CKRT Day 08 - The Long Drive Back From Vengurla To Pune

Continued from: CKRT Day 07 - Malvan to Vengurla

WARNING: This is going to be an extra-long post about the >500km drive I had from Vengurla to Pune in a single day. This is one of the longest, most tiring and hence probably most daring bike ride I have undertaken till date. But natural, that I am going to make it sound like I have been to moon and returned unharmed. So read at your own peril. You have been warned. ;)

The Last Day Blues

The last day of our road-trip. Today, we were going to split - destined for our individual destinations. I had planned to stay in Chiplun, enroute Pune, while Pravya was to leave for Kolhapur from Vengurla via public transport. 

We were in denial. It was hard to digest that it was indeed the last day. It kept feeling like the road-trip had started merely couple days back, and a lot more was yet to come. We hadn't got enough of it, and wanted it to last a lot longer. But that wasn't to be. It's in moment like these, that you end up envying lives of such free birds as Jim Corbett, Milind Gunaji, Kalyan Varma, for the way they get paid for living a life like this. 

The Light-house

That day we got up quite early and went to checkout the light-house, which, we had learned, was somewhere on the hill behind the Sagar bungalow. 

Once on the hill, we tried quite a few routes that looked like leading up the hill towards the light-house, but met with dead-ends like dense bushes and steep, slippery gravel mounds. Finally, after sometime, we found a manageable route up the hill that ended in bushes around the light-house compound. Getting through those bushes was an ordeal due to thorns. But eventually we entered the light-house in a true James Bond style - from the sea, up the hill, over a slippery path "where no human being is expected to venture into" (oh yeah!), through the dense scrubs, over the compound and into the campus! Anxious that someone will take us to task for entering a government building in an illegal way, we moved around avoiding eye-contacts with any moving thing. And thankfully, no one questioned us. 

We moved around there, took in the views and eventually found the right way out that had proper stairs and ended a tad few meters before the spot from where we had started looking for a way up the hill!

Breakfast 

Breakfast was next on mind, but even after moving around here and there in the town, we cound;t find a single open restarurant. Seemed like Vengurla doesn't believe in having their breakfast anywhere but in their own home. Finally found a very humble joint near a petrol pump, had our breakfast, did a tankfull for further journey and set out for the room. 

A beautiful, calm and peaceful temple in Vengurla - Sign of a laidback town

The Journey Back

We got ready to leave in about an hour, and by 11am, we were on our way. I dropped Pravya at Vengurla bus stand, confirmed there was bus to Kolhapur in about half and hour, tied my bag on the back seat with couple of 6mm ropes that I was carrying (afterall, the knots that I had learnt as part of climbing ropework was coming immensely handy) and by 11:30am, after having couple of glasses of suger-cane juice, I was on my way to Chiplun. 

Enroute Chiplun

Enroute, I realised the rope had developed slack, and the bag was all wobbly. Spent almost half an hour trying different combinaions and switched to using Tarbuck knots on both ends, instead of having figure-of-eight on one end, and Tarbuck on the other. The USP of Tarbuck knot is it allows adjustment and tightening even after it's tied - a characteristic that I found way too handy while tying the bag that day. Having an adjustable knot on both ends makes it easier to tighten as needed. And sure enough, the bag never came loose again. 

It was a long journey. Chiplun itself was more than 250kms from Vengurla. But even after lunch, when I realised that I was maintaining 70kmph over the distance, I decided to make a dash for Pune, based on my previous experience of driving my car from Malvan to Pune. 

That time, we had left Malvan at around 2pm, were at Ratnagiri when light had almost diminished, in Mangaon at 11:45pm and then in Pune by 2am in the morning. 

Compared to that, I had an advantage of around 2.5hrs of daylight. Besides, when we had travelled in car, it was December - the time of an year when days are shortest. This was, on the other hand, May - exactly opposite - with longest days in an year. So I had about an hour of extra daylight - making it and advantage of almost 4-hours! So if I would rush, I should be able to make it somewhere between Mahad and Mangaon before nightfall and I won't have to tolerate the infamous upper-beam torture on one of the deadliest highways in Maharashtra. 

And with that calculation in mind, I dashed off towards Pune in full blast. Such long drives on highways tend to get monotonous and boring quickly. Twisty turvy ghats and friendly races on such a terrain, are about the only antidotes to the boredome of a driver on such drives. 

I entertained myself with such races amidst boards like - "तुम्ही प्रवासी आहात, स्पर्धक नव्हे", "आवरा वेगाला, सावरा जीवाला", "चूक असते छोटीशी, खेळ होई जीवाशी" etc. I must say the boards are quite effective since many a times I found myself not wanting to cross 100kmph. 

Yet, I counted the vehicles that managed to comprehensively overtake me and keep me on the tail. One was a Chevy Captiva, one Palio ELX, and a guy with the impressive Yamaha R16. the bike definitely has a racing DNA. Besides, the guy had a very impressive cornering technique, confidence and excellent control. Without these it's impossible to manage these ghats at high speeds. 

Racing the the Palio ELX was fun. I knew that a Palio has tall gearing, and and ELX being an old version meant it was probably a 1.2 litre engine. A 1.2 litre engine, with tall gearing makes for a lousy pickup from inertia. So I used to target those time-bands when the palio guy had to pickup speed after braking. I almost always overtook him in those bands. But then, once a palio picks up, it's the same tall gearing that makes it a formidable competitor. It would always overtake me eventually, no matter if I was doing 120kmph or 130kmph, and would vanish from my sight .... till it would brake next, that is. 


Shaken, not Stirred

While enroute Chiplun, probably in Kastye ghat, I was tailing a Swift Desire LDI. The diesel engine had gone berserk and was spewing black-and-blue smoke. I just cant tolerate the air I breath being polluted by such amount of smoke. So I resolved to overtake that car. And after a couple attempts I realized the driver was blocking my way and wasn't letting me pass, for reasons unknown. 

It was not long, before I lost my patience and decided to make a dash at the next turn. I had noticed there were no incoming vehicles and deemed it safe to use the full width of the road at the turn, to overtake that car. 

I caught up with him at the turn alright, but while overtaking it dawned on me that the U-turn was way too sharp that what I had expected. That Desire itself was struggling to stay on the road and avoid skidding. In a fraction, it came straight in front of me, in 90 degrees. To avoind bumping into the car, I straightened up, let go of the turn, and aimed for the roadside. Fortunately, the car passed, but my bike went into roadside gravel at quite high speed. I couldn't do anything but to take a nasty fall with a full roll off the bike. I had a helmet on, and the roll, though dramatic, had probably prevented any serious injury due to impact. Couple of bikers, going in both directions stopped to come pick me up. They seemed surprised that I was alright enough to stand and pick my bike up after that dramatic fall. I was shaken, but (thankfully) not stirred (physically). 

I took a 5-10mins break before resuming. And after that, I made it a point to keep my speed and agressive driving in check, more due to the emotional impact of the fall, than due to the bruises on hand and legs that had started making their presence felt.

Rest of the drive quite un-eventful. Going at about 80-90kmph, taking in the views, which thankfully were abundant due to number of ghat sections along the route. It kept my mind off the fall, and off from speeding and racing again. NH17, if we ignore its 'deadly' tag, is a delightful highway with brilliant views and, for most of the way, good surface. I kept rolling along.


The Unbelievable Kashedi Ghat

A delight of NH17, is the Kashedi ghat that ends just before Poladpur while going towards Mumbai. Smooth well-laid tar surface, challenging twists and turns, well banked u-turns along most of the route, and very wide. It's a biker's, neigh a driver's, paradise. A road for which you would leave everything else behind apart from your vehicle, and just do a fast pacy cornering while leaving the bike to the winds. It's a heaven for those with quality high power and high performance bikes (obnoxious bullet riders, this is not for you, please go elsewhere with your appallingly loud, all-pomp-no-substance bullets). Probably the best I have seen so far. Also the longest. 


Tamhini Ghat

By the time I crossed Mahad, the sun had set and it was getting dark. It was a bull's eye as far as my calculation and execution of the plan was concerned. I was indeed between Mahad and Mangaon by the time of sun-set and though I had to endure the upper-beam torture of NH17, it was for merely half an hour. I somehow kept my patience through that half an hour. 

By 7:30pm, after couple of glasses of sugar-cane juice at Mangaon, I had started towards Pune via Nizampur and Tamhini ghat. 

It was seemingly a full moon night, yet due to the kind of dense jungle through which Tamhini ghat passes, it was quite dark. Tamhini being a very less frequented ghat, there was scarcely any vehicle that passed me in either direction. It's quite ennervating to drive a bike alone through such passages in the night. And then to top it all, I lost my way! Fortunately there was an Arhatic Yoga Ashram on the way where I could confirm that I had indeed lost my way, turned back and got on the correct route. 

I was exhausted, my body was paining like anything and Pune was just not coming nearby. Worse, the bad road was testing my patience. Even on a fresh morning, Tamhini roads are barely bearable. On a lonely night, after around 400kms of drive already, next 120kms of such a surface is nothing short of slow poison. 


Home Sweet Home

Eventually, by 10:30pm, it was home sweet home. That sweet, cosy place after 520kms, 11hrs of driving. My whole body was talking, and I would have sold my bike for the rest of one night. 520kms in a day is my record drive till date. And I will never ever will have enough motivation to break it anytime in future. 

The CKRT saga had officially ended, and the sweet feeling of a cosy home after a long drive had easily overpowered the bitterness due to end of CKRT. A warm bath later, I was in the bed, dozing like I was having a sleep of my life. 


Stats 

At Vengurla Bus Stand: 
Time: 11:30am
Odometer Reading: 25926km

At Home in Pune - 
Time: 10:30pm
Odometer Reading: 26447km

CKRT Day 07 - Malvan to Vengurla

Continued from CKRT Day 06 - Devgad to Malvan (Tarkarli)

Route: Malvan -> Vengurla -> Terekhol -> Aaronda -> Vengurla

Day-7 was going to be our penultimate day, and the blues were already showing. This was a life that people long to live. And this very pleasure of travelling, seeing places, moving around, meeting different people, was going to end within a day. This feeling was something that we hadn't planned for, nor had we thought about before. 

We somehow shrugged off the blues and decided to enjoy the day while it lasts. The plan was to go check out Tsunami Island (which, in reality, turned out to be another marketting gimmick), and then move on to Vengurla. 


Tsunami Island

Boats for Tsunami Island leave from Tarkarli boating club facilities. There are multiple groups which arrange these rides. 

We had to wait for people to join, since the charges for the ride are a steep 1000/- rupees onwards. Eventually, we got onto the same boat, with, as luck would have it, the group of those nice young retirees that we had met in Kanakavli. 

The Devbaug Tarkarli part of Sindhu-Durga is seperated from the mainland by a massive creek. The ride to Tsunami Island goes through this creek. The views from both sides of the creek are very beautiful. Sometimes there are mangroves, sometimes deserted jungles. On the right coast it's Devbaug, while on the left, it's Bhogave. The width of the creek is quite large, so the boat ride is quite easy and comfortable. You can spot an occassional eagle, kingfisher or a seagull flying around and fishing in the creek. I saw one Small Blue Oriental Kingfisher diving into the water, catching some fish, and then perching on a coconut tree stem, which was bent over the waters, near Devbaug temple. Unfortunately, I had a wide-angle lens on my DSLR and the boat would have been long way from the bird till I would switch to a telephoto. 

The very beautiful shore of Devbaug creek

The Tsunami Island, as they call it, is a small island formed out of bulk of sand broken off from mainland during the tsunami tides. It's more of a marketting gimmick than something really interesting. When we go to the isand, water sports were being carried out off it. The boats are purposefully halted there for half an hour if someone wants to participate in those sports. None of us got down. We had already tried our hands at it, and were not keen on getting drenched with camera and other electronics on us. 

The place where the creek of Devbaug meets the sea, is an interesting place due to two opposite forces acting against each other, resulting into multi-directional strange tides. 

After halting at Tsunami Island for about 15-20mins, the boat started back towards the boating club. The island was completely submerged in water due to high tide, and seeing those huts and peeople floating on water was probably the only interesting part about it. 


The Corals in the Seas and in the Men of Konkan

From boating club, we came back to the jetty and arranged for snorkelling since we had some time in hand. The boat took is to the left of Sindhudurga fort (left as seen from the jetty), called King's Garden. Pravya went in alone, since I had already done it an year back. Unfortunately, it was a high tide time and that too of a full-moon, so the water level was way too high than usual and though he was impressed with the variety of colourul fishes he saw, he probably couldn't see those corals in their full glory. 

When I was in Malvan, an year and half ago, I had forgotten my costly wristwatch here. I couldn't get it delivered back to me by any means in the meantime. So now that I was in Malvan once again, I decided to call the host where I had stayed that time, and see if he still has it. To my biggest surprise, he still had it and asked me to collect it from him! With springs in my leg (it was a costly watch damn it), I wend to his place and collected it. It was as it was. Unused, and wrapped in a slight layer of dust! This would't have happend anywhere else. But I was in Konkan. 


Vengurla

In next half an hour, we had checked out from our room, and were on our way to Vengurla. The road to Vengurla, was again partly through barren lands, and partly through dense jungled ghats. You dont feel any heat in the atmosphere here. In fact, it felt quite cooler that anywhere else. 

In about an hour and half, when getting down the final ghat of Vengurla, we got a glimpse of real paradise, that is Vengurla. The sun was right over head, and the Vengurla beach, with those many white frothing tides, the Sagar Bunglow on a small hillock on the right with a few coconut trees adorning it, a hill and a group of coconut trees seperating Vengurla beach from an adjoining beach (probably Mochemad beach), quite a few fishing trawlers docked in the vengurla dockyard, and a few beautiful small houses  peeping through a dense tree cover in the mainland that was Vengurla. I instantly fell in love with the town. It was so picturesque!!

Vengurla - First Impression

We slowly trickled down into the town, found a room, threw in our luggage, had a lunch and decided to keep Vengurla for the next morning, and move on towards Terekhol instead, for the rest of the day. 


Terekhol

Terekhol is about 20kms from Vengurla. The route is picturesque and beautiful. It's very nice drive except for the mining area around the Tata Metalics plant, which is dusty and irritating as hell. 

Enroute Terekhol, we also came across some temples, and the historical salt-beds of Shiroda. The Terekhol Fort itself, is a very small Portugese fort. It's very very well maintained by Goa Tourism, despite it being such a small structure. It's more or less converted into a hotel with a sea-view restaurant on the top. 

The build of the fort is quite different from that of Marathi forts, and it screames of its European genes. 

The views from the top of the fort are plain amazing. The Terekhol creek - a vast expanse of it - is visible from the top and its natural beauty and cleanliness of the beach in front, are striking. 

	The Superb views from the top of Terekhol Fort

Aaronda and Kiranpani

We had heard about the Aaronda and Kiranpani villages in the nearby area and went to check them out after leaving Terekhol. The route and the village of Aaronda is quite small, green town with naturally a laid-back lifestyle. For going to Kiranpani, there are ferries being operated between the two shores of the creek. But when we got there, a new bridge between the two shores, was being constrcuted and was nearing completion. It looked like it would get commissioned within a month or two. 




Back to Vengurla

Idling there for sometime, we retuend back to the Vengurla dockyard. Sunset was nearing, and since there was a hill between us and the setting sun, we moved to the top of the hill from where we had seen Vengurla for the first time in the afternoon. But from that spot too, unfortunately, the hill was blocking the view. It appered that due to उत्तरायण, the sun was more towards hilly north side of the town during evening. Probably, during दक्षिणायन (months of Nov/Dec maybe?) the sun would set over the dockyard of Vengurla, and that would make one heck of a sight. 

After spending some time there, on top of the ghat, we returned back to the town when it started getting dark. It was our last dinner of the trip and we had an expensive one, in one of the quality restaurants of the town. 

And then thinking about all the awesome time that we had spent over the last week or so, I went to sleep with a little morose feeling owing to the end of those happy days.


Next: CKRT Day 08 - The Long Drive Back from Vengurla to Pune

CKRT Day 06 - Devgad to Malvan (Tarkarli)

Continued from CKRT Day 05 - Ganapatipule to Vijaydurga

Route: Devgad -> Kunakeshwar -> Mithbav -> Tambaldeg beach -> Malvan -> Sindhudurga Fort -> Tarkarli

देवगड किल्ला (Devgad Fort)

The room in Devgad was fantastic and leaving it early was ruled out since we had some free time to go. 

We woke up early in the morning and went to Devgad fort. In most area of the fort, there seemed to be permanent dwellings. Modern ones. It's in absolute ruins. There is nothing to be seen there. Except for may be the light house. We call it a fort just because there are some standing remains of fortifications. That's about it. It's in a very sad state. 

The views from the backside of the fort, though, are quality. It's a rocky coast with sea view, when you sit on the fortifications on the rear. Occassionally a sea eagle or even a falcon can be spotted on the rocks or flying very low. 

In about half an hour, we returned from the fort, had our breakfast along the route and got back to the room. 

At about 11am-12pm, we left for Malvan. The route to Malvan from Devgad for the most part, goes through a vast expanse of barren land. You can see, and strongly smell, the nauseating odour of drying salted fish. Loads of herons, kites, eagles, falcons can be spotted around such dry beds. 


कुणकेश्वर (Kunakeshwar Temple)

The first halt was at Kunakeshwar. It was an attractive temple with a beautiful white-sand beach and sea at its rear. We picked our spot to do some photography from. The temple with a backdrop of beach and sea looks very beautiful from a hill nearby. We did ample shooting, took in the views and came down. 

It was high noon and we were hungry. We found out a decent eatery there and had our lunch. A group of mentally-young retirees was also visiting Kunakeshwar after celebrating another retirement in their group. They were sitting in the same eatery opposite our table, and seeing all our gear and everything, conversation flowed. They were also heading to Malvan and Tarkarli. I suggested them a few spots from what I knew, around there. They were destined back to Pune via Amboli and Kolhapur. A very jolly group of people enjoying their post-retirement life. It's always very heartening to meet such people.

A Superb vista en route Malvan

From this part southwards in Konkan, Sol-curry is part of every thali. Wherever you eat. This was not the case in Ratnagiri and Raigad. There you have to ask for it seperately. Another speciality of Sindhudurga downwards, is the Konkani accent. तुका, माका, काकानु kind of words, that sound very sweet and welcoming, are heard in this part of Konkan. All people here also speak and understand Marathi. But in their day-to-day life, Konkani is used predominantly. The language sounds very similar to Marathi and can be understood roughly as to what people are talking about, if one pays attention. It's basically Marathi, with some sweet and cute special effects, in my opinion. 


मिठबाव आणि तांबळडेग किनारा (Mithbav and Tambaldeg Beach)

After lunch, taking leave of the young-retirees' group, we took off for Malvan. Along the route, Mithbav was another detour that we took. There is a Tambaldeg beach 4-5kms inside from the main road, also called as Mithbav beach. It's another of those clean and unfrequented beached of Konkan. After shooting views and checking out the temple there, we got back on the main route to Malvan.


मालवण आणि सिंधुदूर्ग किल्ला(Malvan)

When, in about an hour we reached Malvan, it was late afternoon, and first thing we did was to find a room and to check into it. In half an hour after throwing in our luggage, and getting fresh, we left for Fort Sindhudurga.
Boats for Fort Sindhudurga can be booked from malvan jetty. Both private as well as common boats can be hired. In common boats, ticket for the adult costs Rs.35/- and you have to wait till the boatsman collects enough people for the ride. We waited for around half an hour before out boatman thought he had collected enough.

The sea was little rough, and our bot didn't have the heavy woorden extension that lots of boats use to steady themselves in rough sea. The attached wooden extension, it seems like, shifts the centre of gravity of the boat outside, and spreads the weight over a larger area, stabilizing the boat in rough tides. Since our boat didn't have it, and since I was sitting on the edge, it was quite natural that by the time we got off at Sindhudurga, I was soaking wet due to the wobbly boat and crashing tides. Not that I was complaining, since this roller-coaster ride was one of the pleasant-most boat-rides so far. 

The guide we hired at Sindhudurga, was no different from the crowd. Not much knowledgible, a little disinterested and hurrying kind. The one we met at Vijaydurga was definitely one of his kind.

Roaming around Sindhudurga, we saw the hand and foot prints of Shivaji Maharaj , the आगारखाना, importance of गोमुखी प्रवेशद्वार (entrace shaped like the mouth of a cow) - elephants can't charge in and have a go at the heavily armoured door at high inertia, various ways of defense, details about how the fort was built, the only one of its kind - temple of Shivaji maharaj, temple of goddess Bhavani, टेहळणी बुरुज (observatory), etc. The vast expanse of Tarkarli beach is visible from this observation point. It's one massive massive beach. I felt it was wayyy longer than even the Guhagar beach.

It was quite late by the time we returned back to the jetty. Around 15-20 mins till Sunset, and we had planned to see the sunset from Tarkarli beach. I hadn't been to Tarkarli beach before, even through I had been to Malvan, and was eager to see what this much talked about beach was like. 


वेळ आली नव्हती

Roads in Malvan are small and one can get stuck behind a car if its driver is not decent enough to give way. 

I was in a hurry trying to make it to the beach before sunset, and this Maruti Ritz, in front of me, was tailing behind a small goods carrier, seemingly in two minds whether to overtake or not. I followed it for sometime, giving him ample time to makeup his mind. But he kept hesitating, and blocking others behind him. I lost my patience and then sounding horn and giving him passing light, I quickly moved into whatever small space that was remaining on his right. And just then, ignoring the horn and passing light, that guy got his car's nose out to overtake!! 

There is this adage I always follow - never ever spook a lady driver on the road, never. Not only will she go down herself, but she will also take you with her! Over the time, I have come to confer this same status to Maruti drivers as well. More or less I have observed they are the ones who have least regard to road etiquette and sense. 

So there I was, caught in a limbo at high speed, between the Maruti on the left and some trees and bushes on the edge of the road on the right. It was one of very few incidences when I had ever come closest to a very serious mishap. 

Probably the auto-pilot in me took over, and in a split second I lowered two gears and fed in all the throttle to see if I could force my way through that opening and clear the car before that car's nose kisses me. 

I did clear the car. But the ordeal was not over yet. Due to the speed, and the gravel on the edge of road, my bike started skidding, and we were about to hit the road, literally, at high speed, when in a last ditch effort to avoid a fall, I applied all power I had in my left hand, to pull that skidding bike back up again, and arrest the skidding. A pain spike shot up in the left hand and shoulder, but I managed to arrest the skidding and eventual fall as well. 

Both of us, me and Pravya, kept marvelling how come we were still riding and not scattered all over the road. There were two speeding vehicles behind us, and if the fall had to happen, we were sure we wouldn't have seen daylights again. It was a mighty close shave. Having gone through lots of speed thrills so far, my heartbeats stay regular these days irrespective of the type of thrill. But after that incident, I could feel my heart beating like it would burst in a moment. 

As they say, काळ आला होता, पण वेळ आली नव्हती. Indeed.


तारकर्ली किनारा (Tarkarli Beach)

By the time we got to Tarkarli beach, the sun had already set. The beach, contrary to my expectations, was as featureless as Diveagar beach, not to mention dirty. It's hyped, just like Malvan itself. It might also be that either I don't know what to see in a beach, or I have seen too many of beaches too many times to like the regular ones. 

The MTDC huts and Bamboo boat house on Tarkarli's सुरु बन, just behind the beach, looked exquisite though. All MTDC facilities, we had seen so far during our roadtrip, were impeccable, at least from their appearance. 


Back to Pavellion

Leaving Tarkarli beach, we roamed around Malvan, finding a place to eat and spend some leisure time at. Finally after having our dinner at a clean, good looking restaurant, and having a mastani (the ice-creamy milk-shake, I mean) at a cold-drink joint near the Malvan jetty, we came back to our room. 

It was late in the night, and I went to bed, with a sore left shoulder, and still wondering about that incident, in the back of my mind. 


Next: CKRT Day 07 - Malvan to Vengurla

Midnight In Paris

I just watched Midnight In Paris - a movie written and directed by Woody Allen. It just reinforces my respect for the guy's creative genius. I had seen his Annie Hall, and though that movie didn't have a 'story' per se, it had clicked big time because of the character detailing (including their eccentricities), dialogues, realism and goofyness of the protagonist. 

Midnight In Paris is like a second installment in many ways. The themes and details of both the films are totally different. But within first ten minutes of the film itself you start seeing glimpses of Annie Hall 'isque characters, eccentricities, subtle shades of each characters, and you immediately appreciate that it's not a usual movie with loud hints and mannerisms, but a classy one with subtle treatment and a Woody Allen stamp on it. And I don't mean it in a cliched way. 

The movie uses time-travel, but that's not the point of the movie. Real thing is the fantasy of what would happpen after such a time travel. It's not about time-travel, but it's about what happens when a wannabe author, who likes to engage in nostalgia, finds himself in the middle of the age in the past which he likes to think of as the golden age. 

Don't we all have the tendancy to indulge in the bouts of such nostalgia? Don't we think of the 50s and 60's and 70's when the world was a simple place to live, when there were not much vehicles on the street, when there were no overloaded communication devices to attend to, when there used to be gifted authors, gifted musicians, singers, when one could attend to those Maifils/Katha-kathans/Sabhas when legends like Atre, Savarkar, P L Deshpande were around? Don't we think the golden age was when the Indian Freedom Movement was gaining momentum? when you could intermingle and get inspired by the like of Chaphekar brothers, Savarkars, Bhagatsinghs, Sukhdevs, Bose, Azads, etc? 

The movie is not about time-travel, it's not about a love story between characters of different era either, though there is subtle one going on. It's actually and really about the craving desire that we all have about how the current era we are living in, sucks, in comparison with some era in the past. 

The crux of the movie comes when this girl from past (1920s), with whom our protagonist is in love with, goes to some era in her past (1850s), which she thinks of as a golden age, and the guys from that era think some other era in their past (rennaissance) was the actual golden age! An intriguing reminder to us all that the grass can be greener on our side as well, from the perspective of some other side. The strength of the movie is how subtly this very message is conveyed. No preachings, no pedantics, no in-your-face dialogues. Just a subtle transition and it makes one think. 

There was this one scene I really liked in the movie. Gil, the protagonists, asks a lady guide in a theme park, if it's possible for one person to love two women at the same time. He gives a reference to some artist in the 1920s, and she says "well, he loves both of those women differently!". He startles, gathers himself, and says - "well, yeah, I forgot you people (the french) are more evolved in this department." That was bang on! Exactly how I perceive them to be. Going by the French movies I have watched so far, or the French characters I have seen so far, I have come to have similar opinions about those people. 

The movie is a gem. I especially like the goofy yet intellectual treatment of the topic, which, probably because I have come to like Annie Hall so much, seems like having a Woody Allen signature on it. I somehow manage to relate to both these characters (Woody Allen's from Annie Hall, and Owen Wilson's from this Midnight In Paris) a lot. 

Aside from this, I feel, had Woody Allen been not as old as he is, he would have acted in it himself instead of Owel Wilson. Like he did in Annie Hall. And he would have done even more justice to the character, not because Owel Wilson was bad, oh no, but because I think he made that character for himself (or keeping his character from Annie Hall in mind)

This one will sit there along with Annie Hall as one of my all time favourites, for sure.

A NewConfigParser Module for Python

Python standard library contains an excellent ConfigParser module. It allows one to directly read the configuration variables from an INI file, without much ado and overhead. Simple and beautiful. Here is Doug Hellman's PyMOTW blog about the module, for more info.

Now so far as you have a simple requirement of independent configuration variables, you are good to go right away. But if you are used to shell scripting, and are spoilt by variable resolution there (one variable resolving from another previously defined variable, like this - $URL=$PROTOCOL://$DOMAIN:$PORT/), you sure are not satisfied. And if you are spoilt by python's opulence, you sure cannot just let it go and do with whatever is available.

I couldn't either. I had a complex configuration file, and I just couldn't think doing without variable resolution. Here is a subset of what I wanted. I had a common configuration section about a server and different set of URLs which I wanted to fire HTTP requests at (get/post/any such), on the server. Now these domains would be listed in a different 'urls' section, while server details will be listed in the 'server' section. Something like this -
[server]
domain = www.pyarabola.in
port = 80

[request-config]
protocol = http
type = get

[urls]
konkan = ${request-config.protocol}://${sever.domain}:${server.port}/coastal-konkan-day01.html
apple = ${request-config.protocol}://${sever.domain}:${server.port}/applyhypepotatopoteto.html

[requests]
get_konkan = GET ${urls.konkan}
get_apple = GET ${urls.apple}
Note: I know there will be other (better) ways to get the URLs constructed, but this is a made-up example just to make the use-case clear.

The requirement is quite straight-forward - if I want to change the server or port number or the type of request I am making, I dont want to end up changing all [requests].

As you can see, the parameters are constructed by back-referencing other parameters. And the back-referencing is multi-level - one parameter referencing another, which in turn is referencing yet another, and so on, as can be seen for the get_konkan parameter in [requests] section.

As far as I know, the current ConfigParser module (or its ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser class) doesn't allow such referencing in the INI file it parses. Enter NewConfigParser.


NewConfigParser

So I ended up extending the ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser class and overriding its get(...) method to make space for such back-referencing.

Features -

1. Define-anywhere-use-anywhere freedom, while defining dependent options

This means even if the [requests] section in the above example, is defined at the top of the INI file, before any other parameter definition, it will not complain. This is contrary to the way linux shell variables are resolved. There the used variable must have been defined apriori.

2. Caching of resolved parameters

A small optimization. It caches any resolved parameters. As a result, if get_konkan request, from above example, is resolved before get_apple request, the NewSafeConfigParser.get("requests", "get_apple") call wont again resolve the same protocol, domain or port. It would directly use it from cache.

3. Any amount of depth in dependancies (*only limited by global recursion limit)

The parameters' dependancies are resolved recursively. So the depth of dependancies is only limited by python's global recursion limit.

4. Detection of circular dependancies

All circular dependancies are detected and they result into a CircularDependancyException. It also prints the dependancy graph for you to make hay. Take a look at the circular dependacy example in the Examples section below.

5. Same usage semantics as SafeConfigParser, i.e. variable resolution is transparant to the user

Since NewSafeConfigParser is extended from SafeConfigParser, the usage semantics are same as SafeConfigParser. You would call a NewSafeConfigParser.get(...) method in the same way you would call a SafeConfigParser.get(...) method. All the referencing and parameter resolution and caching and circular dependancy detection happens behind the closed curtains. User No Bother.

6. No section means current section

Back-references are to be specified in ${section.parameter} manner for resolution. If no section is specified, e.g. new_param = ${param}, then current section (same as the new_param) is assumed, and the back referenced parameter - param - is resolved in the same section as that of new_param.

Check the Examples section below for more details.


Limitations

1. Works only for strings as of now
2. Only SafeConfigParser class extended as of now. Not implemented for ConfigParser.

Code: Where and How

The code is available on GitHub - https://github.com/shreyas/NewConfigParser
I was too lazy to pack it into a legitimate module and post it on PyPI for pip install (it's only a smal tweak really). So it's just a single file (as of now). You might want to copy it into you tools folder and import it as a module to start using it.


License

This was done quite long back, only to realise that I need it quite often. So thought it might be useful to someone else as well. One shouldn't just consume open-source, but contribute to it too. So am releasing it in the public domain under Apache Software License version 2.0.

Do what you want with it, just maintain that copyright notice at the top, despite the (obvious) disclaimer that I wont be responsible if your rocket hits someone's ass instead of the moon just because you resolved its controller config using this parser.


Examples
shreyas@tochukasui:~/devel/python$ python
Python 2.7.3 (default, Aug 1 2012, 05:16:07)
[GCC 4.6.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from NewConfigParser import SafeConfigParser as NewSafeConfigParser
>>> from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser
>>> newparser = NewSafeConfigParser()
>>> origparser = SafeConfigParser()
>>> newparser.read("config.ini")
['config.ini']
>>> origparser.read("config.ini")
['config.ini']

>>> newparser.get("request", "request_type")
'get'
>>> origparser.get("request", "request_type")
'get'

>>> newparser.get("request", "request");
'get http://pyarabola.blogspot.in'
>>> origparser.get("request", "request");
'${request_type} ${server.url}'

>>> newparser.get("server", "url");
'http://pyarabola.blogspot.in'
>>> origparser.get("server", "url");
'${protocol}://${website}'

>>> origparser.get("server", "protocol");
'http'

>>> origparser.get("server", "website");
'${subdomain}.${host}.${tld}'
>>> newparser.get("server", "website");
'pyarabola.blogspot.in'
>>>

Circular Dependancy Detection
shreyas@tochukasui:~/devel/python$ cat circdep.ini
[humans]
drinking_water = ${govt.pipeline}

[animals]
drinking_water = ${natural.reservoire}

[govt]
pipeline = ${natural.reservoire}

[natural]
reservoire = ${river}
river = ${heavens.rains}

[heavens]
rains = ${clouds}
clouds = ${vapor}
vapor = ${natural.reservoire}

shreyas@tochukasui:~/devel/python$ cat cdep.py
#!/usr/bin/python

import NewConfigParser

p = NewConfigParser.SafeConfigParser()
p.read("circdep.ini")

try:
p.get("humans", "drinking_water")
except Exception as e:
print e

shreyas@tochukasui:~/devel/python$ ./cdep.py
Cicrular dependancy detected while resolving parameter 'natural.reservoire': natural.reservoire -> natural.river -> heavens.rains -> heavens.clouds -> heavens.vapor -> natural.reservoire
shreyas@tochukasui:~/devel/python$


CKRT Day 05 - Ganapatipule to Vijaydurga

Continued from: CKRT Day 04 - Guhagar to Ganapatipule

Route: Ganapatipule -> Pracheen Konkan -> Ratnagiri -> Pawas -> Purnagad -> Jaitapur -> Padel -> Vijaydurga -> Devgad

Today was the day when the possibility of being forced to tent in the middle of nowhere, was looming large on us. Given the amount of locations to visit, the distance to travel, lack of clarity about connections between few places enroute, a plan B of tenting and camping, was prepared for this day.

गणपतीपुळ्याचं मंदिर (Ganapatipule Temple)

Early in the morning, we had been to the Temple campus and the adjoining beach. It pained to see its current status. Quite a few years back (back in 2003/04 if I remember correctly), when we were in T.E., the temple had only the hill in the rear and the sea in the front. It was a serene and beautiful sight. Now the temple is mobbed by many ugly buildings and fences. It has lost its charm. Simple was immensely beautiful. This is what happens when you have a large population which doesn't mind mobbing and littering beautiful places in the name of god.


प्राचीन कोकण (Pracheen Konkan)

We checked out from the room, and went to Pracheen Konkan. The project is conceptualized by a group of college going public. It depicts how Konkan was, back in the time of ancient civilization. The social structure, the geology, the people, their fashion, animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, their varieties etc. It's an informative project, definitely worth a visit. Only their guides need to let go of that disinterested, monotonous, news-anchor like accent, and speak with a normal tone.

Pracheen Konkan Guide Map

Small Scale Model of Jaigad

White Hibiscus

Impressive Arrangement

Black Headed Golden Oriole

पावस (Pawas)

Soon after Pracheen Konkan, we took our breakfast and started towards Ratnagiri. The route to some extent is a coastal sea-side drive, and views of the rocky coast, crystal clear white-sand beaches, deep blue sea and an occassional fishing trawler take one's breath away.

Our next stop was the स्वामी स्वरुपानंद आश्रम (Swami-Swaroopanand Ashram) at Pawas. I did a tankful at a petrol bunk near Ratnagiri, just in case petrol became scarce later on.

The Swaroopanand Ashram was a very silent and serene place. The atmosphere was indeed strangely different and calming. It was my first time there (or maybe second, I have a very hazy memory of Pawas from my early childhood). The आरती (aarati) there, was a different experience, though I haven't remained the आस्तिक (believer) of olden times anymore. कर्मकांडावर माझा बिलकुल विश्वास नाही. पण माणसाच्या जीवनात देव असण्यानं जर माणसं सरळमार्गी आणि इतरांचं चांगलं चिंतणारी होत असतील तर माणसाच्या जीवनात देव जरुर असावा. असो.

While looking around during the aarati, I observed quite a lot of different profiles of people. Some of them looked almost out of place. A lot of old people - quite expected. But quite a few young women, some young guys (like us) in half pants and commando T-shirts. The most striking sight was a young guy with Devanand-style long hair, half-moon glasses, a goatee, white(!) 3/4th and a black T-shirt with a red star and Che Guevara imprint(!) on it. Talk about being out of place!

We had our lunch at the Ashram itself, and after gulping down a few hefty doses of कैरीचं पन्हं, we set out towards पूर्णगड (Purnagad).


पूर्णगड (Purnagad)

It was comparatively closeby from the Ashram. Quite a small fort - or rather an observation point. The fortifications are intact, but that's about it. Nothing much there. Except - except for the untouched, directly accessible, beautiful beach in its rear.
It was a striking sight. A route from the rear entry/exit door of the fort, was dropping straight onto the pristine beach. It was an ideal site for an overnight camping. Sitting there in the shade of big trees, and watching the tides wash the beach, is a soothing experience.


Finding विजयदुर्ग (Vijaydurga)

Next destination was the विजयदुर्ग (Vijaydurga). Now this was the start of the uncertain part. The sources that I had referred to, suggested that there will be ferries to Vijaydurga from Madban beach (माडबन किनारा). Otherwise, the land-route was quite distant.

To top that, the map I had, suggested no bridge going from Purnagad to Jaitapur, over the Jaiapur creek. No mention of ferry service from Madban to Vijaydurga either.

We started towards Jaitapur and decided to alter the plan on the go as per the circumstances. It was already 2-3pm in the afternoon and we still hadn't a trace of Vijaydurga. Checking out Vijaydurga was going to take couple of hours and thence we were to move to Devgad in search of accommodation. It looked like a doomed plan already. Unless we rushed ...

I stuffed my hat back in the rucksack, and got the helmet out. It was very windy and the hat wouldnt have allowed me to pickup speed without distractions. Helmet would allow me to let lose on the bike and make the best effort to attain these tight timelines.

Our stars were shining bright. After rushing through the plains for sometime, we came across a brand new bridge that would take us acoss the Jaitapur creek, and would grant us direct access to the Madban beach. The bridge was commissioned only recently.

Finding Madban beach, turned out to be a very confusing affaire due to misleading and mis-reading boards. And then after finally finding it, we learned that ferries dont ply between Madban and Vijaydurga anymore since a new bridge has been commissioned over the Vaghotane creek (वाघोटणे खाडी) - the very creek that seperates Vijaydurga from Madban beach. Viola! So it was all road route now.

It was 40kms from Madban though, and the evening was approaching very quickly. I started feeding in even more throttle. The road, again thanks to our lucky star, was impeccable - smooth, wide, desserted, recently laid, tar surface - also known as: a biker's paradise.

By 5pm, we were in Vijaydurga. Parked the bike, had a few doses of Karvanda juice (करवंद सरबत), and started a guided tour of Vijaydurga, along with one other group.

विजयदुर्ग (Vijaydurga)

The guide we met, and had the pleasure of learning from, at Vijaydurga, was, without a single doubt in my mind, the best guide I had ever met. He was highly knowledgible, self learning, a seemingly history-buff himself and was well researched with his knowledge nuggets. The minute details that he explained of small things, which usually slip from our attention, were astounding. Those details not only introduced us to the foresight of Shivaji Maharaj and the people he chose, but also made us appreciate how well researched this guy was. Undoubtedly one of the best guided-tours I ever had a pleasure of attending.

At the end, we decided to double the amount we were to pay to the guide. It was just a token of gratitude for doing such a great job of making historical nugggests interesting for people like us. Guides like him need to stay in that profession so that people get to learn the history from a knowledgible person.

Reclaimation on the right

Arms Depot (दारुगोळा कोठार) iirc

Now a bit about Vijaydurga. The fort was surrounded by water from all sides. But recently one side has been reclaimed and the fort is now connected to the land. The reclaimation also hosts MTDC resort, at a vantage point, like all MTDC resorts. The fort overlooks the Vaghotane creek, which Shivaji maharaj wanted to keep under control so that nuisance from the English and Portugese navies would be kept at bay. The creek cuts very deep in the land, and it posed a danger to the स्वराज्य (the self-ruled empire) from the foreign navies. That's why this old fort, which was originally built by King Bhoj (भोज राजा), was enlarged and strengthened. The old fortification is still standing inside Vijaydurga, though in a dilapidated condition.
We came to know various steathy ways in and out of the fort. Attention to details in minutest of defenses, used to stop the enemy if an attack were to be carried out, was plain amazing. We couldn't help but appreciate the strategic thinking during that period of time.

We were told about an underwater wall that Shivaji maharaj got built and kept under wraps all the time. Nobody knew about the wall until recent time. It's said that at least 2 British ships were wrecked by that wall. The interesting part was how the hulls of British/western ships were built in V-shape, while those of Indian ships were built in a U-shape. This U-shaping of the hull enabled Indian ships to pass over that underwater wall safely, while it broke the V-hulled western ships into pieces. That - Indian shipbuilding was indigeneous and not derived from western technology - came as a pleasant surprise - a breath of fresh air, if you will, in a world where all we do is mimic the westerners. And that this very difference was noticed and exploited in that era, was a cherry on the top - leaving us wondering where all that shrewdness has gone since.


देवगड (Devgad)

By the time Vijaydurga fort tour ended, it was 6:45pm and the sun had just set. It was slowly getting dark around. I was not sure whether we will get to Devgad before nightfall. Devgad was still 20-25kms from there and I wanted to avoid driving in the night due to the inconsiderate manner in which people drive - headlights set to upper beam - blinding the incoming drivers.

I again let the bike lose on the silky smooth road. But then things don't always go your way. However hard I tried, it was stark dark by the time we reached Devgad, and I had hurled quite a few choice words towards the high-beamers.

Thankfully we didn't have to struggle much for the room. And what a room we got for mere 500 bucks a night at the 11th hour! Posh interiors, LCD TV, double bed, air cooler, huge balcony, utter clean and posh bathroom with a napkin, towel and toiletries placed where they should be ... boy! Compared to the kind of rooms we have had so far, for a similar cost, it was a gem! A jackpot! It was so unbelievable that we went to the extent of confirming with the reception that it was not 500 bucks per head, but 500 all inclusive. :)

It was a hectic hectic day with some serious driving and running around done throughout. The intermixture of exertion of the day, satisfaction at the end that we didnt have to resort to plan-B, and a delightful room, was too much to handle, and I didn't realise when I fell asleep after we came back from the dinner.


Next: CKRT Day 06 - Devgad to Malvan (Tarkarli)