Dear Team! lets plan for an outing

Please go through the below details and let me knw if you are interested in joining us for the below indicated wonderful trecking experience. Note: the booking has to be done in advance to ensure your seat as there are limited number of seats. So let me know you interest fast. Buck up!

Dear All,

After successful treks in last few months we are nearing to complete our monsoon trek schedule ... शिखर वेध have planned a Jumbo Trek on occasion of Kojagiri Pournima in Koyna region on 2-3-4 th October 2009 ...

Lets Njoy Monsoon finally

Hope 2 cu on trek with me ;-)

Details r as follows

Brief Introduction about Sajjangad / VasotaNageshwar / Pratapgad / Shivtharghal:

Height: 3350 ft/ 4270 ft/ 3600 ft/ 3000 ft
Grade: Exciting
Time: ~ Max. 0.5 / 2 / 2 / 0.5 hrs frm base
Location: Koyna region

SAJJANGAD: Samarth Ramdas lived for long time @ Sajjangad, a small hillock near Satara. He breathed his last here and devotees worship his mausoleum here. This is an important centre of worship for the Ramdasi sect. Ramdas swami remains an inspiration for the technique he developed in infusing Nationalism and Dharmic devotion among ordinary people across the country by his concept of Hanuman temple, akhaada and a Paathashaala in every village. His emphasis on Rashtra chintana along with spiritual sadhana is more relevant today than it was anytime before.
KAAS PLATEU: A wonderful outing to explore the colourful world of flowers … valley of flowers in sahyadri
VASOTA-NAGESHWAR: Situated in the dense forest, surrounded by the river Koyna, is the fort of Vasota, which according to ‘Dnyaneshwari’ means resting place. This fort is also known as Vyaghragad. This old warrior offers one of the most thrilling treks in the Sahyadri as far as trekking through forestation is concerned. Dense forest all the way through, panoramic view of the Shivsagar Lake in the east and Konkan on the west, wonderful cave at Nageshwar for a stay, makes this a fort of special interest for amateur trekkers and photographers.
PRATAPGAD: Recognised as one of the gems in the crown of Swarajya, the Pratapgad is situated on the western side of the famous hill station, Mahabaleshwar. This fort has got significant historic importance due to the the famous temple of "Bhavani Mata", constructed by Shivaji Maharaj and the event of Assassination of Afzalkhan on it.
SHIVTHARGHAL: The place where Ramdas resided after 1649 was a huge cavern, which came to be called as Shivthar Ghal (Ghal means cavern). This was where his famous "Dasbodha" was written. Adorned by exotic nature, this place is worth visiting.

Rendezvous:
On Telecon
Departure from Mumbai on Thursday 1st October 2009 night @ 23:00 Hrs
Pickup points will be Dadar, Sion, Chembur, Vashi, Belapur, Panvel etc.
We would be heading to base village of forts by Private bus.

The itinerary for the Event is as given below:

Friday 2nd October 2009

Bed Tea Halt on the way
06:00 Hrs: @ Sajjangad Base
06:30 Hrs: Atop
Breakfast, Explore Time for 4 hours

11:30 Hrs: @ Kas Platue
View Valley of Flowers in Sahyadris, Lunch in betn

16:00 Hrs: @ Shivsagar Lake, Bamnoli
A Tea Break followed by Launch ride to vasota base
17:30 Hrs: @ Met Indavali

20:30 Hrs: Dinner
Night Stay in Tented Accomodation

Saturday 3rd October 2009

07:00 Hrs: Morning Tea
07:30 Hrs: Ascend
09:30 Hrs: Atop
Explore Time for 2 hours
11:30 Hrs: Move 2 Nageshwar Caves
13:00 Hrs: @ Nageshwar Caves
Lunch, rest

Post sun-set
19:00 Hrs: Dinner Preparation

22:00 Hrs: Camp-Fire

Sunday 4th October 2009

00:00 Hrs: Descend Via Choravne Side (Moonlight Trek)
05:30 Hrs: @ Choravane
Morning Breakfast - Tea

11:00 Hrs: @ Pratapgad
Explore, Lunch Time
15:00 Hrs: @ Shivtharghal
Explore
17:30 Hrs: Departure 2 Mumbai
20:00 Hrs: Dinner @ Hotel Ruchi, Nagothane

We will be in Mumbai around 22:30 hrs (that's - subjective)

The Estimated initial expenditure is abt Rs. 1750 /-
This includes Mumbai to Mumbai transport by private vehicle, Launch ferry Charges, Forest Sanctuary entry charges, 6 refreshments, 5 meals and tented accommodation.

Please book in advance with payment of Rs. 1100/- (Non-refundable) … Seats will be allotted on payment basis … Last row seats will be given only on demand [;)] else late payment ones … Deposit the amount on following account.

Name: JAGADISH GOVIND PATIL
ICICI Bank A/c No.: - 026801521464
Vartak Nagar Branch, Thane (W)
Seats r limited ... MAXimum 25 members ...
Last date to register with advance payment is 22nd September 2009 till 5 pm

Note:- Its a group activity so each and every member will be allotted some or other responsibility. Please do keep a space for 1kg at least for weight distribution

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things To Carry:-

Pls Do carry LUNCH for Friday (a must)
A Water Bottle (~2.5 Ltrs) (a must)
1 torch (a must) with spare battereies
Sleeping Mat - Bags (a must)
Tiffin Box, Plate, Spoon ( a must)
Rain cheater (Optional) for those who don't want to wet ... but pls do carry one ... Camera, Cell Phone, Binoculars (Optional)
Pls avoid wearing Gold and other ornaments
Some ready to eat food.
Plum cakes, biscuits etc.
Extra 2-3 Pair of clothes,
Good trekking shoes, do carry a extra pair as well
Personal basic medical kit
A haversack to put all these things

For confirmation pls reply here or do contact on
Jagdish Patil: 09869369836

Also Join us @

शिखर वेध link
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=20439777
and
http://groups.google.com/group/shikharvedh?pli=1



--
With Warm Wishes

Jagadish


http://jagdishlove.googlepages.com/

Suicide statistics

Over one lakh people (1,22,637)ended their life last year. The figure includes 1184boys and 1295girls - children aged below 14 years. Though we do not have exact figure for adolescents, the number is staggering as 35.2% of the suicides is in the age group of 15-29years.

A study from Vellore says the rate of suicide is 152 for young girls and 69 for young men, whereas the national crime bureau recorded rate is 10.8.The study also emphasises the need to recognise adolescent suicide as a major public-health problem, with an urgent need for intervention.

International studies mention for every one completed suicide there are atleast 400 reportedly attempting suicide, 100 reportedly requiring medical attention for a suicidal attempt and 30 are hospitalized for a suicide attempt. To calculate the actual figure of attempted suicides -for eg. 2479 in 2007, who lost their life to suicide (aged below 14 )there could be 400x2479 who attempted suicide in one manner or the other. So we have about 10 lakh youngsters aged below 14 on the brink of suicide. Media reports the recorded suicides , not the many attempts that go unreported.
We need to reach out to the youth and help them rekindle their coping abilities so that fewer young and productive lives are lost due to suicide.

Two headlines that struck my eye this Sunday morning

This week has been quite tough for the average Indian. The swineflu scare has been gaining momentum what with Multiplexes and Malls opting to remain closed, Schools shutting down their shutters for a ten day period and almost every second Mumbaikar and Puneite donning masks of varying shades, sizes and prices.To add to the virus mayhem we have impending drought like situations in one-third of the country.Drought hit Andhra Pradesh has recorded 21 farmer suicides in the past 40 days. And in Mumbai, todays leading newspapers' headlines screamed 'Teen leaps to death after tiff with parents', '77 year old ends life' and 'Harassed husbands demand change in the Domestic Violence Act.'

Is our nation under a real or imagined threat? We are spending so much money and effort equipping ourselves to counter our arch enemies Pakistan and China that we do less and less for the aggrieved people in our country.Why is there no National Mental health Policy in place? Why did we not pay heed to the WHO's warning on swine flu in India? Why do we spend so little money and effort on our old and infirm? Why are we putting laws in place that create rifts in families leading to their eventual break-up? Why do parents expect so much more from their kids, much more than what the kids are capable of? Why is there no recognition of emotional pain suffered by those disadvantaged by gargantuan expectations of their near and dear ones?

It pains me to see my country and my people crumbling before my eyes...

Response to Response!

Hey, Johnson and Reena thanx for expressing your views on the blog.

I agree with Johnson when he says that one should not get carried away with the romanticism and love in air and so on. Now a days its quite important that one stays alert all the time and pick up the right signals and hints sent in the situations.

Every case should not be conducted with a blame game session and covering own ass session. All, each of us should handle the case with enough maturity and take corrective and preventive measures to prevent the same in future. The title "I am Resposible" is to make one realize that as a citizen I am Responsible and I will always be aware of my responsibilities. All my roles will be played with the sense of responsibility. As a citizen, as a child, as a parent, as a friend, as a well wisher, as a guide and many moreeee.

Dear Reena, I appreciate your efforts to ponder over the case and try to trace the possible reason for the gal to end her life. I guess it could have been anything that you mentioned or did not mention which lead her to this one way journey.

I believe we can learn lessons rather than always being an example for others.

Happy Learning!

why?

Shree, I was really disturbed reading that news...the girl who was raped by her boyfriend and his friends.
I was thinking and analyzing why that 15 year old girl would have gone with her older boyfriend and his friends.
I'm trying to get into her head.
I think, it could be
1. her supreme need for approval.
2. her need to show the boy that she trusted him.( god knows, what he threatened her with or what sort of emotional blackmail he applied on her)
3. her need for a true friend who loved her( it was friendship day)
4. her low self-esteem.
5. a kid whose hormones played havoc.
6. a kid who was not aware of the ways of the world.
7 a kid who had no one to confide in.
8 a kid who could not trust anyone with her secret.( after she was gang raped)
9. a kid who would have been shunned by society.
10. a part of us ( society) that was snuffed because of our indifference.

In Response to Shree's post

I agree with you wholeheartedly Shree. It is necessary for us to analyse why these kind of tragic events are taking place and who is responsible for it. But it is also necessary for us to understand that when we live in a civil society there are certain implications and expectations on us as part of that society in which we live. We cannot escape that and fighting it wont help much either. We need to find solutions that are workable and these solutions can only be found if we increase our awareness of what is happening around us and take the necessary precautions to safe guard our lives. It's all very well to blame other people for our mistakes but there is such a thing as choice -which we all exercise at every point in our lives. Even remaining weak and not seeking to strengthen ourselves and our awareness is a choice that we make. Blinding ourselves to the fault of others is yet another choice that we make. In todays' world we tend to have impractical expectations from ourselves and the people around us. We need to learn to live practically again and not get carried away by the romanticism of riches and superficiality!

johnson

I am Responsible!

Today the concept of outsourcing is quite in vogue. I wish I had a facility available to outsource my fear and worries and remain peaceful always. Todays ever demanding and money competitive world really leaves one with this thought.

Couple of days back I read a news about a teen aged gal committed suicide after being raped by her boyfriend and 3 more friends of his. This news brought me a mix feeling of depression and anger. It also overflowed the series of questiones which left me all the more confused.

Who is responsible for this non recoverable loss of ones life, ones daughter, ones sister, ones friend?

Is it the Boyfriend? whom she loved and had blind faith on. Even in her wildest dream she could have never thought of such betrayal.

Is it the cheap exposure of media and information to be accused for? who could have provoked the guys to try such an evilful act.

Is it the parents to be blamed? who could not read the daughters mind when she was going through the trauma.

Is it the parents to be blamed? for not providing proper guidance to the boys who were left clueless without education without even a job to keep one engaged with.

All! everybody is resposible for the this suicidal act. Everybody has played some or the other role to push the poor naive girl into the darkness.

Loss of life is a non recoverable loss. No matter what one does he/she can never be able to make up for the trauma that the family and the dear ones go through.

It will be of great help to the society on whole if all such cases are considered for study to avoid such regretful incidences to happen in future.

Let us try and understand how it can work!

A word creator applies appropriately to parents more than any other thing in this world. They are supposed to be the capable and chosen ones to bring the beautiful creation of God called "Human" on the earth. They are believed to make a good mentor and help God grow his child.

Child is like dough. It has a capacity to absorb and it can be shaped the way one wish to. But, it will only absorb and learn only if it is imparted with knowledge. parents being the immediate guide to the child should devote enough time to the child to learn him, to teach him, and to be with him and to make him/her realise that "I will always be around whenever You are in need"

Child should feel the confidence to look upon to his guide when he finds himself in any kind of problem big or small. He should possess the confidence that I will be UNDERSTOOD. It is always in the hands of parents to build such confidence in the child to express himself fearlessly.

Let us open our hearts to others and ebrace the one in need. Let us make world a beautiful place having one another to help. Let us promise ourself that "I am Responsible".