving the disturbing
cries of Cicadas and shrill of rains. There she was, nonchalantly pouring thousands
of liters over the Braganza Ghat and giving a nasty bath to all of the inhabitants
downstream, and as she was doing this, I instantly went back in time by 5 years
to recall my first date with her, when I didn’t even know there was a route up
to her crest. Silent and seduced, we began our retreat to adhere to the
rule of the Jungle, to leave it undisturbed soon, and grasped the same trail
that brought us here. It was a long hike back to the extraction point, and the
absence of drinking water had set in dehydration, eventually making the mind to
wander in tiredness unable to enjoy the beauty of the trail. Upon reaching our
pick up point, the rain had gained immensely in intensity as we frantically removed
our Gumboots and stuffed them back into the boot of the Fiat hatch. As I increased the rate of the wiper blade
and drove cautiously through the pristine forest road towards Castle rock and
beyond, a Serpent Eagle flew right in front of the car for about a hundred
meter, with a snake grasped between its beaks, before disappearing into the
dense canopy above, imparting a beautiful conclusion to this secret dream. When
we hit the tea shop at Anmod, it was time to stretch and smell caffeine as the
clouds were busy gathering and pouring across the vast spread of the Ghats, we
were thrilled. Unlike today morning, tomorrow wouldn’t be special as we would
be departing back to our homes 900+ Kms away, but the day after tomorrow promised
to be intensely special as I would already be dreaming about this fulfilled
dream lying on my bed. For
now, as we ascended the Anmod Ghat to go back to our resort, I could control
my emotions with darkness wiping away the beauty of this region, thus
preventing another dream to be born out of here, like it exactly did 5 years
ago…
