Raigad : A Majestic Memory

Travelogue: Raigad Fort

Place : Raigad Fort
Mode of transport : 4 wheeler
Difficulty level : N/A ( Used Rope Way to reach top)

Journey began at 1430 hrs local time from Pune on Saturday, we had taken enough snacks to munch on throughout the journey. Having own transportation is always useful and makes things easy.We didn’t need to take “Bhaisaab, rasta kidhar jata hai?” stops as we earlier did on almost all of our trips, thanks to Surajit Sir and his GPS navigator.

 After a short 20 min tea break at a scenic roadside tea stall, we crossed Mahad at around 1630hrs, onset of sunset. By the time it was dark enough to deploy headlights, we managed to locate a plane atop the foot hills 8 kms away from Raigad Fort.

Camping started with usual hunt for dry wood and any material which can augment our chances to have a decent bon fire, which was followed by preparation of national drink; Tea and national fast food; Maggie. 

Sunrise of Sunday saw us packing us our stuffs and rolling back our tent. We started off for Raigad, reached the Rope Way station, just near the base of Raigad Peak.
At a somewhat reasonable cost of Rs 175/- we were on top. After a short snack break, we started wandering and exploring whole fort.

The aura and majestic feel of being at the center point of one of the greatest kingdom that Indian history ever saw, was mesmerizing. More info about Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Raigad Fort can be found by clicking on the embedded links.

Here are some of my favourite snaps of this trip :

 Jai Shivaji Jai Bhawani : Chattrapati na manacha mujra

 The aura of standing next to people's hero can not be explained but felt.

  Samadhi of one of the greatest son of our soil 

Takmak Tok: A cliff from which the sentenced prisoners were thrown to their death

 People paying tribute to their beloved King and protector

Takmak Tok : North West peak of fort

 Literally chilling in between clouds

Rope Way to top: Steep height ascend

 A Monkey kid : Wild life near around the hills, missed a snake by few seconds

 1st stop : Road side tea stall with a fabulous backdrop

 Flora and fauna : Treat to eyes

 Night Camping : Hunt for dry wood > Bon fire > Tea > Maggie

 8 Kms from Raigad fort we spent our night in portable tent.

This trip carved majestic memories in our minds and heart.

As usual awaiting your kind feedback.
-Abhinav Singh

Overnight Outdoor Camping : Panchgaani

Place : Panchgaani / 120Kms from Pune

Mode of transport : Four Wheeler

Trek Difficulty level : 1/5

A cool night breeze in time of summer setting in, a bunch of friends armed with poison and lots to eat, we set the sail towards Panch-gaani hillocks this time.

After a short drive of about 1.5 hrs, we reached the scheduled place. After parking the car to a safe place, we trekked our way down on a hillock, commonly known as table top, where we were able to locate a flat surface contour on which we could erect our mini-camp.  

 The climate was a little humid and mostly cold with chilling winds, After a through round of talks and praise for Mother Nature over a couple of pegs, we called off for the day and slept at around 3 in the morning.

 

Next morning I woke up to one of the best mornings I have ever seen. We could see the Sun ray’s projection over the edges of hillocks and vast vegetation surrounding thousands of acres of sprawling greenery. The very first thing I did was to quickly get back in the camp, grab the Cannon EOS of our leader for this expedition and shot some snaps. 

By the time our photo ops were over, the sun was in its full glory and we quickly folded our tent and wrapped up our belongings. Like a true nature lovers we made sure that we left nothing but footprints while we left that scenic place.
Jai Hind

3 Things You Won't Regret Investing In

1. Headphone for office: 

I am hoping that maximum people reading this post have the luxury of listening music at their work places. Just like us software industry guys :)

 If you spend 2-3 hours listening music daily at your work station, then it would be pretty wise to spend a little on it, for prices as low as Rs 600, you can get decent headphones. This will not only add more joy to you day work, but would also pamper your ears.

The basic criteria while choosing a headphone should be its use. If you are an acoustic fan, open type headphones would be a good choice. The main issue with open type headphones is audio leakage, as the name itself suggests, open type of headphones are have a slit opening or perforation somewhere in their design, hence there is always little bit of sound coming out (other people in your cubicle may not always like your choice of music :P ) But yes, the sound of flute/guitar as well as human voice is super in this type of headphones.

The closed ones on the other hand are awesome for techno/party kind of sound/beats, plus the there is no issue of sound coming out of it. Hence, you can keep playing AkoN’s ~ Sexy Bitch at decibels far above human level of hearing sitting in your office!!

Clear sound should not be confused with noise cancellation technology, which many people ask for, while searching for a headphone for environment, where noise cancellation is not required at all.

Recently I bought SONY MDR XD100, it a good piece of technology. Closed type / moderate price of Rs 850 / easy to use and keep.

My room-mate bought a Philips SHP2500 and that too is far better than what companies provide to their employees by default. 

You can get one that suits your choice at flipkart, they have a wide range of offering and their service + delivery time is also appreciable.

Keep rocking \m/

2. Fitness:

Yes, we all wish to be fit and healthy. “But” we do not wish to spend time/energy or money over it. (Just taking membership in a plush gym and not going there more than twice in whole month doesn’t get counted in spending… its wasting)

Basically just get nice sports shoes and a track suit then a racquet for badminton/squash or lawn tennis, a simple skipping rope or a set of dumbbell would suffice. 10 hours a week is enough to keep one fit and agile. Not only will you feel healthy in personal life, but your creativity at work too, will be increased a lot! 

You can get Gigabytes of info from internet and other media as to how to stay fit and young. So no exhaustive explanation or hyperlink is required here I suppose. Still I would suggest you people to work more towards developing stamina and core strength, which in turn will automatically boost up all systems in your body and will surely make you more cheerful and happier :)

Start with simple free hand exercises, take up a simple sport, join a cycling/swimming or simply start jogging with a buddy; things will automatically fall in place. Whatever amount of money you invest in preventive maintenance of your body, is worth it because, its always better than the hospital bills.

Good luck and Godspeed.

3. Nurture a childhood hobby:

Ahhh…. before I write anything. U can take your sweet time to close your eyes and remember your childhood hobby which used to make you happy and proud every time :)

  

Yes, now that you have yourself visited your own memory created hyperlink here, it’s easy for me to convince you that your childhood hobby is one thing that can make you cheerful and positive at any given day.

Indulge in painting again, watching birds and writing notes about them, paper cuttings, treasuring news paper cuts, sketching, dancing, start writing poem, start your guitar classes again, learn a new language, develop a new hobby, there are in-numerable ways in which you can use your free time constructively. 

Getting a poster color set again, buying a guitar or bringing in a white board will cost you little as compared to the joy it will give you back.

Hope you all have a vibrant year ahead.

Jai hind

Getting back to life in 2012 :)

 In Wikipedia's definition - A New Year's resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. This goal must be reached by the Next New Year. Keep in mind that this is a goal, not a wish and should be something that you as a person could strive for.

We all make New Year resolution each year, sometimes related to work and more often related to lifestyle.

This year too is no different. With lots of things/activities/commitments/habits around, i am sure it wouldn't be a difficult task to take your pick and get going :)

A fine book reads “People should make their New Year’s resolution something that can improve their quality of life.” some may agree and some may not. But the fact remains that to do justice to a New Year resolution, we must, in our heart, know about our commitment level to the same. One just cannot keep on sticking to a particular thing just coz he made a resolution on 1st Jan... That too... When he is not been paid for it (unless your New Year resolution is systematically planned to give your career a boost).

If you Google ' a good new year resolution ' you will get about a billion result (counting zeroes in American format), take your pick :) 

Still wondering what to take up, here i would like to figure it (or them) out (there is no point telling, you won't b doing it unless you yourself have decided on it)

The resolution can be broadly based upon a macro factor affecting your life viz, lifestyle, career, relation, personal development and most important health.

The top runners in list of resolutions is always that of 'trying to quit smoking', which is indeed a good motive ( even though it doesn't bear fruit.. still it would see you less harmed ) doesn't mean that you cannot take a resolution relative to your health. There are many options, explore and get going.

  

A part from developing your overall outlook, Learning a new art or language will definitely boost up your sense of appreciating finer side of life and living. Get in touch with your local guitar classes :) 

Taking up a new hobby or outdoor activity requires motivation as well as it automatically makes u more organized in terms of managing your time.

Even if you have a different education, u can take up a subject to do distance degree. Any subject which u loved in school days, but couldn't continue with due to different career choice and professional academic layout.

In all there are many spheres where you can focus your energy on. Just pick one and get going, don't be afraid of failure to keep up with your resolution this year too :) 

As far as i am concerned, among others, one of my resolutions is to keep updating my blog more frequently :)

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and successful new year ahead.