And blogging is contagious
It really is if you get comments & responses and good stats!
And what if you don’t? It still can be contagious when you are passionate about writing. It doesn’t have to be information dissemination or gospel preaching. It simply has to be straight, terse, impacting and real. And these adjectives can only be associated if it is straight from the heart. If you feel about the things you write. If you know what you are writing. It has to be real and not ctrl + c and ctrl + v.
Also, beside the abovementioned preaching remember to -
- Read comments
- Reciprocate
- Accept mistakes & rectify those
- Visit the commentors blog and drop in comments.
Blogging is best enjoyed when you read and you are read. Isn’t it a social thing? Personal updates as blog content is passe and dead. If it has to be personal updates, Facebook & Twitter have taken over.
Have a good time 
White-water rafting at Rishikesh – Dec 2009
Rishikesh, the white water rafting hub of India, with the turbulent waters of Ganga at Shivpuri beckons all Travelarkers. River rafting as a sport has reached new heights in these parts of the country and the thrill delivered under optimised safety protocols just makes it all the more worthwhile.
It is surely must be experienced by each and every adventure enthusiast.. and here we give them a chance and a reason to celebrate their adventure quotients with our ‘White water Rafting’ event at Rishikesh on the -
Christmas eve from 25 – 28 Dec ‘09
New years eve from – 29 Dec ‘09 to 1 Jan ‘10
Itinerary Ex-Delhi: 3 Nights / 3 Days package
For more details – please visit Travelarks Blog: Rishikesh Rafting Dec ‘09
Cheers ~~~
Climbing & cycling to a griding halt!
I am being troubled by a niggling knee for some time now. First it was the right one and now even the left one has become bothersome now. Reason?
Well, it could be anything from – climbing, running downhill with sudden jerks and heavy backpacks, cycling with high resistance and irregular cadence or anything… reasons aplenty, symptoms and niggles all the same -knees or ankles.
And, now I diagnose it as a ligament injury – sprain and laxity. Advised rest with ultrasound physiotherapy offering the treatment. So advised strictly against cycling, running, climbing or any other physical activity. No knee exercise as well. Just rest and physiotherapy.
Let me maintain my sanity till the knee regains its full fitness back. Atleast, till the time I can begin with moderate knee strengthening exercises! Let the better senses prevail.
By the way, a very happy and prosperous Diwali to you all. Let it be safe, noise free and eco-friendly!
Cheers ~
Dhak-Bahiri, 11 Oct 2009
Bull shitting under the pretext of religious sentiments in India has reached alarming levels long ago and the amount of stink that has permeated the atmosphere is suffocatingly stinky!
Had a close encounter with the filthy stink yesterday on one of the very popular hiking trails in Sahyadri – The Dhak Bahiri. What was the stink about?
Have these -
Females, not allowed. If they try to pay their obeisance to the deity, it renders them impious, and may be, even amount to sacrilege!
However, chaknas and liquor seems to be the prasad offerings to the deity. A lot of the stink-causing villagers, who maintain their double standards, threatened us with dire consequences if the female accompanying us were to climb upto the ‘pious’ cave. However, they carried gallons of liqour atop and created nuisance in the cave.
Behead a live chicken in the cave, cut it, cook it and then savour it along with the liquor. Goes down well with the deity? eh? Utter bull shit. Nuisance values!
No issues with us, since the girl accompanying us had been there twice earlier and not being there for the third time did not bore holes into our souls and egos! But this nonsensical fuss did, maybe..
Other than that …
No offense to the day; it was a perfectly beautiful day with all the frills attached – less humid, not-a-scalding-heat, the freshness of green post monsoons and more importantly a good group to share all this with.
We started from Jambhivali village. Jambhivali can be reached from Kamshet (15 kms from Lonavala, on Pune-Lonavala route).
It takes around 30 minutes to reach Jambhivali from Kamshet. From Jambhivali a good trek of hour and a half brought us to the col between the Kalakrai pinnacle and the Dhak massif. Another 5 minutes to reach the famous rock patch of Bahiri.
The heat, even though not scalding, was hot enough to try and seek some shade. The cave was left in pathetic condition by the rampaging villagers.. the hooters!
The final stretches of Bahiri patches, need to be negotiated with care. In summers, more so because chances of sun-stroke increases manifold owing to the extremely hot temperatures and completely exposed stretches.
We paid a quick visit to the cave and decided to descend towards the Karjat side. Descending to Sandshi village from Dhak is no-easy task. Why? No defined route as such.. Lot of thickets to negotiate and plenty of avenues to lose the way and get stranded in the jungle as the sun sets down on you and no other option than to spend a night out in the jungle.
We were about to end up doing the same (spend night in the jungle), but for some correct decisions and route finding. After a very long traverse, we reached Kalakrai wadi and then to Mangaon (near Sandshi). It was 7.15 PM by the time we reached Mangaon, the final 30 minutes being in darkness.
From Mangaon, we managed to hire a rickshaw ride till Karjat and the 8.41 PM fast train to CST. Good trek with the fellows, apart for the mind-numbing senseless display on the villagers part. Who were they..? Not worth discussing..!
Check out the photos here -
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/rohanrrao/DhakBahiri#
Cheers ~~~
Issued in public interest by …
Elections are round the corner and the Jaago re, Badlaav and Youth for change and all such initiatives start cropping up in numbers and soon teem the media space all over.
But do these organisations & initiatives help in achieving the change? Will increased participation of the youth in the elections solve all the problems?
I don’t think so.
I strongly believe that these awareness campaigns, even though a noble effort, pathetically fail against the rampant corruption, bullying by the political powerhouses and unethical emotional foul play that appeals to the irrational emotional sentiments of the masses.
Just imagine yourself in a position of an educated and informed youth from Dharavi, who is well informed about the fallacy of the contesting political party. And you are resolute to vote for the best and cleanest collar in the upcoming elections.
Then just as your resolution becomes contagious, you are confronted with a juicy offer. A fortune that you just can’t refuse in exchange for a vote. And all the resolutions are washed away.
Or, a threatening to you & your family.
Or being brain-washed into religious injustice / humbugs of minority and all other bull shit and abetted into wrong doings.
Well, the avenues for breaking your resolutions are larger than you think and more powerful than we perceive.
These initiatives aims to create public awareness and a positive movement for betterment of the society spend fortunes on advertising campaigns, promotions and events. Good for the cause. The footnote in these advertisements, ‘Issue in Public Interest’ also lends a positive to the suspecting wicked in me.
Then what can we do? Sit back and relax? Mera kya jata hain attitude? Yeh India hain, yaha kuch nahi ho sakta?
There is a way. Resort to Guerrilla warfare and we can sustain and improve the situation.
Consider these metros as the targets of these political powerhouses. These centres are thoroughly permeated with the infectious worms and their reign is very strong in these areas. These are the foci of infections and will gradually spread to more vulnerable areas, the tier-II and tier-III cities.
Rather than attacking the source of infection, the focus of foul play, the metros, the political powerhouses, we must protect the peripheries and vulnerable towns from these ravagers. Start with the rural areas, which are farthest from the focus of infection. Empower them and improve its immunity to such an extent that they become resistant to these infections.
Then move towards the centre, one level up, in the tier-III cities and then sequentially to tier-II cities. Make the peripheries so strong that they gradually encroach the centre and stifle the foci of infections.
Well, visualize it and it looks perfectly feasible, isn’t it? It does, yeah!
Implementation isn’t too difficult too. Move away from the focus and focus on the unfocussed. Participate in rural upliftment and empowering the hinterlands.
How can we do this?
- Educate – Teach in village schools for free, a voluntary act.
- Listen to them and be sympathetic towards their problems
- Tackle each situation one by one and patiently
- Get to the basics, be humanitarian
- Inform them of the current affairs and update them on the need of the hour
- Enlighten them about the positives that the future beholds for them with just few informed actions
- Help them in decision making
- Instill a sense of confidence and righteousness that will render them impermeable to the corrupt practices rampant at the focus
There are many more things that can be done. Just think and rack your grey cells. You will better the above mentioned crap and come out with smarter ideas.
Arthur’s seat – Chandragad (Dhavale) Trek: Sep ‘09
Another one with a night out in thickly forested jungle infested with wild carnivores! Another night out in a jungle after an encounter with the deadly venomous Bamboo Pit Viper! Another night out in a jungle after some tired bodies with scared souls insisted on walking no further! Another night out in a jungle besides a gushing stream and a bliss..
Well, mid September is surely not an advisable time for the Arthur’s Seat – Chandragad trek, but then not paying heed to deterrent advice is what distinguishes this bunch… ready to rough it out kuch bhi..kaise bhi.. kabhi bhi…
Then what was the worrisome factor? That we were 14 of us and all of them weren’t prepared for kuch bhi and kaise bhi..!!!
So the much awaited Friday night came as we boarded the Mahabaleshwar bound Asiad and after a bit of quiesence dozed off..! Came dawn and we alighted the bus at 6.00 AM and surprisingly Mahabaleshwar was neither chilly nor were there any traces of rainfall! Quite unusual..
Read complete treklogue here – The Travelarks Blog
A late night rendezvous
There is not enough motivation in the world for me to stay awake till 3.00 AM unless it is one of those last moment farcical & superfluous study patterns that I practiced (and I believe most of us do) during my school and college days
There was none yesterday either. But I did. With nothing on my mind I was winding up for the day and a causal ‘hi’ dropped to a friend unfolded some of the most precious revelations to me for the next 3 and half hours.
I wouldn’t definitely delve into the intricacies of the conversation since even though it is precious to me, it is definitely most worthless to the rest of the world. So how does it matter to write this blog post?
Well, the purpose is not to discuss the conversation, but the effect of such conversations. The ever-available yet long lost friend was there by my side and the invaluable essence that was gifted by the friend is still fragrant and a bliss.
There was a place which was full sometime back. There was a place which began emptying itself in the wake of some endeavours. The essence started to leak out. And the place was gobbled up by a vacuum. Or I thought so. And did not bother to have a second look. Until last night.
A look over the shoulder and I realised that it was nothing but a fata morgana. A mirage. An illusion. There it was full and brimming as it was some time back. Not too long ago. A year back. The fragrance still there. The essence still there. The magic amplified.
May be the conversation left more questions in our minds. May be it left more questions unanswered than before. But it rendered me potent enough to solve the cryptic now. The questions were unanswered even before, just that I was ignorant to it. The conversation helped me clear the haze. Face the questions. And take them head on with unwavering spirit.
May be certain words in the conversation camouflaged the truth. May be certain words conveyed a meaning other than what they are actually meant. Certain expressions. Gestures. A realisation. An understanding that cannot be expressed but experienced.
The 3 and half hours helped me wade through a calm turbulence rising within. A face off with the turbulence and a lesson that there was no turbulence. An acceptance. Thanks to my friend.
Note: This post is nothing but a acknowledgment to the self and to the person who mattered. Sorry if you read through and gained nothing. You were not the one to gain. If anyone did, it was me!
Travelarks Sindhudurga Tour – 1-4 Oct ‘09
2nd October, being Gandhi Jayanti, is a national holiday. More importantly it falls on a Friday. Aahaa.. an extended weekend at our hands and we surely won’t let it pass by quietly. Here we bring you a small but very beautiful package of Sindhudurga tour.. the first and only district in the tourism.
The architectural wonder of monumental Sindhudurga fort. The strong bastions and unshaken walls of Vijaydurga. The serendepid ambiance of Tarkarli. The sanctified presence of Kunkeshwar. And your wonderful company to make the entire journey firmly etched in our memories…!!!
3 days and 3 nights: A tour, a bliss!
Sight seeing:
Sindhudurga
Vijaydurga
Kunkeshwar
Tarkarli
Itinerary:
Thursday night departure (1st October) from Dadar at 11.00 PM
Day 1: Friday
Reach Tarkarli at around 10.00 AM
Rest + Refreshments
Sindhudurga visit at 12.00
Lunch at 1.30 PM
Return to resort + rest
Evening Tarkarli beach
Boating at Devbag
Dinner + Camp fire
Retire for the day
Day 2: Saturday
Early start at 7.00 AM
Breakfast
Leave for Kunkeshwar by 8.00 AM
Reach Kunkeshwar by 10.00 AM
Kunkeshwar visit + Lunch by 1.00 PM
Leave for Vijaydurga by 2.00 PM
Vijaydurga sight seeing
Dinner + Return
Retire for the day
Day 3: Sunday
Early morning start
Breakfast
Leave for Mumbai by 8.00 AM
Lunch at 1.30 PM
Reach Mumbai by 8.00 PM
Lots of senic beauty, azure blue skies, golden beaches at Tarkarli, wonderful fortresses and more awaits you!
Cost – Rs 4000 per person
Includes:
Transportation from Mumbai to Mumbai by private vehicle
Accommodation at Malvan / Tarkarli
Food and refreshments during the duration of the tour
Service charges
Register for the event now – http://travelarks.com/index.php/component/jforms/1/8
Contact –
Shailendra Acharya – 9619043675
Rohan Rao – 9987506223
Naneghat trek on 6th Sep
I have been to Naneghat 18 times before, but have seen nothing like this one! This was amazing and exhilarating!
“Rohan, mala parat jaychay, mala var nahi yaycha! Var jaychi kaay garaj aahe???” It means in Marathi, “Rohan, I want to go back. I don’t want to complete the trek. Whats the need? Why take the risk?” Not usuallr are these words associated with Naneghat; this time it was!
Read and see (pics) more at http://travelarks.com/blog/?p=69
The group – 25 in number, 19 participants and 6 of us to manage them; an apt ratio of 1:4. Whoa! good figure
And I dare say that ratio was not required. It was very much, considering the heavy down pour, chilly winds, ever increasing levels of water gushing down against us threatening to throw us off balance and the reduced visibility due to very thick fog! … just an excerpt
