Hurda Party at Sister's farm - Karjat, Ahmednagar

When winter comes, hurda party begins. We missed it last few years. 

We had all gathered at Tisgaon for my nephew's naming ceremony. After the ceremony, we stayed for two days and while we were getting ready to leave for Pune, my sister and brother-in-law started urging us to stay for one more day. They proposed to go to their farm at Karjat for Hurda party, and we couldn't say no and our stay was extended by 1 day.

We immediately decided to go to Karjat and hurried off there with bhakari, onion, pickles and chutney. We were 15 and got into 3 cars.  On the way,  had a quick stop at Kada at my sister-in-laws house and reached at Karjat around 4pm. 

Since it was our first visit to their farm, everyone was walking around and exploring the farm. All were happy to see the well filled with water and most exciting part was tamarind & amla trees. After eating the amla and tamarinds, all went to the venue of the party and got ready for the hurda. 

From the youngest to the oldest everyone enjoyed the Hurda party and immediately planned to go there every year. 

Mangesh ordered 'Shipi Amti' as it is specialty of the region, but we all ate too much hurda and no one was hungry rather no one was ready to change the taste. So we decided to take amti as parcel at home and decided to leave as it started getting colder. The sun began to set and atmosphere started getting gloomy.

As Godad Maharaj Math in Karjat is famous, we visited it and immediately left for Tisgaon and reached home at 9.30 pm. We had our dinner just the sake of eating Shipi Amti and it was tasted awesome.

Special thanks to Shraddha and Mangesh Bhanage for this sudden, small but very nice picnic. Thank you for insisting and taking us to your farm . We all had lots of fun and memorable time.  

A day trip to Dhom-Balkawadi dam, Wai during Diwali holidays

My sister in law was asking to have a quick morning trek to Sinhgad on Sunday, 15^th November, as there was no ritual for Diwali that day. But we were not sure whether Sinhgad is open for tourists or not, so decided to visit Dhom-Balkavadi dam in the early morning.  

We were planning to leave Pune at 5am but were 30 minutes late. After picking up my sister-in-law, her husband and my nephew from Sinhgad road started our journey towards Wai. We wanted to reach there around 7am to watch a beautiful sunrise, to watch sunlight reflections in dam water and the mountain ranges is a visual treat and never miss from there. Reached the farm without any pit stop though missed sunrise and reached there around 8am. A selfie was the first thing we did as soon as we got down of the car.

Immediately after reaching there, 4-5 peahens come on our way that came in the search of food and then returning home.  We roamed here and there which increased Vitamin D and eating a few amla fruits had increased vitamin C intake in our body. Indeed a healthy trip after COVID-19 lockdowns!!  

Climate was very pleasant, we could see gems of the morning i.e. dew drops on the grass. There is a banyan tree, so hanging to the strong roots of the tree is a must and enjoyable too. 

We went to the farm and spent some quality time there, a view of mountains and the dam is completely mesmerizing, one can just sit and watch it for a whole day. You can see various birds, flowers, fishes there. The place is not at all polluted; it is free from air-sound-water pollution, completely natural. Dam water is also crystal clear and very clean, could see the bottom and spot fishes. 

We sat down at the katta which is made around a tree. Once the dam is full; you can easily put your feet in the water by just sitting on the katta, small fish will give a good pedicure to your feet. We had brought Diwali faral, fruits and salad made by Parth(my nephew), which all finished while discussing our previous visits to the place.  Every time I could discover a new thing there; this time spotting rabbits and monkeys was a surprise, but could not capture them in the photograph. 

Dam and mountains view from the katta is a delight that anyone can see for a long time. 

Picturesque view of the Balkawadi Dam

After spending almost 3 hours we decided to leave because we had to go to a relative on the way. Our plan was to reach home by 5pm to make some arrangements for the next day Padva and Bhaubeej celebration.

A selfie is mandatory before leaving the place J J

While returning we enjoyed misal at Bhairavnath Hotel, Khambataki ghat; misal and buttermilk were awesome. They served plenty of onion and lemon along with misal, usually, it is served in less quantity in most of the hotels.

After Ambegaon we went to Dhankavadi to visit the in-laws of my sister-in-law and reached home around 7 pm.  It was much much-needed trip as for the last few months no travel due to COVID-19. It was really an amazing break from the daily routine.  

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