Kas tvam? Koo aham? Kutaha aayaataha?

Who are you? Who am I? Wherefrom have we come?

- Sankaracharya in his Bhaja Govinda verses.

Adventure Sports!

Kids imply the thrills of adventure sports for all your life! All shocking emotions are part of the package!

Brand Tag lines! - Ur micro-guide-book to all Self-Help Courses!

Furthering from my previous post- hereeeeeee goessss:

"Just Do it" (Nike),
"Impossible is Nothing" (Addidas),
"I'm lovin it" (McD's),
"There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's... (Mastercard, ),
"Next is What?" (Samsung- looks like it has learned some tricks from Adidas),
"Think different"/"The power to be your best"/"Think outside the box" (Apple Computers), ">Reach Out and Touch Someone" (ATT)
"The happiest place on earth." (Disney)
"The power of all of us" (eBay)
"Quality in everything we do" (E n Y)
"Play, Laugh, Grow" (Fisher Price)
"The Power of Dreams" (Honda)
"Pleasing People the World over" (Holiday Inn)
"We are behind you every step of the way" (Huggies)
"Because you're worth it" (L Oreal)
"Your potential. Our passion" (Microsoft)
"Connecting People" (Nokia)
"The right relationship is everything" ( JP Morgan Chase bank)
"Share Moments, Share Life" (Kodak)
"Dar ke aage jeet hai" (Mountain Dew)

the Landmark Home intro-

Still not convinced enough...

Mr Ashwin Shah came to our place y'day to 'lead' the introduction. He did a 6 month ILP course to be able to do this. But I was not impressed. They are still not teaching us anything new from what we already know.

Having attended the previous intro session, during Sam's 'graduation' programme, i found most of his stuff repetitive. The example about "putting your past into your future, which affects your decision", the 'chair' routine, the 'pick up the pen' routine,the 'i was impressed by the efficiency of finding name-tags, and smiling faces' routine... it took him 6 months to learn that? It took me less than 2 intro classes to learn, analyse and tear apart their examples.

For instance the 'chair' from ur past is stopping u from proceeding ahead- welllll, use the chair to climb up and get a better perspective of what options there are to proceed, make a decision to proceed... by denying the existence of the chair in ur presence you are denying your past (which is possible only if you have some sort of amnesia!). Instead acknowledge the presence of the chair and use it to your advantage (why don't they teach that?!)

The 'pick the pen' example- 'just do it!'... if only solutions to problems were as simple as picking a pen!!!... what if i said "push the wall" (because life's examples are like a wall obstructing us) - i'd say "you are being lazy and not pushing" or i'd say "you're lying; i can't see the wall move, hence you are not pushing- u are just saying that 'you are pushing'!" Instead why don;t you try the option of opening a door / window in the wall?

Their examples are jaded and repetitive. They are not being taught to be spontaneous. They are being taught by rote. They are not taught to question.

Just had a thought! These guys are like multiple hoardings with a lot of brand tag-lines : "Just Do it" (Nike), "Impossible is Nothing" (Addidas), "I'm lovin it" (McD's), "There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's... (Mastercard, or shd i say LM!), "Next is What?" (Samsung- looks like it has learned some tricks from Adidas), "Think different"/"The power to be your best"/"Think outside the box" (Apple Computers), Reach Out and Touch Someone (ATT)... OK!HANG ON!... now i'm on the Net n surfing taglines :) Let me make a new post of it!

n it's published with 5 star rating ... :D

http://www.igougo.com/review-r1349002-Jageshwar-_Ancient_Temple_Complex.html

it has the "Editor's Pick" tag to it. That feels goodddddd... I was beginning to feel that I was losing touch with my writing abilities.

Plus a couple of my fotos are also on the Editor's Pick list (Tower Bridge in London n Naini Lake).

Now i'm on igougo.com toooo... :-)

Here I am too...

http://www.igougo.com/profile/myProfile.asp?member=614553

Although it doesn't appear like they have rewards for bloggers from India, still i think it'll help me keep track of my adventures...

MEanwhile this is a pic of Jageshwar temple complex in Uttarakhand. Have posted the review of the place on igougo, waiting for them to review and publish it...

Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty........... BAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! X-(

Ok, so I would personally prefer dogs to cats, anyday... but that doesn’t mean the exotic big cats should entirely avoid me! In my 2 years at the IITB campus, with its reputation for leopards (or is that panthers?) in the monsoons, I never saw one even when captured. People ran into them on bicycles (Gau n Hemant), people petted the cubs and got themselves clawed by the mother (what was that idiot even thinking!), people saw a dog being hunted down by the panther in the quadrangle of IDC itself. But never me... never even heard a distant roar!

Before that, we had been to the Sunderbans, during our 4th year study tour... Sam claims they saw the tiger from the motor launch. As ever, I din’t !

Even today, I visited the Corbett National Park... woke up early morning for the safari in that bumpy Jeep. But no luck with tigers. I know that, as stalking predators, stealth is their most important characteristic (but humse kya sharmaana man?!). Look at the deer- spotted (Chittal?), Sambar, barking deer; all of them stupid and supremely confident! They stick their heads up when they hear our Jeep, and stare at us in the face... (which is good for camera shots, not to mention, even better for GUN-SHOTS!). Compare that with the tiger... more powerful n yet stealthy... completely camouflaged.

I do seem to have exceptional luck with all kinds of reptiles tho’... at IIT it was 3 kinds of snakes (a ‘dhaaman’- viper, cobra, and some small thin slimey thingy), and a couple of crocs. Also saw a lot o crocs in the Sunderbans. And here in Corbett, saw a couple of 4- feet long monitor lizards, and slimey small one in our room. Besides of course, a whole lot of birds!!!  pheasants, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and a lot of others unfamiliar ones.

The place we’re staying at is Camp Riverwild- nicely designed log-huts on the banks of the Kosi. We took long walks along the pebbled river-bed, yesterday n today. Feels nice... Sam’s good at skimming stones on the river . And ofcourse, getting *COSY* on the rock!!! MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm ;)

wrote my first hotel review...

... about Camp River Wild, in Corbett- posted it on holidayiq.com; waiting for it to go live :)

P.S.- it's live now- Camp River Wild review

In Uttarakhand

Reached here on 29th May... The journey from New Delhi to Nainital began at 1.30pm... and ended at 10.15 pm.... Our chauffeur Pandey is one yappy chap. At first he was reluctant to take us to Nainital the same day, bcoz of the Gujjar violence at the borders. But the agents convinced him and we reached Nainital the same day.

Uttarakhand isn't as charming as Sikkim (or is it that I am biased bcoz Sikkim was *HONEYMOON*.... muaahhhh!). The thing abt Sikkim was that tourism wasn't the only thing for locals. N there was a certain Zen-like detachment about the people. Whereas in Nainital people are just busy trying to sell you horse-ride, boat-rides, n wat-not... So they can get pesky at times... The countryside is nice... beautiful alpine scenery!... and the lakes (both Nainital n Bhimtal) r pretty huge. The boating's peaceful with the breeze. At Nainital we were put up at the Pavilion. D staff were polite n nice... but the rooms badly need some maintenance. As with most of the heritage hotels, not owned by biggies, the intent was noble, the execution outright sloppy.

Today we reached Bhimtal. The Monolith resort designed by Gautam Bhatia in wood and stone. Very charmingly done (Bhimtal is slightly less commercialised than Nainital)). The timbre floorboards could do with better cleaning.

Hv uploaded pics on orkut... more updates to follow... Laptops and Tata Indicom Mobile Internet *ROCK* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)