Encounter With The Leopard

I had already heard many villagers talking about a leopard who keeps wandering about in the village during night. Some said to have spotted 2 leopards (probably a couple) next to the primary school where as someone said that the leopard halted whole night in his backyard and finished off a new born calf. Few school girls saw him resting next to the road at the distance and could not dare to go any further. Some told to have heard a roaring at Night. All the stories seemed to me nothing but an entertainment stock and I relished each and every lot of it being quite heedless of an existence of the leopard.

I was expecting my Guests at Maachli in the midnight. All the staff members finished the routine activities and went home. I grabbed 3 torches, one with a strong focus for me and the other two for the guests.I walked to the road and positioned myself at the point where I can wave my hand at the vehicle of the guest. The environment was enchanting and the glimmering starlit sky made it all the more glorious. I tried to identify some typical stuff like Milky Way, pole star, Saptarshi but failed miserably.

After some time, I saw one vehicle coming towards me. It was definitely not the one of the guest as it was coming from the opposite side. The vehicle slowed down and stopped when it was just 50 meters away from me. There was a catlike creature which suddenly drew my attention and was slowly moving across the road. I stood looking at it admiringly as it was marching with a great elegance. I was so much lost in the vision that I could hardly make out what it is. A driver of the vehicle set the focus of a light on high beam and I could clearly see the picture and caught a sight of this strikingly handsome animal. It was definitely a catlike creature but much bigger than that and Yes!!! It was a leopard.

 A focus of a light caused a big discomfort to the leopard and it was driven away for a while. I saw him walking towards me. His wagging tail and his terrible eyes gleaming through the dark were visible against the light of the vehicle. As he drew closer I started stepping back. I was hurriedly looking for the stick but I did not get one. I cursed myself not to have listened to my grandfather who thousand times cautioned me to carry a stick in hand. Old villagers say that such wild animals are less afraid of human beings than they are of stick.

I was aware of the fact that human beings generally are not a prey of leopards (I hoped that this one belonged to that general category) and not even single person has been harmed by a leopard not only from my childhood but also from my grandfathers. This gave me an adequate courage to stand steady in front of this gracious and one of the most aggressive and strongest animals from the wild. Both of us equally horrified, surprised and stunned had an eye contact. He looked away. It was sure that he wanted to distance himself from me. Then he managed to disappear in the bushes.

Now the road was clear. A vehicle came close to me. A driver gave me a strange stare and instructed me to always have stick in hand while alone on the road in the night. Later I grabbed a strong stick and patiently waited for the guests.

Next day I shared the same incidence with one of the guests who was very adventurous officer from the police force. He told me how unlucky he was despite going for a tiger safari 15 times in the tiger reserve and not to have spotted one even once.

I would like to thank the leopard(from the distance of kilometers) for the marvelous sight  and the driver of a vehicle for arriving there at the right time.

Coconut plucking Session

Konkan is known for the plentitude of coconut trees. The coconut tree is ingeniously considered desire yielding tree due to its very resourceful nature. Primarily we get coconut from the tree, but apart from it, there are many other subsidiary benefits of the same like coconut leaves to make little sheds (we have used coconut leaves on the roof top of a cottage at Maachli),wood(we have used it for the joinery of the roofing) and also many other parts in making rope, broom etc.Every house in Konkan is surrounded by coconut trees. Straight and erect posture of a Coconut tree also strengthens the Konkani person to preserve tremendous value system and eventually to keep the pride of a soil always high.

Focusing on the primary benefit of a tree, coconut plucking session is generally carried out 8 times a year, keeping gap of 1 and half months. A session is no where less than a ceremony, where all the people from the house are involved in some ways. It can also be compared with a worship of god which takes place occasionally in the house with the presence of a priest. The only difference in coconut plucking is, the poised and traditionally dressed priest is replaced by a skinny, tanned, rough and tough person, skilled from his childhood to climb a coconut tree.

My grandfather keeps a watch over coconut fall. The skilled chaps scatter coconuts all over the farm which needs to be taken care of through series of activities which typically includes collecting coconuts from the stream, finding way through the junk and thorns notwithstanding a bite of the red ants. I shoulder the responsibility of filling the same in a sac and mounting it on the head of fellow worker who takes it in the storage. Such activities keep repeating for 3 hours. Finally everyone gets a creamy tender coconut which happens to be a fruitful end of the session.

Sunset Trek to the Beach

Maachli is now all set to offer a wonderful sunset trek to the beach. In Modern stressful life, it is great news for people who like to walk leaving all the worries behind and earn their appetite and sound sleep in the end of the day.

Villager on the way working in his farm

Konkani Man is known for his healthy life styles and walking for miles together is his integral part of life. My Grand father says that he used to walk from Parule village to Vengurle town for primary education. His wrinkled eyes sparkle with the great nostalgia when he goes on telling about different spots on the way to Vengurle where he met some strangers, shared food and thoughts with them, variety of wild berries and fruits that he savored and different colorful birds, butterflies,trees,flowers he observed. As he gets soaked in all the old memories all I realize is it’s an incomparable luxury to walk in the nature and this feeling drives me to take my guest for a trek.

                                                                                                  

Breath Taking view of the beach

Our beach trek gives you an opportunity to hike through stunning biodiversity of the plateau, undergrowths, coconut groves, mango orchard, hills and small jungles. While en route you have to ascend and descend three hills and make your way through small village societies. Magnificent views of the beach from different places on the way not to be missed. Apart from the splendorous biodiversity, there is also a small temple to relax your tired body and freshen your mind. Trekkers can also interact with local people and learn their life style.

 After two hours walk you land up on the pristine, sun kissed beach where you witness sunset with the company of swaying coconut leaves, seabirds, refreshing winds and divine atmosphere of the beach.

Mission Complete

Maachli is enjoying a divine coolness even during the summer. Guests are surprised to experience luxury of coolness. This could only happen since Maachli has developed and maintained micro climate.

Maachli has taken several measures to keep up micro climate.

The Cottages are surrounded by Thick plantation of coconut, beetle nut, banana, mango, spices, kokam, banyan tree, peepal and many more. Trees keep the heat away as sun rays hardly reach ground so the soil and the atmosphere remain cool. The water is sprinkled in the farm time to time which helps the farm remain Green. The green color of a dense farm is always an eye cooling. A beautiful water stream flows through the farm.

The cottages are designed such a way that clean, cool and fresh air is guaranteed. Thick bed of coconut leaves is put on the roof which absorbs the heat.

These are the reasons why guests enjoy their sleep by covering themselves by woolen blanket even in the days of summer.                                         

                           Agro Tourism -A village treat

Sindhudurg is beautiful, verdant land and the least populated district in Maharashtra. It is an ideal getaway for the city slickers. Entire coastline of sindhudurg is known for tropical plantation like various spices, coconut, areca nut, cashew & alphanso Mango.

  

This coastal district of Maharashtra-is probably the most beautiful district in India. What we need to understand is that the people living here are actually very simple and humble with a tremendous value system inherently inbuilt .Their heritage matters a lot to them and the respect for culture and tradition is naturally imbibed.

The gracious Sea fort(Sindhudurg) built up in the Regime of The great king shivaji, at Malvan, fruit research center of nationally renowned agricultural university(Dapoli krushi Vidyapeeth) at Vengurle,wooden toy Market and historical palace at Sawantwadi along with numerous unexplored, pristine beaches and food culture make sindhudurg a special tourist destination. This special tourist destination is now ready with the basic infrastructure like tele-communication, Roads well connected to number of beaches, well conditioned national highway NH17.

While we look at Goa as an established tourist destination in beach tourism segment, it has undergone a drastic change in its social & economic structure. While development has been welcomed with open arms by government and natives, it has come at the cost of heritage & very often Goans have found themselves questioning about their identity. Hence Sindhudurg should certainly take one step ahead by adopting sustainable tourism ideas and concentrate on agro and village tourism. 

Nowadays Sindhudurg is coming up with lot of Home-stays.Home stays are always feasible. Even the last man of society can take part into it and help himself  develop his economy. An Ordinary farmer in Sindhudurg is learning sustainable way of improvising Tourism. Agro tourism is a good idea of sustainable tourism and self employment. An Ordinary farmer in Sindhudurg utilizes his own house to accommodate tourists. He shows them different temples, paddy fields, takes them to the cow shed and shows them how to milk a cow. In short he shows his daily routine and introduces the village life to city dwellers which in turn facilitates tourist to experience Nature, Agro and Village Tourism. Wife of the farmer churns out morning, after noon and evening to serve Malvani Feast. Tourists also take lessons of Malvani Cuisine from her. Language is never a barrier in communication as heart of the farmer is very big and language of heart is understood everywhere. He believes in “Atithi Devo Bhava” concept.(Treating Guest like God).Agro tourism provides market for the local agro produce and an employment for the natives.

Sindhudurg has a dense plantation of spice, betel nut, Coconut which can be used to boost tourism. Betel nut trees are apparently most unique to climb .Betel nut puckers needs a lot of practice & technical expertise. During one plucking session the puckers need not climb up and down again and again. Instead he can swing from one tree to the other. This Tarzan style demonstration is a common site in every farm in coastal konkan.

 As Sindhudurg is known for its hospitality, farmers need not get trained in any hospitality institution. The divine Nature of sindhudurg always manages to spring a surprise. The land, sea and sky-all blending together inspires tourists to think big and create better things in life-personal and professional. And they are ready to get back to work.

 Hi,

Dear Viewers!!Sharing the first blog with you.Different other blogs will inform you about all the aspects of konkan.

Man gets connected to the bigger world by spending time in the nature. We get relaxed and rejuvenated by listening to the rhythmic sound of nature as wind scrapes its way through the leaves of trees.
Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravitational force through his sharp observation of nature. This is how, in the company of nature, seemingly unending confusion in mind finally comes to an end & real intelligence gets liberated. Thus it is very important to go closer to the nature to flourish creativity.
Man is part of nature. Due to civilization he has adopted artificial lifestyle but our relationship of blood with the soil is an age old.

    Our main concept behind the project is to tune man’s cord with the nature, to make him/her feel relaxed, rejuvenated  and energized, to stimulate his/her verve &vitality, to subside manipulated worries & relieve boredom of modern man who is often eluded by real happiness due to civilization, modernization, industrialization and professionalism