"Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher" . - William Wordsworth

What effects would virgins have on you ? Woo-hoo, i was talking about virgin beaches. Well, they compelled me to blog. Simply by memories of vast streches of sand, rocky ledges, clear blue waters peppered with the reality of rural life in india.
With no experience of a backpackin trip, with zilch plan in place and with just a travellers book for directions in hand, we headed out of the crowded dirty roads of mumbai, so excited about not wallowing this weekend in alchohol. The ferry ride from Gateway of India took about an hour of being followed by swooping seagulls to get us across. Just as the ferry hit the shores of Mondwa, i was soaking up sights of beaches with such untouched scenic beauty. Is it possible that an hours travel is all it takes to transport one into this no-mans-land literally ? We, backpackers, followed this up with a series of rides on different kinds of autos and buses to finally have us being dropped at this deserted beach. Found a small shack to stay only to leave in fresh spirits to soak up more of the sea ! Allured by the stony ledges which was uninhabited for long streches, we found a rock each (mans' territorising habits seldom take a back seat !!) after making our way through many of them. Solitude is such a necessary habit for the soul, time was well used with absorbing every minute of the sunset. Sky was changing colors very gradually, against the horizon shifting from yellow to orange to a mild pink, to indigo to finally the color of the night. Waves so incessant crashing at our feet, tryin to get higher each time as though wanting to swallow us. Soon as we turned around, we found to our shock that rocks that we strode on were now submerged with water, and visibility was very poor. Heated debates on how to get to the shore followed. "How i wish we stuck with the rest of humanity on the other side of the beach" we lamented. Possibilty of lurking sea creatures and having to wade across really deep water left us in a state of shock. "Lets just go !!" we decided. and slowly made our way back on all fours, not knowing if the next step would hit a rock when we wud yelp for flayed skin or deep sand when we were neck deep in water. The moon and the willows looked eerie, as though taken over by demonic forces to teach us a lesson for getting too close to nature. "We are like moths, attracted by the light of nature, only to be killed by it" realisation dawned in. Nature makes repeated statements establishing its supremacy over man, time and again and maybe we were meant to go thru this to face that fact. "Oh my god !" we whispered, too scared to be loud and too shaky to say anything else, hugging each other in reassurance of the fact that we got out of that alive. The rocky ledges had taught us a lesson for life. "lets get something hot into our system" declared my fellow-backpacker. The Shack, hot tea, wood-fire cooked meal, everything seemed so heavenly and inviting after this escapade that we decided to not leave its comfort for the rest of the night. Come morning, we forgot about our tiff with the waters and rushed to see it like estranged lovers.

It was as if the waters had emptied all their pent up ferociousness last night and assumed its tranquil, composed roles now. A day full of possibilities unfolded, resolving to help us visit many more untouched beaches. Destination : Solitary Lighthouse at Korlai beach - the book enticed us too much with its description of it. The only means of transport we found to get to it was a bullock cart, and we jumped at the possibility of experiencing it. It was a rickety ride, dotted with sights of thatched huts, dried fish spread out, water pumps from the quaint village we were passing by, as villagers stared curiously at us, we passed through the fishing area crowded with wooden boats and reeking of fishing nets. It was then that we saw this breath-taking sight that looked like it was pulled out from a picture, of a meandering narrow path leading to a solitary lighthouse set against the vast seas, white sands and quaint tropical shrubs. This was like the icing in the cake of the trip which ended with us back tracking our steps to get back to the grand old city of bombay. Oh boy! were we glad we made this voyage happen ???