Silvassa - April 2011

Some of the best things in life are achieved by acting on instinct. Some of the best memories were never thought of. Some of the best trips are the impromptu and unplanned ones. And crazy, let’s not forget crazy.

Because that might be the only logical explanation to the highly illogical plan that came to be. On the 3rd of April, 2011, the momentous day when the world was out celebrating the World Cup finale, Kaybee picked up his phone and BBMd me:
“So what are your views about a trip out of Mumbai? Like an all-nighter?”
I don’t know how much or how little he thought before sending that text. I remember staring at it for barely five seconds, and replying:
“Where did you have in mind?”
“Silvassa”
“Ok”
“Great, we leave in an hour.”

And so it came to be. Two people, who barely knew each other, suddenly embarked upon a trip together. There is no logic. It just felt right.

Our first trip.Silvassa, the capital of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, derives its name from the Portuguese word “silva”, which means wood. And boy was there wood. With loads of leaves on it too. Being a Delhiite, I frankly don’t think you appreciate the importance of trees, until you come and live in Mumbai. Like really!

Silvassa is around a 180km drive from Mumbai, and we drove (ok, so Kaybee drove) along the NH8. He had been there before and knew the way. I just relaxed, and looked out of the window at the darkness, and enjoyed the company. The drive was nice and smooth, till right at the end, we took a route which showed traces of having had a road some gazillion years ago (Kaybee swears it was there like a year ago…I have my doubts). And it took us almost as long to cover that stretch to Silvassa as it did for us to reach Dadra & Nagar Haveli from Mumbai to begin with. After a really bumpy ride (I frankly think I enjoyed it, it was like a mini-Essel World in our beloved A-Star), we reached the RAS Resorts.
My views, I LOVED the resort! It’s just plain pretty. It’s huge. It’s far from Mumbai. It’s peaceful. It burnt a slight hole in our pockets (Rs. 5000 for the night, to be exact), but frankly, I wish we had come in the morning so we could just laze around forever, or the day at least. Our room looked out on a river, and every where we could only see greenery. The breakfast was sweet and simple. Omelette, toast, jam, juice. It was relaxing.The next day, I used all my will power to get out of bed and commence the sight-seeing for the day. That’s the thing about good resorts, you just don’t want to leave them. But when you have travelled all the way, well sight-seeing is a must. And so we set out. Except it was April. And boy, April is hot!at

What we saw:

Vasona: The famous lion safari at Vasona… Well, it’s a short safari in a mini-bus with meshed windows. We saw a lion and a lioness lazing around within 5 minutes of the safari. Where all the gujjus in the bus got super excited (okay, so that’s not just a Gujju thing…but can’t help it!) and clicked a gazillion pics and screamed. The lion and lioness of course looked at us with those lazy patronizing eyes, and yawned. The bus moved on and within the next 5 minutes, we came across another lion and lioness. I was impressed, to say the least. I spent four hours in a jeep in Jim Corbett Park once, looking out anxiously at 5am in the morning, and all we got to see were paw prints and monkeys, and here in a tiny safari, I had seen four majestic creatures in under ten minutes! And then I saw the amused look in Kaybee’s eyes. Yup, you guessed it. The bus had taken a U-turn. It was the same lazy lion and lioness. Just from the other side. Oh well.
We then decided to skip the museum (the heat had started to get to us) and headed to Dudhni, via Khanvel.

Some drives are pure guilty pleasures, in an air conditioned car. Straight roads, trees on both sides, and the world beyond us, that’s what the next few hours were. Pure bliss.

Dudhni: Dudhni, located 40 kms from Silvassa and 20 kms from Khanvel, is a tourist spot, built to accommodate some minor water sports. It has a large water front of the Damanganga River with a variety of water sports equipment, like jet skis, speed boats and shikaras available. Of course, when we went, it was quite empty, as most sane people don’t head out at noon in April. So it was quiet and serene, just the way we wanted.
And suddenly Kaybee was enthralled by the speed boat. We enquired and realized it was expensive, but decided to go ahead with it anyway (Rs. 750 to take the two of us for a nice 10 minute ride in the water). After all, this was the trip of irrationality. It was one of the best decisions we made, I think, and due credit goes to Kaybee.
There’s something about wind when it hits your face, hard, real hard. It’s that point when your hair are all over the place, and you just don’t care less. It’s that point when you smile, and realize that the smile is now plastered on your face because of the speed. It’s that point when you realize just how perfect everything is, just then, in that speed boat, with that scenic beauty around you, and your life, next to you. And then a song repeats itself over and over in your head... over and over...

Sail away with me... What will be will be...

We ate at the lake (decent butter chicken) and headed back. This time the drive wasn’t dark, and the scenery was really worth it. The lush green mountains and the clear roads. I could’ve stayed on that road forever (overlooking the fact that I wasn’t the one who had to drive, and the fact that I need to pee rather often). I’ll never forget the Parsi dhaba we spotted on our way to Silvassa, but just couldn’t find on our way back (we did manage to find it on our subsequent trip to Daman, but that’s another story, another time). I’ll never forget Kaybee’s favourite pointy peak. I’ll never forget the dust on the car. I’ll never forget almost crying on the way back, because we were headed back to uncertainty.

Some learnings from our first trip together:
· We both love to be planned enough to know where we’re headed at least.
· When Kaybee says impromptu and impulsive one-nighter, he does NOT mean come with only a toothbrush in your purse. He probably means a pre-packed travelers bag which contains everything from soap to conditioner to not just one but an extra set of clean shirt and underwear. Learnt that the hard way.
· Kaybee has his blondie moments as well (moving past the 4 lions fiasco), even if he likes to pretend that he doesn’t. We stopped on the highway to give the car a rest, and as we enjoyed the evening breeze, he looked around, a little puzzled. “Dude, there’s a disc here somewhere. I can hear the beats.” Yes, I could hear them too. From our car stereo. Oh well.

Somewhere between searching for highway discotheques and enjoying graffiti in the trip's dust

All in all, Silvassa is a nice quiet and peaceful getaway from the troubled existence that is Mumbai. There isn’t much to see. There is loads to experience.