OUR Konkan sojourn began with Ratnagiri, which conjures up visions of Hapus or Alphonso mangoes. It is said that here you cannot toss a stone without hitting a tree with a ripening Alphonso hanging from a branch.
Ratnagiri has other claims to fame. This erstwhile trading port town is also the birthplace of many distinguished sons-of-the-soil: poets, politicians and revolutionaries. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak have their roots here. Ratnagiri is also where dethroned Burmese king Thibaw spent his last years in exile.
The charm of this coastal. . .
