Keshav Srushti ....January 11, 2015

Oops, again this time I was undecided about the trip. To go or not to go, When I told Bhagwatiji, that I will not be able to join, he said If I need to learn and connect with the group, these are the occasions I should not miss, Heeding his advice, gave a call to Amit late at night for joining the trip. 

We went by car to Keshav Srushti.

Attendees: Sir, Uttarika, Malvika, Neeta, Amit, Chaitali, Ajay, Siddhi, Vandana, Anant, Manish, Iswar, Mukund, Sunanda, Bhagwati, Pradeep, Suparna, Toshali, Anish, Gordon, Seedon, Newcy and Gangadhar.

Anyone missing???.

Cheese please

Anant missed his morning exercises???

waiting for Sir's instructions

It was one hour drive from Borivali. The place is located at Bhayandar, closer to Gorai Beach.
As we reached the place, first thing we did was to attack the breakfast!!!It was sumptuous breakfast.Upma, wada, Idli, Sambhar, Chutni, Jalebi, Papdi, Tea. After the breakfast, it was task time for everyone. For me, it was a mixed group. some new, some from the classes. some had seen at Rajan Vakil Sirs lectures. 

Since there was some awkwardness among the group and some still didn't know the other person well, Sir made four groups and told us to explore the place as well as the group.Chaitali, Newcy, Sunanda, Toshali, Uttarika, Suparna explored the fields. 

So we all went on different directions to be away from the other group. I was with Gordon, Malvika and Gangadhar. I met Gangadharji for the first time in person. While conversing with him, came to know that his brother and my brother work at the same place in Dubai!!!

As soon as we started exploring the place, we were welcomed by a snake, insect(s), chameleon, trees,  flowers, kids of the staff who managed the place.....

Smile please

babe's in the woods!!!

After exploring the place it was time for exploring ourselves. Since Gordon was the leader of our team, he took the initiative of starting the discussion. We started with our 'Fears'.....Gordon said initially he had difficulty in remembering, relating to the things, family but now with the exercises, he can go back to the roots recall / relate to the things. Gangadhar was worried about wanting to have bigger house. He said post both his son's marriage, he may require a bigger place. He feared whether he will have enuf resources to be able to buy a bigger house. I fear about darkness. Once there is darkness, the known place becomes unknown, I fear that. Malvika said, she may not be able to stick to one job..what I realised from her talk was, she was unable to decide what exactly she wanted in her life from her life....Most of us don't know what we want from life or rather what we want to do in life ...Sir, please help...But after attending the 3SRB sessions, she is now able to analyse herself,,Since the group was small, I decided to discus jealousy. Malvika very beautifully helped in understanding how to deal with jealousy. I knew only the names of the people in my group and had never interacted much with them.  But after some time, I was totally relaxed with the group and later had some personal chat with Malvika also. I think this was the reason why Sir made groups so that we get to know each other and help each other in having clarity of thoughts.

After an hour, we all came back to the central place. Then suddenly from nowhere, Amit called us to play Frisbee. We all joined him to play the game. Ofcourse, after few shots, Sir, decided to apply some techniques to the game, First the throw were random, then they were specific to the people,, then the throwing technique was changed.....two things came out of this play..one was sharpness / alertness of the mind and the smooth throw in spite of having trees in between...

After the game, we had a lunch. Post lunch we went to see the Gaushala. Honestly, there was nothing to see..only the cows in different shapes and sizes!!!

Amit imparting the lessons?

Hi, How do I look???

Click me, please!!

After Goshala, we decided to visit the Pagoda. It was 7 kms from the Keshav Srushti. The Global Vipassana Pagoda is a Meditation Hall near Gorai, North-west of Mumbai, India.The pagoda is to serve as a monument of peace and harmony. The Global Vipassana Pagoda has been built out of gratitude to the Buddha, his teaching and the community of monks practicing his teaching. Its traditional Burmese design is an expression of gratitude towards the country of Myanmar for preserving the practice of Vipassana. The shape of the pagoda is a copy of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. The center of the Global Vipassana Pagoda contains the world's largest stone dome built without any supporting pillars. The height of the dome is approximately 29 metres, while the height of the building is 96.12 meters. Has two meditation centres. One is 10 minutes meditation centre where as the other is an advanced meditation centre. One has to do undertake one day meditation course to go for the advanced one. Its' a beautiful place surrounded by structures and a fountain. When I observed people at Pagoda, I felt they came just as a picnic spot sans realizing the importance of the place!!!

Pagoda

Entrance of the Pagoda

One of the structure at Pagoda

Small Meditation centre

From Pagoda we went to Gorai beach. I always keep hearing that parents are busy with their kids exams...However when you see the beaches, they are full of people, all the resorts are occupied on saturdays, sundays and public holidays!!!Gordonji booked one shack for us to enjoy tea, snacks and the scenic beauty surrounded by the beach. Our trip ended by Sir giving a final talk on the day's activities. First, he asked us to narrate our group experiences. Each one shared their experiences. Amit was asked to bond with pradeep ji and Ishwar and had done the job quite successfully. One of the group discussed on rigidity. One of the topic currently being discussed in the Saturday class. 

Enjoying snacks@ Gorai beach

Finally, Sir beautifully summarised the entire day's event. 

Sir, giving the final talk

Malvika, thinking on.....

Day's lesson: One of the thing was to learn to say NO. He gave an example of food. If your stomach is full and still your host insist on having some more, politely refuse it by saying NO. 

Secondly, be polite with your family members. Chartity begins at home.Family people are the most near and dear ones, and these are the people most neglected..We experiment all the learnt lessons outside our family without realising these are the people whom we first come in contact with. Be courteous and polite when you talk with your family members. 

Keshav Srushti: www.keshavsrushti.com

31st December 2014...Kondgaon

Gosh!!it's end of the year, end of the month , end of the day!!!its' 31st December!!!!People have already started making their plans for 31st December....For me, it is just an another year end..Sometimes, I celebrate sitting at home watching TV, sometimes with friends...Lately, I have started preferring to sit at home and do reading, writing or cleaning some stuff. I don't know whether this is because of the age or am tired of listening the same old stuff...I was just thinking as to how to spend this 31 Dec when I received a mail from The Explorers. They had planned an overnight programme at Kondgaon. 31st December is almost synonymous with dance, music and drinks!!!!Fortunately or unfortunately I don't do any of these...However, in the brochure they said this camp is for nature lovers!!...I was excited to be a part of it...There was only one hitch..in the last line of the brochure they mentioned "you can bring your own drinks"!!!!I had a second thought of whether to join them or sit at home...Since, this was a new group, new people, new place and 31st December with drinks....I thought of skipping it....But at the last moment decided to go for it...Guys, this is not my fault..I being a Piscean, they( the decisions) are always changing...one moment it is Yes and the other moment it is NO!! Finally, I called the office and registered for the camp. 

This was an overnight camp (31st December 2014 - 01 January 01 2015 at Kondgaon organized by The Explorers.

Day 1. Meeting place: Chitra cinema, Dadar at 2.30pm

I absolutely had no idea the mode of transport (of course it was by road) and how many people have registered..I just wanted to get away from the noise pollution.Had not painted a very happy picture in my mind!!!..Was blank about the place and the people whom I would meet!!!While I was waiting for the vehicle to pick me up, a very stylish female (only the cap was missing) got down from the taxi. She was wearing a long skirt, black top , glasses and had loosen her long hair. Was carrying a trolley, purse and a blanket in a plastic bag!!...Even in the wildest imagination, I would never have thought her to be part of this trip. Generally, for an overnight trip, people would prefer to carry a backpack and since it was December one sweater..nothing more...I was shocked to hear when she asked me whether I was waiting for the Explorer's vehicle... Her's was the first visit for this type of outing...

Kondgoan is 100 kms from Pune. It takes approx. 2&1/2 hours to reach Kalekar's Campsite.  The road to Kondgaon is beautiful. You are surrounded with green trees, farms, ponds, villages, etc. We were 11 of us in the bus. Five members from The Explorers and we were six of us. I and Madhavi were the new comers, others had done one or two tours with The Explorers. Since the group was small, it was comfortable and easy to mingle. From the six of us, except krunal (yes, it is Krunal and not Kunal!!), all were females...It was a lovely group...oops I forgot to add one more member. an injured snake..Leon was going to set it free in the forest..

On our way to the campsite

Campsite

We reached the camp at 5.45pm. Seeing the site, I heaved a sigh of relief. I was glad that I decided to come. The camp was surrounded by trees, hammocks, swings and tents. There are five tents which are fixed and other small tents were put up for the other group. We refreshed ourselves and attacked on tea and pakoras. Each one were telling our travel experiences. All the tents were lit with beautiful lights, dance floor was equipped with music system and lights. 

Campsite

Tents at the campsite

Snacks time!!!

31st December night

After we finished the snacks, we went for a small walk. The camp is closer to Kondgaon dam. One has to cross the rocks to reach the dam. Once you reach the dam, the sight mesmerizes you!!!It is a huge dam surrounded with trees and there is small footpath along the dam. It was very calm..We walked almost a km along the dam. Madhavi suggested to do Moon meditation but forgot to bring the speakers and nobody wanted to leave the place. We just sat and relaxed under the moon. I would not have asked more to the GOD...

Well, on the well

After sometime, we decided to go for dinner. Mr. Kalekar and his team had arranged a lovely dinner. There was Chicken barbecue, Chicken lollipop, Fried Aloo, Noodles, Fried Rice, Manchurian, Pav Bhaji...After having the starters, Leon (The Explorers) and Chantelle hit the dance floor. They performed Jive dance on country music, Bryan Adams, Dire Straits, etc..It was nice watching them dance. I and Manisha shared our travel experiences. Later we had a camp fire. At 12 midnight, we burst crackers and wished everyone Happy New Year.. I was enjoying every bit of the moment. The environment, the music, the people, the chatting, the food, everything was too good. We all were sitting around the camp fire and listening to romantic English songs...

Leon and Chantelle dancing!!

Shaking legs on the Bollywood music

Day 2: 

After having tea, We headed straight to the dam for morning walk, bird watching and since Madhavi missed moon meditation she wanted to do sunrise meditation. The location was perfect for any kind of meditation!!!

Campsite (Leon set for spotting the birds and snakes) 

Leon Rocks!!!

Sunrise at the dam

Morning at the Dam!!!

Sunrise meditation  WIP at the Dam

Dam

Krunal enjoying the walk!!!

Water was serene and the sun rays falling in the water was a sight to watch for..It was superb. We were welcomed by checkered keelback water snakes. Madhavi and Manisha did sunrise meditation. I and Leon did some bird watching. He was ready with a Nikon binoculars and a Grimmet to spot the birds, We could spot only few ones though, the Red Rumped Swallow, Straited Swallow, Wire tailed Swallow, Sand Martin, Plain Martin, Dusky Crag Martin, , Chlorsis leaf bird.... 

Hi, Good morning!!!

Want to join me for a swim???

Who am I ??? (Tawny pipit)

To dive or not to dive!!! (White Browed Wagtail)

  

Around 10am, we went back to the camp for breakfast. Poha, Upma, bread butter, bread and Jam, Omelette, tea, coffee, etc was set on the table. After the breakfast, we had a group photograph and then decided to take leave of Mr. Kalekar's campsite and come back to the busy life of the city!!

This was one of the best 31st December spent in my life!!!

The Explorers gang!!!

The organisers were very friendly..I never felt I was new to the group. They made us very comfortable. I enjoyed the trip very much.

About Mr. Kalekar's campsite:

The site is beautiful and well maintained. Mr. Kalekar believes in eco friendly. There are seven tents in the camp. Each tent can occupy 4 people. The place provides basic amenities. Food served is Veg & Non Veg. Staff is very helpful. During the monsoon, you need to book one day in advance.  Rs.1500 per day / per family is charged. Adventure activities are conducted at this place. It is most popular with school kids. 

You can visit Pali Ganapati from there. It is 12 kms away. Also, you can trek to Sudhagad.It is one of the ancient forts in Sahyadri. Initially, Sudhagad was called as 'Bhorapgad'. During empire of Shivaji maharaj, this fort was named as Sudhagad. It is called as replica of Raigad. 

If you want to spend weekend from the hassle free life of Mumbai,and if you are looking for some quiet place and if you are a nature lover this is the place to visit....