Booker Prize winners

Year Winner Winning Novel

2007 Anne Enright The Gathering
2006 Kiran Desai The Inheritance of Loss
2005 John Banville The Sea
2004 Alan Hollinghurst The Line of Beauty
2003 DBC Pierre Vernon God Little
2002 Yann Martel Life of Pi
2001 Peter Carey True History of the Kelly Gang
2000 Margaret Atwood The Blind Assassin
1999 J M Coetzee Disgrace
1998 Ian McEwan Amsterdam
1997 Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things
1996 Graham Swift Last Orders
1995 Pat Barker The Ghost Road
1994 James Kelman How Late It Was, How Late
1993 Roddy Doyle Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1992
Joint
Winners Michael Ondaatje &
Barry Unsworth The English Patient &
Sacred Hunger
1991 Ben Okri The Famished Road
1990 A S Byatt Possession
1989 Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day
1988 Peter Carey Oscar and Lucinda
1987 Penelope Lively Moon Tiger
1986 Kingsley Amis The Old Devils
1985 Keri Hulme The Bone People
1984 Anita Brookner Hotel du Lac
1983 J M Coetzee Life & Times of Michael K
1982 Thomas Keneally Schindler's Ark
1981 Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children
1980 William Golding Rites of Passage
1979 Penelope Fitzgerald Offshore
1978 Iris Murdoch The Sea
1977 Paul Scott Staying On
1976 David Storey Saville
1975 Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala Heat and Dust
1974
Joint
Winners Nadine Gordimer & The Conservationist Holiday
Stanley Middleton
1973 J G Farrell The Siege of Krishnapur
1972 John Berger G
1971 V S Naipaul In a Free State
1970 Bernice Rubens The Elected Member
1969 P H Newby Something to Answer For

Authors shortlisted for the Booker 2008

The shortlist for this year's Booker Prize for Fiction has been announced. Here is a quick guide to the six authors who made the grade.

ARAVIND ADIGA - THE WHITE TIGER

Adiga was born in Madras and was raised in India and Australia before studying at Columbia University in New York and Oxford University. He is a former correspondent for Time magazine and has written for the Independent, and the Sunday Times.

The White Tiger, a tale of two Indias, tells the story of Balram, the son of a rickshaw puller in the heartlands. It charts his journey from working in a teashop to entrepreneurial success.

SEBASTIAN BARRY - THE SECRET SCRIPTURE

Dublin-born Barry has written a number of plays and novels, winning many prizes along the way. His novel A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the Booker in 2005.

The Secret Scripture, told through the journals of Roseanne McNulty and her psychiatrist, is the story of a life blighted by mistreatment - and yet still marked by love and hope - in 1930s Sligo. Through the haze of memory, Roseanne's story acts as an alternative, secret history of Ireland.

AMITAV GHOSH - SEA OF POPPIES

Ghosh is one of India's most popular writers whose books include The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines and The Hungry Tide. He is married to writer Deborah Baker.
Sea of Poppies, the first volume of his Ibis Trilogy, throws together a diverse cast of Indians - from a widowed villager to an evangelical English opium trader - at a time of colonial upheaval.

LINDA GRANT - THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACKS

Liverpool-born Grant, the child of Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants, studied English in York and Canada and later became an award-winning journalist with a weekly Guardian column. She was shortlisted for the Booker for 2002's Still Here.

The Clothes On Their Backs follows the story of Vivien, a sensitive, bookish girl whose slum landlord uncle, Sandor, is inexplicably unwelcome in her parents' home. Years later, after her husband has died and Sandor has served time in prison, their paths cross - giving Vivien the chance to learn the truth about her family history.

PHILIP HENSHER - THE NORTHERN CLEMENCY

Hensher divides his time between writing his novels and critiquing those of others in his role as chief book reviewer for The Spectator. His novel The Mulberry Empire made the longlist for the Booker in 2002, while Kitchen Venom won the Somerset Maughn Award.
The Northern Clemency, set in Sheffield, tells the story of two families living through the Thatcher era. The neighbouring friends are among a large cast of characters whose lives are played out over decades, offering a portrait of Britain's social landscape.

STEVE TOLTZ - A FRACTION OF THE WHOLE

Australian author Toltz, who has made the shortlist with his first novel, has travelled and lived around the world, spending time in Canada, Spain and France. His varied career has seen him work as a private investigator, English teacher and screenwriter.

Epic novel A Fraction of the Whole meanders through the life of the dysfunctional Jasper Dean and details his relationship with his odd-ball father. The book, which has drawn comparisons with cult classic The Confederacy of Dunces, covers a multitude of whimsical adventures from strip clubs to asylums.

My Lonavala Trip!! Just Thought of sharing wid you all!!

Scientist's set to create an artificial Big Bang.

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press WriterSun Sep 7, 2:52 PM ET

It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe — or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.

Whatever the case, the most powerful atom-smasher ever built comes online Wednesday, eagerly anticipated by scientists worldwide who have awaited this moment for two decades.

The multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider will explore the tiniest particles and come ever closer to re-enacting the big bang, the theory that a colossal explosion created the universe.

The machine at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, promises scientists a closer look at the makeup of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.

The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.

The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.

"This only happens once a generation," said Katie Yurkewicz, spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent at the CERN project. "People are certainly very excited."

The collider at Fermilab outside Chicago could beat CERN to some discoveries, but the Geneva equipment, generating seven times more energy than Fermilab, will give it big advantages.

The CERN collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel 150 to 500 feet under the bucolic countryside on the French-Swiss border.

Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.

CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.

But the skeptics have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hawaii and in the European Court of Human Rights to stop the project. They unsuccessfully mounted a similar action in 1999 to block the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state.

CERN's collider has been under construction since 2003, financed mostly by its 20 European member states. The United States and Japan are major contributors with observer status in CERN.

Scientists started colliding subatomic particles decades ago. As the machines grew more powerful, the experiments revealed that protons and neutrons — previously thought to be the smallest components of an atom — were made of still smaller quarks and gluons.

CERN hopes to recreate conditions in the laboratory a split-second after the big bang, teaching them more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.

Meanwhile, scientists have found innovative ways to explain the concept in layman's terms.

The team working on one of the four major installations in the tunnel — the ALICE, or "A Large Ion Collider Experiment" — produced a comic book featuring Carlo the physicist and a girl called Alice to explain the machine's investigation of matter a split second after the Big Bang.

"We create mini Big Bangs by bumping two nuclei into each other," Carlo explains to Alice, who has just followed a rabbit down one of the hole-like shafts at CERN.

"This releases an enormous amount of energy that liberates thousands of quarks and gluons normally imprisoned inside the nucleus. Quarks and gluons then form a kind of thick soup that we call the quark-gluon plasma."

The soup cools quickly and the quarks and gluons stick together to form protons and neutrons, the building blocks of matter.

That will enable scientists to look for still missing pieces to the puzzle — or lead to the formulation of a new theory on the makeup of matter.

Kate McAlpine, 23, a Michigan State University graduate at CERN, has produced the Large Hadron Rap, a video clip that has attracted more than a million views on YouTube.

"The things that it discovers will rock you in the head," McAlpine raps as she dances in the tunnel and caverns.

CERN spokesman James Gillies said the lyrics are "absolutely scientifically spot on."

"It's quite brilliant," Gillies said.

___

On the Net:

CERN: http://www.cern.ch

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://www.fnal.gov

The U.S. at the LHC: http://www.uslhc.us/

Large Hadron Rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vf6aU-wFSqt0

Source: Yahoo News

Don Bradman's Cricket Records

The cricketing world remembered Sir Donald Bradman, its greatest ever batsman on his centenary very recently.

Much has been written about Sir Donald during his career, and probably even more has been written since his retirement from test cricket in 1948. However, his impact and influence on the game can probably best be summed up by a simple comparison of his batting average and those who come closest to approaching it.

Sir Donald averaged 99.94 in test matches and the next best are three players each averaging just a fraction over 60 - R G Pollock (SAF, 60.97), G A Headley (WIN, 60.83) and H Sutcliffe (ENG, 60.73). Highest Batting Averages

Set out below are some Sir Donald's major achievements.

First Class Career Record

M Inns NO 100s HS Runs Avg

234 338 43 117 *452 28,067 95.14

Sheffield Shield Record

In Australia's domestic competition, then the Sheffield Shield, Sir Donald played for New South Wales from 1927/28 to 1933/34 and for South Australia from 1935/36 to 1948/49. He scored a century on debut (118 - New South Wales v South Australia, Adelaide Oval 1927/28), and still holds the record for the highest first class innings in Australia, 452 not out for New South Wales v Queensland, in Sydney 1929/30

.

M Inns NO 50s 100s HS Runs Avg

62 96 15 20 36 *452 8,926 110.19

Test Career Record

Sir Donald's test career batting statistics are unique, and an analysis of his batting broken down by opponent is given below.

Versus M Inns NO 50s 100s HS Runs Avg Ca St

England 37 63 7 12 19 334 5028 89.79 20 0

India 5 6 2 1 4 201 715 178.75 6 0

South Africa 5 5 1 0 4 *299 806 201.50 2 0

West Indies 5 6 0 0 2 223 447 74.50 4 0

Overall 52 80 10 13 29 334 6996 99.94 32 0

Bradman's batting average exceeded 100 on five grounds.

His batting average exceeded 100 in 7 of the 13 Calendar years in which he played.

His batting statistics, average 103.63, at No 3 in the batting order, undoubtedly make him the best ever in that position.

He scored 29 centuries from 80 innings, (36.25%) The next highest was 25.00% Highest Hundreds per Innnings Percentage. He scored 12 double centuries. The next highest is 7 Most Double Hundreds. He was the only player to score 2 triple centuries. (334 & 304), and was only 1 run from making it 3 (299* v SAF ), Virender Sehwag recently matched the Don with two triple centuries.

On 3 occasions he scored 4 centuries in a series. 1930 v England, 1931-32 v South Africa, and 1947-48 v India. He scored centuries in 6 consecutive matches from 01/01/1937, and scored centuries in 4 consecutive matches on 2 other occasions Hundreds in Consecutive Matches.

He has scored the most double centuries in a series. 3 against England in 1930 Most Double Centuries in Series. He scored a century in each innings (132 & 127 not out) against India at the MCG in 1948. Hundred in Both Innings and scored a century and a duck in the same match on 2 occasions.

Sir Donald holds the record for the highest score for a player batting at number 5 in the batting order (304) as well as the record for the highest score for a player batting at number 7 in the batting order (270) Highest Innings for Each Batting Position.

He holds the record for the most runs scored in a 5 Test series (947 v England in 1930) Highest Series Aggregates. He holds the record for the highest Test inning against South Africa (299 n.o. Adelaide Oval in 1932). He has 5 scores exceeding 250 runs Highest Individual Innings.

He holds the record for the highest Test innings at 4 Grounds.

299 not out Adelaide Oval

223 Exhibition Ground

226 Brisbane Cricket Ground

334 Headingley

He scored the fastest 200 in Test Cricket, 214 minutes at Headingley in 1934 and has scored the most runs in a day, 309 at Headingley in 1930. He scored a century in a session on 6 occasions.

He holds 2 World Test wicket Partnerships Records:

405 5th wicket with S G Barnes v England at Sydney 1946-47

346 6th wicket with J H Fingleton v England at Melbourne 1936-37

In additional to the 2 World Test records above he holds 2 Australian Test wicket Partnership Records:

451 2nd wicket with W H Ponsford v England at The Oval 1934

388 4th wicket with W H Ponsford v England at Headingley 1934

Sir Donald captained Australia 24 times. His team won 15, lost 3, and drew 6. His win percentage of 62.5% was exceeded only recently by S R Waugh and now Ricky Pointing (also of Australia).

In addition to his feats on the field, Sir Donald was a highly respected administrator and was tireless in his efforts in promoting cricket around the world.

"It is strange, but I think true, that all the time, day and night, somewhere in the world somebody is talking about Bradman." (Jack Ingham - English Sportswriter)

India's Nuclear Journey Has Only Begun

The NSG waiver has given a new fillip to India's nuclear ambitions. Although it has been recognized as a nuclear power since the nuclear explosion in the deserts of Pokhran on May 18,1974, which gave the world a taste of what India is capable of, it is only now after the NSG waiver, which gives India a green signal to commence nuclear trade that India's nuclear journey has truly begun.

If the test of Pokhran was a show of strengths and had more relevance with to respect military deterrence and on a national security perspective, this recent episode in India's nuclear history will provide the fruit of this technology to the general masses more so than ever.

People in India know more the destructive capabilities of this energy and have thus looked down upon it as a war making and life threating technology. But with India looking to embrace this technology to bring, light, warmth and power to its people, under the visionary and steadfast leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the image of this energy will get a drastic makeover, and soon will be looked upon a technology which has the power to give life, and make life much easier for many in India who have not known what power and energy can do to enhance the quality of their life, and even if they knew are unable to have access to it anytime soon.

Here's hoping that this energy will bring all that the the current leadership of India has promised and much more. My thumps up for a technology for a oil deficient nations like India. Following in the footsteps of India, many other countries are likely to adopt this technology as the most viable option to guarantee the energy security for their people.

The coming years will reveal the far reaching impact of this day evident to all. I hope by then India will have taken giant steps on its way to realize its Nuclear ambitions. Here's hoping for the best!!!

Cuisine - e -Azam's Monsoon Delicacies

Kranti Khanderkar discovers Chef Kaviraj and some of his delicious recipes of this season.

A delicious mix of Oriental, Indian and Continental cuisines; we wonder what it takes to orchestrate such a lavish fare. Nothing but sheer talent and skill. And this is the trademark of a truly talented and gifted Chef like Chef Kaviraj Kihlani.

Kaviraj Kahilani aka Chef Kaviraj has around 12 years of experience in Hotel Management & Catering Technology. He is the author of a book named Arabic Cookery. He has worked in many reputed hotels like Hotel Sun-n-Sand, Mumbai, Taj Group, and Kuwait Airways as a sky chef and trainer for cabin crew services.

Kaviraj has been in the teaching profession from many years. He has taught in many recognized colleges. And currently he is a Principal of Mumbai College of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Mira Road.

He entered this profession because of his interest and his fondness for teaching. “I gained a wealth of knowledge from an early age. And I wanted to share this information and knowledge that I had acquired for myself, so I thought teaching will be the best option, and therefore began my teaching career as a teacher of cooking and hotel management in various colleges,” Kaviraj expressed.

Kaviraj had been interested in cooking right from the time he was a small child. His mother was a fantastic cook and little Kaviraj spent hours watching his mother cook tasty and aromatic delicacies in his kitchen. According to him, his mother inspired him a lot to get the basic things (cutting, chopping and making my own food in the house-hold) right and soon made up my mind to pursue this as a profession.

“I used to see my mom in the kitchen preparing a variety of food items. I always followed her in her cooking activities, which I think helped me become an expert in this field,” He said reminiscing of a younger days.

Kaviraj’s mother is very proud of him, as has become, sort of cooking connoisseur at a relatively young age. “Kaviraj obtained excellence in coming up with his unique fusion recipes. He loves to teach and meet different kinds of people.

I always use three words to describe him. First is committed, second competitive and third is compatible,” said Komal Kahilani, Kaviraj’s mother, who is also a certified diploma holder in cookery.

In spite of his keen interest in cooking, he also likes paintings, reading books of different genres, and listening to music.
With around 12 years of experienced in cooking, Kaviraj still loves to live the simple life. Though he has envisaged several delicious dishes for many food lovers, he likes to have steamed rice and Dal fry in his regular meal.

Kaviraj cooks like a dream – he uses interesting, innovative ideas to add that spike to daily meals. He has even a small research kitchen, especially to experiment with recipes to help bring to life the maximum number of taste buds.

Kaviraj is also keen in ensuring hygiene while preparing food. According to him, it is important that hygiene be maintained to the max in rainy season.

You can try some tangy-mildly spiced chaats with a touch of fusion into it, Chinese potato vada chaat, Mexican sev puries and some Malaysian ragda pattice could be mouth water-ing delicacies, it is basically to add a little more excitement while enjoying the down pour. Also some piping hot bowls of soups are ideal for those who like to be on the weight watch 24 x7. A corn broth or pureed corn and pepper soup,a roasted corn and baked bean shorba could be an ideal suggestion too. For desserts, I would prefer to go for some hot and warm concoctions like a malpua and kiwi rabdi sandwich, a warm bread and butter pud-ding with some rich chocolate walnut sauce, or some sweet corn pudding layered with coffee flavored cream cheese custard served with a brandy sauce.


Some flavoured dishes and desserts for this season recommended by him include:

You can try some tangy-mildly spiced chaats with a touch of fusion into it, Chinese potato vada chaat, Mexican sev puries and some Malaysian ragda pattice could be mouth watering delicacies, and it is basically to add a little more excitement while enjoying the down pour.

Also some piping hot bowls of soups are ideal for those who like to be on the weight catch 24x7. A corn broth or pureed corn and pepper soup, a roasted corn and baked bean shorba could be an ideal suggestion too.

For desserts, I would prefer to go for some hot and warm concoctions like a malpua and kiwi rabdi sandwich, a warm bread and butter pudding with some rich chocolate walnut sauce, or some sweet corn pudding layered with coffee flavored cream cheese custard served with a brandy sauce.

Get Seasonal

For the fashion conscious city-folks, rain is no constraint to flaunt the really hip and funky look. Kranti Khanderkar catches up with youngsters, fashion designers and make-up artists on the latest fashion in this rainy season.

Fashion Fundas of Monsoon

Shilpa Dhanmeher, 29, a fashion designer said, “People are not at all looking clumsy during Monsoon. They are more concerned about their look in rainy season. Markets are flooded with some very feminist transparent and colourful knee length raincoats. Sporty and branded
Windcheaters are also in vogue this monsoon for boys. Big size, transparent and colourful bags are in getting popular. Also, a lot of stylish and colourful sports shoes and crocs in pink, light brown, blue are a fad during in this period.

One should experiment with lots of loud colours like blood red, flashy yellow and experiment with the deep range in geometrical patterns and other designs in this season.”

Rainy Make-up

Sharing cosmetic tips for the monsoon, make-up artist Rajashree Nayak said, “During Monsoon, one should go for waterproof make-up. For this you have to buy separate lipstick, foundation, lip gloss, eyeliner, pan cake, mascara according to your skin tone, as every person has different skin tone. If possible try bright, gloomy colours and use branded products such as L’Oreal and Maybelline, products which help to hold your make-up longer during rainy season.

Girls should be decked up with just the right cosmetics suited for the rainy season. For the overall look of the face, translucent powder should be used so that the person looks colourful during the dull monsoon."

Beads in fashion

Beads jewellery is appropriate for all the seasons and occasions, as there are varieties of beads
and designs available. Beads earrings, necklace, bracelets and ankle-lets are evergreen, as it never goes out of fashion. However, wooden and stone beads are really in fashion these days. You can buy beads of your choice which are easily available in the market today.

Priyanka, Interior designer, 23, said, “I prefer to use beads jewellery. They are not expensive, therefore you can have one each matching with your dresses. I have also bought match the colours of my dresses. The best part about beads is that it is available in lot of colours and varieties and I can also use them all season long.”

Simplicity is the way to go...

Niyati, an artist, 20, said, “I really love wearing capries and skirts. Now that rainy season is here, so avoid wearing white colour attires. I have bought shirts with big graphic and flowery prints in colours like red, green and sky blue! They really work in the rainy season.” Let your hair enjoy this monsoon.

Sonya, 24, Marketing Executive, said, “I have got my haircut in layer cum step which looks bouncy. They look superb when they get wet in rain. And what's good is the fact that they require less maintenance.” Neelaxi, a hairstylist said, “During monsoon, shoulder length hairstyles are in. Mostly girls preferred to trim their hair. Layers in messy look like disconnected layers and notched layers are in vogue. The best part is that these kinds of haircuts can be left untied or tied, and they are zero maintenance.”

This monsoon brings you a lot of varieties in fashion, so go ahead
and enjoy rain, get wet and yet remain stylish and in.

Cricket at the 2020 Olympics?

Kranti Khanderkar explores the youngster’s take on the idea of the inclusion of Cricket in the 2020 Olympic.

With the start of the Beijing event less than a week away, Adam Gilchrist made a comment that he believed cricket has the potential to be included in the Olympic Games, and that this will help secure the game’s global future. Although, considering the success of the new format and the Indian Premier League, he said Twenty 20 is the ideal version to be included in the 2020 Olympics.

Let’s find out the Gen X’s view on this issue is…

It should go to the Olympics. But before that we have to make sure that it is spread to more parts of the world, so that more countries could participate. For that we have to putting in right efforts from now on, and carry on with the developmental programs side-by-side, so it can be part of the Games in 5 or may be 10 years, said Sherin, 22, Computer Engineering Student.

There are 104 members of ICC, and amongst them, there are only 8 to 10 countries that participate. So to be part of the Olympics, it has to be truly presented as a global sport and not just a few. Abhijeet Kulkarni, Chief Sports Reporter, Hindustan Times.

Nowadays more and more countries have started to play cricket, including USA and
China. In fact, China has committed itself to be a major cricket force in the future. So I think that by 2020, the shortest version of the game will be ready to be part of the biggest sporting spectacle, The Olympic Game, says Harshala Naik, Editor at KPO (Knowledge
Processing Outsourcing)

I think cricket is not ready to be included 2020 Olympics, because hardly 10-12 countries play cricket, so to include the twenty-format, we need to run a campaign that will teach the world how to play cricket. Sanket Parab, Engineering Student.

As things stand now, cricket doesn’t have a chance to be included in the near future. A lot of lobbying and horse trading is required to get a sport to be included in the Games, as evidenced by the recent controversy regarding selection of venues and the resulting bribing allegations amongst the adjudicators, said Diwakar Seth, Jewellery Merchant & Cricket Enthusiast.

The inclusion of cricket in Olympics will help spread cricket in new territories and raise its popularity amongst women too. Before including cricket, we need to make our cricket popular in the majority of the competing Olympic nations, by making it exciting and ground-breaking in countries that haven't yet caught the 'cricket-bug'. This will also result in cricket getting more competitive and thereby flourishing in countries where it is currently played today.

A Trekker’s Paradise

Peth is not a well known name, but with its uniqueness manages to stay with you longer, and high & above than all the other more famous tourist destinations. There are many hill stations in India, but some places are truly special in many more ways than what comes to mind. And Peth is definitely one of them.

Saring peaks, thriving flora, cool and soothing mountain air in the atmosphere is what greets you in this tiny village of Peth all through the year. Peth, which means residence in English is also known as Kothaligad, and is situated in the Shahapur Taluka, approximately 21km North East of Karjat.

One of the major draws of this place is that it is just 130 km away from Mumbai. Kothaligad, built at 3,100 feet is an ideal trekking destination and is more commonly known as the fort of Peth because the village of Peth situated at its base.

This fort though small in stature has immense historical significance. This fort was a ‘defense outpost’, although it wasn’t a full-fledged fort, it was located at a vantage point, and played a significant role in logistics and transit point.

Peth was mainly used for ammunition storage and gained importance during Sambhaji’s era. This place is truly blessed by nature and is bountiful in many more ways than one, rewarding the visitor with a mix of old-country side charm, natural beauty, traditional livelihood and a great history.

“Although it is a long journey, due the spectacular sights along the way, you will enjoy your ride thoroughly. Green paddy fields and the murky brown streams crisscross the whole land. When it rains, the clouds descend from the sky to blanket the earth, the sight is truly breathtaking”, shares an ecstatic Prajakta, 21, art student, who visited this place through her field trip.

Highlights of this location:

The pinnacle of the fort is visible from the village. The view from the top resembles an
endless expanse of colourful canvas. Once there, you can also see the beautiful caves carved from huge rocks. The first one is the cave of Goddess, besides it, runs a reservoir and the last one is the Bhairoba cave.

“The specialty of these caves is a flat floor and well sculpted pillars. These caves are famous for camping and makes for a challenging trekking adventure which is yet non-perilous. However, it is advisable that an expert should accompany a trekking trip to the cave's, especially for novice trekkers” tells Dhanaji, 26, a frequent trekker.

Another highlight is that historical places like Kalwawantinicha Mahal, Nagfani, Siddhagad, Malanggad, Chanderi, Prabalgad, Manikgad, and Matheran surround the fort and are also visible from its apex. “Kothaligad is truly nature lover's paradise and is an ideal location for trekking.

This tiny village is devoid of any proper hotel accommodation or food. Therefore it is advisable that the visitors carry their camping gears, packaged drinking water and food with the,” says Shailesh Rane, a tour organiser.

In conclusion, don’t expect the luxury of a city life here. This destination is certainly for those people who want to experience nature up and close and get a vivid taste of what wilderness is all about. So, if you are a nature lover, then you should definitely mark this location on the top of your adventure holiday itinerary.

Fact File

Location: Karjat – Peth – Kothaligad (Fort)

Weather: Mild temperate weather

Best time to visit: Between monsoon and winter
season

Drinking Water Facility: There are many a cisterns
and tanks on the fort, but the one near the cave is
reliable as long as you boil it. If you are hesitant
about it then do carry packaged water as no other
drinking facility is available.

How to reach: One can board a ST bus for Ambivali
via Kashele or from Karjat railway station on
Mumbai-Pune route. The distance from Karjat to
Ambivali is about 30 Kms. You can use the roadway
to Peth from Ambivali. An extensive pathway
leads to the fort entrance from Peth. One can also
get down at Neral, another railway station on
Mumbai-Pune route and reach Kashele by local
transport and catch a bus for Ambivali.

Where to stay: The cave on the fort is the best
place to spend the night.

Time to Reach: Ambivali to Peth – 2 hours; 45 minutesfrom the base village, Peth.

Note: Make sure to carry your camping gear along
to compensate for the lack of accommodation.