A Bachelors party

(This is one of such posts that almost went to the back burner…and then, I somehow revived it for emotional reasons J ...I started writing it as a "travelogue" and ended up with a "memoire". You may feel that this is a bunch of uselessness...But all I tried to put in is an account of some very good times and some warm memories I had with the people, I care the most)

The prologue

A string of Hindi profanities croaked from the other end of the line. It was just as I thought. With shrewd placement of words I got the most accurate and anticipated response and I had my animated laugh as ever. On the other end of line, was my friend who would soon be a husband, with butterflies in his stomach and hell nervous about the fresh step he was going take in his life. This time it was him who planned the outing….an exodus from our daily lives. With Good Friday in a month and half to go, as ever the process of planning a rendezvous to spend the extended weekend together was supposed to be on high spirits. As always someone amongst us had to take the initiative, this time it was him.

How could I miss a great opportunity to have a dig at him? So very conveniently I proclaimed, "Let's do it. After all, it would be your Bachelors party….The last wild thing we would do together!!!" The response to it was as I mentioned above….EXHILARATING!!! A string of Slangs followed reassurances that things won't be as bad as I try to project. The wilderness within us wouldn't be tamed by marriage.

The Flash Back

"We all will continue to do what we did…..We would hang out with each other….Our families would be an extension of our circle of trust….".These were the vows we took during our college days. We did have a few instances where this vow was broken but still it is an unsaid rule amongst us. A rule which each one is aware is not practical. That, things would change….as it is the part and parcel of life. A bitter truth we all don't like to face, an opinion on which we wouldn't like to grow up. But why should we? It's been almost half a decade since we passed out and even today the bond between us is growing stronger. This can be commemorated by the fact that each one of us is a SPOC (Single Point of Contact) of everyone else. My buddies who are in Pune, still meet every week with the same zeal as ever….Guys like me who are not in the city…try to make it up and meet them at least once every month…Guys who are located outside India, call at least twice a month…And then there is a an occasional string of mail chains…..Archives of which I read and laugh when I feel bored of life J .Not to forget about the endless online chats we have. We still are in touch on a day to day basis…May be its not a big deal…but I have never seen anything like this anywhere else…We are us, when we are together. There is no professionalism and no p's and q's amongst us. We boastfully called us The Devils-THE AJMERA DEVILS….As Ajmera was our adobe during our college days. We spent a good deal of time there and are very emotionally attached to this little locality in Pimpri, Pune. We are 8 buddies who were always together at the halls of ivy. And even today we call us THE AJMERA DEVILS!! J

The Sprout

There had been a spurn of marriage announcements. 3 of my friends were getting married in the span of 15 days. It was being speculated from a year that many of us would get hooked up soon. So like sages seeking desolation, like flame burning on the last drop of oil, we yearned for egression. As always we looked for an opportunity to reprise ourselves to our past.

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not people the less, but Nature more."

The lines above are something that I happen to read somewhere….but it has been exactly something that we all have always embraced whenever we decided on a rendezvous with natural beauty. Little was known about "Dapoli" when Alpesh suggested about it and little did we know that we were going to have one of the most soothing and relaxing moments of recent times. The date was April 10^th, a Good Friday. So finally, me & Alpesh set out with Rohith and Sumeet (the soon to be grooms) to celebrate their "Bachelors Party". As usual, I made it late to Sumeet's house at early wee hours of Friday. Soon Alpesh was in, and it became obvious that we would be going to sleep late with our usual chit-chats. But then, I observed a change in the whole process…My dear friend Sumeet wanted to retire soon as he was expecting a call early in the morning, 4'o clock to be precise…..Well, no prizes to guess, it was to be from his fiancée…But then a guy like him….waking up so early to attend a call…..It was simply an amazing and refreshing change….oh yes! He is an early riser but he was never up by 4. All I could say was "Apne baap ke liye bhi aisa nahi karega…J" .

There was no expectations on how the trip would turn out….The one prior to this to Harihareshwar had turned out be dissatisfactory as we planned the whole thing in and for a day. We started late by afternoon and by the time we reached our resort; it was late in the night. It took a lot of efforts to spot our resort "The Sagar Hill Resort". The place was so remote and dark that we hardly realized that it was actually a beach resort. That it housed itself on a hill and faced the sea…..hence the name "Sagar Hill".

The Romance

"Kuch hosh nahi rehta, kuch dhyaan nahi rehta,

Insaan mohabbat mein, insaan nahi rehta….."

Above are lines from a Hindi movie that describes the mood that evening…..The longing of the young love was sensed soon by me and Alpesh…..as our lover boys started looking for corners where they could find reliable mobile networks and also for some privacy to have their daily dose of romance…the one powered by the technology….the Telephonic Romance!!!!!. I had already witness enough magic! These were the two guys, I could hardly fathom being romantic…..Both had always felt dizzy by the very thought of same! The very guys who despised and loathed the small talks between any couples were shamelessly involved in babblesJ. Love was in the air, I completely agreed with my friend, a co-devil Satish….who reported the same to me few weeks back before leaving to USJ.

The Teaser

Post dinner, guided by the moon above, we left our resort into the dark steep road outside the resort, only then we realized in the moon light that our resort had a hill on it backdrop. Somebody suggested about climbing it in the night....was it me? Everyone had the same opinion. I would not have been surprised if we had decided to climb it, as that exactly been our idea of being wild. Somehow the whole idea got diverted as Alpesh found one strange mammoth boulder of a rock leaning away from the road. He promised to climb it before leaving the place. Yes, it's not partying late night or booze that excited us but these kinds of activities that would set our spirits high. We slept late but earlier than usual. Not to forget, one of our lover boys was expecting a call early in the morning.

The Kickoff

Our day started early when Alpesh found a seducer of Sumeet, lying on a hammock and involved in telephonic coochie-coo with his would be wife. God bless the inventors of mobile phone…Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to watch the sun rise, a rarest of the rare event of my lifeJ. The sound of the waves allured us, and one by one we followed it. Rohith was reluctant to come but couldn't wait once three of us were out on the beach. Ahead of us lay the Herne beach.
The sea goddess looked like a newly-wed bride with the red rising sun decorated liked the Vermilion on her forehead. The wind was blowing in with all the zeal. The sea, the sun and the wind pumped in a new energy in us. Suddenly we forgot about our broken sleep and the energy drainage caused due to the tiresome journey of the previous day. We strolled on the beach and were spellbound by what we were witnessing. Moments like these leave you awestruck in respect to the greatest artist, the almighty, for his grandeur in his art. The moment was so captivating that it would bring out the romantic side of the most frigid hearts. So it happened, one of the lover boys drew some heart shapes on the beach with his and his sweethearts name in it! We took snaps of that Kodak moment.

Moments later we were involved in the all kinds of plays.


Frog race, running race and then later catch practice with a ball that was thrown to us by our driver. After having our breakfast, we had some nap. By noon, we took our cab and left for Dapoli beach. It was cleaner than we expected. We were off to have a duel with the waves. I, Alpesh and Sumeet had previous experience of toiling in the waves at Goa and Harihareshwar unlike Rohith. We made it a point to train him the same. Slowly and steadily we started venturing into sea until we were neck deep. We had learned the art of enjoying the waves in Goa by observing the foreigners. Within minutes, we were at least 100 meters into the sea waiting for each high tide and jumping along with it. It was a wonderful feeling. There were all kinds of tides. The smooth ones would just give you slight nudge, the medium ones, would jerk you and the strong ones, at least 7 feet's high would drench you over and would knock you out. Even while we were having a duel with the sea, we were involved in our future plans and all the usual ribaldrous talks that men are involved in.

We spent 2 hours in the waves and then decided to fly in the air. I don't know the exact term by which it is known. A balloon to which you are entwined is tied to a jeep and as the jeep is driven, you fly in the air. What a spine-tingling experience it was! I experienced the real meaning of a thriller when I was flying in the air. Felt like the emperor of the world. I screamed, as people below looked up. Wow! What an experience. Flamboyance of Sumeet, Alpesh and mine didn't allow us to be contented by just once so we experienced the same twice. I recommend this hair raising experience to everyone!

As we reached back to our resort, Rohith expressed his strong desire to enjoy the waves again. So again, we enjoyed the wave. After some time, we realized that I was not able to make it for the recent birthday celebration of one amongst us. It seemed that my thunder kicks were missingJ! We decided to celebrate it again. The other three of us stripped the belated-birthday boy off his clothes and left him in the sea. There he was birth nude in the sea, concealed by the waves. As he pleaded for mercy we all had our devilish laugh.

The day after

Next day we woke up early for a boat ride into the sea, to watch the dolphins. The sea goddess avowed her actual majesty with full vigor. The waves here were towering and jolted the little ark. We cruised laboriously and finally at one point the motor of boat was silenced. 100 meters from us we found a family of dolphin swimming along. To be frank, it was the sea that excited us more than the dolphins. I must admit, whoever goes to Dapoli should go for Dolphin ride.

The Climax
Finally, it was time to bid adieu. But we had one little task to accomplish. Alpesh wanted to climb the rock that had a strange shape and size and stood outside our resort. I reminded him about his promise to vanquish the same. So, he climbed it, with a bit of effort. I invited trouble, when I myself decided to climb too. With reasonable help and efforts I manage to climb. After reaching on top, I decided to take a leak. So did I. This is when Satan in Sumeet & Rohith rose. They decided to pelt stone at us. Everything was filmed by Rohith. As camera was rolling, we decided to descend. Alpesh positioned himself well and leaped to land safely. Frankly speaking, it sure was a dangerous exercise. Alpesh managed it because he is fairly better built than me. It was at this moment that I cursed myself the most for not having taken care of myself. For being ill disciplined and out of shapeJ. I found myself trapped and was most certain to hit the uneven rocky terrains below rather than land on the road. So I decided to climb down with the help of my friends. They guided me by giving me instructions on where I should position my leg. Just when I thought I was through I heard Alpesh screaming "Don't take off your leg, there is nothing below". And there I was literally cliff hanging with no support. A sense of panic prevailed. Alpesh quickly went down to the uneven rocky terrains, a good 4 feet below to catch me. He literally caught me with Sumeet's support. The moment I landed, there was a burst of laughter. This icing on the cake would have turned disastrous but we lived up with the moment. When I went back to our cab, the cabbie gave a sympathetic lookJ.
Finally, some mid way, we heard Sumeet unconsciously screaming his would-be's name for no reason. We all gave him a puzzled look and burst into laughter…..He was thoroughly embarrassed and gave us some irrational explanation for the same…for which we again laughed of hearts out! J

The Epilogue

We would still have such outings and plans but may be it won't be so spontaneous and coincidental ones. It would surely be more planned and much more domesticated. Till now everyone had to assemble at the said time now may be we will have enquire about everyone's availability. Gone are the days when we have a frog race, when we fearlessly venture into the sea. Profanities and indelicacies would be minimized. I know it's a part of growing upJ. My friends got married and strangely I don't feel like a bachelor anymore J