Chp 791. One Last Ride to Lonavala

The first time I went to Tiger Point / Lion Point at Lonavala was two years ago when dear Esther dragged me out of my house and tried to make me see the finer side of Pune instead of just staying at home the whole day watching TV shows [Read: A Trip to Lion's Point].

Since then, I have been there many times again, mostly as fifth wheel or seventh wheel with friends, and usually drunk :D

Recently, my dear friend Sanga who had also retired from the Corporate Life earlier this year and went back to Mizoram for good, recently came down to Pune again, and we had our one last ride to Lonavala.

On the day that we were supposed to leave, we all woke up early at our respective houses. We went in two cars. Gary, Sanga, Christina and Tuli in one car, and Pazhiio, John and me in the other car.

We were all so pumped up that after Pazhiio and John picked me up from Koregaon Park and drove for around 30 minutes, we ended up back at Koregaon Park again! :D Yeah, I knew something was wrong when we passed Khadki Martyr Cemetery because it wasn't on the way, lolz.

So eventually we all switched on our GPS, took a U-turn and found the right route, lolz. Great fun. Picked up the good stuff on the way and we did the customary pose.

Ahhh finally the Expressway.

We took a brief pit-stop after the Toll gate.

McDees. Enough to keep our engines running.

And with that, we were off on our way again.

Finally, reached Tiger Point.

Cute wild monkeys everywhere, eating anything the tourists were feeding them.

Tuli and Christina having fun.

Lewlz. Some people never grow up.

After that, we decided to take our drive further to explore some of the other places around Tiger Point.

We found a perfect spot.

My awesome OnePlus 6 camera :)

After loitering around for some time, we decided to even go further.

Beautiful. Soon we reached Aamby Valley premises.

The entrance to the much exclusive Aamby Valley City.

For those of you who don't know, Aamby Valley is a private gated community for the uber rich folks in Maharashtra. So random tourists like us cannot just enter the place. They even have their own private airfield and hangars for all the private jets landing there.

For a private community boasting of billionaires and millionaires, it sure is funny to see nobody fixing the broken sign on top of the building :P

On our way back.

View from the car in front of us.

View of the car in front of us :P

We found another virgin spot on our way back. The place had a breathtaking view.

Off to take more pics.

Pazhiio in action. Now that is dedication when it comes to taking a pic! :D

We looked like we were about to drop our meanest album and this was the album cover :D

Christina posing.

Tuli also wanted to take pics at the same place :D Ah, the struggle you go through just to have a high like count on your Instagram update. :P

Pazhiio resting from all the yoga pose photography :D

Again, my awesome OnePlus 6 photography :P

We stopped by a pottery barn on the way back home and Sanga bought a couple of stuff to take back to Mizoram.

Sunset over Pawana dam.

And finally on our way back on the Expressway.

Such a fun time indeed, and is truly memorable to me as this was our last ride there together. I will miss all this a lot, and will always remember these awesome places once I head back home.

Chp 790. Yearlong Christmas Tree!

A Christmas Tree is special to all Christians, and to many Mizos living away from Mizoram, it is even more special to decorate our own Christmas Tree at our rented apartments, even though the tree is definitely not as big as the ones our family will be decorating back at home. But still, it is the thoughts that count.

Today being 25th November, exactly one month to Christmas, this is the time I would usually start putting up my Christmas Tree too. However, today, I am doing the exact opposite - putting down my Christmas Tree!

You see, I haven't taken down my Christmas Tree since last year! It had been up the entire year!

It's not because of laziness. I knew from the beginning of this year that this would be my last year away from home. That it would finally be time to pack up and go home for good, and that I would be home before Christmas. And so, since I would not be spending any more Christmases away from Mizoram again, putting up a Christmas Tree this entire year was a way for me to move past that pain.

I still remember last year when my friends Sangi and Hlimi who live in the next lane from my apartment came over on their way back home from work, just as I was about to decorate my tree. They immediately volunteered to help me decorate it!

And with them still in their business attire, it really looked as if I hired some professional decorators to do my Christmas Tree :D

A big thanks to them again. Simple as my tree and decorations are, they made a fine work out of it.

Thadaaa.

And today, as I finally dismantled my Christmas Tree with one hand while wiping off the tears rolling down my cheek with the other hand, I realized this had been a fine good run for me. It was during First Year of College in the year 1999 that I started putting up my own Christmas Tree in my hostel room, and continued that tradition wherever I went since then. 20 years of Christmas Trees outside Mizoram, finally coming to an end now. You would cry too if you had been through what I had been through.

Ahhh... the last of my Christmas Tree.

With much luck and fortune, my next few Christmas Trees from now on will be not just with my family back home but maybe a future Mrs.? Of little children merrily running around the Christmas Tree and calling me daddy or even grandpa... who knows? That's the power of a Christmas Tree and the magic of Christmas. Take care for now everyone, bye. Love and Peace.