Gardens in Pune.

There are quite a number of gardens in Pune, but these 2 very good gardens are not well known to many so I thought of visiting and share my experience about them.

·         Bagul Udyan

·         Yashwanth Rao Chavan Park or Seven Wonders Park

Firstly both these gardens are nearby to each other, 600mts or less.

Seven Wonders Park, as the name says it you can see the seven wonders replicas set up in this park. Along with the wonders of the world, there are other replicas for children like Chota Hanuman, Mogli, Ben10 and etc.

There is a 4D theatre as well inside the park, where they have continuous shows of 4D this is also very nice.

Entry Fee is 20rs which is for all the above stuff in Yeshwanth Rao Chavan Park.

Bagul Udyan, which is 600mts from seven wonders park is also a good place to visit where you have replicas of several animals set up in the garden like a gorilla, lion, elephant and so on kids will love them. Inside park, they have an art gallery depicting pictures of old Bollywood movies and a music auditorium.

Must watch the thing in this park is the “Laser Light Show” which they start at 7PM and 8PM based on the sunset. It is a 13-15mins show and a very good one.

In this Bagul park, photography is not allowed through your cameras (not sure the reason), they have a board set up as well outside of the park. But taking pictures in your mobile phone is allowed.

Entry Fee here as well 20Rs for everything.

Please include any other gardens which are not well known and good to visit in Pune, in the comments section below.

Thanks!

What is your NET WORTH?

Recently I met an old friend of mine, after few minutes of chit chat he asked me an interesting question which made me realize many useful things.

He asked 'What is your net worth?'!!!

I gave a moment and answered him, it is some XYZ amount. He laughed and asked again that's great but what is your net worth? As noticing me in blank he said...

We as an individual should evaluate our self regularly on what we are and where we are heading to? Then I realized how true it is. Let me ask you a question why the company you are working for should give you hikes every year? They only promised salary which is mentioned in your joining letter and they are supposed to give you only that... Then what is the hike concept!

It is same as the more polished a diamond is the more it shines and the more it shines the more its worth. Same way the more an individual performs or shows his skills/expertise the more company gets benefited and in turn the more he will be rewarded. We have to compare with ourselves regularly like what we learnt\achieved yesterday or last month or last year and what we are going to achieve\learn in coming days or future or today. If we are not comparing itself with something how we can figure out \understand whether we are leading to some destination or not.

So we should always keep estimating our net worth like same how the worth of diamond is decided based on its shining, same as our net worth based on our skills, expertise, accuracy and yes money too.

Iskcon Temple, Katraj, Pune

Isckon temple in katraj is a new temple which is under construction when we visited in May 2014. The main temple where the idol’s of Krishna and Puri Jagannath reside is completed but the surrounding area is under construction.

It took us 30 mins during less traffic from Kharadi to Isckon temple and while returning in traffic it took almost 45mins. Distance from kharadi to the temple is 17-20kms, so far the short route is 17kms even as per google.

The temple as all Iskcon temples is a very pleasant one and good thing of this Iskcon is they allow you to take photos of idols and interior design of the temple. Please remember we are allowed to take pictures of idols and interiors itself, we are not supposed to take our own photographs inside the temple.

3 sets of idols inside the main mandir. First one is Balaram and Krishna, next one is Krishna and Radha and the third one is a replica of puri Jagannath idols along with subadra and balabadhra. 

The interiors are designed amazingly and there are so many pictures\paintings depicting different events of Lord Krishna’s life. There are pictures depicting the festival of Puri Jagannath which happens in Orissa state every year.

Once we come out of the main temple , the entire surrounding walls are beautifully designed with pictures of Lord Krishna and few other avatars of Lord Vishnu. 

Once we reach back of the main temple on the left side of the main temple we can see stairs leading towards ‘Balaji Mandir’. When we visited the main idol of Lord Balaji’s was set up but work is going around Balaji mandir. You are allowed to take photographs here as well. Here they sell Laddu which looks same like Tirupathi Laddu and they charge around 50rs each laddu. Taste is not exactly same as Tirupathi Laddu but it is nice.

As with all Iskcon temples the more time you spend in the temple the more peaceful it will be. We have spent almost 5hrs when we went for the first time. Outside of the main mandir, they are setting up a grass lawn where we can relax and it's really calm place with the cold wind blowing continuously.

While walking towards the exit of the temple from Balaji mandir on the right you will notice a gift shop where you can purchase a wide variety of gift articles of Krishna, first time I came to know there is an after shave lotion made of cow products. 

Near to exit, you find small food court managed by Isckon, same like you find in all ISKCON temples. The taste of food is fine and all varieties of food available here like Chinese, chats, dosa’s, bakery items and more.

 Thanks!!

"The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Poeple" -- Stephen R Covey

This book has always inspired me a great book by a great person 'Stephen R Covey'. Everyone Should read it once at least!!

If you want to get something no one has got. Then you have to do something which no one has done.

Who want crumpled 500 Rupee Note??

Prakash Iyer, MD, Kimberly-Clark Lever and Executive Coach Shares two important management lessons he learnt from a 500-rupee note. Read on…..

It happened some years ago but I can recall the evening like it happened just last week.
I was in an audience listening to a motivational guru.

The speaker whipped out his wallet and pulled out a five hundred-rupee note.
Holding it up, he asked, "Who wants this five hundred rupee note?"
Lots of hands went up. Including myself.

A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout "Me!" "Me!"
I began to wonder who the lucky one would be who the speaker would choose. And I also secretly wondered -- and I am sure others did too -- why he would simply give away five hundred rupees.

Even as the shouts of "I want it" grew louder, I noticed a young woman running down the aisle.

She ran up onto the stage, went up to the speaker, and grabbed the five hundred-rupee note from his hand. "Well done, young lady," said the speaker into the microphone.

"Most of us just wait for good things to happen. That's of no use. You've got to make things happen."

The speaker's words have stayed with me ever since.

'Simply thinking about doing something is of no use'

our lives are like that. We all see opportunities around us. We all want the good things.
But the problem is we don't take action.
We all want the five hundred rupee notes on offer. But we don't make the move. We look at it longingly. Get up, and do something about it. Don't worry about what other people might think. Take action.

2. Several years later, it was another day, another time. And another motivational guru.

As I watched him pull out a five hundred rupee note and hold it up for all to see, I thought I knew what he was going to do next. But he just asked a simple question. "How much is this worth?"

"Five Hundred rupees!" the crowd yelled in unison.

"Right," said the speaker. He then took the note and crumpled it into a ball and asked "How much is it worth now?"

"Five Hundred rupees!" screamed the audience.

He then threw the note on the ground, stamped all over it and picked up the note and asked one more time: "And how much is it worth now?"

"Five Hundred rupees!" was the response.

"I want you to remember this," said the speaker.

"Just because someone crumples it, or stamps on it, the value of the note does not diminish.

We should all be like the five hundred rupee note. In our lives, there will be times when we feel crushed, stamped over, beaten. But never let your self-worth diminish. Just because someone chooses to crush you -- that doesn't change your worth one bit! “

“Don't allow your self-worth to diminish because someone says something nasty -- or does something dirty -- to you."

'Never let your self-worth diminish'

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

                                RESPONSE VS REACTION

                      
At a Restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but it landed on another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:
I understood, I should not react in life. I should always respond.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of, just and right to save a situation from going out of hands, to avoid cracks in relationship, to avoid taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or hurry.

                                                                                                               

---Author Un-Known