Yeh dosti: 'We took pillows down to the beach!'

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We invited readers to write in with fabulous stories of fun times with your closest pals. Here we bring you another response from Parag Jain, about a memorable trip with school friends and his first car, a Chevy Beat:

It all started three months ago, when I bought my first car. I invited all my school friends for a trip and I was amazed by the response -- everyone said 'yes' in the first go.

The next one month was spent planning. We arranged for everything -- the hotel booking, itinerary, food, budget, games, clothes etc. It was fun discussing the whole affair everyday.

Finally, on May 12, 2011, a thursday, I got a call from Prachi asking me to pick her up from Borivali. "Aaj tak kabhi kisi ko pick up karne Andheri station nahi gaya!" And here I was, awake at 5:30 am and at Borivali Station by 6:30 am.

Anjan, Prachi and Heena came home, got ready and we were set to start the most memorable trip of our lives. We drove down straight to Lonavala to pick up Parth. The journey to Lonavala was scary as well as difficult for a first-time driver like me -- those steep curves and the ghats had me scared. But yes, I loved the experience.

Finally we all (Heena, Parth, Prachi, Anjan and me) set off for our first destination, Murud Janjira, about a 250 km drive from Mumbai. We reached Murud in the evening and hunted the area for good hotels. We finally got a lovely cottage by the sea and it was most affordable. We changed all our plans and decided to stay at Murud for the next three days. Yes, all that planning that we did for a month went down the drain. Went to the beach late evening, enjoyed playing some games and splashing water on each other. It was a lifetime experience, being with school friends on a trip on the Konkan beaches. We had some Jain food for dinner, specially made by a pujari. Now don't ask why we ordered Jain food -- baap re, logon ke itne natak for pure vegetarian, LOL!

That night, Anjan and Heena turned in early while Prachi, Parth and I talked till midnight about anything and everything possible. We discussed marriage, life, love -- it was great talking to each other in the moonlight, against the background of the waves.

The next day, Friday, we were up early in the morning -- that success was thanks to Anjan and a cat, who ran into each other with a loud scream that woke us all up! We set off to explore the fort of Janjira. Travelling to Janjira in a small boat was thrilling. Listening to the history and getting to know about the fort in detail was an experience altogether. I must say it's one of the best forts I have ever visited in my life. The architect had done a beautiful job.He had paid attention to the minutest of details while designing it -- truly an architectural marvel. We clicked a lot of pics.

In the evening we decided to go and explore the Buddha Caves that are about 30 kms from Murud. This was a total disappointment -- there was nothing to explore! This was thanks to Heena, who gave us such a wonderful description we were all curious to explore another architectural beauty. Later in the evening we returned to Murud and went to the beach again, enjoying the cool breeze and lovely atmosphere, leaving behind all our worries in life!

At midnight, we ventured into the inner areas of Murud to get our stock of drinks. We drank till 1 am and I spoke to Parth for an hour. Meanwhile Heena and Anjan were having some important discussion till midnight. At 3 am, I was lying on a bench gazing at the stars.

Once Anjan and Heena were done talking, she and I went to the beach with a pair of pillows and slept on the wet mud, talking till 6 am. It was a great experience once again, discussing life, work, love, passion etc. And yeah, we enjoyed guessing at the shapes of clouds. I must say it was the best time I have ever spent with anyone in my life!

On Saturday, we woke up early in the morning, although Heena and I hardly slept at all. We left for Kolad for water sports. We did the flying fox, river-crossing, kayaking -- ahh! It was adventurous and we had a great time. We also clicked a lot of pictures in newly designed tee-shirts there! I must say this was the best lot of pictures we clicked on the whole trip. We returned to Murud dead tired but went back to the beach and enjoyed every moment, horse-riding, sloshing around in the mud, splashing water on each other. Then we went back to the cottage and saw all our pics. And this time we all took pillows, bedsheets etc and went to sleep on the beach! We had a lot of fun talking to each other till 1 am. I wanted to spend the night on the beach, but unfortunately, no one gave me any company!

Sunday started off with Parth screaming at everyone to get ready, as he had a train to catch at 3. So, this time we did no natak and left Murud in the morning. On our way we stopped at Kashid Beach and had our breakfast there -- again Jain food! Baap re, at least I will not forget this trip for the food part of it!

Then we started for our final destination -- Mumbai! We reached Mumbai Central on time, only to realise later that it was not Mumbai Central at all and we were at the wrong station!We ran like anything to get Parth to a local so that he could reach the right station on time. The run was memorable, although Parth pe bada gussa aa raha tha -- subah se suna raha tha time pe pahuncha and all! Anyway it was fun!

After that the four of us -- Heena, Parth, Anjan and me -- went to Metro Cinema for a movie but there were no tickets available. So we went to Fashion Street to shop where Prachi did most of the shopping. Then went to Parsi restaurant Kayani to catch a cup of tea with bun-butter and banana milkshake. Yeah, banana milkshake -- people seem to prefer this weird combination of drink, that too at a place that is known for tea!

Then we went to the Gateway of India, admired the beauty of the Taj Mahal Hotel and explored the option of buying a yacht. As it's out of my budget, Heena will be gifting me one on my birthday! Then went to Cafe Mondegar (pareshan kar ke rakha tha Heena ne ek mahine se, ki I want to go to Cafe Mondegar). It was a great place and we had a great time eating pizza, Jain cheesetoast and a bottle of beer. The place was very happening with loud music, cartoons everywhere and the best crowd of Mumbai all around! We were late again and ran for the station to drop everyone home. The journey ultimately came to an end! However, it was the experience of a lifetime...

If you have fabulous stories to share about fun and crazy antics with your closest pals, write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Hamari Dosti') along with a photograph of all of you, if possible and we'll publish the best entries right here. Hurry and send in your experiences and pics today!