On December 17, 2011, it was around 2 pm when I and my friend left the restaurant named 'Quick Bite', near Mulshi lake. After 10 minutes of driving through the ghat section of Tamhini, we saw an old man walking slowly in the dry and hot sun. We stopped the car after passing him for few seconds and waited till the time the old man walked towards the car. As soon as he came to my window I asked, ‘Ajoba, Kuthe Jaichya Aahe Tumhala’? (Grandfather, where would you like to go?) While asking about his destination I glazed at him and I could figure out the old man's age is more than 70 yrs. He was wearing a white kurta, magenta turban and white dhoti along with a black shoulder bag on his left shoulder. Also a towel was loosely tied around his neck and he used a yellowish cane as his walking aid. His face was wrinkled and exhibiting the tiredness due to walking in the dry and hot sun. I could see a surprise on his face that a car stopped and waited for him. In his low and shaky voice Ajoba told us that he wants to go to a village called ‘Nive’.
We started off as soon as Ajoba sat on the back seat of the car. My friend looked at me while driving the car and I could resonate the mutual feeling of satisfaction of driving Ajoba to his desired place. After driving for almost more than eight kilometers Ajoba asked us to stop the car as his destination came. I came out of the car and helped him to open the door. At the time of saying good bye to him I could not resist myself to ask if we can click few of his photographs and he agreed to that. After clicking the photographs we finally said adieu to Ajoba. We left 'Nive', village and headed towards our destination, however while leaving I kept looking at the mirror where I could see Ajoba walking towards his home and his grand children were gathering around him.
After that moment onward a thought kept coming to my mind several times, ‘How could this old man walk through the ghat for almost a distance of more than eight kilometers which might not be only today?’
It is almost five days over for my wonderful trip to Pali in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India, where I and my friend seen few places with its own natural beauty, witnessed the rustic charm of rural India and received the warmth of hospitality from the unknown people which is rarely to be seen or found in the recent times. Out of everything happened during those two days journey of a life enriching experience, Ajoba’s incident is very vivid in my mind. It made a lasting impression on me, ‘LIFE IS REALLY WONDERFUL, WE JUST HAVE TO BE HAPPY WITH WHAT WE GOT AND THE REST IS TAKEN CARE OF'!
