My Blind date with the world

Emotions are powerful, imagination is uncontrollable and exploring the world is inevitable.

One day I thought about my blind list with the world. I thought about exotic world locations, few explored, few emerging. Few times I like to travel solo. Sometimes I like to travel with friends and family. Sometimes your travel destination matches your characteristics. Few locations are mystic, unique, and moody like your characteristics. I sleep with all those thoughts in my mind. I found myself at famous Manas Sarovar in Tibet, alone. I can see Mount Kailash reflection in “Manasarovar” water. It is an enriching experience of my life. I can feel freshness, good vibration in the environment. I can test coolness of “Mansarovar” water merely by touching it. The environment is so mystic, in the purest form and at the same time illogical. I submerged my senses in nature and I become one of them. I do not know how much time I spend in that territory. I don't know whether I talk to nature or myself. I believe that I should have an uninterrupted mystic conversation with nature. There is ambiguity in nature. I question to myself, “Have I become a part of nature or still individual?” I sense the coolness, calmness around me and I am refreshed. I can observe inner peace co-related to the outer environment. So, I decided to perform orbital walk around Mount Kailash. It took me almost 3 days to finish the walk around mighty Mount Kailash. I discover my inner self while discovering the yatra route. And suddenly I wake up and found myself in my home. But I can sense that eternal happiness which I dream it.

Pic -Mount Kailash & Mansarover 

On the next day, again I dream of some exotic location of the world. The place is nothing but “Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya”. My friends accompanied me on this trip. I can see Big Five (African Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard, and Cape Buffalo) in wildlife safari. The “Big Five” is a terminology used to refer to the 5 African animals. Big game hunters think most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt on foot in Africa. My friends mesmerized by wildlife part of nature. Predators are planning an attack on prey and deer are in defense trying to save their own skin. Here I can see ‘survival of the fittest’ mantra. For me, traveling is not simply sightseeing. We observe and learn a lot from nature. Also, an experience of location exploration is a great deal for me. I saw all majestic animals with wild in nature in Masai Mara reserve. I can think their ferocious strength and survival instinct. Wildlife will not give you mercy but an opportunity to survive by eternal force. I want to invoke that force or energy in myself. I am a big photography enthusiast. I capture all big five animals in my DSLR. I captured that wonderful and mesmerizing moment in the heart. Suddenly, I wake up from sleep and find myself with eternal energy in my home. My friends are not with me, but I still remember our conversation from the trip. Even a dull trip turns into the wonderful memory with friends around. So, this trip is once in a lifetime and I spend time with friends. So, it's double the fun. life force which double up to fight daily chores.

Pic - Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya

History is my favorite subject in school. That's the reason I attracted to historical travel location or sight. I was sure that my third-day conquest will some historic place. It becomes true and I went to "Angkor Wat temple complex" in Cambodia in my dream with my whole family. As a history buff, I like to know every historical aspect of "Angkor Wat" temple. It's built on 162.6 hectares and one of the largest religious monuments in the world. Angkor Wat is the most renowned and iconic temple in the world. So, I had once in the lifetime trip to "Angkor Wat" temple. 3000 Apsaras carved on temple monument. I am struck by its imposing grandeur. Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. The area includes the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple. The Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. Angkor is on UNESCO world heritage list. UNESCO set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard symbolic site and its surroundings. I am mesmerized by the grandeur landscape of the site and tried to visit as much as possible. I am stunned by the beauty of the grand old temple. An alarm started ringing and I wake up from sleep. But still, I can feel my eyes are unable to forget the beauty of the monument.

Pic - Angkor Wat temple complex

My blind list of traveling turns to be a bucket list. That too I traveled in my dreams. Might be it turn true someday. Who knows!!! What is in store for me ahead in life. Traveling is inspirational, and you learn life lessons from that moment. Travelling is enjoyable and so unpredictable. That is the reason I say yes to the world.

This post was written for the #TheBlindList contest held by Lufthansa Airlines. The Blind List, an unforgettable enriching experience by Lufthansa.
Click here to participate in the contest!!!

Know more about the contest here!!!
#TheBlindList #SayYesToTheWorld
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So what is your #TheBlindList with the world?
Photo Courtesy - Google

Poem - Navratri Colors

Happy Navratri!!!

Royal blue, dip dive in the ocean of knowledge!!
Wear yellow, smile as big as flower!!
Embrace green, dissolve in nature!!
Moody grey, do not be emotionless!!
Joyous orange, be enthusiastic and creative!!
Pure white, a beauty of inner peace!!
Believe red, to become a flame of fire!!
Noble skyblue, be powerful, and ambitious!!
Be a pink, enjoy like a little girl!!

Poem - Navratri Colors

"Yoga" - the way of life

Yoga (Sanskrit - योग) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Sanskrit word योग meaning is Way of life. Yoga is a method, practice, technique, and philosophy to enrich our lives. Karma Yog, Bhakti Yog, and Dhyana Yog, Raj Yog, etc. I am going to talk about Yoga using asana(Posture) and Pranayama. If you want the same freshness, calmness as early morning bathing in evening then you must do a 30-minute’s yoga.

A Yoga session is mainly divided into 3 stages. The first stage starts with a warm-up, the main exercise using the yoga posture and Pranayama, and last stage recovery. All three stages are applicable to our life too. We need to hold the posture for the minimum time and then gradually increase the timing by few seconds every time in exercise. It really added to your core strength. If you hold any yoga posture for the maximum time that defines your actual body strength. 

3 Yoga stages teach us, do not rush to the situation. Slowly start analyzing the situation like the warm-up. Hold the situation on the ground and better it day by day like the main exercise. The third step, recover from decision side-effects like recovery. 

My favorite asana is 'Sirsasana/Headstand'. Headstand is the king of yoga poses; and it is great for increasing blood flow to the brain, building strength in the arms, shoulders and core muscles, and it helps with energy, stamina, and even hair loss! Dynamic poses are more important in exercise to strengthen your core muscles. Flow tests your patience and Pranayama build your inner strength. The most important aspect of yoga is, no external equipment required for practice. Pranayama with soft, motivational instrumental music will bring the mesmerizing effect, which will add more peace, calmness to your lives. It will be extremely useful to control your anger and to attain inner peace.

                Our admirable yoga instructor ‘Sunaina Miglani’ told us do not underestimate 'Surya Namaskar'.  We should not avoid it. It comes with lots of benefits. We should do it at maximum times. Sunaina makes a good combination of static, dynamic posture, flow, Surya Namaskar, Pranayama which turns out to be excellent and effective daily workout for us. A helpful, encouraging and motivational yoga instructor adds innumerable benefits to your yoga practice.

Sometimes, difficult yoga poses like 'Hand Stand’ create funny and lighter moment. When you are unable to perform any difficult pose that puts the smile on your face. I unable to do full ‘Hand Stand’ till date. its happen to many people. So, We laugh at ourselves when the instructor asks to do it. Rohit adds entertainment flavor to our yoga session. As a talkative person, Rohit asks too many questions about yoga poses which sometimes create lighter moments.

               On weekdays, I do yoga for 30 minutes. One day our instructor took 10 minutes Pranayama. After that session, I felt weightless and experience was very soothing and serene. It channelizes our internal power to minimize the stress-out effect from our lives. Personally, I like the prayer which is the last part of every yoga session. Prayer is the most powerful weapon of bhakti yoga. You pray for almighty for the wellbeing of you and your family. You pray to achieve the ultimate goal of human being. I pray in every yoga session with positivity by joining both hands in namaste pose. It creates lots of positive vibes.

I think there is a small issue with Yoga posture. I think, doing Yoga at home individually will not be effective. Sometimes we are not able to concentrate on Pranayama. Sometimes we do not stick to proper yoga poses and we lose concentration on holding yoga poses. Our carelessness might be an actual issue. As we got distracted easily. So, I prefer to do yoga practice in the group under the guidance of an instructor. Also, incorrect yoga knowledge and improper poses prone to injury. It’s advisable for a beginner practitioner to practice yoga poses under proper guidance.

On occasion of International Day of Yoga, I like to thank our Yoga instructor ‘Sunaina Miglani’. I like to thanks SAS R&D wellness team for providing this fantastic platform.

Speech : Fearsome, Enthralled, Memorable

Fear, happiness, anxiety, panic, excitement you can feel all the human emotions in one journey? I have experienced it. Do you want to explore this adventurous journey?

Our journey to Amarnath Cave started from Baltal camp on 1st July 14. By 4.30 am we started riding our individual horses with bated breath. Can you guess last horse ride I had? That was on my wedding day. For 30 minutes, I held horse reins so that I shouldn’t fall. In Journey, Deep valleys were showing up I got really frightened. I thought that if something happens, then nobody would be able to find even a fingernail of mine.

For the first 3 km, I was not able to even balance myself on the horse ride. The Road was 8-10 feet wide and it was created by crafting of mountains. The road was fully occupied by horse droppings and mud due to rain on the previous day. The whole 14 km stretch of road and mountain were made of brittle Clint. The railing along the roadside stretched up-to first 4km. After that, we could see the steep fall along the roadside. We were slowly moving up to great heights, and then moving down to steep falls. Devotees on foot journey were travelling by the mountainside. Middle of the road was occupied by palanquins for senior citizens. Horse riders were on the steep side of the road, and they were away by 1-2 foot from the road end. I really felt butterflies in the stomach and had Goosebumps.

A deep valley, a small road, trust, fear, curiosity, nature, glacier, and frame of mind…. all these took me to an altogether different world. I could see the water flowing out from a glacier. It was such a soothing and charming view. Army Jawans were standing at every 500 meters… they stood like rocks... they were guarding the whole area day/night like panther silently watching jungle…. responsibility was shown in their gesture … they were doing their task with no fear… I believe in slogan “Sleep peacefully at your homes, Indian army is guarding the frontiers”

I could see army jawan carrying 2 dead bodies on stretchers. I thought that if my horse slips on the road, then I might be able to hold railing to survive. But what will happen to my family? All these thoughts were bothering me. We had to make almost a 6.5 hours’ journey to reach a point near Amarnath cave.

Amarnath cave is at 12756 feet height above sea-level and completely made of rock. The snow was slippery and many people slipped due to that. Due to less oxygen in the air, several senior citizens and ladies suffered. In the hustle queue, we were moving with the crowd. Army jawans manage the queue and helped elder people to reach the cave.


We had darshan of Amarnath Shivlingam in 2.5 hours. The Shivlingam was made of snow. It had a height of around 10 -12 feet. I somehow forgot everything else while taking darshan. I was enthralled! We started our return journey on horses. The weather was rapidly changing. The valley was blanketed with the dark cloud. It was such a fearsome cloud with darkness spread all over it. I started to appreciate horse as an animal. A horse is just like an obedient child. We can bank on the horse. Whether it is the steep valley or a great height of the mountain, the horse never broke the disciplined queue. The return journey was quite good. We had rain… same mud-covered road… same mountain… same glacier… same nature… and the same horse. But I enjoyed the return journey. Our fearsome and most thrilling trek came to end after 4.5 hours’ journey.

It is said, “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful and adventurous destinations.” Friends, go on vacation or trek with family or friends at least once in a lifetime to enjoy life and explore these emotions yourself.

Thanks!!!

Election Calling!!!

Whole Karnataka stands in the queue for voting today and almost all media houses talked about it. A few days ago, I informed my friend that I am running for election on 12th May. My friend asked about my political affiliation? I said 'Toastmaster'. He got confused and asked again "BJP" or "Congress"? I reaffirmed my answer "Toastmaster" and informed him about our Toastmaster club election. He said thank god, it’s not like a political election.

My friend again asked me about the election procedure in Toastmaster. I explained him in detail. There are 7 open seats for an election. 1. President 2. Vice President – Education. 3. Vice President – Membership 4. Vice President – Public Relation 5. Treasurer 6. Secretary 7. Sargent at Arm. But there will not be any ruling or the opposition party. Here we should defend our candidature using small speech. Where we need to confirm your candidature and inform our audience about how we will perform better. An audience will decide candidate fate by voting.

I was running for 'Vice President - Public Relation' role. I was on the edge of my seat about the election because it was my first election. I thought I prepared well and I went to TM Adhiraj office. I practice my nomination text.  He said my endorsement text was not up to the mark. Few of my colleague helped me to rewrite it. After the 3rd round of re-writing, I thought that text was fine-tuned. 

On the election day, I was very excited. DTM Leo took approx. 7 minutes to explain the importance of club election and leadership aspect. The emphasis to build strong block at the base in the value chain. DTM Uday Sir, TM Ashrafali, TM Shakir were in Nomination Committee. DTM Uday sir smoothly conducted an election. Uday sir informed us Toastmaster election conducted based on Robert’s rule or Law which is nothing but a TM constitution. Its applicable to all election procedure in Toastmaster. He explained each role objective and responsibilities very well. First role 'President' got elected unanimously. For 'Vice President - Education', two candidates were contesting an election. There were 3 candidates for 'Vice President - Membership'. There were 2 rounds of voting performed for it. We see that candidate list growing on an incremental basis for each role. I like candidate introduction round. Each one was very well prepared and elaborate his/her plan for effective execution of duties.

Member super excitement was at a peak at the time of 'Vice President - Public Relation' role election. There were 4 candidates. I tried my best to put my candidature and tried to convince the audience how I can add value to the role. After 3 rounds of voting, 'TM Taaha' got elected. For 'Treasurer' role there were 3 candidates. There were 2 rounds of voting. For 'Secretary' and ‘Sargent at Arms' role candidate got elected unanimously. What is the big deal about this election? yes, there were few learnings too. 1. Start Leadership with a small step and build a strong base in the value chain. 2. You should plan your candidature very well in advance.  3. We should not ignore the power of networking.

Abbreviation
TM – Toastmaster
TMCPSE – Toastmasters Club of Pune South East
VP PR – Vice President Public Relation Team
ExCom – Executive Committee
CC – Competent Communicator
DTM – Distinguish Toastmaster

Speech : Why you killed Atharva

One fine morning I came to office. I pressed power on button and just thought after the day’s work. Amod, my friend came to my desk. He was angry and asked me “Why you killed Atharva?”

I replied, “What the hell are you talking about?”

My friend was not in a mood to listen to me.

"How dare you to kill Atharva?"

"Amod, I am a law-abiding person." Why could I do that?

"You don't have privilege or permission to murder Atharva."

“I will be in prison if I killed anybody. How can anybody hide a murder?”

"No, I know! That is your favourite hobby"

"Killing people is my favourite hobby?”

"By the way who is Atharva?

“Atharva is the main character in your "Half Win" story.”

"Oh, that story. That's nothing but a character. Not an actual person."

"I tried to convince Amod that characters are written in such way that they look realistic and nothing else."

"I am very disappointed in your writing” he said and left.

I love writing & reading stories. I have noticed that sometimes we sympathize with a character because we see our self in that character. Sometimes we want full entertainment to relax from stress. Few people are crazy about Superman, Spiderman, etc. movies. Because they feel someone will come and rescue us from our problem. 

Did anyone of you see Google App Ad where they insist on check film rating before watching? The same way we should know movie genre before watching the movie.

Please raise your hand if you believe in “Happy ending” movies?

A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the protagonists, their sidekicks, and almost everyone except the villains. In few stories, hero struggles to win over the villain. Somehow, he/she beat the villain. Villain learns his life lesson. Hero, heroine happily married and settled down. This is the happy ending, or "upending".

Did you watch Bahubali 1 movie? Kattapa killed Bahubali at end of Bahubali 1. Killing the character Bahubali is wrong but it was necessary to end that character to make progress in the story. Is killing of character not justified? In Bahubali 2, main lead takes revenge from Bhallaldeva. It's Happy Ending.

Tragedies on the other hand, while popular in other eras, is far less today. Though they may be referred to as "down endings". Tragedies are stories that promote the idea that we do not have control over our destinies, as evidenced by the tragic hero struggling against circumstances repeatedly but failing to overcome them. The goal of the tragedy is not to bum people out with a down ending, but to make the more sophisticated point that we should gain strength from the knowledge that we are all in the same boat.

Guzaarish, Agneepath, Anand are a perfect example of Tragedies. In Agneepath, main lead struggles a lot against circumstances. Main character/hero die at end of the movie.

The goal of the melodrama is escapist, to help you forget for a little while. So is very popular in our era. I am intrigued by the market for movie endings. Movie-goers want two things in an ending: They want it to be happy and they want it to be unpredictable.

‘Swades’, ‘3 Idiots’, & ‘Dear Zindagi’ are an example of melodrama films. The audience loves these types of films.

I have talked about three genres only i.e. happy-ending, down-ending or tragedy, and melodrama. There are more than 25 different type of movie genres. Toastmasters, we should not limit ourselves to only one genre. We should watch films, read books of different genres. But, to avoid disappointment, we should know the right genre of the book or movie even before starting to read or watch.

So, which type of movie do you prefer to watch or which type of books do you prefer to read? More importantly, are you aware of the genres of movies and books?

Thanks!!!

Travelogue - TMCPSE 300th Milestone Meeting Day Picnic

In September, TMCPSE ExCom decided to go for Day picnic to celebrate 300th Milestone meeting. We were excited about venue and date. Soon, Date and venue were finalized. Public Relation team started their own campaign to spread the message to the club as well as  the entire Toastmasters fraternity. They went the extra mile to design beautiful posters, record member's amazing videos, etc. and send across to everyone. That adds more fuel to the member's excitement about milestone meeting. Finally, that day arrived with lots of good things in its kitty. 

We reached our picnic destination Shantivan at 10.01 AM. We were a little late. The bus journey both to and fro was entertaining. Toastmasters had a ball by playing Dumb Charades game in the journey. People google Mithun Chakravarti, Suniel Shetty movie name to outguess the opponent team. One of the funny names was "Dhoti Lota Aur Chowpatty", "Khoon Bhari Maang", etc. Somebody asked whether the second word was a pronoun, adjective, or noun. We had good laugh on this game. Star performer of starting journey was many toastmasters but star performer for return Journey was Taaha and Saumya. Saumya played Dumb Charades like game on the mobile phone. Toastmasters helped her to identify the names. It was fun filled and fully entertaining.  

The dining hall was very big. One side of the hall, few tables were arranged. Another side, 5-6 Mat arranged to serve people in large numbers. Buffet system arrangement was there to serve people. At breakfast, I heard the big noise and saw small children from different schools had arrived with a big bang. They played with their plates. We were done with breakfast by 10.35. Shantivan campus was developed on big land. Its situated at backwater of Khadakwasla dam. Amazing view of Khadakwasla backwater was available from Shantivan. After some team building games, we had leisure time until meeting time 2.45 PM. All sort of facilities was there for each age group. Cricket net, badminton court, children park with various games were available. Aquarium, meditation hall, functional hall, corporate meetings facilities were there too. I played badminton and within 10 minutes I realized that I need to do exercise daily to become fit. Few toastmasters played cricket. Few preferred to have powernap on the cot under the Bamboo tree. I took 15 minute’s powernap under the Bamboo tree and I feel cool, calm and refreshed. We had lunch at 1.30 PM. We had great lunch. So, I felt the need for the second powernap too after lunch. I had a quick tour around Shantivan. Quickly visited Aquarium, Photo Stand, rabbits house, etc. 

Team building activities were very well organized. I like first game i.e. opposite order. Shweta explained the rules where she mentioned game organizer will utter the word and we need to do exactly opposite of that word. “In” means “out”, “left” means “right” and vice versa. We played the same game with our parents in our childhood. Toastmasters played all team games with the same passion as they played different roles in meetings. 

We had 2 DSLR cameras. So our Division Director Akshay decided to record the whole meeting by one DSLR and keep another one for photos. A leader is a person who utilizes their resources effectively in critical condition irrespective of his/her resources and their strength in small or large in numbers. His camera’s memory became full. So I recorded few videos. I face one issue while recording and Akshay resolved it instantly. By end of the day, I learn few important tricks of canon camera from Akshay. I bought DSLR a few months ago but never fully utilized it. But due to TMCPSE (Toastmasters Club of Pune South East) day out, I fully used it and learn few tricks as well. 

At 2.48 PM, TM Nagmanesh started the meeting with a bang. TM Amith as usual in rocking form with added guitar music flavour in the background. Harshit played guitar in the meeting. Amith starts by playing funny video, one-person dances on the song and he did not care about others. And soon other joined that person and everybody enjoyed. Amith described excellent example at the closure of TMOD address. There were 3 prepared speeches. All speakers attempted it very well. All 3 speeches are nothing but a complete dose of motivation, bravery and entertainment. Richa starts and ends her speech with the quote "If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salts, water, mixed with air." - Nayyirah Waheed. Rohitraj arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to attempt CC1. Nidhi's attempt was good too. By the way, I wasn’t evaluator so I will not analyze them in details. TM Govinda conducted a great TTM session. He invited almost all people to talk about TMCPSE. Club Humorous speech contest winner Pawan poured humour in TTM session with ease. Four members design and deliver ad campaign like professional. Akshay distributed participation certificates to the member who performed in Division Level Humorous Speech and Evaluation contest. Overall it was fantastic meeting with lots of takeaways. 

Before going to start return journey, we had cake cutting ceremony and our president thanks, event organization team for their great efforts. It’s nothing but a vote of thanks. And the surprise was a souvenir with Toastmaster logo and member name printed on it for all club members. What is the success formula for any event i.e. Entertainment, fun, member participation, great management, and meeting goals? It was there in 300th milestone meeting. I had a great day with lots of good moments, memories. At approx. 8.30 PM I reached my home. 

Abbreviation 
TM – Toastmaster 
TMCPSE – Toastmasters Club of Pune South East 
PR – Public Relation Team 
TMOD – Toastmaster of the day 
TTM – Table Topic Master 
ExCom – Executive Committee 
CC – Competent Communicator