Lonavala (At the end of Trip 3)

Everybody in the group loves to play cricket and so we did just that. Just outside the bungalow compound, we took out our bats and balls, formed 2 teams and started playing. All had their spirits high thanks to the drinks that we had just sometime back. We played cricket for a good couple of hours. While playing cricket, there were gossips of playing hide and seek and torturing Manish by making him seek all of us in the night, after dinner. Some were still pissed at him for the way he acted in Mrurd-Janjira with the caretaker there. Hence, everyone was kind of excited to wait for the evening and bully the hell out of Manish.

After playing cricket, some people started having a bath in the garden itself, with a pipe (Not naked obviously) and the rest who preferred a hot water bath, went in the bathrooms to freshen up. The caretaker of this bungalow was washing 2 of the cars which were in the compound. In an hours time, everybody was done with their baths and till then decided to have dinner at home which the caretaker was to prepare and so we had to go to the market to buy vegetables and chicken. Four of us including me, Sudeep, Hardik and Pankaj were bored to go to a crowded market place and decided to remain in the bungalow for a while. The other nine people went to the market to buy the vegetables. After a few photosessions, we four thought about going to the market and checking out the crowd. And to our surprise, the girls out there were really good. Our jaws dropped at the sight of their revealing clothes and our eyes were popping out every 2 minutes. We started having some junk food there and coincidently, the other nine people also joined in. I didnt come to know when they joined in. Anyway, there was Sunny, who was furious and didnt want us to eat much outside because there was a lot of food to be prepared for us. But i think he underestimated our eating capacity. Anyway, while eating, there were a couple of cute girls next to a shop and Mr. Sagar accompanied with someone went to that Namkeen shop and started asking for rates of the commodities. As soon as the girls left, the shopkeeper almost packed the commodities that Sagar had asked for, and i remember him saying, " Abey tu rakh apne paas..." then Sagar followed the girls to another shop which had only women clothing. Sudeep was asking him what he would do going there because it was a shop meant for ladies, to which Sagar replied, " Meri behen ke liye khareedna hai..." Not to our surprise, he came out empty handed.

Then we finally went home after bird-watching for more than an hour there and decided to hang out on the terrace with some drinks. Hardik the bartender was showing off his skills as a bartender. The climate was really cool and because of this weather, drinks ka mazaa hi kuch aur tha. Manish was bragging as usual that he wouldn't be high on drinking an entire bottle of vodka... NEET(without mixing anything else)!! So Hardik and Rasal got togther and gave him a 750 ml. bottle of vodka and told him to gulp the entire bottle down his throat. He was pretty apprehensive and declined the offer to do so. So Hardik and Rasal started teasing him that he couldn't do so, that he was a coward, that he was a liar, and he can just boast about himself, and not do it when the time comes. Hardik and Rasal were spot on as these words were enough to provoke Manish and he took the bottle which had almost 120 ml left in it and gulped it down, with no sign of discomfort. I was baffled. Infact not only me, everyone else thought it was really surprising for Manish to do it. He finished the bottle and Hardik and Rasal sarcastically made him feel like the king of the world. And he was pretty happy being on cloud 9 at that moment. Manish had a body language that said, this is nothing, I can do a lot more. So Hardik teased him more and convinced him to drink more. We were out of vodka, so Hardik and a few people went to the market to get one more bottle especially for Manish and another one for the group. By the time they reached home, Manish had disappeared. Later on, we came to know that he was speaking on the phone, only god knows with whom. He was brought back on the terrace on demand and this time, everybody was teasing him and bullying him so that he would drink more. But he didnt drink. He seemed washed out, eventhough he said that he wasnt. From the terrace of the bungalow, the western express highway can be seen. In between all our fun, we noticed an arguement between a truck driver and an esteem car driver. We don't know what exactly happened, but we shouted 'maaro maaro' excitedly to both the drivers. The truck driver took it in a light humourous way and showed us the thumbs-up and they moved on.

Now the time was 11 in the evening and it was dinner time. Everyone was hungry again and more than the dinner, people awaited the game that was to be played after dinner. We had a good filling dinner. We realised how hungry we were when we fell short of rotis. After hogging on all the food left, we sat down for sometime there in the garden and chilled out for sometime. That was the time to impliment our plan and make Manish our target for the seeker. We all had planned to "pukao" and get the den on Manish. It worked. The very first move, and Manish's den. It was a bit suspicious, but Manish didnt suspect anything at that moment. Our plan worked and now it was time for fun. All lights of the bungalow were switched off and it was picth dark. Rules were set that no one was to hide inside the bungalows. Only the bungalow compounds and the garden area was the area of hiding. But, just as he went to count, four of them hid in the car, a couple of them went on the terrace, and the others hid, or rather went to sleep in the bungalow. Manish had a terrible time looking for everyone. He didnt have a clue as to where everyone was. To play more, Hardik played with the pass light of the car, and Manish came to know that someone was in the car. The car, was heavily tinted. It was a VIP car, hence that amount of tint was allowed, and hence, not a single person could be seen in the car. Manish tried finding out who was in the car, but gave up later on. He adopted a strategy of hiding himself, so that others will come out and he can get them out. The members in the car saw him hiding, and then Hardik called Manish on his phone. On picking up, he abused and told him, "Abey tera den hai, hum logo ka nahi, tu kya chhup raha hai?? Baahar nikal!!" He came out again and started hunting down for us. By that time, we were fast asleep.

I dont know how the game ended, but i know that we succeeded in our plan to bully Manish. He was seeking for us for more than an hour i guess. Later on, i was woken up by Hardik and Mohit, as they pushed me to give them space for sleeping. Me, Mohit and Hardik discussed on what happened with Manish, but i don't remember a thing of it as i was too deep in sleep when they woke me up. Then Hardik started pulling Mohit's leg. I somehow joined in, and we were telling Mohit about a few girls whom he could possibly hook up with. Can't go in further details about that[:P]but Mohit was rather gullible about it and took it rather seriously. He was begging Hardik to help him hook up with any of the girls there. Then later on, after the conversation ended, Mohit got up and went to some other room to talk about his chances of hooking up with someone while me and Hardik laughed cunningly about it. We slept off at around 1:30 that night. Hardik had some important family work the next day to attend and another friend had to go early too. So it was decided that Sudeep, Hardik, Sid and Mont will leave in one of the cars early morning by 6.

Getting up after a few hours, i saw Hardik and Sudeep all ready and geared up to leave. I got up to wish them good bye and then they finally left by 7. We had decided to stay in the bungalow till evening as there was an India-England Cricket match. But some had to leave, and so there was a debate if we should stay or leave. So we decided to leave and reach home early, so that we can watch the match at home with peace.

We went to have breakfast at a place nearby and everyone had Missal Pao there which was really delicious. Then, having tea, we started our journey for home. For a very long time, I was eyeing the front seat of the SX4. I wanted to sit in the front and enjoy the experience. And so I did. We started our journey from there, for home. Everyone was in a bit of a hurry because they didnt want to miss the match.

I was just loving the SX4 comforts. The highway infront of us was open, and Rasal, wanting to test the raw power of the car, stepped on the accelerator. The car was now at a speed of 160 km/h at one point of time. He slowed down a little and later on, again pressed on the accelerator. This time there was a small curve along the highway and the speed was 170 km/h. It felt like heaven. The A.C. was on and it didn't feel like the car was at that kind of a speed. It felt as if the car was at around 80, or max 90 km/h. Rasal then wanted everyone to take a drinks break. He led us somewhere in Matunga where we get milkshakes and all kind of juices. Everyone was furious as they wanted to go home soon. The match had already started and they were getting really angry because they were missing all the fun of Sehwag and Sachin opening the innings. But still, we had our milk shakes and juices, enjoyed them, and then again started.

Only an hour away from home, the traffic was kind of annoying. When uve come from a place where there have been no cars or signals in the way, it is natural to be irritated by the little Sunday traffic that we witnessed. Being at really high speeds, the mediocre speed of 80km/h at this stage was annoying. But then finally one by one, each person was being dropped at their home and after a while we saw Sudeep in the township, looking rather busy with some work. Anyway, finally I was dropped too. It was the end of one of the most unforgettable holidays of our lives. Hope we have many more like this one. THE END