I must have started my ‘go see the world plan’ as part of my larger philosophy of ‘Lets live sum’. I have never been a travel enthusiast in the past, in the sense that history of a place or the life they symbolize failed to intrigue me. May be, now I attempt to connect to spaces around me. It must be my urge to share experiences, tell stories or communicate my perspectives. In fact this urge must have encouraged me to do a few things I would have never done before, for example give a few restaurant reviews on Burrp Mumbai. I would always say “Who on earth would read them and wish to take inputs or consultative advice?”. As human species some of us can be very stubborn. However, over time, I have realized there is a key philosophy that we humans connect to and its called ‘word of mouth’. For instance, I have a friend Ralph, and I ensure I watch most of the movies he recommends to me. His first recommendation was ‘The Holiday’ and I loved it; may be his first recommendation has created a lasting impression. Similarly, I realize if Vishal or Hemant plan to set me up with someone, I quite know that the resultant is going to be very “wtf” moment. I mean those two possibly may have a good sense of who I end up with, however, when it comes to picking up a real life sample, how can they come up with such a drastic one?
So Kelva embarks my journey of “go see the world” initiative on 13 Nov, 2010; a day when one of my good friends Dhandu is born. Kelva is an excellent weekend destination from Mumbai, approx 180 minutes of distance to travel from Borivali (provided you don’t get caught up in traffic for inevitable reasons). A place you can relax and unwind - enjoy the joy of doing nothing.
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| Time swings by |
Kelva beach resort is 10 minutes walkable distance from the beach, so its a good alternative to the other resorts you have there. A decent single accommodation shall cost ~1800 INR. The resort is densely green and throws open a sports room at one of its corners. The fascinating sunset is an absolute treat.
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| Non Diet yum food |
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| Part of the greens |
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| A good picture speaks for more than a 1000 words |
The next day morning though, I was told that beach is populated with folks answering their calls of nature. We went back in an hour or so, where for some reason I wondered about the tax payer’s money that the politicians had been treating as their own. Couldn’t they use it for better initiatives such as basic essentials for the locals of hygiene and health, education, or huge bins that would drive the cleanliness of beaches? Something that would showcase our love for the place through example and how we treat it? Someday, lets hope that all Indians across are sensitized to the need of clean beaches among other things and the government is doing enough to encourage the masses for a cleaner and more beautiful India. Rahul, lets hope you are listening!
On your way out, you can pay your visits to the temple where Goddess Sheetala devi. I was very amused to see the fountain since I was reminded of my younger days when we visited the university fountain in Pune. If my parents let me in to get wet, I would consider it to be such a treat; the simple joys of childhood. However, my parents were not always that adventurous to allow me in each time. Now that’s a perk of growing up; you can jump into a sea for all you care and not having to listen to anyone monitoring you.
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| Fountain by the temple |
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| That's the two rupee coin on the smaller leaf that I put |
It was an excellent weekend. Two nights, would be more relaxed. Strategize your departure time to spend the least amount of time traveling to the place. If you are out on a weekend date and enjoy *** a lot, almost perfect. ***, beach, relax. ***, beach, relax. ***, beach, relax. ***, beach, relax. ***, beach, relax. :P
