Last week i got sms from star bazaar saying that “Now star bazaar will charge RS 1-4 on the plastic bags, So please bring along your bags with you while shopping”. This rule is imposed by the government to help restrict the use of plastic bags. There are very mix reaction about this rule as some are happy and some says that wont be helpful.
Do you really think that charge on plastic carry bags will make a huge difference ? I don’t think so, cos even i am of the second opinion firstly as this rule is only imposed on Shopping malls and not applicable to local shops. As compare to the Mall going people , people shopping in local shops is drastically high. Secondly, families/individuals who do shopping in malls normally spends thousands and wont mind spending extra 5-10 Rs for a plastic bag. Few families / people who do there monthly shopping in Big Bazaar / Star Bazaar / More or any such stores will think twice before paying for plastic as they are budget oriented people. This charge is directly or indirectly going to help the company as they will be selling 50 Paisa bag for Rs. 5-10 .
If the Mall charges a bit higher say around 30-40 Rs per bag then that will hurt the customer and next time while coming to shopping he will bring carry bags with him. I am sure these big shops will later come up with offers like shop for “X” amount and dont pay for the bags. By an ways the shops are going to get the profit and they wont be serious about the environmental issues. If government really want to save the environment then they should have ban the plastic bags and should encourage paper/ cotton bags. Even if someone forgets to bring the bag he wont mind spending 10 rs for a cotton bag.
Some good marketing stuffs like return a bag and get discount on your purchase will encourage people to return it the next time they come for shopping. In this way shops will retain the customer plus will also help in preventing the environment. And this can work with both plastic and cotton bags. Both can be the reused or recycled depending on their condition. Hope government take some serious steps in banning plastic bags before its too late. But i know our government can never be serious about this so hope the mall community handle this issue and bans use of plastic carry bags and promote cotton bags.
Its raining cats and dogs, thunderstorm and many more rainy tweets have always made me jealous. And the same thing happened yesterday (2nd June 2011) when tweeples from Pune started tweeting about the rain in Pune. I even posted a tweet on that “Ok Pune guys we know its raining and you guys enjoying .. pls keep it to yourself and dont Jalao us #kthnxbhai” . I love rain and also love getting drench in rain and not just first rain. As it had rain in many parts of the state and everyone who loves rain, that atmosphere had enjoyed and tweeted about it except Mumbai, Thane people.
Heavy winds, dark clouds in the sky were giving me the indications of rain when i stepped out of office. I was enjoying the walk in that cloudy weather and the drop of rain on my hand made me way too excited. I kept my wallet and my phone in my bag and got ready to get drench.
Just when i reached Mulund checknaka heavy shower started and i could see few people like me enjoying the rain and few others running for shelter. I normally take auto from checknaka to my home but today i decided to walk in the rain. A total distance of 4.8Km from my office to my home. In just 5 min i was completely drenched but was enjoying my walk. I even love riding bike in rain but yesterday i had kept my bike at home so walking was the best option to enjoy the first rain. Lightning and thundering were trying to scare me but the heavy shower helped me to ignore them.
I enjoyed walking for 1 hours 20 min in the rain but was highly disappointed when i saw that there is no power and my building lift was not working and i have to climb 9 floors. Like the rain i didn’t enjoy climbing 9 floors but yes i was damn happy i got drenched.
Happy Birthday Vishal. From teen to twenties and now just couple of step away from thirties. Today when I look back in life I see lovely and memorable flashback. The days spend from 1BHK to 2BHK, sleepless night in summer under fan to sound sleep in AC, from cycle to moped and from moped to bike and yes off course from Rs 24/litre petrol to Rs 70/litre petrol. What a journey it has been with my family and friends. Some dreams have made me smile by coming true while few have encouraged me to work hard so that I can see myself smiling. But one wish of mine which is incomplete and always will be is celebrating my birthday in school.
Like every other school going kid even I had a wish of celebrating my birthday in school. The day when we get a chance to wear new dress in school, friends wishing and treating us very special that day, the happy birthday song in front of entire class, distributing chocolates and giving few extra to our close buddies. Wish I could have got this opportunity at least once in my life.
I had always asked my parents why my birthday comes when schools have holiday and they always used to tell me celebrate my birthday in school when the school reopens. But for me the day has the importance and any other day won’t get that much importance. Dad used to tell me one thing that “You are lucky you don’t have to study on birthday, some has to sacrifice birthday celebration due to exams” and yes I used to happy with that and felt lucky.
I have celebrated my birthday the way i want in my college life but that’s a different life after all. School life is school life and no one can ever forget that.
I feel sad for “MAY” babies. They’ll fulfill all their dreams and wishes in life but sad they’ll have one incomplete wish in life.
Daddy mujhse bola, Tu galati hai meri
Tujhpe Zindagani guilty hai meri
Saabun ki Shaqal mein, beta tu toh nikla keval jhaag
Jhaag jhaag…
Bhaag >>>
Bhaag bhaag……
Toh by god lag gayi
Kya se kya hua
Dekha toh katora
Jhaanka toh kuaa
Piddi jaissa chuhaa
Dum pakda toh nikla kala naag
Naag naag
Bhaag…>>>
Bhaag bhaag DK bose, DK bose, D K bose
bhaag bhaag DK “Bose dk” bhaag…. (x2 times)
Aandhi aayi aandhi aayi aandhi aayi..
Bhaag bhaag DK bose, D K bose, D K bose
Bhaag bhaag DK Bose dk bhaag….
Aandhi Aayi hai…
Hum toh hai kabootarr, Do pahiye ka ek scooter Zindagi
Jo na * toh chale
Arre kismat ki hai kadki, Roti Kapda aur Ladki teeno hi
Paapad belo toh miley ..
Yeh bheja garden hai, aur tension maali hai.. yeah..
Mann ka taanpura, frustration me chhede ek hi Raag
Raag Raag….
Bhaag…..
Bhaag bhaag DK bose, DK bose, D K bose
bhaag bhaag DK “Bose dk” bhaag…. (x2 times)
Hey Aandhi Aayi Hai Aandhi Aayi Hai
Aandhi Aayi Hai…
Bhaag bhaag DK bose, DK bose, D K bose
Bhaag bhaag DK “Bose dk” bhaag…
Daddy mujhse bola, Tu galati hai meri
Tujhpe Zindagani guilty hai meri
Saabun ki Shaqal mein, beta tu toh nikla keval jhaag
Jhaag jhaag jhaag
Bhaag
Bhaag bhaag DK bose, DK bose, D K bose
Bhaag bhaag DK “Bose dk” bhaag…. (x2 times)
aandhi aayi aandhi aayi aandhi aayi
Bhaag bhaag DK bose, D K bose, D K bose
bhaag bhaag DK Bose dk bhaag….
Yes you heard it right, The Sapling Project is back and the next drive is on Sunday 19th June 2011. After tremendous response in last drive (the 3rd drive) in which more than 4000 sapling were distributed in 6 cities ( Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Latur ). In the next drive we are looking to cover more cities.
As you know The Sapling Project is about planting and distributing saplings, free of cost to one and all in different parts of our country, we have distributed and planted over 6500 sapling till date. The model is simple, we collect funds, buy Plant Saplings and distribute it free of cost to anyone who sign up on the website or turn up at the event.
In our next drive which is on Sunday, 19th June 2011 we are looking to add more cities, get more volunteers in these cities, raise funds by sponsorship/contribution and distribute more and more sapling.
How and where you can contribute
If you or your company would like to make a donation, You can make the contribution in the name of “The Sapling Project”. Don’t forget to write you name and contact number on the reverse of the cheque.
Account details for online Transfer
Account Number for RTGS / NEFT transfer: SB01018848
Bank Name : Corporation Bank
Branch Code: 429
IFSC Code: CORP0000429
Branch Address: Royal Towers – Ground Floor,
I. C. Colony, Borivali West,
Mumbai – 400 103
How You can support us
1. Word of Mouth, Speak to your family, friends,in-laws, enemies, loved ones, building junta, office friends, Train friends, Online friends.
2. Put Sapling Project details or Info on Gtalk, Skype, FB, Yahoo etc.
3. Interact & DM active twitter users to RT, Promote the sapling project.
4. Ask you Friends , Family , Company / Organization to contribute or sponsor and help us to raise funds.
5. You can even help us by taking initiative to conduct the drive in your city / locality .
We would appreciate if you could spend some time when you are free to work on the sapling project. Looking for to your participation and support.
It’s been a year we have been together. And today is our first anniversary. I met her an year ago but the day we started dating, the day when I first time hold her hand was 14th feb 2010. Like any relation we also had some ups and downs but that’s just for a while. Every time we had such situation, we… especially I had learn a lot from such situation.
It’s very rare that I don’t meet her, almost every day I try to spend some time with her. There was time when I used to spend with her 2hrs every day. But now I just spend 30min with her. But I am glad that she never complains about and enjoys every min with me.
So let me introduce my valentine to you. She is non-other than my bike, my darling “Honda Unicorn”. What a journey it has been, together we had spend number of hrs and more than 16000 km in a year. She is the one who have given me relief from the terrible crowed Mumbai trains. Like other couples we do have our good and bad times together. It painful when she gets hurt. on 11may 2010 we met with our first accident just 3km from my office (that time was working in kandivali) where i hit another bike which was speeding from a cross lane after jumping the signal. After that we had a couple of falls but not that serious.
The black beauty had always brought smile on my face. I hope we stay together forever and spend a quality time without hurting each other. Would like if you can shower your blessing on both of us and pray for a strong and healthy relationship between us.
Kalawardhini Pratishthan arranged the second trek of the year to Gorakhgad after Ankai – Tankai on Jan 1, 2011. Gorakhgad is a small fort near Deheri village which is 40min from Murbad near kalyan. We started our trek from kalyan by 11.15PM bus to murbad. We reached murbad at 12.20AM and the connecting and last bus towards Deheri the base village was of 12.30AM and in around 40 min we reached the base village, all thanks to driving of the bus driver. The total count of the group was 23 out of which 2 were going to join us next day i.e. 23 Jan 2011 morning. We had initially decided to do night trek but had to skip the idea as some members who directly came to kalyan were hungry as they had skipped dinner. There was a school where first we decided to spend the night but the area was too small to occupy 21 people. So we decided to spend night Gorakhshanath Temple also called Vithal Mandir. There is a shade in the temple which can occupy more than 40 people.
It wasn’t that cold at 2.30AM but later it was freezing cold and some of us who hadn’t carry bed sheets were shivering. At 6AM we got up and by 6.30 most of us were fresh. Siddhesh was the in charge of morning tea as he is good in that and yes he made a fantastic tea. By the time we were waiting for the other 2 members to join we had an introduction round as few new faces had joined the group. Unfortunately the two members Ruchir all the way from Pune and Rushme from Kalyan reached very late even after reaching murbad at 6.30AM. They reached the base village at 8.50AM, 1 and half hours late of the scheduled time.
We started our trek at 9.11AM. Various species of birds can also be seen while trekking. Gorakhgad is ease but steep narrow steps and climbs make it very adventurous. The last two rock patches are very adventurous. They should not be done in hurry. It is advisable to carry rope so that heavy bags can be pulled up easily. Half of the members climbed the patch then we passed the bags up and then the remaining members climbed the patch.
We reached the top at 12.30PM. A large cave was waiting for us. Around 35-40 people can be accommodated in that cave at a time. We took rest as everyone was quite tired as we had climbed when the sun was on our head. There are few water storage tanks (taak) but as they are in open air, the water is not good for drinking. But there is one tank which is covered by a rocks and the water is also good for drinking.
The view from the top is awesome. Can see few more trek ranges from the caves. It was decided that after lunch we’ll cover the last patch that is the peak point of Gorakhgad in groups. But we have to cancel the idea of climbing the peak due to time constrains. So we decided to take rest and then Chalke sir shared his knowledge about and surrounding the Gorakhgad area.
This time the trek was very special as one of our trek member announced her wedding date and invited the whole group , saurabh was gifted a lovely greeting design by vaibhav on his birthday and last but not the least Siddhesh readout his latest poem which was just brilliant.
At 4.30 we started descending. It took us 2 hrs to just descend the two rock patches. We decided to take another route to reach the base as the route while climbing was not a good route to descend in dark. The other route was quite easy and hence we decided to cover maximum distance before it gets dark. We reached Mhasa village at 7.00 which is 2 Km from the base village deheri.
Siddesh then arranged 2 jeeps from Mhasa village to murbad bus stand. We reached murbad bus stand at 8 and when we enquired about the bus to kalyan they said the next bus is at 9PM and hence we thought to hire a jeep from murbad till Kalyan. But the problem was that there were hardly any jeeps which were travelling towards kalyan and few which were there were way too expensive to hire. But to our luck an empty was arranged looking at the crowd looking to travel towards kalyan.
At 10PM we reached kalyan, this is the worst time of any trek when we concluded our trek. We concluded the trek at kalyan with a promise that next time we’ll make it to the peak of Gorakhgad.
Few points to remember while on the trek Gorakhgad
1. Carry ropes
2. Beware of the monkeys while on the top.
3. If you are not in a big group do lock your bag and tie to the pillars as monkey do jumb in the caves in search of food and also open the bags (Smart monkeys)
4. Don’t carry plastic bag while climbing or descending. Monkeys may attack as they think you are carrying food in them.
5. Try to start descending before dark.
6. Carry torch even if you are doing a day trek. It can be used in caves and also useful if you are late while descending.
Travel
1. Get down at kalyan station and take bus from kalyan bus depot towards Murbad. Ticket cost is Rs. 22
2. Take another bus from Murbad to Deheri (the base village). Ticket cost is Rs. 17
3. Mhasa to Deheri
4. Deheri to Murbad (jeep around 11-12 people in 1 jeep) Rs. 450
5. Murbad to Kalyan bus. Ticket cost Rs. 23
If you reach the base village early then you can get Bus from deheri to Murbad.
Take a bus from Kalyan to Murbad and then another bus from Murbad to Deheri.
Consecutively second time today I participated in Dream Run of most awaited Mumbai marathon. I was more interested in running half marathon but like last year this year too I couldn’t register myself, but managed to get a 21km bib all thanks to Jagdish Parekh. He is the one who inspired me to run 21km marathon but felt sorry as I couldn’t run 21km and participated in Dream Run due to lack of practice. Would like to tell that last Jagdish bhai ran 21km last year and this year at the age of 56 he ran 42 km and successfully completed it.
This time I was running for our own group the sapling project. We (Ranjeet, Satish, Vijay, Jason, neeraj) met at CST station and from there we headed towards Azad maidan. On the way met an Onion, no i am not kidding we met a Mahafreed who was dress in onion with a price tag 5000 Rs per piece. She was looking just awesome and was also the center of attraction while on the way to Azad maidan. Anubha had created few headbands for the sapling group which were just too good and which also become the identification of sapling group. We were later joined by shailaja, Maithili, Anubha, Priyanka, and Stanley on Azad maidan. We were all set with Banners, headbands and also were wearing Sapling T-shirts.
When the race started with shouting slogan “Ped lagao , Duniya bacho”. More than 10k people were in dream run. Lots of media people could be seen taking snaps interviewing people and the crowd was cheering the cause and as I said before Mahafreed was the center of attraction for the media photographer and everyone watching the event. Few celebrities, socialites, politician attended the event (just to wave hand from the stage).
Dream run participants were cheering the runners of half and full marathon as they were about to complete the race. The spirit and the stamina were exceptional for the people who were very tired but still were running toward the finish line.
Photo Credit: Maithili Desai
Photo Credit: Maithili Desai
The sapling group met Malishka the bajate raho RJ near Queens Necklace. She was very impressed with the Mahafreed costume and to our surprise she took the sapling group live on air. It was a great moment for the sapling group that we were going to be on air. We reached the finish line after a 3 and half hours of walk.
We not just walked but we did ran the marathon when we were 10 meter away from the finish point. After finishing we directly went near the refreshment booth as we were thirsty , hungry and in need of energy. The refreshment kit includes Apple, Orange , Horlicks Nutribar, Kingfisher mineral water and Lucozade Sports Drink. For me these were quite enough to get the energy required to reach Thane from CST .
I took the medal which say “I Finished ” which was actually for those who completed the 21km race. I had the bib of Half Marathon (21km) but i participated in Dream Run (6km) then also i decided to take the medal as that will inspire me to be ready next time for Half Marathon.
It was fun running.. i mean walking the Marathon. Hope people have take the note of what we tried saying through banners and slogans. And wish they would support the sapling project and help us make INDIA GREEN.
2010 is gone and we have royally welcome 2011. When i look back today at the year 2010, I find lots of memories obviously Happy and Not so Happy both. But still overall I was quite happy with the year. So just thought to share some of my memorable moments with you.
I welcome the New Year with a new style. The thing I wanted to do from my college days but never got guts to do that I did it in start of New Year. I had shaved off my head.
As a Trekker we always try to start of year with a trek and so i started my New Year 2010 with a trek. We left for Ratangad near Bhandardara Lake on 1st Jan 2010 night. Six of us just enjoyed the trek and return to the busy city Mumbai on 3rd Jan evening.
On 14th Feb 2010 i got the delivery of my new Honda Unicorn. The Valentine of my life. A very very happy and proud moment for me. It was a dream comes true for me. (Till today i.e 3rd Jan 2011 I have covered 16100 km in just 10 months on my bike)
Photography and photographers had always inspired me. I started learning photography with my Canon A450 Power shot. I always wanted to grab the special moments in a special way and my digi cam always helped me. But in May 2010 I decided to go a step ahead in my learning curve. So I gifted myself a semi professional camera Canon 1000D on my birthday. I never ever thought that I would spend 25k on a camera but it was true and had spent and I was very happy for that.
A Monsoon without a trek is impossible for me and so for my trek group. This monsoon we went to Karnala (18 members) which is in between Pen and Panvel. Karnala is famous for its Bird Sanctuary and also for the fort. The journey to and fro, the fort and the Bird Sanctuary was very memorable.
I used to travel to my office in Kandivali by bike. And I always loved the Ghodbandar road route. It used to be a very peaceful journey to office (except sometimes due to traffic). I did continued going to office on bike in monsoon also. My dream to ride the bike in heavy rain came true in such a way that it scared the hell out of me. It was raining very heavily and on top of that thundering and lighting were scaring me. The same route which i loved a lot was like a haunted place to travel for me that day. The experience was incredible but yes was scary too.
Office trip to Shangrila resort in sept10 was too good. I enjoyed with the friends and colleagues. Everyone was just busy enjoying themselves in the pool, rain dance, the slides, waves. A day spent with office colleagues but no one thinks of work and just enjoys the entire day.
Office Ganesh festival was also a memorable day for me as i got a chance to do the “Puja and arti” of lord Ganesh in office.
kingfisher Beer Tweetup which was orgainzed at ManU cafe was way too good. Met some old tweeter buddies and also few new. Won some prizes in the game , had lot of fun there.
My kerala trip with family i september was the most memorable in 2010. We went to Kanyakumari, Kovalam, Ashtamudi, Thekkadi , Munnar in kerala. An amazing tour of south that was.
December started with a new job, new challenges. Changed my company and shifted to another company in Mulund. What more you want when your company is just 5 km from home and everyday if you are saving 60km ride (Thane-kandivali-Thane was 70km ride daily)
Attended the blogcamp after 2 years. A blogcamp which was held in IIT Mumbai was good learning experience as new blogger taught something different.
The same day I even attended an AOC Tweet up (Art Of Chilling) by Fosters. It was not just a tweet up but the Baap of all tweetups ever happened or ever attended. A pool side tweetup with lots of gurls and beer was mind blowing.
Fosters sponsored me Pizza, Beer and Mineral Water to host a Christmas party called AOC Chillup at my place. So on 25th December I had hosted a small party for my family and friends and we all had lots of fun and all thanks to Fosters for sponsoring.
31st December was quite OK till i had Malibu, coconut Rum for the first time in my life. The taste made me a total fan of Malibu and ended my year with new flour in my life, the coconut Rum.
Last week i got sms from star bazaar saying that “Now star bazaar will charge RS 1-4 on the plastic bags, So please bring along your bags with you while shopping”. This rule is imposed by the government to help restrict the use of plastic bags. There are very mix reaction about this rule as some are happy and some says that wont be helpful.
