Great Himalayan National Park, Manali ( April 16 - 22, 2016)

Every year I intend to do 2-3 trips. One is a religious trip on my birthday (March), 2nd one during monsoon (either a short / long trip) and during Diwali. This march, I had been to Indore. Had planned a trek in May. ( I am addicted to treks, however for the past two years had missed). Sanchita, one of my friend suggested Tirthan Valley, Kullu, Manali. Last year, I could not visit since it was already booked for April - June. Hence had confirmed Tirthan Valley trip in March itself. I was planning a solo trip to Tirthan Valley. Out of curiosity, happened to check BNHS schedule for this year. Was surprised to see they too had organised a camp at Tirthan Valley in April. I immediately confirmed my participation for the camp. 

BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society, HQ - Fort) is mainly into birding. The locations of their camp are into dense forest, jungles, where usual public do not have entry. So even if you are not a bird watcher, environmental lover would suffice the need for you to join the BNHS camps. Another advantage of being with them is their knowledge of flora and fauna. It doesn't become only a walk / climb...but you get to know about the  plants, rocks, insects, birds, etc whatever is on/above/across the mother earth (except humans!!) very closely.

Day 1. 

We started our journey from New Delhi. Volvo buses ply from Majnu ka Tila to Aut (Kullu Valley). It is an overnight journey (approx. 10-12 hrs). From Aut, we went by jeep to our destination Trout Valley home stay (60kms), 2 hours drive from Aut. You will not find any resorts in and around the villages of AUT, all are homestays. 

Aut

Aut

Day 2:
We reached at around 10 am at Khem Bharti's Home stay (also called as Trout Valley Home stay). We were supposed to camp initially at Sai Ropa (Forest Rest House). Since a bigger group of government officials were to check in , we were shifted to Trout Valley Home stay). I was glad we were shifted at this place. The place was bang opp Tirthan river. You could see the river from your balcony. Listening to the soothing sound of the river, thoughts of the bustling city would be nowhere near you!!!!. All the home stays are wooden in structure and earthquake proof. The room had all the basic amenities. It fitted a perfect description of home. Only difference was, we had the luxury of getting tea, breakfast lunch,snacks, dinner made by the organisers and not by us. We all settled at our rooms, freshened up, had breakfast and then went for a short 4km trek to a nearby water fall to acclimatize ourselves. We were at 3000ft above sea level.

Can you see me?

Balancing on the rock!!!!

Waterfall

The valley was surrounded by huge trees and in between small houses were tugged in. Where ever  you gazed there were only trees of all sizes, leaves of all colors. The water fall was beautiful. To be honest, if you are out of the city and in the forest.....every sight is beautiful...every penny spent is worth it..... and with the like minded people, discussing nature with them is like sone pe suhaaga!!! BNHS organiser Vandan filling in info on the trees and the birds along with Homestay co-owner Mr. Ankit Sood giving us the details about the place was worth every moment!!!!

Evening we went for a  walk in the vicinity. The place was beautiful....On one side there was mountain, on the other side there were trees and in between the river was flowing....And if this was less, we were welcomed by the rains!!!..Since we had put on sweaters and not raincoats, we had to rush back.....(Mind you, the BNHS fellow was fully equipped!!!He was carrying windcheater and Barsati)

Scenic around the home stay:

Please, it is NOT a cemetery,  but storage of the honey!!!

Rufus Vulture

Day 3 & 4:
Day 3 Gushaini to GNHP (Rolla 11kms) 2100m

Day4: Rolla to Kharongcha gate (10kms)2450m

We started our trek from Gushaini, which was 3kms away from our home stay. We were supposed to start at 9.30 am. However, when we woke up , it was raining !!!!!...We waited for some time for the rains to stop. At around 11.30am we started our trek ...It was 11km trek from Gushaini (6900ft) to GHNP. The path was beautiful. We came across many trees (Oak, Deodhar, Pine, Fir), birds, insects, streams, etc. At times, the path was so narrow, that you could keep one foot at a time..one slip and you were down below in the river.

It took us 5 hours to reach the GHNP gate and another one and half hour to reach the camp site.

We didn't feel the distance since the way was simply wonderful, company was nice, and then few birds, insects, trees, streams, smell of the leaves, added to our delightful journey..... We waited for lunch at one point and then second halt was at Mobile point...( only point where you could get a mobile range!!)..

Once we reached the GNHP gate, we were eager to reach the camp site.....When we saw our little tents tucked near the river surrounded by mountains..we lost all our tiredness and scrambled to get towards the tent....

GHNP gate

Rolla camp

We were welcomed with Fruit juices. Later on, soup and snacks were served. In the night, full four course meal was served... Food menu was superb. There was soup, salad, vegetable curry, dal, rice, papad, and sweet dish. Remembered one incidence on sweet dish..One of the members' birthday was not known to us. In the morning, we came to know it was her birthday, The organisers said if they had known earlier, they would have arranged a cake. We wished her and were busy packing for the day trek. In the evening, for the dinner as a a sweet dish they served us CAKE!!!...AND ONE OF THE BEST I EVER HAD......Noodles, pop corn, Gulab Jamuns, pancakes with honey, oats, cornflakes were served at the height of 8000ft!!!!!Hot chocolate, tea, coffee was served post dinner over camp fire. The stay was very comfortable, every needs was looked after ..(of course, when we are in the forest, there are hardly any needs..only the need of enjoying the nature...smell of the leaves, flowers, sound of the river, chirping of the birds....what more you want??? WE never felt it was a camp.....It was a beautiful dense forest

Some of the birds sighted...(there were many,  but I could take snaps only of the few!!...I have an earnest request to all the birds family there, that please please for few seconds be still on the branch or on the electric wires so that we can take your snaps!!!!)

Magpie

Is that a snake between the rocks?? just noticed 

So peaceful!!

Can hear people's voice!!!invaded our area?/

Who am I???

Click fast!!!!

thank you for posing!!!!

Helloooo!!!

Day 5: Back to Gushaini
It was time to return to Gushaini. The stay, the food, the hospitality was good. One of the member's (Sunita's) birthday happen to be on the day when we were camping at Rolla Camps. Mr. Ankit Sood (Organiser of the camp) apologized for not arranging the cake since we didn't intimate him earlier. We wished her in the morning and completely forgot till the dinner when we were served cake as dessert!!!!!Cake at 2100m !!!!!It was one of the best cake I had in years....Food was superb:)...Right from soup to dessert...........and yes not to forget their own local TROUT fish which you will find only in Kullu!!!!

Some beautiful pictures taken en route..pic courtesy Vandan Jhaveri

 

 

Day 6: Jalori Pass:
Last day at the Home stay. After the breakfast, we headed towards Jalori Pass, famous hill station of Shojha giving us a bird's view of the Kullu Valley. It was a beautiful journey approx 1 hr from the home stay to the pass. From the pass, we could view snow clad mountains, It was chilled weather. On the top is the Raghavpur fort. Before starting for the fort, we had hot and spicy noodles. It was perfect for the weather!!!!!...The climb was a bit strenuous. Jalori Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 10, 800 ft above the sea level situated in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The pass is the nearest mountain pass from Delhi, approx. 600km away.

Meadows

FATSO, Get ME down, NOW !!!!

Two things definitely to be done: Try their local TROUT fish and Rhododendron Juice.

It was one of my most memorable trip. The forest, the trees, beautiful flowers, the mountains, the birds, the valley, the food..not to forget the company, .....Esp Harshvardhan, who was the youngest and the cutest guy( 14 yrs old).....One evening we were sitting near the window pane...was telling him that we have not heard any call for a long time...normally with birding people, call meaning birds calling...he responded saying, no there is no network!!!!.what more you want????

PN: GHNP became a UNESCO world Heritage site on June 23, 2014.

The Western Tragopan is considered to be the rarest of all living pheasant. It is mostly found in the Kullu district of HP.  This is the state bird of HP. Please watch this bird on the You tube. However we could not sight that bird.....I have a very earnest request to all the birds nesting around there...why cant they pose for US for a minute !!!!  It would save our time and disappointment....for not able to capture them in the frame......

Post this visit, I have started watching NATGEO, Discovery, Animal Planet channels and simply liking it. 
I have watched series on Anaconda , Bears, Snakes, Lions, Leaopards, Tigers. My favourite being the adventures of Bear Grylls. After watching his survival mission, I have stopped cursing the cooks....and the GOD...!!!!
Finally, this blog would not have been completed without constant pestering of Manisha..Thank you Manisha...And of course, two rounds of Marathi songs and Ginger+Mint Chai kept me from sleeping!!!!

Minutes of the book club meet held on January 14, 2015

Book meet: January 14, 2015

Attendees: Pratibha, Siji, Deepali, Amit, Karthik, Vignesh, Parikshit and Vandana

Book reads:

Pratibha: You can win / Shiv Khera and Seema in Mumbai / Siji Thomas

Siji: Dongri to Dubai / S Hussain Zaidi

Deepali: none

Amit: none

Vignesh: Management tips

Parikshit: Lose not your heart / Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya

Karthik: Science fiction short stories

Vandana: Movie: Bhopal: A prayer for rain (Movie)

Let me take this opportunity to apprise you all, on what is / can be discussed in the book club. You can discuss books, movies, articles: fiction, non-fiction, self help, travel, management, biography, autobiography, mythology..etc. The readings should be such that you can have some thought , idea to be able to discuss on it. It shoud be such that you can have debates, can have multiple views on the reads which will help you in broadening your thinking perspective of course along with fun and a stimulating discussion. 

Since some of them had not read any book or the books which were read had already been discussed in the earlier meetings. 

Discussion were on two books: 

Parikshit: Lose not your heart / Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya

This book is not a religious book but on spirituality. What is the difference between spirituality and religious book??  

I think religion is about rules and beliefs whereas spirituality is an internal process, It is about being and not belief. In other words religion is about fasting and spirituality is lasting!!!This book and their site talks about spirituality...To quote:

• Surrender yourself
• Look to yourself for guidance
• Introspect
• Walk alone
• The spirit of sportsmanship

(Source: http://guidingthoughts.blogspot.in/2012/10/lose-not-your-heart-2-build-your-own.html)
Website: www.awgp.org

Deepak Chopra rightly said, 'Religion is belief in someone else's experience. Spirituality is having your own experience'

Bosses should not be acting as mentors, Parikshit opined that we don't need mentors but we need bosses who can promote skills of  his/her subordinates outside their department. Mentor just guides you whereas if the boss promotes their colleagues / subordinates skills it would help in honing their existing skills as well as enhancing career.

Any kind of book(s), whether it is a self help book or a book on spirituality exploring your inner self...ultimately it is all about YOU. It depends on you what to take and what to leave / let go...At the end, when time comes for taking a decision, that moment is more important. All the readings/ courses go for a toss when there is only a moment available for you to take a decision. One of the thing one can do is to take a pause and then decide how to react...

Karthik: Science fiction short stories.

This is really interesting. First of all, what is a science fiction?? How is it different from fiction?? 

Karthik's thought: Anything that does / has not happened in real life is fiction.If it contains some scientific concept, then that is science fiction..Mythology is a fiction but stories of Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, movies like Star Wars, Gravtiy, Matrix are science fiction. Biographies, history books are non-fiction.

I think scientific fiction is implausible made possible......

A definition echoed by author Mark C. Glasst who argues that the definition of science fiction is like definition of pornography: you do not know what it is, but you know it when you see it....

Can anyone please elaborate more???

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....

Minutes of the book club meet held on November 26, 2014

Any new club or an initiative has good response. Every one wish to become part of it. Same thing happened with our book club. Initially there were many people who showed interest in joining the club, but as the days passed, only the genuine readers remained, rest of them left the club or were just enquirers!!!. It is almost 2 years since new member had joined. I had been wanting to increase the number of members, however there was some hesitation from the members. They were comfortable with each other and they preferred smaller group. We are seven of us. However, I was finding a very set pattern among the group and hence was looking for new entrants. I got this opportunity when the company decided to launch the hobby club.  I decided to register our book club also. 

Lo and behold !!!do members ke saath club ka khata khul gaya....Ms Siji Thomas and Mr. Parikshit Chitnis joined the group (at least showed the interest of attending the meeting and managed to attend the meet). 

Siji is an author of the book "Seema in Mumbai". She discussed her book in the meeting. She is in the process of penning down one more book...Kudos Siji...

Parikshit apart from an avid reader, is also a blogger, writer, artist, environmentalist, squash player......anything left???

Karthik lately has been an active reviewer. Currently he is reviewing 3 books. He discussed Love, job or country by Rohit Agarwal.

Pratibha and Vignesh both were busy with work and could not get time to read any book.

Deepali discussed One life is not enough: an autobiography of Natwar Singh. The autobiography talks about his experiences in the political arena. 

Amit discussed Dilip Kumar: The substance and the shadow: an autobiography. 

Is there anything to be learned by reading people's biography?...Vignesh pointed out that the surrounding and the environment of that person matters...There are some biographies from whom we get inspired, on the other hand some biographies might give an insight of that person's life.

I read Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat. The story revolves around a Riya who is from a rich background and Madhav is sportsman from Bihar. Madhav Boy falls in love with the Riya but she considers Madhav as her friend and not a lover... There is a twist in the story...Will not reveal...

Sumit discussed The power of your sub conscious mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy. After reading a couple os self help books, Sumit summed up the essence very succinctly. I asked him to pen it down for me. He did an excellent job.

His take on self help books: 

After reading about 5-6 selfhelp books in a row now every book appears to me having same ingredients but differently put in order.

All the books had same thing to offer like

• Be positive
• Overcome Fear
• Imagine your Goal
• Repeat positive affirmations for 21 days
• How to have confidence
• Overcome your Fear

Etc. etc. etc.

There is big contrast between the approach mentioned by these authors and our ancient Indian text and books such as Gita.

Gita says not to have desire for fruits of actions whereas these authors suggest to imagine fruits first.

After going through both of these technique I think the technique suggested by Gita is better because there is less harm to your physical and mental space when you don’t get what you wish for.

When you think of fruits of action then all of your energy is frittered away with emotions and instead of using your 100% potential you use only a percent of that.

When you desire for anything you get attached,

When you get attached and you don’t get things you desired you get angry,

When you get angry you lose your memory,

When you lose memory you lose power of discrimination,

And then you get destroyed.

Instead have a goal but never think of dream of fruits you may get after achieving goal but just work on the goal and work incessantly.

That’s what Swami Vivekananda calls the person as “Master”. To whom biggest task is same as the lowest task, who whether he is President of Country or Peon in office he will work with same dedication.

It’s the Slave who gets attached to the work and cries if he didn’t gets satisfied.

If we work according to Gita way whether you are successful or unsuccessful you are happy and that’s what in “Power of your Subconscious Mind” book says “Success is when you have peace”.

Summary-Techniques suggested in self help book works and you achieve great heights but the Master technique is where you have peace, happiness from very start of your work mentioned in “Gita” and yes it was itself delivered by God “Believe in That” J

Amit questioned what about non passionate people. What about people who doesn't wish to do anything in life. what about lazy people?

Parikshit responded:  

There are two kinds of people. One is pasisonate. other is non-passionate. Non passionate people are like dry leaves of a tree. they will live and die.

Passionate people are like flowers or fruits. They will also live and die, but will add something to someone..and if not anything..then atleast make the world beautiful.

.

Self- Help books mostly say that one must go out and act. 

I moved your cheese author, wrote a whole book without mentioning the word cheese and it was totally against self-help books. So in the end he says, stop reading self-help books, start acting.

Which is indeed true!!!

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Sumit