The Girl in Red Zipper!- a despicable act by a sensible girl?

 After- The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and The Girl in Yellow Boots, it is time to get acquainted with the newly unleashed- The Girl in the Red Zipper!!!

We all know her by now...Her name is- said to be - Madhura Nagendra. She is a post graduate student from Bangalore. She was one of the many thousand performers who worked to make the 2012 Olympic Opening ceremony a success. However, unlike the rest of the thousands who did their job and left, Ms. Madhura Nagendra- The Girl in the Red Zipper- chose otherwise!

She sneaked into the Indian Contingent on the momentous occasion of the Olympic opening ceremony'2012.

On that prestigious night, amidst an entire contingent of Indian athletes uniformly dressed in yellow and navy blue, Ms. Madhura tramped in wearing a bright red zipper and faded blue jeans making sure that in no way, her brave act could be missed!!

And mind you; not only did she forcefully inflict herself on to the Indian contingent but she almost ended up 'LEADING IT'- Waving, smiling and graciously (read- shamelessly) accepting applause all the way!!!

The Indian athletes- whose moment it should have been- could only watch in shock as Ms. Madhura proudly stole their thunder!!!

The fact that a person with 'no authority' could gain such access is a matter of great concern to officials and sportsmen alike. It reflects very poorly on the much publicized security arrangements around the event. However, if we are to condemn radical fanatics and hardened criminals for breaching security (which is incidentally their job!), I wonder how we must react to this so called sensible person- Ms. Madhura Nagendra- for breaching the security, embarrassing her country, demeaning the athletes and making a mockery of the entire event?!!

Her father has said, “From whatever I learnt and presume that she being an Indian, the London Olympics Organizing Committee might also have selected her to 'take' the team inside the stadium. This might have hurt our team's feelings. I feel very sorry for that.” Wow! That still does not justify your daughters actions sir!!

Some others have attested Madhura to be a “good Neighbor”. Some friends of hers have stated her excitement as being reason for her act...But all this is beside the point! In fact- all the defending makes her act seem even more preposterous and condemnable. For she surely can be the best of people and the most competent of employees and of course the most loving of neighbors but that does not absolve her from what she did that night!

No one's asking for her to be punished or imprisoned or banned or chastised...

But Ms. Madhura Nagendra,

A graceful acceptance of your stupidity and a sincere apology from you will surely reveal how truly sensible you are. Because no matter how angelic you may be; most of us know you as the girl in a Red zipper who forcefully stormed in and waved out to the 'world' at an event where you had no business to be. To us you are the girl who has for eternity jarred the image of that night for all the athletes involved (see pic alongside) and finally as the girl who after possessing so much confidence and arrogance... has now gone into hiding.

Not cool!

Mumbai to Goa by Road via NH4 - Details

Time of Year: June'2012.

Start point: Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali East, Mumbai.

End point: Mangeshi Devasthan, Ponda (23kms from Panaji), Goa.

Total distance- 634 kms (one way).

Duration: 12 hours approx. (One way, inclusive of 3 breaks).

Vehicle- Honda City.

Route: NH4 via Pune-Satara-Kolhapur-Nipani-Amboli (Ghat)- Ajara- Swantwadi and then on to NH17 to Panaji.

Note:

NH 17

This route is approximately 60 kms longer than the traditional NH17 Mumbai-Goa road but is thoroughly worth it. The roads for most of the distance (452kms out of 634kms) are two lane with wide dividers, all the way till Nipani. There are also plenty of petrol pumps along the way.

-Details-

Start Time: 5:45 am 

Place: Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali East, Mumbai.

First Halt- Second Food Mall @ Pune End

First Halt: Second Food Mall, Mumbai- Pune Expressway.

Time: 7:40 am.(Duration: 25 minutes)

Ideal breakfast time. It had been an hour and 55 minutes since we had left and had covered 143 kms. A light south Indian breakfast of Dosa's and Wada sambhar- ideal for any travel- was leisurely consumed before heading out.

Second Halt- Satara

Second Halt: Some Dhabha, Satara.

Time: 10:30 am (Duration: 15 minutes)

We had crossed 'another' 152 kms. There are plenty of all kinds of dhabha's and restaurants by the road. We stopped at one such for coffee and to stretch our legs. Feeling well refreshed, we began again...

Third Halt: Goa Ves, Nippani.

Time: 1:15 pm (Duration: 30 minutes)

Perfect time for lunch. Also by then we had covered another 157 kms making our total distance covered since Borivali come to 452 kms. That left another 183 kms for the last leg of the drive, thus making this an extremely ideal halt.

At this point you would have just crossed Nippani meaning which the Amboli ghat begins hereafter. There are 3 eating joints here. One on your left- which is unclean and unkept- and two on your right. We had a sumptuous and tasty chicken Thali at 'Goa Ves' which'll be on your right. Although the chicken here required adequate effort and could successfully compete with the best of chewing gums, the curry was super tasty and the roti's were amazingly soft.

Please note the right for Amboli Ghat is a very narrow lane with a discreet black and white board which you could easily miss. Thus more than the board the ideal sign would be the seamless wide road turning up a slope to the right. As soon as the road turns right and then curves to left- going up a slope- on your right will be Goa Ves!! If you cross this, you have missed the right for Amboli Ghat.

Destination:

After the lunch break it was to be directly to the destination without any halt.

It was raining elephants and giraffes all through the ghat. Driving here was a fun and exciting experience. As long as you kept cool and enjoyed it, it was like playing a video game!!

Amboli Ghat

Now, just into the Amboli Ghat there is a popular picnic-waterfall spot where our beloved merry seeking but ever so undisciplined countrymen had gathered in all their enthusiasm to get wet! Their cars were haphazardly parked in all their arrogance on this narrow fog filled steep curvy road! They themselves too were lumbering across the road as if strolling from living room to kitchen-that too on a sunday morning! However, there are two very inviting food shanties here that serve piping hot 'rain- friendly' delicacies like maggie, pakoda's, omlette pav, tea, coffee, soup, etc. Its a super tempting halt considering its setting and temperature. The only reason we did not stop was because it would have seemed retarded to escape from the circus called Mumbai and then head right into the madness prevalent there- on that sunday afternoon- to fight, jostle, grunt and grumble all over again!

We however compensated for it on our way back. (see pic below)

As such, with no further stops and despite the curvy visibility barred ghat we reached our destination- Mangeshi Devasthan at 5:40 pm. The last leg of the drive post lunch was of 183 kms and took us a little less than 3 hours. The whole trip took 12 hours with 3 comfortable halts.

RETURN JOURNEY

We took the same route back. However, with the confidence of knowing the route now, the stops were different and intervals erratic!

Start Place: Mangeshi Devasthan (Ponda, 23 kms from Panaji)

Start Time: 6:20 am

Food Stalls @ Amboli Waterfall Point

First Halt: Amboli Waterfall

Time: 8:30 am (Duration: 25 minutes)

The ghat was largely behind us by now. We had covered the most tricky 108 kms of the journey in the first 2 hours. It was an ideal time for breakfast and the setting could not have been better. It was raining heavily, the fog was in all its attendance and most importantly the place that resembled VT station -at peak hours- on our way to Goa now looked like some secluded cottage in Dehradun! Thus, we made the most of it by hogging on garam garam pakoda's, omlette pavs and multiple rounds of nescafe!!

View from Goa Ves, Nippani

Second Halt: Goa Ves, Nippani

Time: 10:25 am (Duration: 10 minutes)

This halt was not needed at all but we took it all the same! Just for another round of coffee and to stretch our legs. It had only been 77 kms since our last halt but heavy rains and some active village life along the way had taken us an hour and a half to cover the same. We left from here within 10-15 minutes.

Third Halt: First Food Mall, Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Time: 2:50 pm (Duration: 40 minutes)

In the last 4 hours were a tad bit adventarous considering i was not used to it at all! We covered a mammoth 324 kms non stop! The roads were so straight and empty throughout that it was like the car was driving itself. Also since the tummy's were full we just did not feel like taking a halt!

We finally had our lunch at the first food mall(Pune side) and geared up for the last leg of our trip that would take us home!

Home: Reached.

Time: 5:50 pm

Last 125 kms took 2 hours and 20 minutes, making the entire trip take 11 and half hours with three sufficiently unhurried halts.

So there it is... Drive safe and enjoy the journey. Mind you...the journey is often more important than the destination! ;)