A beautiful day on lohgad!!

I always wonder how Manish Bhiaya is so amazing in making decisions. How he knows that whatever he plans is going to be an unforgettable experience for each one of us. This time he planned a trip to Lohagad which pumped us up with lots of energy and excitement. We decided to travel by train as we thought it would be something different. All the volunteers decided to meet at the Shivajinagar station sharp at 6 in the morning.

All the volunteers reached the station on time. Keeping in mind the wrath of swine flu, we had taken all the precautionary stuffs with us. We then waited for the train to come which surprisingly was on time. For probably the first time in my life, I was impressed with the Indian Railways for its punctuality. We all were in a jovial mood with bhaiya taking the initiative to crack some jokes and Abhishek singing a nice song. After an hour or so, we reached our destination. Abhishek was so enamoured by the beauty of the place that he was busy clicking pictures from the time we got off the train. The lush green hills on one side of the road and the small houses on the other made for a very pleasant view.

After filling our tummies with a nice breakfast, we started trekking towards the Lohagad fort. We stopped at a waterfall on the way and had lots of fun there. We moved further and then the real process of milk to butter transformation started (Guruji had spoken about this process of transformation in one of his talks). It was not so easy to climb up the hills. In the middle of the journey, we all were so tired but the fire within us motivated us not to give up. With the knowledge point to give our 100%, we reached the top.

At the fort, the strong breeze had a calming effect on our tired souls and rejuvenated us once more. The view from the top was exhilarating - the earth meeting the horizon far away. We found a suitable place where we began our chanting and meditation activities. We spent some more time there after which it was time to leave. On the way back, Bhaiya asked us to race. Though mentally we were recharged, our bodies were still aching so we refused. Devdatta, the craziest of the volunteers, accepted the challenge and began sprinting along with Bhaiya. This was a perfect example on how to give 100% even when you are down and out. We took the train back and left for our homes with a bit of tiredness but very happy to have ended it with so much fun and masti.

JAI GURUDEV

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