| Matheran, Asia’s only Pedestrian hill resort is arguably the most attractive of Maharashtra’s hill stations The idea that the journey should be as much fun as the destination is a life-lesson firmly engraved in this particular travel script. From Naral Junction, a narrow-gauge toy train chugs alon a scenic 21-km route to the heart of the village. Even if you don’t opt for the mini train, the journey uphill will be enchanting.you could choose between riding on a horse or being carried up on a palanquin, past the grand old manor house built by the British, the Parsis and the Bohras.
Walking, strolls to Procupine point to watch the sun drop. Suddemly, I notice a monkey beaming upon me. I smile benevolently back until I relies that it’s the fudge in my hand that he’s eying. The fudge just like the honey and rock-hard chikki,is for many people the best take –home reminder of Matheran.
After a day spent traipsing leaves, over red Laterite earth, it’s a good idea to recline by Charlotte Lake. This, the town’s main water source,is a site for artist and easel.The clouds hang above the lake like incense smoke, the sun glimmers gold above her ..
Little old men emerging from a Raj-era house,instruct me in the lore of the hills, “Don’t venture out too late without a guide . You may lose Your way on one of the winding paths.” I’m told that it would be an absolute shame to depart without doing an intensive survey of the colonial buildings that dot the precinct – St. Paul Anglican Church, The Roman Catholic Church, Lord’s Hotel and Barr House among them. Another lesson I learn is that a pretty path here is seldom just that. For instance,I once commented on the loveliness of a certain route and was sternly admonished by a patriot who was shocked at my ignorance that the path was none other than “Shivaji’s Ladder”,a route once trodden upon by the Maratha leader himself. It was also this path that Hugh Malet, the collector of Thane District once Climbed,thereby “discovering” Matheran.But I abandon the story of the past for another sortie in the present and continue my ramble around the beautiful surroundings. My guide-book urges me to use my feet ratger than ride around on a horse, else I might miss sighting a goblet bird or another such bewitching aerial apparition On the path in front of me a women theatens to smake her beloved with the Kolhapuri Chappal Bought in the market place, if he doesn’t consider an extension of their stay in this paradise. After such an adventure,you will understand my temption, to throw it all in – the house, the car, the mobile-phone and live perpetually in the hills, selling chocolate- walnut-orange-fudge. |
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