02 June,2011 11:05 AM IST | | C Gangadharan Menon
At 700m above sea level, picturesque Malshej is your best bet to soak in the full glory of the first rains. C Gangadharan Menon revisited this landscape just before the onslaught of the monsoon transforms this terrain into a green hued, cloud-filled paradise on earth
In a land where it rains for 9 months in a year, even rain becomes enveloped in mythology. It is believed that at the height of summer in Kerala, hornbills collect on bare treetops. They open their gigantic beaks and look longingly into the heavens, praying for rains. When the intensity of their prayer becomes unbearable to the heavens, they open up as it drenches parched throats of these birds, and those of every living being in Kerala.
In the oppressive heat of Malshej along the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, I looked around for these hornbills on bare treetops. I couldn't spot them. Somewhere unseen and unheard, in the deep innards of the forest, they must have been perched on lifeless trees, praying for rains too.
A villager takes cover from the rains while crossing a road,
against the backdrop of cloud-swept Malshej
Riot of red and yellow
All the trees on the mountain slopes were denuded and formed a wide sea of brown. The only exceptions were the Laburnum and Mayflower trees. Molten sunlight had collected on the branches as golden yellow flowers while the searing heat of May had coagulated as blood-red flowers on the Mayflower trees. As I gazed at the bare mountain ranges in front of me, I realised that every season, including the unforgiving summer, has its charm. Since the mountains were shorn off the last tinge of green by the scorching sun, the rock faces had become nude. And I could feast my eyes on the delicate curves and contours of the mountains. Once the rains come pouring down, layers green would drape these mountainsu00a0-- the imagine was fast developing in the mind.
90 kms of sheer grandeur
The drive from Mumbai takes you to Kalyan, and a little beyond is a village called Tokavade. From here, a series of wildly beautiful mountain ranges unfold in front of your ever-widening eyes. This spectacle goes on for 90 kms. As the road first winds through the plains and then through the mountains, you see the most mystical and magical vistas of the Western Ghats. Sadly for shutterbugs it's a spectacle you can never capture on camera. Simply, because it gradually unfolds around you in 360 degrees, like a 'surround' spectacle. The mountain scape changes at every turn, and at every corner there's a picture postcard that greets you. Each changing angle gives you a varied shape of the same mountain, in a different light. When the rains hit this region, as if on auto pilot, the landscape here is transformed into every conceivable shade of green.
The drive towards Malshej is stunning
Beauty at the end of the tunnel
The climax of this visual drama is staged when the mountain suddenly plateaus at Malshej. As you drive through a roughly hewn tunnel, you come face to face with the sheer magnificence of towering peaks and bottomless valleys. Standing at the land's end, you gaze at what can only be described as the Grand Canyon of India, with the main difference being the faded green that's brushed on to the brown mountain slopes. The mind is immediately transformed to the time when the monsoon takes over. If you happen to scream in sheer joy, your voice echoes back as if in confirmation. We look skyward -- the ominous cloud cover had a story to tell -- of the first signs that the rains were just around the corner. At Malshej, the long bund of Pimpalgaon Joga holds back the waters of the Pushpavati River, creating a blue-green lake that swells in monsoon. If you walk along this bund in August, you are sure to spot a pinkish hued cloud descending into the lake, in the distance -- a sure sign of your tryst with flamingos at the next turn of the lake.
The brown, parched landscape in Malshej Ghat in May and A green
hued landscape envelopes the area by July
As I drove back from Lenyadri to Malshej, the scorching heat played tricks on my mind. In the mirage created on the mountain road ahead, I could see rain falling upwards and waterfalls rising into the skies instead of flowing into the valley. Surely, these seemed like projections of the near future. Come June, these would happen in real, when massive Eddie currents would sweep the entire Malshej landscape, and you would be able to witness the unbelievable sight of water defying Newton's Law of Gravity. Yes, Malshej is waiting for the magical rains. And for responsible travellers who would come to Malshej, and leave it like they found it.
Shivaji's unconquered citadel
With Malshej as your base, you can drive down to Shivneri fort, which is 25 kms away. Shivneri is the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji. In a distinguished military career spanning several decades, Shivaji had only one regret. Despite building and conquering over 150 forts in his lifetime, he was never able to conquer the fort of his birth. Paradoxically, it took two generations, till his grandson Shahu eventually captured it in the 18th century.
How to get there
>> Malshej is about 150 kms from Mumbai. Take the road to Kalyan and go to Malshej via Saralgaon.
Where to stay
>> Flamingo Resort: Call 09552199981; Log on tou00a0www.maharashtratourism.gov.in. ; Sushant Resorts:
Call 09860146030 / 09527007475
When to go
>> June onwards
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