Footprints on the Mountainside

Saving the environment seems such a mommoth task. It simply leaves people immobile. Where does one begin?

Some things are easy. Don’t litter. Don’t damage. Don’t waste resources. But what exactly does this involve? What does the common person do to be saving the environment? Not everyone can research. Not everyone can make it the calling of their lives. Not everyone even knows what to do.

Yet, we have a huge number of people available, who would, if pointed out, definitely be happy to make small adjustments that together can result in massive change. The key is in identifying exact things, that are quick to do and watch out for, once people know.

If it doesn’t take too much time, doesn’t involve a great deal of effort, a large number of people will happily walk the path to feel a little more secure about the state of the world tomorrow.

I find that like any other dauntingly huge task, this one seems much more doable when we break it up into bits.

First, make a not of the words/issues that occur on the subject of saving the environment: plastic, paper, forest reserves and trees, water, energy, pollution, fuel, spreading awareness……… We can keep adding to these as and when new words occur.

Let’s take each aspect and brainstorm on it (the links above open into seprate articles on each subject, to keep things managable out here). If you have ideas, please let me know, and I’ll add them in, so that we have a ready resource of stuff that is really easy to incorporate into our lives and has the potential to make a huge difference.

I came across this article on rafting, which plunged me straight into my must fulfill dreams list. Rafting in Iceland! I can only shiver in anticipation. Glacial melt water that will probably be enough to freeze my poor fingers to the paddles, but I bet my heart will fly over the coldest river available for rafting. Folks, if you’re into adrenaline, and you get hooked and go, don’t forget to let me know.

Actually, the reason why I was exploring rafting on the net is that I had complaints from my clients that the site doesn’t really cover a lot of areas of operations of Wide Aware, and one of them was rafting. Its true. I haven’t yet put half the information I really want to on this place, but then, this site is like my temple. I doubt if it will ever be complete [:D]

Another interesting thing I came across was on the Paddling instructor website, where they speak of Yaka - a Goan company (that is the Indian distributor for Perception kayaks) and their show stealing exhibition in the Mumbai International Boat Show on 22-25 February, 2007. I missed the show unfortunately, or I’d have written here about it, but this sparks my interest again. Another area I need to explore.

The other thing worth noting in the Watery adventures world is the Adventure Safety & Rescue Training Workshop that took place in Rishikesh this February. The courses on offer are quite good, and it seems a very interesting option to explore for refresher courses for instructors. For those inclined to head out into the outdoors, this might be a very good training programme to watch out for, in any case. Its not only instructors who need to handle emergencies.

This brings me back to my main focus - rafting. Hmmm….. I promise to add more content. Not just here, but in all relevant areas of the site, but as its a one man show, do have patience and bear with me. meanwhile, I’d like to share a nice rafting information page about rafting in Rishikesh (yes we do that too, though I haven’t yet written about it) by Anand Kumar to keep you all ticking till I get my fingers on to the keyboard again.

See ya’ll!

The difficulty I faced in my ALHP has helped me face some needs I have in terms of emotions and insecurities.

Coming back from the programme, it was easy to just let go and return to my old ways of vague, supressed dissatisfactions, but I’m surprising myself with my eagerness to actually deal with my needs and care for myself. I’m trying to be aware of the motivations behind my actions, and seeing patterns in my own behaviour.

Don’t know where this is taking me, but right now, it feels like I’m an onion, with layers and layers and layers. The inner layers also have a greater tendency to bring tears I’m meeting myself for the first time and I like it.

Relationships are very important to me - is a new discovery I’m making. I like to connect with people. Perhaps this is why, rather than have a business website, Wide Aware has this massive informal place with pictures and discussions and articles which will never ever sell anything. I want adventurers to feel comfortable here. I want to connect with people.

Another thing I’m discovering is that I am very fast, and I tend to make people feel pressurised when I expect them to cope at my speed. By fast, I’m not speaking of actions, but of thoughts. It tends to alienate people when I do that, because it makes them feel inferior. It hurts me too, because I want them with me. I am now consciously trying to take my time and be sure that I am actually communicating, rather than assuming that people understand because of familarity, and I find that it is helping me be more connected with them.

There are other things too. I tend to focus intensely on things and tune out all distractions, which makes me lose touch with other things that are happening. I’m trying to maintain regular awareness of things I care about.

That’s it folks for now. Thanks for bearing with this rambling session, but it feels good to admit it, and acknowledge that I am also doing something to make things better. Hopefully, Nirvana is round the corner. Its more likely to be new discoveries round the corner.

For those who don’t know, ISABS (Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences) is a fantastic place for those inclined to dig deeper into their minds. My journey with ISABS began in August ‘06, when I did my Basic Lab in Human Processes or BLHP with them. This was now ALHP.

The T-groups are an unnerving experience the first time. No agenda, no nothing. Take each moment as it comes, and begin your own journey into yourself.

My BLHP was an insight. It went pretty easy, considering that I’ve got lots I hide. Apparently I was pretty transparent as well. Not so this time.

As I explored my emotions and motivations deeper, I was faced with the full wonder of what makes ISABS so great. Everyone I was with was here to face themselves, and the laboratory was indeed a laboratory, where I could examine myself and the people I was with to my hearts content, express what I was going through, and trust that we all were on the same boat.

Admitting our nicer emotions is easy, and it came easily to me, but facing areas of myself, that were not so nice, was not just difficult, but I have a feeling that I wouldn’t have been able to ever see myself from so close, if it weren’t for the “safety” of our group. This gave me an opportunity to see myself far more clearly, and examine my needs and motivations behind the parts of me that I found appealing, so that I could actually address them and experiment with the options I had, in the supportive environment of my group.

For those who have no clue on what this is all about, I can only say that there is no real way to describe it. There is so much that goes on inside us, and on levels that are emotional and non-verbal, that it is to be experienced to be understood. Unstructured here, really means unstructured. What we make, is what happens.

I’m back, empowered with my new understanding, and a direction to make my own emotional life more satisfying for me as a person. I see slightly better, how my words and actions impact myself and the relationships I have with people. I have an idea on what I can explore to discover myself more.

I dare say, that this is one journey that cannot have an end and I have a hunch that this is one journey which could be one of the most important initiatives I have made in my life.

For the curious, you can check out the ISABS website, and see if there is something near you that you can experience for yourself. For those who are into people professions, in search of more meaningful existences, or simply on a curve for self-development, this is one experience I recommend from the bottom of my heart.

I had gone to an organic farm at Bhadsavale in Neral on the 11th and 12th to conduct a training programme for the students of SIES college - Matunga. I had conducted similar programmes for them last year, and this was now a somewhat established training practice they were trying to adopt in the place of the industrial visits that are mandatory for the students.

The students were excited to be visiting a real organic farm that was well maintained and catered ot their basic comfort requirements, so that they could really enjoy what they were getting into. The completely unexpected nature of the trip was an added bonus.

Out reasoning behind this tour was that while education provides the students with knowledge related with the subjects they have chosen, it does precious little to empower them with the crucial personal and inter-personal skills that are so vital in flourishing in the careers that their mark sheets help them enter. In many orientation and induction programmes for corporates, the biggest challenge for the new professionals seems to be adapting to this world of self-responsibility and accountability. Outbound training programmes are often designed for recruits to help them get into the flow of professional life faster. What if such programmes could be introduced as a part of education and preparation for a professional life? We feel that they would allow the students to get into action much faster at work, while improving on their capabilities and potential for learning even in their educational lives, by helping keep the focus firmly on the applicability and goal of their education.

Of course, such programmes cannot be conducted completely to compare with corporate programmes, as a lot of the sense of responsibility and stake in performing well only comes after an experience of a working environment. However, many other factors can be addressed well and enjoyably - not so much in terms of absolute perfection, but creating an understanding of individual status in terms of capability as well as an awareness of the need to consciously attend to the development of soft-skills. Such personal “targets” often include communication, planning, execution, co-operation, co-ordination, being oranized, ownership of responsibility, listening skills, etc.

These two days with the SIES batches went well. The first day was students from the banking and insurance batch, and the other day was accounts and finance. Young, enthusiastic and well motivated participants on the whole. The crunch came with the discipline. Not the end of the world, but yes, the levels of discipline were low enough to cause the participants real problems in their performances in the activity. But the good part is that they started improving almost immediately to adapt to the situations in question.

On the whole, the group was led very strongly by some individuals, while the others followed in a herd. Reminded me of the good old days in college, where being part of a group was far more important than being individual. Its a tough balance to strike. It creates very predictable problems in terms of poor planning, as there is no opposition to ideas that forces refinement.

The communication was pretty good all through, as were motivation levels, talent and innovation. This was one group that could have been outstanding had they managed to get themselves organised and focussed on the goal, rather than the “herd”. Planning, discipline, and assertiveness on an individual level, could have seen some remarkable acheivements.

But then, I’m expecting beyond what exists as usual. As student groups go, this one was quite good. In the world of experiential learning, no matter how good one is, there is always room for improvement, and no matter how terrible one is, there are always some strengths, so feedback is always going to throw up new directions. The trick lies in keeping what we want, and changing what is not working.