“BEER! It is
the best damn drink in the world!” as quoted by Jack Nicholson. Who wouldn’t
agree to this thought when I personally do love beer. Oktoberfest, an annual beer
festival in Germany is a melting pot for the beer lovers from all around the
world to dwell on some freshly brewed beers. The beer festival had its very own
Indian leg this year, at Mumbai and Pune on the 15th and 16th
of October, 2011. My friends definitely weren’t going to miss out on this event
this year.
Mumbai, had the event happening at a
suburban area, Bandra. Pune, though had it organized at ‘Corinthians’, a beer brewery. This brewery was located approximately
20 kms away from the city. The idea of the road trip to Pune for a day with
some amazing beer, cancelled out the idea of visiting Mumbai’s version of the
event. The plan, I must admit was made by my friends who arranged to hire a
‘Tavera’ car on the 16th of October, 2011. Though, I was invited
amongst the seven people; being the capacity of the car; I had my list of
excuses ready on not making for the trip. I guess, I wouldn’t exactly know what
made me change my mind, but, I confirmed my participation for the trip at the
stroke of midnight. The start point for the hired car was from Panvel, where one
of my friend resides. The tricky part about Panvel was that, it is located 80
kms away from Mumbai city and except for one friend from ‘Kharghar’ area in New
Mumbai, everyone else were from suburban Mumbai. One of my friends Sunil,
volunteered to pick each one of us up and take us to Panvel from where the
journey would begin. The usual confusion of the number of people confirmed and
the possible number of inductees made it a very stressful night for each one of
us. Well, I can’t include myself in this as I wasn’t sure myself. The number
confirmed was six from Mumbai on the day of departure, but we did have an additional
friend to join in the festivities once we reached Pune. It was Vignesh, Sunil,
Aroop, Srikant, Anand and myself from Mumbai with Girish joining us at Pune.
The usual excitement for a road trip
was imminent, but what made this trip special was that it was the 1st
time, except for Sunil and Aroop, I was involved with friends whom I haven’t
been on a trip so far! Jokes and the usual banter on catching up on things were
there, but more than eager to get our hands on the freshly brewed chilled beer.
The day was hot and humid. Having adequate water resource was a complete necessity.
The food court on the Mumbai- Pune Expressway sufficed our requirements. We
don’t tend to realize the speed at which our car travels on the expressway, but
it was expertly driven by our driver to reach Pune city by 3.15 PM leavin
Panvel at 1.00 PM.
Reaching Pune city was easy. Trying
to find our way to Corinthians was difficult and took us about 40 mins to reach
the place. An unexpected rain shower, a bumpy ride and finally at the brewery.
The tables were booked weeks ago and as feared. We were ready to stand our way
guzzling the beer. A last moment cancellation by one of the attendees luckily
got us a table. The crowd started to gather as the evening wore on. A self
titled and very ordinary standup comic act kicked off the evening. 'Irish red
ale', 'Oktoberfest wheat beer', 'Apple cider', 'Smoked ale' were ready on our table. Rates were Rs.
70.00 for a pint and Rs. 100.00 for an English mug of 800ml during the happy
hours which ran until 8.00 PM. A fusion live performance gave us the feel of an
open air music festival.
Exploring the brewery gave me an insight
on the process of brewing, with placards placed all over the place. An X-Box
kinect was installed with people battling it out over games of table tennis and
boxing. A game of fooze ball with random opponents added to the joy. A separate
pub with a whole different set of playlist was where the intial heartbeat was,
but the open air feel, a barbeque kitchen and a live music act quickly changed
things.
Our plan was to come back to Mumbai
the very night itself. Leaving the place in the midst of the festivities was a
pain, but also, a vindication in taking part in a beer fest. This was something
that had been wanting for years. Leaving Pune at 11.30 PM, we reached Panvel at
1.30 AM. Reached home by 3.00 AM. Worthwhile experience and a ‘To do’ suggestion
from me to all beer lovers.
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