What A Republic Day !!!

Sitabuldi fort is an off-reach destination for the civilians. It’s an army base and opens its doors for the common man only on the two national holidays of 15th August and 26th January.
When some place has a sort of secrecy shrouding it, curiosity to know about increases exponentially. Having seen quite a few Maratha forts in last two years, the interest to see the one in our own city was at its maximum. So, on this republic day we i.e. me, Santu, Prasad & Taresh decided to visit it.
All was set and we were to start at 7 for the fort. A delayed start due to Prasad made us late by a quarter of an hour. We reached Buldi and picked Taresh from there. For him a chance to go out is like finding the magnetic monopole! He was all ready and raring to go. While we had just woken and reached the venue somehow while he was all bathed, brushed and fresh.
Before the visit to the fort, we visited the famous Kasturchand Park (KP) pohewala. After having a plate of hot poha, we queued up at the fort. Although the official time to enter was 8, we were allowed 20 minutes past it. The fort is supposed to have few dungeons and tunnels. Actually one of them is supposed to run to Kamptee, some 16 kilometres away. Prasad was all eyes in search of it or at least any of them.
The fort was won by the British in 1817, in the Battle of Sitabuldi when they defeated the Maratha forces. Ever since then the British army held the fort and the surrounding tekdi as a prize trophy. The trophy passed to the Indian army when we gained independence.
Most of the fort was off-limits and numerous barriers were placed. The total tour took us no more than half an hour. The fort has some memorials inside it. There are the graves of the five British soldiers who were killed in the aforesaid battle. The fort also has a cell in which Gandhiji was imprisoned for about a month in 1923. The graves of the grandsons of Tipu Sultan are also inside the fort who were hanged for their role in the 1857 revolt. There is also a monument to commemorate the visit of the king of England in 1912. Whatever he was doing their overlooking the deep pit below is beyond me.
I, personally, was little disappointed how the tour turned out! But soon Taresh took us to a paradise. Vidhan Bhavan had a flower exhibition going on. Nature always has a soothing effect on humans & what more can be soothing than beautiful flowers! I was apprehensive at first given the location. But they just allayed all my worries. The display was majestic and fantastic. After a prolonged photo session, we moved ourselves to Taresh’s college, Institute of Science.
We met some of Taresh’s friends. We had a talkathon going on which had to be stopped as we had two non-participating members in Santu & Prasad. For the sake of convenience, we marched back home leaving Taresh with them.
During October’s Walkathon, we had walked almost this distance. But owing to the breaks that we didn’t have much fatigue this time. It also acted as a good practice to the marathon that we are to run on 31st { It will be another Walkathon, I promise at least from our side!}.
Akshita’s dad had his birthday and Nauty’s mathematics sir was giving a farewell. This meant that I had only Rushabh to teach and that too late in the evening. So, I slept peacefully and went to teach in the evening. As planned, in the evening, me, Prasad and Santu went to see a circus. This brought the kid back in me and I actually went there as a 7-year old! We, poor fellows, opted for the cheapest 30/- tickets and had to do circus ourselves to sit on the wooden plancks they gave us as seats.
The 3-hour show was good. Whenever we tried to leave, they would put on an exciting item forcing us to stay on. The overuse of acrobatics and less use of animals did disappoint us a little. Overall, the show was fine. And the hippopotamus was a bonus.
From there, we went for a dinner and then a sweet paan culminated the fantastic republic day celebration.
Long live the Republic of India.