Lessons from Amby Valley
I recently visited Amby Valley . Amby velley is situated near Lonavala and supposed to be 120 minutes (2 hours) away from Mumbai. When we boarded in the AC bus at hotel orchid,Mumbai at 11.00 AM we thought that we would be reaching there by 1.00 PM and will take the lunch there as scheduled.The AC bus, which was a “Volvo type” bus (not Volvo bus), was moving with a very slow speed on hills towards Amby Valley after lonavala. Even the AC of the bus was not working. Someone in bus gave his ‘expert comment’ that this is because engine is not able to take the load and there is some problem in the hydraulic system of bus. Without being aware of all those facts I was sitting there hungry and drinking water (which thankfully provided in the bus). Since I thought that we would be reaching Amby Velly at 1.00 PM I did not take the refreshment packet which they were providing at Mumbai. I regretted my decision later.
Any ways …Finally we reached at around 3.15 PM at AV . Robin Sharma (“The monk who sold his Ferrari” and “"Who Will Cry when You Die?" “ fame) was supposed to deliver the key note address at around 3.00 PM. Since I have read the said books and was quite impressed with the transformation of Julian Mental in the book TMWSHF, I was curious to attend that session, which I thought that I am going to miss now. Thanks to organizers that they shifted this session to next slot at 5.00 PM. The key note was impressive . Robin said that his father is from J&K and Mother is from Nairobi. Sharma is of Indian origin. His father is native of Jammu and Kashmir state of India. His mother also of Indian origin was up raised in Nairobi, Kenya. Robin grew up on the east cost of Canada in a small town which had a population of around two thousand people. He is an alumnus of Dalhousie Law School, which is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a lawyer by profession before taking up writing.
His fundas for leadership were simple and easy to understand but it was not very different from what he tells in his books -however hearing from the author himself is quite different from what you read in the books. It has more impact and you can visualize it better, more over the voice modulation of Robin was superb.Since we could not do a check-in in the cottage and chalet of Amby Valley (We were directly transported to event place for lunch and then summit) after we reached there I felt bit tired after Robin’s key note. I thought of hitting the bed but there was a program scheduled for the evening also. I checked in to Supream enclave of AV and took a hot bath (this is the only time when I could take a hot bath in AV as hot water in my room was not available after that and I did not like to complain for the same) . The room was artistically built with wooden finish from outside and inside. Lot of thoughts must have gone for designing the rooms. Rooms contain nearly all the facility you can ask for. I thought of skipping the evening program but later decided to go for it . It turned out to be a good decision as it was a musical evening by Hariprasad Chaurasia and 'Taufiq Qureshi' - the youngest son of the legendary tabla maestro Ustad Allahrakha and brother of the World famous tabla wizard Ustad Zakir Hussain. They mesmerized the whole audience with the music and jugalbandi. It was really superb. Only problem was that this program was organized near a lake ,so night was quite cold. This program ended at around 10.30 PM and we had a nice dinner. We could also meet to Kapil Dev there who was supposed to play a round of golf with some of us (who prefer to play Golf). So it was nice ,hectic ,tiring day which came to an end at around 1.00 AM when finally I slept.
His fundas for leadership were simple and easy to understand but it was not very different from what he tells in his books -however hearing from the author himself is quite different from what you read in the books. It has more impact and you can visualize it better, more over the voice modulation of Robin was superb.Since we could not do a check-in in the cottage and chalet of Amby Valley (We were directly transported to event place for lunch and then summit) after we reached there I felt bit tired after Robin’s key note. I thought of hitting the bed but there was a program scheduled for the evening also. I checked in to Supream enclave of AV and took a hot bath (this is the only time when I could take a hot bath in AV as hot water in my room was not available after that and I did not like to complain for the same) . The room was artistically built with wooden finish from outside and inside. Lot of thoughts must have gone for designing the rooms. Rooms contain nearly all the facility you can ask for. I thought of skipping the evening program but later decided to go for it . It turned out to be a good decision as it was a musical evening by Hariprasad Chaurasia and 'Taufiq Qureshi' - the youngest son of the legendary tabla maestro Ustad Allahrakha and brother of the World famous tabla wizard Ustad Zakir Hussain. They mesmerized the whole audience with the music and jugalbandi. It was really superb. Only problem was that this program was organized near a lake ,so night was quite cold. This program ended at around 10.30 PM and we had a nice dinner. We could also meet to Kapil Dev there who was supposed to play a round of golf with some of us (who prefer to play Golf). So it was nice ,hectic ,tiring day which came to an end at around 1.00 AM when finally I slept.
Getting up next morning was really tough . We were supposed to join “Golf with Kapil” or “Yoga with Bharat Thakur” and I preferred the “Yoga” .The only problem was that the program was supposed to be from 6.30 AM and we were supposed to leave the place by 6.00 AM. So I got up at 5.30 AM and got ready by 6.15. The “yoga” session was good but not very much different from what others teach in various other forums…but yes you will always find something new every time .
Now some other point . Ambey Velley is built in the hills near lonawala .As they say about Amby Valley that it is famous for
- 4 shimmering man-made lakes and 11 water bodies having a total shore length of 23 kms. with the largest lake having a shore length of 10.6 kms. and numerous natural water bodies having a total water surface of 151 hectares (Area under submergence)
- Water Storage capacity of 15.3 million cubic meters
- A variety of exotic fountains that add a touch of regality to the City. Already operational is the Supreme Fountain (which boasts of a jet of 36m), the Jewel Fountain, the Pyramid Fountain and the Dome Fountain
- Cascading waterfalls meandering through picturesque water courses
- Scenic flower beds flanking the fencing and the borders
- Exquisitely designed gardens and parks for sheer beauty
- Misty mountains and breath-taking valleys add an ethereal touch to the city
- Nature Park
- The twin gates, widest in the country - 45m wide, 16m high set the theme of 'Space'
As I saw AV they have tried to make it a resort with artificial lakes ,trees , greenery, fountains and buildings. It resembles with our own Uttarakhand . In fact many times I felt that I am moving somewhere in Uttarakhand. I could even found the 'Timil tree' here. Timil is a wild fruit and we used to have 'timil' in our childhood . The ambiance of AV is no doubt beautiful but somehow I could not feel the naturalness which is quite prevalent in our Uttarakhand. Just a thought came to my mind that if artificially we can create a man-made city –aka hill resort why can’t we make our Uttarakhand a global tourist destination. Obviously we would require lot of planning and money (but naturally less then what was required to create AV) and this would be better than the AV.
Any thoughts on this?
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