Participants exploring carved cave at Kondana

Our group will leave Mumbai at 6:30am and go to Kondivade village. After a filling breakfast, we head on to the caves, which is about an hours moderate walk. Once there, we have some time to explore the caves and rappel down the waterfall that curtains the mouth of the cave.

Rappelling is a means of descending steep vertical faces with the assistance of a rope and specialized equipment. It is a quick and exciting experience. When you combine it with the magic of the Sahyadri in the monsoon, you get to do that exciting descent through a waterfall. You won’t believe how much fun it is, till you experience it.

We walk down to Kondivade for a late lunch and some time to clean and freshen up. We leave for Mumbai post tea and snacks in the evening. We should be back by 8pm or so (depending on traffic).

Participation is open for teenagers and above in age, right up to your fifties. Please note that while there is nothing difficult, there is a fair amount of walking and physical exertion involved, and discuss any fitness and health concerns with Raka before confirming your participation.

The costs for this adventure outing are Rs.1,100/- per head. These costs include travel by Sumo, breakfast, lunch and dinner; and skilled instruction and equipment for the hike and rappelling.

If you would like to join in, please speak with Raghavendra Kale (Raka) directly on 09869433342 or (if there is some problem getting through to him) Vidyut Kale – 09892469127. If you are planning on coming, it is important to confirm your attendance as early as possible, as we will be operating on a first-come-first serve.

If there remains a difficulty in getting through to either of us, please comment on this post  with your correct email address, and we will get back to you. You may also contact us through the contact form here.

Bring on the rain!

Yesterday, I was leaving for the Resonate office with some charts I’d made, and a few drops of rain fell on me. Trust the day when I have fragile charts with me to be the day it would rain, I grumbled as I hurried to get a rickshaw. Unfortunately, it didn’t rain after I got the rickshaw either.

Spent a nice day in the office, and walked out to the smell of wet earth, though the ground looked dry. I guess it was still wet in the playground next door. The rickshaw ride back showed wetter and wetter roads as I approached home. It wasn’t raining.

The first thing my mother-in-law asked as I walked in was if I got wet. She knew how much I’d been waiting for the rain… Unfortunately, it seemed to have rained everywhere except where I was

I held hope about the overcast sky all evening, night and today, though it seems lighter now.

The window is wide open. If I see it raining, I’m walking out to get wet. Maybe I’ll dance like a peacock.

Update: The sky is now clear. I wonder where all that gloomy grey from yesterday went without delivering on its promise. Darn!

We have another summer adventure camp coming up as a result of our very enjoyable and satisfying relationship with Mountain Holidays. This time, it is for children between 7 and 12 years of age and we have planned it for Matheran.

Dates: 25th to the 28th of May, 2009

Group will be staying at Hotel Girivihar in Matheran (for information for parents). Stay and food in this place is quite nice and clean, and as the age group for this camp is on the younger side, we have chosen the relative comfort, so that tired kids get a good chance to recharge their energies every day. However, this information is for your reference. Parents are not allowed to attend the actual camp, as it distracts participants.

Activities include Rappelling, Valley Crossing, Vertical Ladder, Australian Walk, Acid River Crossing, Spider Web, Obstacle Games, Star Gazing, a small trek, Treasure Hunt, Camp Fun, etc. Having a residential experience in Matheran on their own terms is an excitement in itself, with its rustic charm, lack of motorised transport and abundance of natural experiences set in a context that grabs a child’s sense of adventure.

The group will be assembling at Thane Station WEST main ticket window, and proceeding by train, well escorted by instructors.

Well qualified instructors, basic first aid and a doctor on call ensure that the excitement is not at the expense of safety.

Fees: Rs.3,250/- per child.

Hemant is our man for managing camps this year, as Raka and I wish to take things easy because of this pregnancy. Please speak with him directly for more information – +91 9869368459, +91 9702197245.

It would be a good idea to mention that you got the information from the site, so that he knows how much you know, and how much information you need to have.

So, Good Luck, and celebrate an opportunity to create adventure for your child!

There seems to be a belief that changework happens only fancy paid consultants and trainers and so on. Yet, if that is reality, all these people (including me) are failing miserably. The fact of the matter is, change happens everywhere, all the time. If you focus on positive change and manage to do it, great, you are actively doing changework, regardless of what your job description is.

Wanting the label, is a chief symptom of becoming a ballerina for the applause, and while it may be possible to indulge in love for applause for a successful ballerina, nothing but the love for dancing ever created genius. The consultants I look at with respect, to date, are learners. People commited to expanding their own learning horizons. This is what gives them the power to continually keep others reaching beyond their horizons.

Most outstanding consultants I know, also didn’t get where they are by having an ambition to consult, but by developing their knowledge to extents where people asked for their experience to assist their own growth.

Please, I’m certainly not calling you an evil person to want to be superior or something. Just pointing out something I discovered, and saw echoed in all I wanted to be like. I have my own share of thirst for glory, yet the best work I do is when I forget it and become an artist with the people I am with.

So what do I recommend?

I’d say that setting off on a journey of self-discovery would be a start. Watch yourself and see why you do things. Watch people and see how they impact each other and situations. What they speak, what they do, what they admit, and what they hide, and what happens as a result. Discover your own self and what you do. Discover what happens when a group of people come together as organizations and what impact does the situation have on them.

Use this knowledge to really understand people with you wherever you are. Free consulting opportunities abound in your current job (no matter what it is), without the hassle of “convincing” clients based on limited experience and then worrying about developing as a consultant slower based on limited opportunities with clients. Work with friends, family, colleagues. Volunteer with NGOs, work with kids in your area, hold the space for get-togethers to add meaning to them. See what happens. See when you are effective, see when what you do is resisted. Enrich lives. Empower people. Learn to drive positive change.

As you learn, you will realize that your role becomes visible and more opportunities become visible. Then, if you still want to be a consultant, a suitable wave will come along, waiting for you to surf it.

I spoke with some of the people who were on the trek when the accident happened, and from the conversations, this is what I gathered happened.

The group was returning to Dharamkot after a successful trek on the 25th of April 2009. The trail wide and even – no risky areas as such. Parag was walking with his wife with other members of the group in front and behind. His wife was maybe a few steps in front when she heard a sound and turned to see Parag slumped and rolling over the side of the trail. She raised the alarm. At that point, the trail was a slope with bushes and other things he could hold on to and stop his tumble quite easily, but he made no attempt to do so, or perhaps he went through the gaps through coincidence. A little further, the trail became steep and precipitous and he went over the edge to fall about 700ft below.

Instructors from the group hurried down to reach him in 10-15 mins and found him badly injured. An experienced mountaineer and medical doctor was with the group and he descended to reach him almost immediately after the instructors, and quickly and efficiently fashioned an emergency stretcher to transport him to the hospital. He was rescued and rushed to the hospital within one and a half hours, but he didn’t survive.

He had been cheerful and apparently healthy before this happened and had, in fact, taken the previous night’s campfire by storm with his energy and enthusiasm for singing.

For those who don’t know Parag, he was one of the mountaineering enthusiasts from Mumbai. He began his mountain forays with the well-known club Girivihar in Mumbai about 20 years ago. The last 20 years had been filled with a variety of experiences ranging from simple hikes in the Sahyadri to being a part of the climbing team for the civilian expedition to Everest in ‘98. He had done his Basic and Advanced mountaineering courses from the Himalayan Institute of Mountaineering in Darjeeling. He participated in a bicycle trip from Mumbai to Leh, climbed peaks in the Himalaya and Sahyadri and enriched the community with his expertise and enthusiasm. He certainly was no stranger to mountains.

No one understands how a person with his experience fell over a trail that had no real difficulty in walking, or why he was unable to arrest his tumble down the slope after falling, and the only explanation seems to be that he must have lost consciousness for some reason, which caused his fall and his inability to stop himself from going down the slope.

I guess we will never know.

He was walking with his wife on the last day of the trek when he fell into the valley on a relatively straightforward trail, which is more like a rough jeep track. No illness, no warning, no yell, no injuries indicating he made any effort to grab on to anything to save himself, nothing. He fell off the edge of the road into the valley below and died on the spot due to extensive injuries. Strange. Scary.

Marathi newspapers have some mention of the event. He was an experienced mountaineer and had participated in expeditions to the Kangchenjunga and Everest and climbed mountains like Deo Tibba and Shailkoteshwar and Gangotri 1, and a cycling trip from Manali to Leh, so its inexplicable for him to be falling off the mountain on a simple track, with little risk. Yet, it sounds like that was exactly what happened.

He was travelling with a medical doctor I would trust with my life, but a doctor was no use in that situation – he died instantly.

I was not a very close friend of his – more of having been in the mountaineering community with him at some point years ago, and happy to meet on the rare occasions we ran into each other. An enthusiastic climber, mountaineer with an interest in the wellbeing of the people in the mountains rather than just the physical sport. If I have to remember Parag, it would be his inclusive perspective. He had the ability to see different sides of a situation without holding on to his own problems or grudges. Unfailingly cheerful and pragmatic. And of course, his clear and free voice that lent its own charm to countless campfires.

He was 42 years old and is survived by his wife, son, brother and father.

I am going through much of what the usual fist time parents go through, and I have learnt from the glazed looks on friends faces, that my level of enthusiasm for the subject and the inevitable references to bodily functions is too much information for most. It is also rather irrelevant to the readership of this place, unless someone suddenly starts considering this to be the best source for pregnancy information or something. Unlikely.

So what am I writing about?

I’m looking at the fact that I head out into the outdoors often, and I’m pregnant. I tried to look for some guidance as to which of the many things normal for me are okay or not, and I found nothing, so sharing some learnings that I am discovering through experience.

Rock climbing, rappelling and pretty much anything involving tight safety harnesses is out because its uncomfortable. Hiking, camping, bird watching type stuff, staying in remote (but clean) places… seems okay, as long as I take care not to exhaust myself. Rafting is something I don’t do regularly in any case, and I haven’t felt tempted at the moment. I suspect it may be too physically taxing at the enjoyable levels, and too uninspiring to make it a worthwhile risk while pregnant.

Risk, I said? Yep, I did. Please note that adventure experiences have an inherent element of risk, which will not go away, just because you are pregnant and careful.

So what really remains that I can do?

Honestly, I have given up much of the rough work. However, I find that if the accommodation and food is comfortable and hygenic, I do enjoy escaping the rat race for a while. I bet its healthier to be out of the city, get gentle exercise, and so on. My doc knows that this what I do for a living, and she seems to be fine with it, as long as I adapt her city instructions with common sense, and all my tests keep coming boringly normal.

That said, I think the time to get into all this is the second trimester (which is where I am at the moment). When I say get into all this, I don’t mean you spend the next three months in the wilderness. What I mean is that if your heart thirsts for being in the outdoors, you should be able to find plenty of gentle experiences that will not cause you any harm for the occasional indulgence. This is not the time to develop an adrenaline addiction.

If you are healthy, I don’t see what harm is there, if you can keep your travel under a couple of hours, stay in a clean place, eat healthy food, and have your walks on trails rather than concrete jungles. I have found that getting out of the city and my hectic routines actually gives me more time to relax.

Actually, much of this applies to all travel, I would think.

That said, precautions:

• If it involves, jerks, bumps or exhaustion, please find out more before attempting it. I have found that talking with other women adventurers who have been pregnant helps – they know the sport and they know pregnancy. If they recommend against it, believe them. Play safe
• Have access to emergency services and NEVER go alone. Find out things like nearest town, hospital, etc and have vehicles handy.
• While I don’t imagine tents and sleeping bags will harm you, I have found that sleeping is not the quick lights out it used to be, and I do prefer a nature resort with proper beds these days. If I am well rested, I can wake up and enjoy better.
• DRINK WATER – I can’t stress this enough. Just…. drink it. I doubt if you could manage to drink too much.
• Eat regularly and healthy – no matter where you are, actually
• Avoid travel that is longer than a couple of hours and plan leg stretching breaks.
• Have a trip which doesn’t need you to stay in different places each night (like a trek). It makes taking rest on days you are not up to it impossible. Do it later, when you are a footloose again.
• Be flexible. Be sensitive to yourself. The idea is for you to have a refreshing and rejuvenating experience, and not to prove yourself to be superhuman. If you feel tired, this is not the time to explore your endurance.

If this seems excessively careful to you, think again. Many people would recommend you don’t head outdoors at all. My objective with these was an experience that I have enough energy to enjoy, so if I have to take things easy to be fresh to enjoy all through, so be it.

Actually, as a facilitator on outdoor experiential learning programmes, I do end up working all day and seem to be none the worse for it so far, but consider:

• This is not something special I am doing, but a routine part of my life. So it is not a new exertion, so to say.
• I do stay in resorts and super comfortable rooms – roughing it and all, after delivery.
• I depend on Raka to manage all the hectic stuff for me.
• I take breaks to put my feet up and even have quick naps, without worrying about my super-woman image.
• I am still willing to let go of all this if I feel for a minute that it is harming either me or the baby or if my doctor starts making unhappy noises.

Soon, I will be starting a new newsletter for those interested in learning and development programmes. This will not only contain programmes announced by Wide Aware, but programmes conducted by other organizations and people I respect in this field and I am hoping that this turns out to be a valuable resource to those who otherwise would find it difficult to find opportunities to work with T-groups, unconscious processes, appreciative inquiry, and any of the many valuable windows that infrequently open up.

If you would like to be included in this list, I suggest you comment on this message using your real email ID, and I will pick it up from here when I get around to setting it up.

If you already get our newsletter, don’t worry. When this list is set up, the next regular newsletter will have information about it, so that you can simply adjust your subscription to include this list if you like.

Looking for feedback from you guys about what you think of this idea, and if it would really be of use to you.

This is an excellent opportunity to introduce your children to the joys of the outdoors and help them develop their own sense of self-confidence and belief in their own capacity to face challenges.

Valley Crossing - a daring adventure

Activities include Rappelling, Valley Crossing, Vertical Ladder, Australian Walk, Acid River Crossing, Spider Web, Obstacle Games, Star Gazing, a small trek, Treasure Hunt, Camp Fun, etc. In addition to this, the schedule will include educational visits to the Varna Dairy, Chandrakant Mandhare Studio, Rajwada and Mahalakshmi Temple to encourage first hand understanding and experiences.

Well qualified instructors, a back up vehicle available round the clock, basic first aid and a doctor on call ensure that the excitement is not at the expense of safety.

The costs for the following programme are Rs.3,650/- per child from Pune to Pune. Children from Mumbai can be escorted by our instructors with costs at actuals.

Please contact for more information

Mr Hemant Salunke – +91 9869368459, +91 9702197245