Mumbai-Lonavla-Pune - A Bus ride to Remember 12 Jul 09

Was in Mumbai between 11 July and 14 jul 09. I had the occasion to travel to pune by bus. Took the bus run by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation called "Shivneri" or called "Volvo bus" in the local parlour. The bus starts from the "Asiad bus depot" at Dadar and has stops at Chembur (Maitri Appartments) and Vashi.Now doing a bus between Mumbai and Pune was nothing new , but its the way i looked at things that caused me to write this blog. It was the morning of 12 Jul 09 , got up to a very cloudy and overcast sky at Mumbai. I had used some of my Self assuarnce techniques where i asked for the "Universe" for it not to rain till i complete my job at pune.and to fast foraward 3 days , it didnt till i was to leave mumbai on the 14th.
The drive was beautiful and at 225 INR , a 3 hour bus journey in the comforts of an air conditioned bus is a pleasure. There was intermittetant rains on that way. The most enchanting sight was the 40 minutes odd stretch just before and just after Lonavala (approx. 120 Km from Mumbai) . Lonavla is a wonderful town , Mumbai-Pune's very own personal hill station. Having stayed there for 4 years i had fallen in love with this place. Dream of owning a cottage in Lonavla so that i can have the best of the country and be in the hills , have the cake and eat it too.
I remember travelling this stretch numerous times right from 1991 till date and the journey always was enchanting. What was different was my outlook on this journey. Its different when you travel as a passenger or just as a driver of your car and ways different when you travel as a "Traveller". A traveller soaks in the environment and enjoys the journey , while a passenger just travels to a destination.
While i always loved to travel , I travelled this journey for the first time as a "Traveller" and just loved it. The sights of Khandala town peeping through the clouds as we climbed into Lonavla was mesmerising. There was a light drizzle , the road snakes through long well lit tunnels and its a wonderful sight to see the rain soaked mountains, lush green from the rains rising through the clouds. As you cross an underpass just before Lonavla , is a wonderful sight of 3 parallel waterfalls. The recent rains ensured a constant supply of water and it was a magnificient sight to see the water gushing down the hills.
The bus has one stop at a small motel. This place has great maharashtrian food like sabudana khichdi , sabudana vada , vada pao etc. and the tea is the strong maharashtrian tea. Its a place i would always look forward to. Post this brunch , i slowly drifted off to sleep , truely an occasion to remember.
The bus takes 3 hours from Chembur to Pune bus depor near the railways station and i cant wait to do this again , this time by car or a bike or a cycle or walk or may be just run!! who knows whats the next calling

So long till my next post. Thanks for all the encouragement im getting from friends on my blog

Regards

Pradeep Eledath

Control of the mind leads to positive thinking and soul searching

The soul searching exercise continues to deliver more and more results. The means of soul searching changes , it moves in the direction you let it. If you force, it moves no where because your mind is in control and tells you only what is real and logical. Its the sub-concious or as i call the "you" , which is the real you which should help you do the soul searching exercise.This led me to my back packing trip , meeting new teachers (some very surprising discoveries) etc. Here we come to the point on what is the real you. Well , my own soul searching exercise made me believe that the human body consists of 3 parts
a. The physical body
b. The mind which controls the body and
c. The "You" which is an unconcious instintinctive force that resides (in my belief) at the end of your diaphragm right in the centre , near that "V" shaped bone.
Traditionally its the mind that drives the body , the mind convolutes a series of thoughts and what eminates is what we call feelings.These are based on wither past or current circumstances and we have no control on what the mind think. Previous to this revelation i was of the opinion that a constantly thinking mind is a sign of a thinker , someone who is constantly seeking something and i was under the impression that more the thoughts more you are better off. Now i realise that i was no longer in control oif those thoughts , they just used to flow and i was a mute bystander to these thoughts.
Well , now going back to how i came out of this so called "normal" thinking human tendency. Here are some steps to better and happy living
Step 1 - Get control over your Mind: When the "You" tries to control the mind , you find the mind revolting. Say "you" tell the mind "Have zero thoughts for the next 15 min" do you think the mind would do it? no it wont , it will protest , bring in all kind of wonky thoughts and you would have to fight it out ot get the mind in control of the "you".
Step 2 - Get the mind to think Positive: Lets say you achive Step 1. Go on to Step 2. The "You" is now in control of the mind. the next step is to say i would allow only positive thoughts to come to the mind. Its easy is it not. For any thing think positive. Think bright.Instead of thinking this is not what i want , think this is what i want. The "You" would make the mind think this way. Eventually, when ever you encounter a negative thought , just push it out of your mind.Also when you hear someone telling you negative thoughts just block them . And who will help you do this , the "You". You are doing great....
Step 3 - Stay in the "NOW": Now we have the mind in control , we think positive and block negative thoughts from our mind and others. Ok.. great... tell the mind to enjoy every moment of "now". Its this momenet we live in but its the future or the past that our mind lives in. LIke "I have to go for this party tonight , what should i wear" , "this guy was bad to me yesterday" , "i had a bad day today". Think ":Now". Like..... What about "the lunch you are having at this moment" , "the time you are spending with your family at his second" , "the air you are breathing during your run" , "the drive you are enjoying to your office now". Stay in the "NOW" and use the "You" to ask your mind to do that every second.
This is what i have encountered till now. More as nature reveals...

Regards

Pradeep
04 Jul 2009 , 1424 IST