It started at German Bakery where I picked up Rohan. No, actually it started the night before when I said I was planning to take off to Lonavla the next day, alone if I had to, and this boy I'd met recently, showed some enthusiasm. The plan took off at that point and we managed to leave the next day around noon.
Fuel had been filled and the journey began with him asking me if I knew the way to Lonavla, which I obviously didn't! After asking a couple of times, we finally got onto the right track. I was on a mission - my Kinetic acts as my stress buster and I needed to ride like a near maniac because my day had started out bad. We had to stop a few times because the rain got so crazy that I couldn't see the road after a point!
We got busted by a cop for no license and helmet, but after getting past that, we finally made it to the town, which was buzzing with activity. It was, after all, the monsoon season. We had some nice mutton and beer at the Lonavla Restaurant after we bought an umbrella (neither of us thought to carry a rain jacket!) and then ventured out to explore. The vague plan was to walk in the hills if possible.
At one point, a little street boy came up to me holding a piece of paper, asking for money to buy books so he could put himself through school. I walked with him, asked him about his family and encouraged him to study as much as he could and not care about what the world said or demanded of him. After buying him a book and pen, I felt happier, at peace - I had done my good deed for the day.
We took off to Khandala. Walked around in a meadow and watched the beauty of the Western Ghats in the rain while standing under our new umbrella, smoking a cigarette. It was almost perfect. What was missing was some chai (yes, both of us love our chai!)
After getting back to town, we had a couple of beers at the All Time Bar and Restaurant - one of the shadiest joints I have come across. It was fun - we talked and laughed alot about stuff I don't remember anymore - doesn't matter, it was still fun. I got screamed at by a very drunk man for accidentally blowing smoke in his face, at which point we exited as fast as we could!
On our way back, Rohan rode the bike for a while and again we got stuck in the rain pretty bad, but we made it back to Pune in the evening. We picked up some cake, enjoyed some more beer and conversation at Prem's and then went back to his place to share the cake with his friend, Peeyush.
This was by far, the best birthday I've had.