It was the first real free weekend of my summer holidays, 2011.  Saturday, the 25th of June, and my parents would expect me to be in bed until the sun rose and was at its peak. Here I was, at 4:30 in the morning, awake, excited, and sleep-deprived. But nothing, could make me go back to sleep. I didn’t want to miss it, not for anything in the world. Here I was, packing my backpack, filling it with Nutri-Bars, sunglasses, a change of clothes, some money, and a bottle of water. By six, I was good to go, and on my way out of the house, not knowing what lay ahead, not wanting to expect anything.

I was going to Lohagad, the Iron fort, approximately 80 km from Mumbai, with Breakfree Journeys. By 7:30, I was on the Mumbai Pune Highway, on way to an adventure, a religious experience. A small stop on the highway, to refresh our sleepy minds, and we took the party straight to Bhajegaav. It had just started to drizzle, and our only hope was that we get to catch the mist atop the Fort. Breakfast was Poha, and hot chai, and we got around to the customary round of introductions, getting to know the other trekkers and make some new friends. Every trekking experience for me, with Breakfree, has been a personal experience, and has helped me make friends as good as old. Our Captain, My Captain, was Rushikesh Kulkarni, one of the very best. After our brief introductions, Rushikesh reminded us of the dangers of trekking, giving us insights into his protective nature, and gave a strict code of conduct to follow. Very unlike school.

Our first destination, was the Bhaja Caves, a 12th century ancient monastery, adorned by stone pillars and a wooden roof standing the

test of time. Most of the wood had become rotten, but leaves an image of what was. A steep staircase takes you to a 12th century praying hall and its side rooms, but what is now a gaping hole and a rudimentary toilet. Kudos to restoration and maintenance? Coming back to even ground, we look around us at a monumental structure, now in ruins, but still crowded. What would have been had the work of art remained as brilliant as new?  We can only wonder, as we start our trek after what Rushi calls a “warm-up”. Lohagad and Visapurwere apparently, the twin

forts, and from where we were walking, Visapur was clearly visible, but Lohagad was lost in the fog. We started on a long fun-filled 3 hour journey from Bhaja caves to Lohegaav, base camp for trekkers to Lohagad. On the way, we saw brilliant birds, (Kingfishers, and the likes) beautiful scenes, various hues of green, white and blue, the most beautiful colour combinations on butterflies, flowers and birds. Waterfalls are as common as money in a bank, and these manage to create water bodies uncommon out there in the real world. Truly, this was now a surreal experience.

One water body we encountered was a brilliant bathtub-like hollow, with a waterfall running through it. About chest deep, with cold water gushing and pulling you through a wave of emotions and water, you just can’t resist an invitation from nature to cleanse yourself in holy water. All the while, we were climbing the hill, pulling on roots and rocks for a hold to climb

higher, attain higher nirvana. Shortcuts were risky, but fun. Always looking for uncrowded paths, our quest led us to brilliant scenic cliffs. This was the fun part of the trek, the wandering, the getting dirty in the mud and pushing with our knees stuff. As the sun reached its peak, we were almost at the base of the Fort. What lay ahead was the easy part, as the path was well cut out with stone steps, around 500 of them. Our mission became to count them, but we gave up at 67, the climb being too breathless to count aloud and walk at the same time. Lohagad has 4 gates, which come after a plain, making it impregnable. Never once have its gates been breached by those with hostility at heart. Sources also say, that at some point at time, a sage, going by the name Lohas, sat in those hills and meditated, probably giving it the name Lohagad. The bastions and walls of the fort are almost intact, so are the gates. All else has disappeared, most probably as the raw material for houses near the foot of the hill.

Atop the fort, the sense of conquerors hits us, and we rest, tired by the climb. There is just one monument remaining at the center of the fort, a small square room with a dome, of Mughal architectural origins. We are so engrossed in stretching ourselves, resting in the comfortable wind and slight drizzle, it takes us a few minutes to notice the view from the fort. Woah! A Kodak moment for the taking, and we capture it. Walking along the mountain, we pass an 8-sided and another 16-sided lake. We reach an apparent dead-end, with the most  astonishing sight to behold. The scorpions tail, Vinchu Kaata, a side of the mountain shaped like the insect’s tail. And it is as poisonous as its namesake. A deep 10-foot drop leads to it, thankfully substituted by a detour. The detour, however, is two feet wide, and drops at an alarming rate right down to the ground below, and heaven

above. As we cover treacherous ground, we move closer and closer to the edge of the mountain. A switch turns somewhere above us, and a mind-numbing wind blows our way. It’s like a sign from the God’s above, enjoy, while you can. While standing there, a moment of eternal peace passes you, possesses you, engulfs you. You just can’t help raising your arms in freedom, in breakfree mode, in happiness. I wanted to just stay there. The place captures your imagination, and refuses to let go. We sat on that cliff there for half an hour, maybe more. Just sat. Contemplating, enjoying, memorizing ever second. This is the reason to live every other day, to come back here and let it out, let it go.

We left, reluctantly, as it was getting late. Refusing to take the easy detour route this time, a few of us took up a rock climb, of hardly ten feet, but with difficulty and a dangerous pass below us. Once it was completed, you feel a sense of accomplishment. Everything was done. This was the icing on the cake. Taking in the last few glimpses of Lohagad, we step down back to humanity, and sanity. We reach base camp, for lunch, at 4:30 pm. A rural heavy lunch of bhakri, pitley, and some spicy pickle awaits us, and we devour it down like hungry beasts. Our next task is the toughest. Sleepy, fully satisfied and pampered by the weather, we need to walk another hour down to Bhajegaav. But the walk is made interesting, by my co-trekkers. Everyone has a story, everyone is a brilliant person to know. It’s sad that we could only spend 14 hours in each others company. But it felt like we had known each other all along. The trip back was fun, with songs ranging from Floyd to old hindi numbers playing in the bus. We sang along like crooners, and it only emphasized the fact that when we embarked on this journey with strangers, we had left our worldly images behind.On

this trek, we were our bare selves, exposed entirely in broad but cloudy daylight. We didn’t have a care for what was to come on monday. It was one heck of a journey. It was the Conquering of Worldly Life, the Iron Fort that sieges our hearts and ambitions. And we broke free.

Thank you: Rushikesh Kulkarni. Also, these amazing photographs were clicked by trekking enthusiast Nikhil Gaekwad.