19-Nov-2006 -- This confluence lies near my ancestral home in Borlai Panchaitan, which lies at the edge of the western ghats in the district of Raigad (Mahārāshtra).

During a business visit to Pune, I managed to squeeze in a visit to Borlai Panchaitan to visit members of my family tree, it was an emotional comeback, because this was only my 3^rd visit to the place.

The confluence actually lies in the sea about 2 km from the nearest shore or 6 km from the fishing village of Srīvardhan.

It was crisp Sunday morning with a slight breeze. The village was still asleep. The sights, sounds and smells of the dawn is always a special treat.

I arrived at the Jivna Bandar, a small fishing jetty in Srīvardhan at around 7:15 a.m. and already there was a buzz around the place with fishing boats arriving every minute and the fish unloaded and brought to the square in front of the jetty ready for the auction.

In all this organized chaos, I had to find a boat! After several attempts, a very friendly coast guard patrol officer who had just come onshore from his duty, helped me get the boat, it was the boat that is used to ferry people between their anchored offshore coast guard patrol boats and Jivna Bandar.

The skipper of the boat was a young local by the name of Ajeeb with the deck helper,called Prakash from Karnaka. Prakash was due to leave for his home village that evening, and he already was dressed to kill.

We pulled off from the jetty and headed towards our confluence.

The 20-footer boat was powered by a 25cc diesel engine and it chugged away at leisurely speed of 7 km/h, drowning any possibilities of conversations and choking fumes on the lee side.

The sea was calm and serene, the fjords we passed were stunningly beautiful.

The time quickly passed by, and we suddenly arrived at the confluence.

Getting the exact zero readings was impossible because of a slight drift, and there were no oars to steady the boat. I managed to get the GPS reading within the tolerance. From the point of confluence the land was clearly visible in the easterly and northernly directions.

The return journey was uneventful, and after picking and dropping off people on to various crafts, we managed to get back on the jetty at Jivna Bandar.

This confluence visit is a personal achievement of connecting my past with the present.