Genesis - soumya.org

Tripping Through Acid and Rock - Lonar Lake And Crater

Nestled in the middle of the world's largest hypervelocity crater of balastic rock, lies the mysterious lake of Lonar a place of myth, reality and nature. After a long drive from Mumbai to the middle of nowhere (150km from Aurangabad in Maharashtra's Buldana district, which in turn is 400km from Mumbai), we arrived at the MTDC hotel at a magical twilight hour to see a spectacular show of colors and light as the sun set over the horizon. The next morning saw us descend into the crater with our guide Anand Mishra, a young student contactable through the MTDC office, who also helps out visiting global scientists and scholars. We spent the morning enthralled by his deep knowledge and passion for Lonar as he combined history, nature and science to give us a fascinating tour of ancient temples, magnetically charged rocks, a highly acidic water body, bat colonies, migratory birds and surprisingly fertile farms (Plug: Anand Mishra can be contacted at + 91 9850499792 or anandguide1 at rediffmail.com). Time flew by and six hours later we emerged through green fields, shaded paths and rocky trails and stood once again on the crater rim and took a silent moment to look back upon Lonar lake and crater...

Misty Mountain Hop - Wildflowers Of Kaas

From late September to early October, the Kaas plateau nestled in the hills above Satara emerges in a new avatar as wildflowers start to color the hills and dales with a myriad hues of yellow, red, violet and white. In quest of this elusive sight, a high speed highway drive from Mumbai put us into Satara in about three hours from where a winding ghat road rose into the foggy mountains past green hills, circling birds and some  simian families trying to get a sun tan. As the  green turned to yellow and the brown turned to red  we spotted a dirt track snaking off to the  right...and entered a whole new world of lakes,  water lilies, chirping birds, tricky road bends, slippery boulders, ancient shrines and the occasional shepherd who guided us on our way. After two hours, finding the road ahead blocked by a landslide, we turned around and backtracked, slithering and sliding across rocks and red mud, finally rejoining the tar road after a few exciting moments. The road back to Mumbai was interspersed with a detour to see the Thoseghar waterfalls and views of Sajjangadh fort, after which we picked up the company of torrential rains in a crazy drive which would always remind us of the day we went to see the wildflowers of Kaas...

Mahabalipuram - History In Stone

The click clack sounds of artisans chipping away at blocks of stone drifed through the the bylanes of Mahabalipuram as we entered this sleepy town, home to the famous Shore Temple overlooking the Bay of Bengal. Our local guide Ashok, gave us the 'standard' tour starting with Krishna's butterball, a giant rock precariously balanced on a slope, proceeding to the exquisite bas relief of Arjuna's penance painstakingly carved out of a giant boulder, taking in the beauty of the Pancha Ratha (5 chariots) complex and ending at the marvel of architecture that is the Shore temple. The life exuding from each carving  stood as mute testimony to the skill of artisans and engineers from centuries ago (the temples date back to the 7th and 9th centuries) and the resilience of the kings and their people in overcoming multiple 'problems' to create such amazing works of art. (Note: In Ashok's vocabulary everything from a tsunami, to a marauding army, to corrupt politicians was a 'problem'). Tour over, we strolled into the backpacker part of town, making our way past half the town gawking at a film shoot, ladies hawking fresh fruit and flowers and ended up at a small 'French' cafe which even had chicken with red wine sauce! As we said goodbye and headed down the coastal highway to Pondicherry, the click clack sounds slowly faded to the background, a living testimony to how art and tradition are still passed on from generation to generation, in the world heritage site that is Mahabalipuram......