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| Tekadi, Paud Road |
The tekdi holds a special place in my heart for many reasons.
Its lush beautiful green spaces had captured my heart right from the first day I went there. Habituated to seeing the concrete jungles, endlessly running after trains and buses and living a life like a robot in Mumbai for so many years , it was literally a breath of fresh air to see such a beautiful and green place right in the middle of the hustling bustling city of Pune.
‘Tekdi’ in Marathi means ‘hill’.
I went to the Tekdi for the first time in September 2007. It was a beautiful sight to look at the different hues of green leaves on the trees… It had rained that day….the ground was still wet… and the whole area was covered in a green grass blanket. It was like entering dense woods…there were beautiful flowering plants, shrubs amongst the dense trees… After going upto the “Great Mines Point”, we came back and went right upto the Small Hanuman temple…which is set admist a beautiful background, just near the edge of the hill…which overlooks the Kanchan Galli on the Law college road. It was very serene and calm. After offering our prayers we sat outside the temple…looking at the beautiful sky.. I distinctly remember the exquisitely beautiful sky that day… it was heavenly.. The sun was about to set…and the sky was literally splashed with vibrant orange, red, yellow, blue colours.. I wish I had a camera then…I would have surely captured the sight. The tekdi has many names to it like “The law college tekdi”, “Hanuman Tekdi”, “Vetal Baba” tekdi.
Going towards Chandni chowk on the Paud Raod, on the right hand side, one can see a lane going towards the ARAI headquaters (Automotive Research Association of India) which passes through Kelewadi. For anyone who is going there for the first time, the Kelewadi sight can be quite a put off.
The road passes through shanties with the small children playing on the roads, sometimes black and brown colored goats crossing ur path.. it can be quite a task to maneuvere through the cattle and the children But then once you cross this small hurdle, you reach the gates of the Tekdi, which 24*7 manned by the ARAI security personnel…after having crossed these gates..one literally enters the “Kingdom of green and untouched paradise, that is the Law college tekdi “ …It is a beautiful long winding road lined with trees, offering a majestic view of the city on the left side and on the right, there a vast green patch…full of huge rocks with occasional shrubs in between..At the end of this road, on the right hand side, one comes to an open ground, meant for parking the vehicles.
Once your vehicle is parked, the actual walk starts… I often start jogging....its a pure joy to jog on the meandering path amongst the dense and thick vegetation.
There are many options to proceed, on the right hand side, one can start treading amongst the dense woods and enter the heart of the tekdi right away. This path takes one right upto a small shrine of Lord Hanuman. It is like a centre point, one can take a break , sitting on the bench, watching young enthusiastic people doing gymnastics on the bars, or little children playing on the elevated cement round platform right under the large banyan tree, or watching old people getting together, chit chatting, laughing… after this point the way branches off into 2-3 paths.
On the left side, is a long winding road which takes one to the “Great mines field” point (I have named it like this ). On the way, one can choose to go to the Vetal baba temple by turning to the left and climbing a comparatively steep hill..The path to the Vetal baba temple is really beautiful. It is surrounded by lush green trees and the ground is covered with tall green grass.
One can occasionally spot peacocks on the way as we occasionally did once . The walk upto the temple actually gives one a feel of walking through the woods in Mahabaleshwar .The view from the vetal baba temple, to put in simple words is absolutely enchanting and out of this world..… there is an old observatory near the temple, on the top of which, one can get a 360 degree view of the city.
We had made a heroic attempt to climb that observatory. I must say it was an adventure of a lifetime. The metal stairs have gaps in between… and one has to be really careful while climbing them. When I finally climbed down, I thanked my stars that I was safe and alive. It was real scary for me at least.
Proceeding ahead, one reaches the ‘Land mines’ point. Here, the earth was dug deep for stone quarrying purposes long back. Now the whole surroundings have got converted into a beautiful green expanse…in monsoons, beautiful lakes get formed in deep down in the mines…one can even descend down into the pit of the mines and sit on large rocks near the naturally made lakes.
Or else, one can sit on the grass covered rocks near the edge of the mines…and look far, as far one can see..the view is breathtaking…the enormously large and deep mines below.. the beautiful sky full of clouds letting the rays of the setting sun filter through them, listening to the call of peacocks from away on the left hand side, watching the saffron colored flag of the vetal baba temple far away fluttering in the air, or look straight ahead across the deep ravines ..
one can see little moving lights of the highway traffic…or if its the daytime, then watch the concentric ripples forming in the lakes below when someone throws pebbles into them...
its a pleasure to spend few minutes at this particular spot which overlooks the mines… its an incomparable joy which fills one’s heart …the sense of being far away from the busy lives we lead, to have left the noise, chaos of the city and have come right into the middle of pure, exquisitely beautiful nature’s lap, amongst the peacocks, amongst the dense green trees…so much beauty all around and all this right in the middle of the city !...
one of my favorite things which I often do is to sit on the rocks near the edge of the mines, close my eyes, feel the cool wind blowing into the face, and listen to the silence, yes silence and the occasional call and chirping of the birds..it is a sheer bliss… it is thereupetic…The tekdi is best explored on Sunday mornings….when there is ample time and sunlight to try out different paths, to collect rare plant species, to do photography (I have seen quite a few people bringing their tripod stands and camera), to spot different birds, to collect flowers and preserve them (one of my favorite tasks ).
Its really heartening to see enthusiastic young people who have formed groups to maintain and look after the tekdi....
Over these last few months, I have observed that going to the Tekdi brings a rhythm in life, it’s something I really look forward to now .. everyday...no wonder that there are regular tekdi goers… “the tekdi walk” loyalists...come rain or sun, they will be there.. at their decided hour in the evenings, never ever missing the chance to come so close to the nature and enjoying and praising every bit of it, and filling their hearts with joy like I do and sincerely hope to do it everyday of my life…. Amen..:)
