Blogs from Pune, Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 7

A good first day of year 3 programming, though we had to wait for three hours for everyone to show up for the party. We had intended to start at 9:30 am, which suddenly became 11:30 as several groups ran into travel snags. The gyli staff has now resolved to add sdoku and crossword puzzles to our program booklets should this happen again in the future. I finally opened the program with a presentation about the brief history and visions of GYLI. Then it was time of games. Emily led name toss, lane did the great wind blows, Imroz did her now-famous “alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic,” and Amit led walking partner tag in a very small space. Once we get people talking a laughing, then we are moving. After lunch Matt facilitated a “Leadership Styles inventory” ... read more

Deep Griha Society - Social work in the 'shanty towns' of Pune... read more

We got up at 6.30 am with no hint at all of the eventful day that lay ahead of us. After a dose of hot tea, we started off in the fog which had not relented since yesterday. It had rained pretty badly the last night and my apprehensions of climbing the Budhala Machi returned. However I comforted myself in the presence of Bhagoji Dere and started walking. A number of trails spurted out from the original trail creating confusion in a foggy day like this. The rule of thumb was to keep right at the forks, take the middle path at junctions and never descend. We passed the Dhardev mandir and stopped at the second house who offered us with some buttermilk. Bhagoji and his friend at the second house feasted themselves with generous handfuls ... read more

Itinerary: Mumbai(Dadar)-Swargate - 3 hours- ST Bus : (Rs.116) Swargate-Chilladi - 1 hour - ST Bus : (Rs. 18) Chilladi-Gunjavane - 1 hour - Private Jeep: (Rs. 250 for a group of 5) Gunjavane-Rajgad - 2-3 hours - Trek Rajgad- Torana - 4-5 hours (Ideally) Rajgad - Torana - 2 days (Due to fog, rains and confusion. Details in the blog). Torana-Velhe - 2 hours (Ideally) Torana-Velhe - 7 hours (Due to rescue mission !! Details in the blog) Velhe-Pune - 2 hours (Last bus at 6.30 pm) Photos: Here Logistics Food: Rajgad - * A couple of hotels at Gunjavane. * A hotel on the way to Rajgad owned by a guy named Rasal (Number:) * He charges Rs.30 for bhakri, zunka, thecha, aachar and batata bhaji. * Another Rs. 200 if you want him ... read more

Pune is a city of 3 million in the state of Maharashtra, and also where my friend Vishwas lives. After we had a brief intro to the UWC campus and lunch, we returned to Pune to explore the city, and because Cecilia wanted to shop. This is one of the key lessons of GYLI--that in a group setting sometimes your own needs are put aside for the group. The group was Cecilia, Vishwas, his wife Jotti, and I. Half of the group needed to shop, and half did not, so we proceeded to Tulsi Baug, the local shopping area (not the Western Style Mall). On the way I was struck by the number of motor bikes and scooters, they were everywhere and coming at us from all directions. They were just cleaning up and de-constructing from ... read more