Birthday Gift

    All of us are always excited to celebrate our birthdays. We all are always eager to enjoy the birthday party with our near and dear ones. We all receive lots of gifts on our birthdays and some gifts are so special that they remains in our heart forever. I had also received such a special gift. So it was my 16^th birthday and as usual I was excited for that day. One of my uncles planned a beautiful one-day trek at Padargad as a birthday gift for me. As I am very much fond of trekking I was exhilarated by it. But simultaneously due to my busy daily routine, I was not as habitual to exercise as before. It didn’t take me till I reached the trekking spot.

     Early morning we left our respective dwellings and met at the decided site. We all three me, my uncle, and his friend left the city of dreams Mumbai to experience a new thrill. As we reached Karjat we decided to have breakfast and then move further so we parked the car near one dhaba and had some kanda bhaji and chai which started our day with great charm. Then we moved towards our trekking spot. As we reached the foot of the hill we got out of the car, packed the respective bags, and started climbing. I was trekking after a large gap of six months and had no exercises so initially I faced some difficulties but then I was comfortable with my walk.

    After walking for some while where we have to make use of simple skills to climb it through the narrow gap between two big rocks. I was feeling as it is a test of my physical fitness. To define the correct route the symbols were made by the local people residing there. The symbols were made by arranging the stones one above the other. It was a beautiful example of local art forms of arranging the stones to locate the correct route for visitors.  

Padargad

Narrow Gap

Arrangement of stones

    I was fully exhausted when we reached at the top but the amazing view from the top, the fresh air, and the awesome climate refreshed me. We sat there and had lunch, dryfruit bhaji made our lunch from beautiful to beautiful. As we finished our lunch and were roaming there we saw a green pit viper, it was very close to me somehow I managed to be away from it. One of us managed to take a photo of it. I was amazed by seeing it rather than scared because I had not seen a snake like it before.

Top of the fort

Green pit viper

View from top

    After spending quality time, we started to climb down. For me climbing down became more difficult than climbing up. During passing through that narrow pass I loosed my control and fell down. I was very fortunate that there was no serious injury, there was just a little pain in my back as well as in my ankle. We climbed down till late afternoon and started our return journey. This trek gave me the realization that I have to still get more fit and get well trained for such types fort. It also gave me a lifelong lesson that we should be well fit physically as well as mentally for different situations. I enjoyed my birthday with such a beautiful gift which gave me a lot of enjoyment and pleasure as well as beautiful life advice.