Garba Night With KTJH    | Sunday, 21 October 2012

Greetings !!
This is my first blog post. I don't know what should I write,where to start from...lets give it a chance .... firstly from deep of my heart many thanks to KTJH for giving this opportunity


Members:
Mayank,Lavish,Abhinandan,Arpit,Anubhuti,Aditi,Monika,Richa,Archana,Ajay

Flashback
The story starts from Tuesday(16th Oct) when Abhinandan asked in his group post to plan for dandiya/garba. Discussion started and people stated giving their views, some of them even started searching for the places. As far as I am concerned I was not interested for dandiya or garba(ab yaar nachna to aata nahi apne ko or aise hi kamar matkaenge to sab hasi udange.... ) so I was on back foot. We also had a group chat on  Friday the19th about the same and very few people showed interest so we dropped the plan.


Dandiya/Garba Plan Returns
As some or other members of group come for poojan in Wilson Garden temple on every Sunday this time it were Rishabh,Anubhuti,Nitin,Abhinandan,Lavish and me, we did pooja and bhakti. On the way back we(me and lavish) started discussing about feasibility of the plan for Dandiya. I was less interested but then Lavish said this time will not come back  this clicked in my mind and I said I'm in

 We called Mayank and by chance he was also around MG Road so we gathered @ my room(Ulsoor). We had yummy jave(saevaiya) and chivda(poha) prepared by Arpit and Lavish respectively, both items were too good. By now we 4 were ready to go for Dandiya so we started asking all the group members and finally 10 members were ready.

Masti @Entrance of Venue(Palace Grounds Bangalore)

There was fun in the  night from starting here is where it started:

Mayank,Anubhuti,Aditi and Archana were waiting for us(Lavish,Arpit,Monika,Richa and me) in front of the gate of Palace Grounds(the venue). We were coming in an Auto(yeah the auto was overloaded ), nobody among us knew the exact destination(the gate) so I was talking to Mayank(the coordinator) about where we should get down and all. We saw a gate(something was written on it we were not bothered about the same) and suddenly Mayank said I see you ... are you in red Kurta I said yes...we were not able to see Mayank but though we immediately stopped the Auto in front of a gate. Auto driver asked 3 times are you sure you want to get down here and we said yes yes yes .

We crossed the road and guess what we were in front of the entrance of a wedding ceremony, we called Mayank again this time he asked is Monika in red? I said yes sir so he said turn around I turned but we were not able to see him. Now we realized that we have to walk around 400m to reach the correct gate


Saved good bucks
We all reached the venue at 9pm except Abhinandan. Now it was time to enter, Girls were leading the way and the fun started when they walked briskly, we(boys) were confused why girls are in so hurry when they don't even have pass. All girls entered without pass but when we(boys) were about to enter an uncle stopped us and asked us about the pass, he was not alone there were 2-4 bouncers(vo hi kale kapde vale pahalvaan) with him so we stopped but we were happy... ye log ladkiyo se paise lena hi bhool gaye.... kind off feeling aa rahi thi. So we paid for four of us and entered. After meeting the girls we came to know that there were some free entries for girls/ladies and they all get the same that's why they were in hurry.


Garba and Dandiya masti

Now we were in the premises.. yaar this is good i mean everywhere people in Indian traditional dresses.. mast vala feel aa raha tha.. But we were not having dandiya so we bought them(yeah as usual Mayank and Lavish were able to bargain and we paid Rs100 less in total).

It was around 9:15 pm the program was scheduled to start at 10 so we started with group pics, within 10 mins an uncle came to us and said "photography is not allowed here vo bouncer aake camera le jayega aap logo ka"... ab yaar dara diya unhone to vo tagde-tagde pahlvaan kaha aur hum kaha to humne chupchap camera ander rakh liya

We were still outside the hall on the green grass under the blue sky, we decided to do some practice before entering the arena and in the mean time Abhinandan also arrived.

Practice session
We started the practice session Anubhuti,Lavish and Mayank were telling us some steps, we all tried, we all started moving in round circle. We formed two concentric circles. The people in inner one were moving clock wise and the others anti-clock wise and hitting dandiya of each other. It was good we enjoyed like this until we went in the hall.

"Lets go in" someone said among us and now we were in the hall ... Oh my god so much crowd and almost everyone was in traditional dress. There was three concentric circles,  in inner two there were participants who were wearing traditional Gujrati dress and I must say all were looking fabulous. First time I saw actual Garba steps. People were moving in 2-3 parallel lines and that was too good... I mean so many people dancing together. Environment was full of positive energy, we entered in the outer most circle(which was for general public) and joined the Garba.

Garba
This was the best part of the trip we started moving in round all doing Garba(may not be proper but yes we tried). For me it was awesome experience, yeah "awesome" is the only word i want use for this experience I learned steps from Anubhuti,Aditi,Monika( left left right right) and enjoyed the same a lot. Archana was senior among us for Garba as she came on the previous night also, she was doing better than us and here dress was also supporting her, as it was rotating like ghagra. We enjoyed every bit of it.
Sometime we stopped in between for a while and then continue... I guess i am short on words for the joy that we felt at that time .

Sandhya Bhojan
After so much Garba and bhagam-bhag, it was time for pate-pooja so we headed towards dinning hall. We had Masala Dosa,Bhel puri and Rice all food items were ok ok. Ab kuch meetha ho jaye.... There was a chuski(barf ka gola) wala and all agreed to have chuski but suddenly all felt that their throat will be gone so all canceled but Monika and I said in Salman's style ek baar keh dia to keh dia... So we two had chuski and all other had coffee.

Back in Arena
Now we were back in the Runbhumi  but Aarti was going on so we waited and played "chidya udd tota udd"....one of the best games that we play in KTJH. In some time dandiya started with old hindi songs in dandiya tune... We enjoyed dandiya but not that much as we enjoyed the Garba(actual dandiya songs to play hi nahi kiye unhone). For sometime we moved in circle among us but then someone(i guess organizer) said to move in complete circle i.e in parallel lines... now this was unexpected ...we were playing dandiya with unknown people...We felt mix of good/bad. After sometime we realized that we were enjoying more in Garba so we decided to dance and rotate in a circle and "lets do whatever you are comfortable with" Archana said ... This was good idea and it brought us back to that enjoyment level.

Finally, it was time to go home. We left around 1.30am. One more nice evening with KTJH ends here.

Ajay Jain

 

Kanakagiri, Gomatgiri and Brindavan Garden Mysore Trip


Trip Members:

Neha Jain, Mayank Jain, Abhinandan Jain, Ajay Jain, Rishabh Jain, Anubhuti Jain, Monika Jain, Lavish Bagdia, Ashutosh Jain, Richa Jain, Ashish Jain, Archana Jain, Nitin Jain

About Places:

Kanakagiri: 

Kanakagiri, situated about 53 Kms away from Mysore, bears a very ancient history in the map of India in general and Karnataka in particular. It is described in the ancient works as Hemanga Desha and to where Bhagawan Sri Mahavira visited the place in his sojourn or Sri Vihara in South India. The samavasarana is said to have been held here! This place of pilgrimage atop the widely spread hillock with tides of rocks and bushes around. The main Diety of this Kshetra is Vijaya Parshwanatha Thirthankar, a 23rd Thirthankar. To know more about place visit following:

http://wikimapia.org/6445657/Kanakagiri-Jain-Heritage-Centre

http://www.jainheritagecentres.com/News/Jaina_Voice/Jan-2010/Kanakagiri.htm

Gomatgiri:

Standing in the middle of almost nowhere on the Mysore- Hunsur road near the hamlet of Bilikere around 25 kms away from Mysore, this smaller statue of Bahubali Bhagwan closely resembles the famous granite Gomteshwara pratima at Shravanabelagola. Approximately 80 rough steps, gouged out in a careless fashion, lead to the narrow doorway of the four walled enclosure inside which stands an 18 ft. high black monolithic Bahubali Bhagwan pratima.

 

Brindavan Gardens: 

The Brindavan Gardens is a garden located in the state of Karnataka in India. It lies adjoining the Krishnarajasagara dam which is built across the river Kaveri. The work on laying out this garden was started in the year 1927 and completed in 1932.Visited by close to 2 million tourists per year; the garden is one of the major attractions near the city of Mysore.

Sri Ranganthaswamy temple: 

The Sri Ranganthaswamy temple in Srirangapatna, in the Indian state of Karnataka, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu God Ranganatha, a manifestation of Vishnu and is one of the Pancharanga Kshetrams. The town of Srirangapatna, which derives its name from the temple, is located on an island in the river Kaveri. The temple is one of a set of three major temples that are built on three different islands on the Kaveri and are dedicated to lord Ranganatha. It is situated a mere 19 km from Mysore city.

Trip XP:

After the adventurous trip of Hogenakkal this was a fully religious trip.

Started early in the morning..This time everyone was on time. At 5:30am we left Bangalore and reached Kanakgiri at around 9:30 am. On the way the best introduction given by Archana jain lol.....inki hansi ko dekh ke aisa lag raha tha ki jald hi KTJH laughing club me convert ho jayega :-P  Archana Jain ka sath Richa Jain ne bakhoobi nibhaya.... Intro of Abhinandan Jain was fully comic (specially his stay in Bangalore from 18 months) And hamare group ke HOD (Neha Jain) kaun hain iska khulasa bhi isi intro me hua tha ;-)

At Kanakgiri we had world’s worst Poha with achar in breakfast (advised to carry your own breakfast). I guess everyone had at least two to three glass of tea to swallow that poha.

Then we started climbing up hill for darshan. After around 200 steps we saw a very beautiful temple of Parshwanath bhagwan with golden painted gates. Inside the temple in a small room we saw atishyakari pratimayen made up of different-different stones. Unme se  ek pratima ka atishya ye tha..ki agar milk se abhishek karo to curd ban jata hai.

Pahad per 24 Teerthankars ke charan chinh hain and open me Mahavir Bhagwan ki Pratima bahut hi Sunder hai. Rishabh Jain ke presence se dharmik watawarn raha....Sare argh sirf Rishabh Jain ko hi yad rehte hain...Aur mandir ki history bhi Rishabh Jain ne hi batayi....Had a photo session on hills of Kanakgiri..This time Nitin Jain was in full form for playing role of photographer (and har photo ke bad plz mera ek single pic :-P) Lekin single pics competetion me Monika Jain ne sabko hara diya :-P

Had Lunch in Kamath in Mysore at around 2:00pm and moved towards Gomatgiri. In Gomatgiri there is a small temple of Bahubali Bhagwan and a Nandeeshwar dweep Rachna.We did aarti of Bahubali Bhagwan here. And also enjoyed view from mandir ki Balcony.

After aarti of bahubali bhagwan headed towards Brindawan Garden Mysore. Here we played our childhood games like Chain banao, Jangal me aag lagi etc etc and enjoyed like anything. Iske bad Srirangpatna me Vishnu Mandir ke darshan kiye…Sabhi ke bhav the ki Jain mandir me sham ko bhakti karne ke…Jab itne sare logon ne milkar acche bhav kiye to bhagwan ko to darshan dena hi tha…Found a Jain mandir in Srirangpatna and bharpoor bhakti ki on Ashutosh Jain and Abhinandan Jain’s Bhajans….Dinner from Mcd and then back to pg.

Ekdum mast religious trip under supervision and guidance of Neha Jain and group hosts Ajay Jain, Mayank Jain, Abhinandan Jain and Lavish Bagdia.

Anubhuti Jain

Unforgettable Dramatic day to start 2012 -

Live example - भक्ति मैं शक्ति -

सादर जय जिनेन्द्र ,

गुरुवर आचार्य श्री विद्यासागर जी कहते है , " मोक्षमार्ग दो ही हैं । 1. साधना 2. आराधना , और जब तक साधना नहीं कर पा रहे हो, तब तक आराधना तो करो । "

देखते हे देखते साल २०११ निकल गया और गुरुवर १०८ ज्ञानसागर जी महाराज के वचनों को शिरोधार्य करके , हम सभी मित्रो ने सोचा क्यों न , २०१२ की शरुआत भगवन की भक्ति , साधना और आराधना से की जाये ! फिर सभी मित्रो से बात की और तय हुआ की रविवार Jan 1st ,२०१२ को , श्रवणबेलगोला के बाहुबली जी ,होलेबेदु के पारसनाथ प्रभु और मंदार्गिरी के चंदाप्रभु ,की भक्ति करके एक नए जीवन यात्रा का शुभारम्भ किया जाये..बात हुए , गाडी बुक की गए ,पर हमारा उपसर्ग की जाने के 30 min पहले गाडी वाले ने मना कर दिया , सोचा की प्रभु जी ये कैसे माया ????? ..अचानक 10 min बाद पता नहीं कैसा चमत्कार हुआ की ,within 5 min ek cab wala chalne ke liye ready ho gaya....जैसे bhe हम लोग श्रवणबेलगोला पहुचे...bheed बहुत जादा थे ...पर हमें अभिषेक करने मिल गया....और अभिषेक करने के बाद जो आरती और जाप की..उसका आनंद जिन्दगी भर नहीं भूल सकता .... (यहाँ आपको batadoo की हम total ९ लोग थे जिसमे ४ जाति से जैन नहीं थे पर भावना जैन वाली थी )...फिर next step मैं हम होलेबेदु पहुचे...वहा भगवन पारसनाथ जी की भक्ति करके श्री शिखर जी की याद आ गए ....यहाँ हमें शाम के ७ बज गए थे और हम सभी चिंता मैं डूब गए की अब तो मंदार्गिरी के दर्शन नहीं हो पायगे और समय हो गया था 8:30... तभी मयंक भाई बोला की, "मनीष अब क्या करे , चंदाप्रभु जी के दर्शन तो रह गए ..." जैसे hei उसने इतना बोला ,तभी पता नहीं कैसे मैंने मन मैं click हुआ और मैं बोला ,"अरे यही तो मंदार्गिरी है .." और प्रभु जी की निकट आते आते "नागराज "के दर्शन हो गए और हम gate के बहार खड़े थे ...सबका मन बहुत खुश हो गए ... सबने दर्शन और भक्ति की...जैसे हे हम NH4 पर पहुचे और गाडी ख़राब हो गए....फिर से चिंता और रात के 11pm हो गए थे..सबने णमोकार मंत्र का जाप किया और चंदाप्रभु बाबा को याद किया ,तभी एक CAB वाला मिल गया ,और वो हमें बंगलोरे तक छोड़ने को ready हो गया.....

कहने का मतलब ये है ,की भक्ति मैं बहुत शक्ति होती है...पर सच्चा सम्यक्दर्शन ,सम्यक्ज्ञान और सम्यक्चारित्र होना बहुत जरूरी है...४ जो जैन नहीं थे...२०१२ मैं बाहुबली जी के दर्शन करके वो भी जैन श्रेणी मैं आने के लिए Nominated हो गए...क्योकि धर्म पंथ नहीं पथ देता है ! पहले मानव बनें, मोक्ष का द्वार स्वतः खुल जाएगा….

Through this note, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the contribution made by each of you. Thank you for being an integral part of JAIN TRIP -2012. Together, let us move forward, step by step, with new hope in mind and continue to push the envelope to reach newer levels of greatness.

Lastly, I wish this New Year will be a safe and peaceful one for you and your families.Have a wonderful 2012!

Thanks to Mayank,kirti,lavish,ajay,abhishek,panda,abhishek 1,+1 

Manish Jain

Hogenakkal and Krishnagiri Trip:

Trip Members:

Abhinandan Jain, Monika Jain, Anubhuti Jain, Ashutosh Jain, Mayank Jain, Nitin Jain,  Ashish Jain, Rupesh Jain, Surabhi Jain,  Ajay Jain, Megha Maiya

Date: June 17th 2012

About Place: 

Hogenakkal Falls is a waterfall on the river Cauvery It is located in Dharmapuri district of Tamilnadu, about 180 km (110 mi) from Bangalore and 46 km (29 mi) from Dharampuri town.It is sometimes referred to as the "Niagara of India".

Shree Parshwa Padmavathi Shaktipeet Tirth Dham Krishnagiri concentrates on the worship of Sri Parshwanath Bhagwan, the 23rd Thirthankar of the 24 Thirthankars in the holy dharma of Jainism. It is located 90 km from Bangalore and around 70 km from Hogenakkal.

Trip XP:

Hogenakkal and Krishnagri Trip was my first meet with KTJH group. Since I was new to the group I had asked one of my colleagues Megha to join trip to give me a company. She agreed, seats were vacant then done. Here I started my first adventurous trip with KTJH.

Morning 3:30 was the time given by Abhinandan jain (only known person in the group)….But cab reached at 4:45am at my place. For about 1 hour I was speaking with my colleague Megha that how we r going to spend our whole day with this unknown group. But jaise hi 5:45 hua n kuch light hue Mayank Jain and Ajay Jain (Hosts) started with the introduction round to make new members comfortable. The time for introduction format Demo which was given by  Abhinandan Jain( ab hamare permanent demonstrator).

A very interesting and tough task (for new members) was to remember the full intro of each n every person. And at the end of the intro there was a questionnaire round and jo answer nahi diya ban gaya BAKRA(lol). Thankfully I managed to remember it and bach gayi. Then we started playing antakshari that ended without any looser kyonki both sides were winner.

Reached Hogennakkal at around 12:30... it was too hot outside.  Mayank Jain was convincing everyone saying:apni Mr. weather se setting hai wait! Abhi barish hogi….We somehow believed on his saying…but was looking impossible…Losing Rupesh Jain’s camera at that time was really disappointing but being senior in the group he asked us to continue with the masti without worry. We managed to get two boats to cross River Cauvery to reach a small island. That was a awesome experience…dar laga without live jacket but masti ne dar ko hara diya…..As we started for island suddenly Mr. weather jaise khush ho gaye hamari masti se n started drizzling...Saw Ravan movie shooting spot on the way to island...In that island wo Cauvery me swimming ka xp to mazedar tha….Post that dupki competition among Ashutosh, Monika and Mayank Jain.

After fulltoo masti in Cauvery water we started for Krishnagiri (A very beautiful Shwetamber Jain temple). On the way to Krishnagiri stared bhakti n bhajans n reached their by 7:00(were late so no arrangement of food). Mandirji me bhakti….tabla by ashutosh jain n bhajan by Abhinandan Jain n Ajay Jain ( tum se lagi lagan).

 N here started feedback session n monika n abhinandan fight ka first scene dekhne mila. Since we were lit late so they both were fighting kisne late kiya n all. Reached Bangalore around 9:00 pm and had dinner in Kataria BTM layout and back to PG.

At last mil gaya mujhe a mast group in Bangalore a home away from home :-P....

Anubhuti Jain