an irresistable offer

when my daughter and son-in-law invited me to join them for the weekend at kashid beach,it was a welcome break that i was loooking for.both of them love the beaches at alibag and particularly kashid which is one hour's drive from the mandwa jetty,the disembarkation point for alibag. last december,i had visited kashid to attend a wedding and i liked the place so much that i vowed to myself to return soon. but then till this offer came,i had really found no time to go away for a break.

living near gateway of india,as we do,the drive to the ferry embarkation point took me just five minutes.i took a vantage seat in the airconditioned cabin of the ferry liner and enjoyed the comfortable 45 minutes ferry ride to alibag. at mandwa jetty, a car from prakruti hotel resorts was awaiting me. the drive to the hotel was really bad due to the very poor condition of the road. what a pity! and this is our problem. we have good tourist destinations but the roads are so bad that it makes reaching those places a pain more than a pleasure. wish the state government does something to provide funds to the local municipality to improve the road condition. alternatively, considering the fact that the superrich have their lovely villas in alibagh and kashid, it shouldn't be difficult to mop up the funds for some better roads and other amenities.

the four-star prakruti hotel promoted by one mangoleran shetty has excellent rooms,facilities like swimming pool and a bar with restaurant. the food served is excellent. being a vegetarian i missed out on the seafood that this place is famous for.my daughter had sent me a sms asking me to head to the swimming pool on my arrival. when i arrived,i made a beeline to the pool and joined my granddaughter and her parents and their friends.we had a great time for about an hour playing in the water and discussing with my son-in-law's friends about the wall street crash!(they all work for the ws biggies in india).

later we drove around kashid and enjoyed looking at the lovely beach-pure white sand and the blue sea. the paddy fields on the other side with green mountains and rivulets all added to the beauty all around. the casuarina groves providing a thick forest cover was an eyesoothing experience. kashid reminds me of the bogmolo beach at dabolim,goa where i lived for a little more than three years.

kashid is an ideal place to have a second home.a perfect weekend getaway.its beaches are the best in maharashtra and perhaps one of the best in the konkan region. the surroundings are peaceful and the local population very quiet and friendly.the casuarina groves and the pristine beach so closeby are irresistable attractions. while driving down to kashid from mandwa jetty,i checked on the property prices with the enterprising driver. "6 lakhs a gunta only,sir", he said.he also offered to help me buy a plot of land through his brother who is a real estate broker. a gunta is 1000 sq feet.no doubt pricey.but then land prices have shot up in the last six months to a year and a correction is due.the global financial meltdown and the stockmarket crash in india would help in the fall of these high prices.that may be an opportunity to buy a small piece of land and build a second home as a weekend retreat to this lovely beach town.