Bhigwan – A Visual Treat for Bird Lovers

Bhigwan – Surely one can call this place as the Bharatpur of Maharashtra.
Situated in South Central Maharashtra, Bhigwan is a part backwaters of Ujni Dam, one of the largest dam reservoir in India. The reservoir provides a perfect place for the birds to spend their winters, with ample of fish available to feed on, and more important, the mangrove like habitat along the bank.

How to Reach :
Bhigwan is around 100kms from Pune City, on Pune-Solapur-Hyderabad Road. Best mode of transport should be personal vehicle. MSRTC buses plying between Pune-Solapur can drop you at Bhigwan and are available from Swargate Bus Stand in Pune. It would take around 2 hours for a car/bike, but around 3 hours by a bus owing to the heavy traffic.

Best Season :
Most of the migratory birds arrive during November and December. However, Flamingos, the main attraction of the site arrive only after Jan-Feb. Best time to reach is early morning and you can view the unique fishing techniques exhibited by the birds. Birds aren’t that camera shy and often show up themselves in their natural way. But it is always better to maintain a distance. Once they fly away, better keep popcorn/peanuts for timepass.

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Last one, most favorite shot of the day!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

*Though this post is not a work of fiction, but it surely cannot be related to any individual.

It often happens that we meet some people in our life that leave a trace, which imprints an unforgettable impression on our mind. The only thing we could do is to cherish it. How difficult it becomes sometimes just ‘to keep in touch’. Facebook & other social media do help, but I think, somehow they are a part of the reason for people to drift apart.

I moved to Pune 5 years ago from Nagpur, and I really used to miss my pals there. Whenever I used to go back to home, we’d had a great time together chatting, night-outs, long rides and what not.16 hours out of the 24, I’d be with friends. The distances were so short inspite of some 800 kilometres in between. We used to call each other regularly, share our tragedies and all was going great.

But last year, we all finished our engineering, and most of my friends shifted to Pune for Job/further studies. Suddenly things changed. And the change was drastic. I won’t say it wasn’t my fault, but I couldn’t see any of them. For a few days we used to meet every day, next month, it became a weekly meet. Later, it came down to once in a month. 20-30km seemed too long to travel as compared to the 800km earlier. Some got girlfriends, who were not comfortable with all new faces around. Some preferred going for a movie rather than a night-out. Some preferred a booze party instead of a long drive. Things got so much entangled that unknowingly, we started avoiding each other. Once upon a time, a reason like new video game cassette was sufficient for all of us to get together, but now even a funeral isn’t.

Thanks to Facebook, it connects us well, allows us to know what we all are doing, where we have been. It’s easy to share pictures, even tag friends, especially in the ‘Top Friends List’(we are often tagged on top) We also spam each other frequently, and sometimes ‘Poke’ each other without any reason. We don’t miss each other as we are always in touch via Facebook. So we don’t feel the need to meet each, neither we have time for it. Once in while, we do call each other. But unfortunately, many times the range is poor, battery is low, or the mobile is left alone on silent. We often change our numbers and it’s sad, but the message with new number is never delivered.

Whatever it is, we still try our best to meet over a coffee, or a weekend trek or a short road trip. Never the less, things are discussed on Facebook itself. It is going great!!!

P.S. : Nobody realized that a bunch of guys who were ‘chaddi buddies’ once are nothing more than ‘Facebook Friends’ now.

Move On!

Stumbled upon this, and somehow the brain started reacting in a weird way. I am totally unaware of the secretions oozing out from some rotten part of my brain, but they are giving out some strange feelings, like a bad stink, which lasts for long(unfortunately, the good ones last just for a while).

Think about the home where you grew up, had some of the best moments of your lifetime, and someday the building is bulldozed. While it took years for you to carve memories there, you see each and every brick turning into dust in a matter of seconds. You had something for so long, like years, and then all of a sudden everything is just gone. It doesn’t really make sense to let go of something you loved, cherished for a long time.

But then, the building was getting old, the roof was leaking, walls were leaning, the floor was cracking…and someday it would have got miserable to live in the same house. So it also doesn’t make any sense to hold on when there’s actually nothing there.

You know the moment. It happens right after you realize you did something you wish you didn’t.
Even before, you know, what you are going to do, was never meant to happen. Actions do have consequences.
We do lose things all through our life. Nothing is permanent, not even the most secure relationship. But none of this has to be catastrophic. Sometimes losing one thing opens you up to something else. It might be a lesson that helps you be more effective and happier in the future.

You get a new home, more beautiful and comforting, and you start again.
The point is you will eventually let go and move on.

The most painful moment is when you see your home running down, and that you cannot do anything about it.
Cherish it or regret it, WHATEVER.