This season I seriously thought I would have to give Fr. Robins camp a miss... Something all of us helpers simply hate having to do. When I visited Fr. Robin now posted as an Assistant Parish Priest at Holy Famly Church he asked if I would lead the campers down to the Garden of Eden, one of the most gruelling treks we put them through over their 6 day adventure in Christian living. I declined on two accounts, firstly I wasn't sure how my fractured heels would hold up on the treacherous trail and secondly I had committed to a pro bono assignment to photograph the Remedian Rink Football Tournament held at Our Lady of Remedy Parish in Poisar that was scheduled on the same dates as the camp.(18th-25th May) A couple of weeks later another old camper called me to say the St. Stanislaus Villa Camp that was being shepherded by Fr. Robin was overbooked and she was unable to get a spot for her family and friends. The third temptation came when all my fellow helpers began making plans to travel up to camp over the weekend after work... As tantalizing as those plans were I avoided their lure. My wife wanted me home that Sunday and so I began to look forward to a relaxing Sunday with a sumptuous break fast, followed by the Sunday afternoon movie, a siesta and an entertaining game of Scrabble before the day was done.
But that was not meant to be... I get this call from Abeer, a chap I befriended last monsoon at the Chinchoti treks I do every year and he was keen to go for another trek. Our mutual friend, Nish had already made plans for Khandala and so asked him to get in touch with me. Now this was something I die for... To take the wilderness to people. Let them experience the joy of the outdoors like never before, the thrills, chills and spills. Eden, is that one Gravity Defying Trek that has it all in abundance. They say the road to Paradise ain't never easy and The Garden of Eden stands evidence to this fact. So I made up my mind to go for the trek I wasn't supposed to. I asked Abeer to round up his group and give me number as soon as possible. We just had two more days to go before the trek, so I just asked a couple of other friends I thought could do with the break but their negative response was based on the merciless summer heat. Few people expect to find cool waters at Eden this time of the year but yes at the end of the trail lies an icy surprise or two. I tweaked my plans and coaxed the wife to let me off the hook, promising to return by sunset on Sunday in time to take her to watch the Finals of the Rink Foot ball Tournament.
Sunday morning I met Abeer and Priyanka at Malad Station a little past 4:45AM and took a train to Dadar from where we shared a Tavera that took off at 6:00 AM and dropped us at the Khandala Exit bang on schedule at 8:00 AM. The campers had already set off from Camp at around 6:45 AM and we had a lot of catching up to do. The first difficult descent we came to was a head rush of adrenaline but we crossed it successfully. About an hour and a half later we were done trekking through the ravine and entered the valley basin to the group of campers splashing about in the pool of water and sunning themselves on the rocks. I introduced my new friends to Captain Tesclin, Carlos, Dr. Evonne, Richard and a bunch of other new campers. In less than an hour we got ready to head back up to St. Marys before the noon day sun bore down on us. It took us under two hours to make it to the top with intermittent stops for water and to rest our weary muscles, pulling ourselves up the rock face is a safer and easier task but it works muscle groups in your arms and legs you never knew existed. As soon as we were done with the trek I met Fr. Robin waiting to drive his brood back home to camp in time for lunch and refeshments. I gave him a big hug before introducing him to "A Beer" and his friend and we made a quick getaway to the local Liquor store for a round of cold Beers to celebrate the completion of our trek. We left Ghupshup with a good buzz but our hungry stomaches led us to El Taj for some delicious Tandoori Chicken and Reshmi Kababs before we boarded a Volvo for our journey back to Bombay
