No One Needs Permission to Be Awesome

After watching Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement speech, i got greatly motivated and i would like to share something with you all. Lets start with an excerpt from his speech

No one wants to die, even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there.

And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.

And that is as it should be. Because death is very likely the single best invention of life.

It's life's change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new.

[…]

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

None of us should ever have to face death to accept the inflexible and, too-often, novel sense of scarcity that it introduces.

In fact, it'd be great if we could each skip needing outside permission to be awesome by not waiting until the universe starts tapping its watch.

A simple start would involve each of us learning to care just a little more about a handful of things that simply aren't allowed to leave with us--whether today, tomorrow, or whenever. Because, I really believe a lot of nice things would start to happen if we also stopped waiting to care. A whole lot of nice things.

If that sounds like fancy incense for hippies and children, perhaps in a way that seems frankly un-doable for someone as practical and important and immortal as yourself, then go face death.

Go get cancer. Or, go get crushed by a horse Or, go get hit by a van. Or, go get separated from everything you ever loved forever.

Then, wonder no longer whether caring about the modest bit of time you have here is only for fancy people and the terminally-ill.

Because, the sooner you care, the better you'll make. The better you'll do. And the better you'll live.

Please don't wait. The universe won't.

Trek to Sagargad

Last weekend, the Mumbai Voyagers group did not trek. Saturday was a meeting day at CCD, Dadar. This meeting of the group was much more successful than the previous meeting when only two people turned up. One - the group founder Vishy and the other - yours truly. I could not attend this meeting owing to personal reasons.

This week, activity on the messaging board started early from Tuesday . Most people had a place they wanted to visit. The moot point of these discussions was whether to go on a Saturday or Sunday. I was in favor of a Saturday trek as adequate rest can be taken on Sunday.

The members of the group continued adding messages to the board changing the confirmations. This was before a place or a date was actually finalized. There were also people considering an overnighter. This was not possible for me and with the exception of Vini, all other girls would have dropped out.

Varun had thought of Sagargad trek and I was interested, as I had never been to the place before. Sagargad is a beautiful fort very close to Alibag. There are two approach routes to the top of the fort. One is from a village named Khandala and the other is from Vaghole. Both these villages lie on the bus-route to Alibag, from Mumbai. The route to Sagargad is a scenic one with lush green vegetation complimented by a relatively thick jungle. The route from Khandala has the added attraction of a waterfall. Since this was a monsoon trek, the waterfall was the decisive factor in choosing our route.

After discussions with the other moderators (read Vishwa and Vini), we decided to go to Sagargad. I informed Varun about the number of people ready to join. The bus was at six in the morning from Thane. I informed Vishwa about the alternative to travel to Panvel to catch the bus. However he called me up at around 11:30 pm and informed me that he would be coming to Thane with everyone. By 11:30, three people had dropped out. Vini,Surender and Shabbir (Traitors). We had come down to our more normal, manageable number of six people.

There are a number of buses plying between Alibagh and Thane. The first bus in the morning is scheduled at 10 minutes past six. On this particular day, the driver of the bus decided to reschedule it to six am. So the bus started early. I was still paying the rickshaw fare, when the bus took off. Meanwhile, Vishwa, Miss Tee and Miss IRS were still in the train. The latest report received from them indicated that their train had reached Kanjurmarg station, three stations away from Thane. It would take them eleven more minutes to reach Thane station. Three more to reach the bus-stand. So me, Rohit and Varun decided to forego this bus.

The next bus is at half past six. So we wait for everyone to arrive. General introductions are made and Vishwa calls up at quarter past six to ask for directions to the bus-stand. He is accompanied by Miss IRS and Miss Tee. Another round of introductions follows. The next bus still hasn’t lined up. Varun and I go to Kunjvihar to have some coffee. We are served, when there is a call on my mobile telling me to reach the stand quickly as the bus has arrived. I gulp down the coffee as fast as possible, scalding my tongue in the process.

The bus – journey is un-eventful for me as I sleep through most of it. ;) We reach Khandala village by quarter to ten. This is one village which strikes me as odd. There are no chai stalls, no restaurants a very few stalls to be seen. All the stalls are selling is hot "batata-wadas". Just one item to offer. After having a couple of wadas, we proceed to negotiate with the rickshaw driver for a ride till Siddeshwar. Siddeshwar is the starting point for this trek.

At Siddeshwar, we proceed till the point where the steps begin. With Varun leading the way, I have no worries of getting lost. Varun has done almost all the forts in Maharashtra. He has a good memory of routes and rarely gets lost. However we do stray from the path once along the way. That is not so bad. After a time loss of about five minutes, we are back on track.

The route is every bit as good as advertised. Along the way, there is one point, where we have been surrounded by monkeys. I find it slightly exciting, but the others don’t want me to provoke the monkeys. I want to click their photographs, but people around me are tense. So I decide to forego this opportunity. The monkeys look menacing and there are about sixteen of them.

We proceed to the Math at SagargadMachi. A Math essentially is a temple with some accommodation arrangements attached to it. The particular Math has a nice stream flowing next to it. This stream is the source of the waterfall. Everybody goes to the top of the waterfall, while I proceed to keep a watch over the bags. There are more monkeys over here and I start clicking their snaps. I also notice a turtle in the well. I attempt three snaps, before I get one that looks right.

After this visit to the Math, we go to Sagargad Machi. Along the way we notice some buffaloes taking a bath in the water. All villages under the base of a fort are called Machi. At one of the houses in the village, we have herbal tea. This tea is wonderful. Between the five of us, we manage to finish 10 cups. The villagers are nice people. They do not want any money from us. We force 20 bucks on them. They want us to visit again. We give sweets to the kids.
We proceed to the top of the fort. The fort is a vast expanse of greenery with a few dilapidated structures on the top. We reach a banyan tree which looks majestic. I make a few attempts to capture it in a photograph.

Next to the fort is a pinnacle with a flag on the top. The pinnacle makes a good subject for the camera. I wait for sunlight and click a photo. There are some vultures flying around. Varun takes the camera and tries to click a few shots. The vulture is not interested in posing for the camera. It appears as a speck in the sky. I wish I had a telephoto lens and then this problem would not have occurred.


We have lunch. Everyone has got loads of snacks. Good work folks. I take out the butter chakli. Miss IRS has got some kind of religion related issues with food. So she foregoes most of the stuff. Good for us. I also eat some mawa cakes. Trekking does increase your appetite for food. It is exciting to eat Mawa cakes, butter chaklis and chiwda on the top. All the foods, that I normally avoid when at home.

Our return journey has started after spending some more time on the top. The return journey is equally uneventful. We come all the way down, reach the marker to the waterfall. Varun and Rohit prefer to stay outside the water stream. The rest of us jump in. Whats the point of carrying extra clothes if you do not get wet on a monsoon trek? The steps leading to the waterfall are slippery.
The waterfall is a lot of fun. The water is swaying due to the wind. In Vishy's words it is "paisa vasool". Rohit clicks our photographs.

On our way into the village, we notice a group of people beating up a snake. Varun stops them from killing it. Most of the villagers are naturally scared of snakes.
Snakes are an important part of the eco-system. They reduce the population of rats. Rat population grows at an alarming rate and snakes are required to keep them in check. This particular snake called locally as "kandar" is a poisonous species. Varun takes a plastic wrapper and picks it up. The snake is not yet fully grown. This specimen is about 10 inches in length. The tail of the snake has been thrashed by the villagers. The women-folk warn us about the poison of the snake. Varun releases the snake faraway. I hope it survives.

We reach Alibagh by auto. In the hotel, we have a nice lunch.
After a quick change of clothes, its time to take the bus home. There are people who wish to take a ferry. Ferry doesn't look like a logical option to me. I have to go to Thane. The return journey is in an Asiad bus. IRS and Rohit keep on quarrelling througout the journey.

Trek to Prabalgad.

Prabalgad is the kind of trek which could be done within half a day or even a whole week is insufficient if you decide to explore the thick forests on the top of the plateau. 

Four of the people decided to start at night. Vini, Vishwa, Pankaj and Prem spent the night at Panvel Bus Stand. Till the point Rohit called me, I was not really decided upon going to Prabalgad. Afterall it was my fourth time in this year. However it was the first official monsoon trek since I had been busy with Arun's camp at Karnala and my cousins wedding earlier. So I finally asked Rohit to meet me at the Ashok Talkies ST Stand.

The weather was pleasant and the companions were nice. The start happened with a tyre puncture at Kopar-Khairane, right in front of a tyre repair shop. My enthusiasm for the trek fizzled out just like the air from that burst tyre tube. Fortunately the group at Panvel waited and the repair guy fixed the problem quickly, without replacing the tyre tube. I clicked a photo of a kitten in the tyre shop.

After the fixing we reached the bus-stand at Panvel. I purchased a water bottle and got into the bus to Thakurwadi. The good thing about the ST services is that the bus to Thakurwadi has been resumed.

We took a number of breaks along the way to Prabalmachi. On the top Vishwa managed to prick a thorn into his palm. So did not come up. Prem joined him in his stay. The rest of us went up. On the way I slightly deviated from the route and realized that immediately. Fortunately we could get back on the route without too much effort. I have now realized that getting lost on a route is what provides the fodder for excitement.

The treacherous route to the top. On our way down.

This was my fourth visit to Prabalgad. It seems to have evolved into an exercise and nothing more. The going up the path from Thakurwadi no longer provides any excitement. Neither does the traversing over the crevasse or sliding across the wall. Some of my companions were a bit terrified, understanding that it was their first time. Also it had become slippery owing to the monsoon.

Coffee break at the end of the trek

OFF - The ultimate insect repellent.

One good discovery during this trek. OFF does work. Apply it on your face and you will no longer be bothered by any of these pests that seem to be thriving during the monsoon.

Donate Blood – Save a Life

Donate Blood – Save a Life

There is no other Noble cause as Blood Donation in this world. Human Body just takes 24 hours to generate the equivalent amount of blood which one donates. Average human body has around 10 units of blood out of which one unit is taken during donation.

Most of the time Blood requirement exceeds the supply, why so? The demand and supply of Human blood is incomparable, as per the available facts annual requirement of blood in India is 40 million Units and the sad part is only 4 million units are available. The pride and feeling of donating blood and giving someone a life back is unexplainable, then why are we running out of it.

Science has not yet found a technique to manufacture human blood hence can only be made available from generous donors. A blood unit donated by you can save lives of three human beings. You never know when you can save a life of small kid who has just learnt to walk or a young life that has zeal to fulfil his/her dreams like you and me or a father whom his children look up.

As per the standards a normal/healthy human being can donate blood every three months, which means 4 units in a year and you can go up to the age of 60 years, so count how many units you can donate till you reach 60, and multiply those units with 3, that is the number of lives you can save.

Most commonly answer from people who do not donate blood is that “They never thought about it”. Till Jun 2010, I was also in this category of never thought about it. In June 2010 I came across a situation wherein someone needed blood urgently and I never gave a thought before agreeing to it. I felt really proud after helping the needy.

The feeling was so noble that I took a pledge to donate blood every three months and added reminder in my phone calendar for next due date for donation.

On 25^th Sep 2012 I went to AIIMS Delhi for Voluntary Blood Donation. Since Doctors and other hospital staff understands the importance of blood donation, everyone there was looking at me with great respect when they heard that I have come for Voluntary Blood Donation. They treated me really well unlike their normal style. Donation process takes hardly 25 minutes from filling form till the completion of donation and refreshment.

This time I felt happier than when I donated first time. The difference which I could make is that in my first donation it was not me who took the initiative, someone really needed it so I offered my services there, whereas in second donation it was me who took the initiative for this noble cause.

Looking at our economy and average age of our country (somewhere between 24 to 29 Years) the significant difference in demand and supply makes me really wondering where is our youth hiding? Let’s stand for this noble cause together and carry a feeling of pride of being human.

Based on my experience I can tell you that it has no side effects at all and No weakness. Some words of precaution like avoid driving or travelling till half an hour of donation, No weightlifting or workout at least for a day and avoid any kind of physical stress for 24 hours at least.

Do it once and you will really realise that this is the noblest thing you ever have done and share it with your network with proud, because believe me nothing is greater than saving lives without any expectations, that’s called the HUMANITY.