Delhi - Shirdi - Mumbai- Delhi

This was a short and sweet trip which I generally go every year except the Mumbai part which was PUNE in all my earlier trips. This time my travel benefitted the Indian railways a lot as 4 days of holidays(18th feb to 21st Feb) was spent mostly on the trains.

Had a second class reservation on Jhelum express till Kopergaon(station much near to shirdi). Got a good friend(uncle) who was travelling from Jammu to PUne on the same train. He was a rich Pundit in Kashmir and he told how his properties were looted and was asked to leave the place only with his Car and family(given a preference i would have taken only the car), as usual i also checked with him if he had any daughters but seems he had only a son who is also into this stupid IT(disappointed!!!). But still he was more fond of the Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha conflict.

Roamed for a couple of Hours in the Shirdi temple(had a hefty langar there, and went for darshan of Sri Saibaba which took around 3 hours to reach the samadhi) and went to Sani Shignapore which is about 60 KM from shirdi. This is a place where Lord Sani stood as a stone. The beauty of this village iis that none of the houses there have doors or footsteps, and even the shopowner leave their shops open during the night.

Took an MSRTC bus from shirdi to aamchi Mumbai, the conductor assured me that the bus will be reaching Thane(suburb in mumbai where my friend Osscilator stays) by 7 or 8, but unfortunately it seems the bus driver slept pressing the accelerator and i reached Thane 3 hours earlier by 4:30 AM. So the best option was to wake my friend Osscilator in this sleepy little suburb. I didnt know that he had slept only at 3:00 AM after seeing The Aviator but still i woke him up by 4:30 as he has to do his duty of accomodating me and do a little early morning walk...

It was a chilly Sunday morning(Mumbai- i never expected in my life time that it would touch 10 degrees). What a mess he was eeking out his living in that typical bachelor room with the maid trying to find places to clean(she must be given some sorta award). My friend recommended saying that we got a place called Yehur which is a small picnic spot near Thane, we were joined by 2 more of his colleagues who were from IIM's/CA's (bad company indeed..)

The auto driver took us for a ride saying that it is a very steep hill and when gone a bit faster the auto will topple down into the gorge, snatched away 200 Bugs. But ultimately the entire hill was not even equivalent to the Height of the Apartment where i stayed(about 10 floors) and there was a regular bus service(BEST) from that hill to right to the entrance of my friends house which we came to know later. Nothing special we found over there just a good location with lots of farm houses.

After the costly trip to the hill we returned back to Thane in the evening and went shopping in the roads of Thane. Then me and osscilator decided to go to Chowpathi beach. Took a fast local from Thane station and reached VT. From VT we parambulated towards the Marine Drive. It was a good walk for me and even better for oscillator who had been deprived of his sleep from 5:00 AM. After reaching Marine drive we had those Corns, Bhel Poor's Sev Poori, Paav Bhaaji, Bada Paav and Kulfies at Chowpathi beach. Sitting in Marine drive in the night itself is a real entertainment(particulary hindering the privacy of couples). Bought a couple of VCDs and games CD in VT. Came back home and had a nice sleep till Monday morning.

Next day i had to leave to my hometown(Delhi) by Mumbai Rajdhani. So after saying good bye to my friend i went to Dadar and went to the Sidhi Vinayak temple. It takes only 20 min by walk to this shrine, had darshan there and had my brunch in a hotel nearby the station. Dadar station is itself is bustling with activities and is very energetic to watch. Then i took a local to Mumbai central to catch Rajdhani.

I liked the services provided inside the rajdhani, particularly the Kulhad dahi. There also i got a few friends one was a industrialist and others were in IT and business. We spoke a lot right from the Economy of China to the problems of Bollywood. A totally different enviroment change from a second class to a Three tier AC. Tuesday morning i was welcomed by a breakfast in the train it reached ND by 10:00 AM sharp. Then took a Blue line from there to my home(ah home sweet home without any GAS and electricity as it was cut by the EB of UP.)