Rajgad trek

My friends and I had been planning for a trek since October, and couldn't wait till our exams were done. So,the dawn of 15th December brought the excitement that we longed for, since our previous semester started. Hence,my friends (in alphabetical order), Aakash, Abhishek, Aditya, Anupam ,and me, Nithin embarked on a trekking expedition to Rajgad.

You can board a Wajeghad or a Gunjawane bus from swargate, to get to the base of the fort. Both Gunjavne and Wajeghad are base villages. We were supposed to start from Swargate and catch a 10.45am bus to Gunjavane but, as it turns out, there was a Wajeghad bus at that time, and no Gunjavne bus. 

From Wajhegad, Gunjavne village was about 8km.We took the decision to board that bus and waited. 10.45 passed, 11 came, and 11.30 passed, but there was no sign of the bus.Finally the bus came at 11.50.We the boarded the bus and the ticket to wajhegadh was Rs 48/-. The bus was comfortable and empty for the majority of the journey, but got pretty crowded when it passed through the Nasrapur village.A passenger from the bus told us that the base of the fort would be nearer if we were to get down at a village called Sakhar and we did the same.We reached there at about 2pm.It was a 2 hour bus ride.Little further down, we sat down to eat in a hotel called Hotel Ekveera garden. They only served Misal and Poha. The Misal Pav was spicy and top notch! We had our lunch there and started for Gunjavne at 2.45 .We reached the trekking point at 3.45pm. We were climbing the fort from the chor Darwaza. There are other paths as well, like from Wajeghad, Pali and Bhutunde.
We reached the resting point of the fort within 2 hours, which was the Padmavati machi. The trek was moderately difficult, and we huffed and puffed to that point by 5.45 pm. The view was ecstatic! We were greeted by the Padmavati lake, which looked dark, coupled with the ripples from gentle breezes.
The accommodation was to be in the Padmavati Temple. We started to collect wood for a bonfire, and by 7 pm, went into the temple as it was getting very cold. There were many other groups residing in the temple as well. 
We were helped by a boy, who I presume is a caretaker of the temple , called Ram, for the stay and some tea. The night was fun, we played cards and listened to some music. The temperature was pretty cold, but inside temple, it was warm enough. Even during night time, there were many trekking groups who were entering the temple.

A word of advice- while you are sleeping, make sure that you close the temple door. The dogs frequently come inside and snuggle up with the people who are sleeping. That being said, you should also be able to open the door whenever some other group wants to sleep in the temple.
The water that is available there is good for cleaning yourself, but probably not good for drinking, because it was filled with Tadpoles.
The next day we got up, and started to climb up to the main summit of the fort through the Balekilla Darwaja, at 7.30am. The climb was a little steep, with some parts being almost vertical, but we reached the top, the Maha darwaja, before 8am. 

1.4km or 1400 meters above sea level...the view was pretty awesome.We could see many forts like Torna, Sinhagad, Raighad, and many other forts that I don't even know about. One can also see the path from Rajgad to Torna fort, which is about a 5 hours trek.
We started our descent to the padmavati temple and reached there within 15 minutes.
After having our breakfast, started our descent from the Pali darwaja, which leads to the Wajeghad village, at 9.45am. We could see lots of Monkeys running on the roof of the temple.There were stairs which mapped to about half the descent. Then we finally reached the base before 11am. The village was Pali Gaon, and we reached the bus stop which was a 30 minute walk from the base. We caught a Swargate bus at 11.45am and reached there at 2pm, at the cost of Rs 53/-.

Make sure that you are loaded with food suppies and some bedsheets, for none are available at the top or at any point during the trek.

Lokpal Bill for Dummies

What is the Lokpal Bill?
The Lokpal Bill was introduced in 1968.But due to some reasons, the bill lapsed. It was subsequently reintroduced in years 1971,1977,1985,1996,1998,2001,2005 and 2008.
Activists proposed an improvement over the original Lokpal Bill, called the Jan Lokpal Bill, which is presently under fire.
Lokpal Bill was made for checking the malpractices within governmental organisations, and act as general anti-corruption law.

Anna Hazare

Incidentally, the term Lokpal was coined by L.M.Singhvi, an MP, in a parliament debate, and his son, Dr. Abhishek Singhvi, head of Standing commitee, is a member in the panel reviewing the bill.
What is special about the Bill?
It establishes a central government institution for anti-corruption called Lokpal.
This bill acts as a public ombudsman bill, meaning, that a representative of the Lokpal lodges and investigates complaints of individuals against the Government.
The lokpal will be supported at the state level by its respective Lokayuktas.
The Lokpal will be supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and the EC(Election Commission), just like the Supreme Court.Thus, making itself free from any ministerial influences.
Each case under the Lokpal must be closed within a time frame of 2 years, which includes investigations and trails.
The most important feature of the Lokpal is that it provides protection to whistleblowers.
Also, the existing anti corruption agencies like Central Vigilance Commission(CVC) and the anti-corruption wing of Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) will come under the Lokpal.
Who will head this institution?
The members of Lokpal institution will be selected by a selection commitee consisting of Judges, IAS officers with a clean record and private citizens through a transperent and participatory process. A video-recording of the candidates' interviews will be released to the public shortly afterwards.
This was the original content of the Bill. The government's version is modification of the original.
The government's version is the root of all the uprisings and debates.
The government's version differs from the original in the following ways-
1)Only group A officers will be under the investigative purview of the Lokpal.
2)Complaints against Lokpal members will be handled by the Lokpal itself and no independent boards will be setup.
3)The Anti-corruption wing of the CBI will not be under the Lokpal.
4)No protection to whistle blowers by Lokpal.
5)The Prime Minister can be investigated by Lokpal only after the said person vacates the office.
These issues are much debated in the present times.
The activists are demanding that the government's bill is of no use.It will not punish or check corruption.It's a 'Toothless' Lion.

Abhishek Singhvi

The government is demanding that setting up a Lokpal with such powers is as good as setting up a draconian establishment parallel to the existing democratic government.
For more information on the current developments on the Bill, and the people involved in it, refer to http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/index1.html