Destination Prabalgad

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. – John

Muir

Have you sat and looked at the beauty of nature surrounding you and

thought I" I would love to explore and discover what is there?; Sometime

10 years ago in India, I could see these 2 mountains in daily travel. It made

me wonder whats there. I like to explore nature walks, trekking, picnics in

national park. They added lots of happy moments to my “I did this list”.

I wanted to visit this fort called PrabalGad. Forts are called Gad in our

language. Just 2 hrs drive from city this area is surrounded by forts,

natural beauty and waterfalls. There are many stunning one day treks in

this area.

In India the rains are from June to September period, when our natural

beauty at its peak. I love the rains. I love to get wet in first rain. I love that

natural smell of the first rain and relief from hot weather. It is so cool and

fresh.

I also like to be a friend with nature, walk in the rain, smell and observe

natural beauty.

In India, I gained enough experience of trekking through first level type of

forts where there are steep steps and some marked walking trail.

My office colleague planned a Trek to Prabalgad. I felt it was planned just

for me, ­ monsoon season trekking to such wonderful locations

I wanted to climb Korigad, lohgad, dattatekdi, national park, kankeshwar,

walking the whole day on each 4 outings.

PrabalGad the same mountain, From my daily travelling, they looked very

far away and maybe too big. If I don't do it now maybe I never will!

I was all packed and ready some water, good pair of shoes, hat, light

raincoat and snacks, all done. The whole Prabalgad trekking route had

only 2 small cafes and one family run lodge.

Rainy season trek usually are more muddy trails, slippery roads and

unexpected waterfalls. Any supplies shops are run by villagers at base

point village.

Forts are built on the pinnacle of the Mountain. There is good history of

forts. They are strategically located so the warriors could watch the

movements of enemy. These warriors ride horses and attack the enemies

stocks, travel plans to get much idea of strength. So these forts were never

visible. Enemies have no direct access to the fort location. Over time,

many forts were destroyed and few were maintained depending on the

community of the surrounding villages.

It's difficult to imagine a situation where you just have the local guide who

takes you through a proper route.

As planned our meeting point was early morning 5 am to reach and 3

hours traffic time to “ The destination Prabalgad.” Almost 3­4 hours walk

was estimated to reach top

It was indeed scenic, clouds were floating on top of mountain. Rain drops

were making the weather cool and the road wet. I started to walk. 2 km

stretch, had to cross a river and we finally reached the forest, the ­ starting

point of PrabalGad.

We had one local villager as our guide. Its always good to make buddy on

a trek with one who matches your pace.

When I looked up I thought it's too far. You start slowly and steadily we

made it through. There were no railings to hold. No steps were created. It

was not a typical forrest but lots of wild trees with big and small plants. Old

trees with weird shapes.

Some patch was rocky some with plain red dusty road. Big and small

rocks. And I came across big rock nearing my shoulder. As I was busy

clicking photos I hadn’t notice how person before me managed to climb,

just had to hold on to the next big rock to cross. I learned it never hurts to

ask for help, when stuck. So I had to stretch legs, do stunts, attempt to

climb some of the rocks and support by my hands. I really enjoyed each bit

of walking.

Good on us, there was long stretch plain plateau to walk. As we reached, it

started pouring. We took our first halt and photo session. It was back in

2007. It still run like a film in my mind. What if situations analysis made

some trekkers to quit. They wanted to wait and join us on return journey.

We saw small 2 homes of villagers. It was home run café. Relief as our

friends got place to wait there. Since there was no other group trekking up

with us & we had never attempted Prabalgad before.

When you reach half way, it is different feeling. You can make choice, to

chase your dreams or adjust with surroundings. And everything is

right.

We found a big rock chair where we all did photos on the rock. On

the top of that rock it feels just like a King of your time . You can

experience the chilled air, forceful wind, experience the picnic in the clouds

from the peak of the hill and it will show you its different shades.

Experience the twinkling lights of Mumbai city, Rasayani, Panvel and

nearby areas from the height. To experience this exciting package of fun,

happiness and refreshment.

At Prabal gad, near top of the mountain, I was actually in clouds. Whole

remaining trek we had to cover ­walking through clouds, only seeing the

next few meters. I remember the scenic view of clouds from base village

was mesmerizing.

The thought that I was in the clouds, I was so happy I did something I

wanted for a long time. It was not raining but rain drops were presenting

slight wetness on skin.

Almost 10 years from that moment, I've visited many more places and

acouple of countries. But the immensely joy I felt still lingers. The trueness

of moment, that you can experience anytime. Was it fog or cloud. I didn't

want to analyse my experience.

From top you see your trek starting point and all difficult points, dangerous

trails, my words are limited to describe the scenic beauty. The flat top area

of the fort is covered by dense forest. Because of the dense forest it is not

always easy to find paths for walking.

Actually we had only covered 3/4th distance, everyone was bit scared as

the route was not visible and the forest was getting dense. This fort had

North and South end. Our tour manager decided to return as we had some

youngsters with us and they lacked preparation for an overnight stay.

At entry point, then there is no problem for climb. Route is little steep for

climb, occupied with all small and big rocks, more challenging to climb

down.

Some had great pictures and videos of trek, but I had my best experience

in that moment. When I was absolutely happy, my happiness was not

depend on anything. I wish absolute joyful moment to everyone.

Healthy Body Healthy Mind

​General purpose: Awareness about breathing – unconscious activity.

Specific purpose: Sharing spiritual way of breathing and thinking.

what
Breath, a simple must thing for us. What’s first thing came in your mind when I said breath. Life, oxygen, swimming, yoga, stress reduction technique.
Breathing is probably the easiest way to know that we re still alive. Birth is beginning and death is last chapter and all rest of the chapters of busy life are threaded by breathing.
Deep breath, shallow breath, Normal breath, relaxed breathing, breathing from diaphragm, all the time, most of the time we breath.
Have you ever come across suggestions like this:
Stop, Breathe, Notice, Reflect and Respond. Specially to Nasty emails and comments.

Now that you have responded to stressful client email, or writing any new report. Our breathing pattern changes as our thoughts; still on subject or expecting response etc.you will feel more control.
When we are babies, we all take deep, relaxing breaths from our abdomen - watch your children when they are asleep to see how their stomach rises and falls rather than their chest. As we get older, stress often changes the way we breathe.

Now think of your favorite fragrance Floral, citrus, woody, clean, crisp ocean breeze: 

Inhaling or thoughts of favorite fragrance changes ours mood. Journey from unconscious to conscious mind and related thoughts.

When yoga teacher teaches poses, he constantly reminds to breath. Efficient breathing is important in any peak performance dancing. If you are woman, you need to know how to breathe when delivering baby. Breathing is art and skill of living.

Good thing about technique and skills that it can be learned and improved.

How

'If you're breathing properly, you can feel your diaphragm pushing down into your belly through it isn't crucial for the abdomen to go in and out while you're breathing, it can be a good technique.

​​

To practice this technique all you have to do is exhale air out as much time as possible, inhale; try exhaling as many times as possible then inhale. You will realize how we can breath from diaphragm.

If this doesn’t work, imagine you are entering in Starbucks or coffee shop and inhaling the aroma of coffee, does it make you feel better. Possibility that along with aroma you inhaled more oxygen than normal.

Why

When we are stressed, our bodies operate on the 'fight or flight' response to whatever is scaring us. This means we take short sharp breaths to help prepare for the 'fight' we will have to face.

As we breathe, we determine signals to our brain and that becomes our habit.

I suggest if time permits one must read book power of habits. It doesn’t talk about breathing exercises but how habit affects us. As breathing happens automatically, many of us don’t give the breath as much attention as it deserves nor have we learned to harness its full potential to calm our minds.

In summary I would like to say small things in life makes big difference. Your friends are for hours; family members for years; but breathing is life.

Paying few minutes attention of breathing and thinking what thoughts come with each type of breath one can know more about self.

Because Healthy body got healthy mind