It was a trip down the memory lane. The name brought in so many memories. The standing invitation I had but never took up for the Navratri… My sister coming down to Nasik to go back to Baroda. The train was from Mumbai. So she would take Valsad, Surat or whichever available bus from the CBS at Nasik.
Rather than going to Pune her opting for Nasik was a delight. We had a nice trip to the Dahipul for Aai’s sari. She had this habit of never thinking of herself! And the shopkeeper would mistake my sister, Jayanti as her daughter! The specs & the face cut being the same. I would be the not so resembling daughter!
Baroda….Splendid! Pune… Too Maharashtrian, Too happening! Nasik…. the not so citylike, but original, indeed!
Without a single ruler in sight, Nasik has developed on it’s own. Giving it an earthy feel , is the old houses, the remnants of Rajebahadur wada, Hattikhana rd, Pagadband lane… I must have heard these names from my childhood but never really paid attention to it. Anandi Mahal, in the mythology … Ram setu, Ram Shej, Panchavati, we cannot step out & forget Ram … the very essence of Nasik!
Surpanakha, King Ravana’s sister, got her nose cut here… Tapovan.. the story real or exaggerated we will never know but the waters of river Godavari have magic, that is undeniable! The ages of ashes to ashes immersed in the holy waters, the water remains as holy & pure as when the trio of Ram, Sita & Lakshman must have glimpsed it for the first time!
Today being the ‘Wine capital of Maharashtra’ the water plays a major role! Started writing with Baroda in mind but comparing it with the city I live in, made me travel faster than I had imagined.
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