Footprints on the Mountainside

Not much is happening work wise, but life looks good!

Planning a set of camps for children in the summer holidays, and this always sets me all fired up with enthusiasm. The variety is quite large this time too. Wide Aware has the usual adventure camps with mountaineering and basic orienteering, as well as some camps about life in the wilderness. On a more dramatic side, there are some wildlife tours timed specially for students in their summer vacations.

Then there is my favourite part. Himalayan tours for Spiti. This year, I’ve finally done away with the usual predesigned tours completely (I know I’d been promising that for a long time) and designed some tours specially based on my years of living in the mountains. What I’m trying to do, is show people a side of life in the Himalaya, that standard tours cannot.

Enthusiasm is flowing, and dreams are a plenty. I’ve completed itineraries for two tours in Spiti. One focuses on the culture, while the other is about wildlife at high altitudes - both subjects close to my heart.

The strange thing is that now I’ve got my pen on paper (or fingers to the keyboard) I don’t want to stop. So for all those who have been writing to me for more tour ideas and more tours along the lines of experiences I share, this seems promising. I’ve got a couple of other locations in mind.

If there is something specific you guys would like to see before I head on my own route, feel free to let me know, and I’ll see if I can make it a priority.

As for the rest….

Now is a time to take a nice deep breath and enjoy the fruits of all these months of labour. I’ve made new friends, introduced many more people to the outdoor addiction, and the payments are rolling in.

Life doesn’t get any better!

Tagsadventure,children,experience,mountain,news,outdoors,people,writingare applied to this post

Surfing around for stuff to do with the kids on programmes, I came across this great idea. Of course, all the talk about short days in the winter, etc. is not really important to my interests, but what caught my eye is the exploration of the environment and collect materials for creative artistic expression. I can see myself using this idea in a million different ways, now that it has occurred to me.

Getting children to express themselves with materials of their choice is a superb idea to begin with. It will also be interesting to see the different kinds of materials that appeal to them, or get less interactive participants to open up, and express themselves in other ways. It will be a good tool for feedback, where you create and gift others “dolls” of themselves, which express how you see them, or feel about them.

Heh. Why not? I’d happily use this with adults as well. Let’s see where this new whim takes me

Tagschildren,inspiration,news experiential-learning,outdoorsare applied to this post

I had blogged about the children’s outdoor education programmes Wide Aware is currently conducting at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. I’d like to share a brief and rather rough video of the proceedings.

Do share information on similar programmes you come across

Tagsadventure,blogging,children,education,educational-programmes,experiential-learning,initiatives,outdoors,reaching-out,videoare applied to this post

We live in a chemical world. They are in use all around us - from pesticides to cosmetics and baby bottles to computers. Some chemicals are known to be toxic and we know very little about many others.

There are simple actions you can take to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals. And protect wildlife from the toxic threat.

Feeling defenceless against chemical contamination?

You can cut your risks by taking a few simple precautions when you shop and how you live…

In the living room and bedroom

Avoid

• dry cleaning wherever possible
• re-carpeting when you are pregnant
• synthetic carpets, carpet underlay or upholstery with synthetic foams, foam rubber, latex or plastic coverings, because these emit VOCs
• air fresheners, go for fresh air - open your windows! If you can’t do that, use natural odour eaters such as a bowl of baking soda, or natural fragrances such as potpourri

Buy

• carpets from organic natural fibres such as wool, cotton, rattan or jute
• machine washable clothes and clothes with fewer chemical treatments such as stain repellents

In the bathroom

Avoid

• cosmetics, toiletries and perfumes with synthetic fragrances
• long-term use of permanent hair dyes, especially those carrying a warning “can cause an allergic reaction”

Use

• beauty products such as soaps, shampoos, conditioners and hair care products made from natural ingredients
• fragrance-free products
• unbleached toilet paper and sanitary products

In the kitchen

Avoid

• tinned food products
• chemical air fresheners or heavily scented cleaning products such as dishwashing liquids, floor cleaners and washing powders
• cling film when reheating or cooking food in the microwave
• microwaving food in plastic containers unless they are designed for that purpose

Use

• organic products whenever possible
• fresh, frozen or dried food rather than tinned food;
• a water filter to reduce the levels of chemical contaminants in drinking water
• non-vinyl flooring

In the garden

Avoid

• using creosote-based preservatives or products pre-treated with creosote
• using pesticides indoors or in the garden - use alternatives and try gardening organically

Use

• paints, varnishes and glues labelled ‘Low VOC content’, or those that are water-based water-based
• organic or natural paints made from plants oils - ask in the store to find which products are available.
• garden furniture not treated with creosote

In the nursery

Avoid

• polycarbonate-plastic baby feeding bottles. The vast majority of plastic feeding bottles are made from polycarbonate which contains bisphenol A, a hormone disrupting chemical that can leach into the liquid inside. Polycarbonate can be identified by looking on the packaging for PC 7 or looking inside the recycling triangle for the number 7. Wherever possible, breast feeding is always the best option
• using old and worn plastic baby bottles

Use

• baby bottles that are not made of polycarbonate
• children’s teething products and dummies from a reputable source

Tagschildren,Environmentare applied to this post

It is a confusing image that India has and on all fronts. On one side we have our rich cultural traditions and diversity, on the other, we have orthodox beliefs and discrimination. We are growing as an economy, yet we have too many poor people. We worship the goddesses and we kill the female children.

Quite a paradox, aren’t we?

I started this segment to see if I could share ideas that occur to me with other like minded people. Ideas that make the world a better place, ideas that mean that we quit whining, and move our own bottoms slightly out of our comfort zones to “walk our talk”. Ideas that mean, while we can expect things from our government and politicians, we far outnumber them in terms of capacity for individual effort. All this effort could be put to better use than airing opinions alone.

This first post is likely to be jumbled, since there are too many things I care deeply about, but I guess I need to make a start somewhere and take it from there.

I’d like to mention an interview I saw on Doordarshan, of a man called Prof. Subedar Surve - a writer, teacher and social reformer. This man stayed in my mind for a very long time. I didn’t have the time to see it in great detail, but the gist of it is that this is an old, retired person with highly educated children, well into their respective careers. This man noticed the children on the streets and their lack of education. He started a learning centre for them and applied for funding support from the government. He got a grant. Moving to a different area, he did the same and got a grant again.

Applying this method over and over, he ended up with about 40 of these small education centres that are free of cost for poor children to get a basic education! We are speaking of about 1,200 kids! He noticed that some people were using the school premises to stay in at night, and expanded his programme to include night classes for grown ups.

Definitely old in terms of age, this is one of the most vibrant and youthful personalities I saw in a long time. Chirpy and cheerful, he speaks of the support he got from the government, once he took the initiative. He praised his wife for the unfailing support over the years through some very difficult times. He spoke of some of his stories that got national awards. He spoke of his enthusiasm to take his work further. He spoke in very supportive terms of todays youth that the world sees as “reckless” and thinks that it is a generation growing in a different world from what they know, and they are really very good people at heart, and they are going to take the world to new heights. This is one man who can retire, but not stay out of action. Kudos to him!

Jovial, extremely willing to talk of anything the interviewer requested, he had all of us “youngsters” spell bound and disappointed that the interview got a little abrupt toward the end for want of time. I could have listened to this guy for the whole day.
For all those who sit and speak of what the government should do, what the society needs, and what is the problem with everything, this man is a inspiring example of what can be acheived if we care to put our ideas into action.

May we all WALK OUR TALK

Tagschildren,education,initiatives,inspiration,news,people,societyare applied to this post