Allthatswritten: Within Reach: My Everest Story Book by Jack Galvin...

Allthatswritten: Within Reach: My Everest Story Book by Jack Galvin...: A book about a young man's quest to reach the peak of the highest mountain in the world.

Within Reach: My Everest Story Book by Jack Galvin and Mark Pfetzer

Some books make a huge impression on you and not just because of their content, but also because of the Author. In this case it’s a book by a 15 year old and its about his accomplishments at that young an age.

I’m talking about the book, “Within Reach – My Everest Story” by Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin. This is a story of a young man’s unforgettable journey.

'Within Reach' is a book about Mark and his passion and ambition to climb the highest mountain in the world – Mount Everest. In the words of Jack Galvin, “Most of us will never climb Mount Everest, but Mark has shown us that we can all live our own adventure if we have the strength of will.”

Mark’s interest in the mountains and mountain climbing starts at a young age of 12, when he was part of the Advanced camping trip team at the Alton Jones Wilderness Center at the University of Rhode Island. The first experience of climbing up and then rappelling and belying down a mountain gave him an adrenal rush. From there on, each step of his has been towards tougher goals, harder trails and exhausting workouts.

This book might seem like a regular book about Mount Everest, but what makes it so special is Mark’s determination, his focus, his passion, his unrelenting vision of getting to the top of Mount Everest and his punishing regime of strength training and workouts.

In 1994, Mark scaled Mount Pisco, Peru at age 14 and was the youngest to summit. From then on he has scaled Huascardin, Peru and ten Cotopaxi, Ecuador (the world’s third highest active volcano); all at 14 years of age.

In two years, at the age of 16, he climbed Mount Everest (26,000 ft.), from the Nepal side.

What differentiates Mark from other regular kids is his ‘dreams-to-reality ratio’ and his commitment. In the words of Jack Galvin, “Once he decides to take on a skill or an activity, he becomes committed. Then he learns, prepares, and immerses himself so intensely that success is not only predictable but inevitable. … Once made, he allows nothing to stand in his way. How else can you account for a thirteen-year-old, living in a small seaside town, with limited funds, who decides he wants to climb mountains and then finds his way to the upper reaches of Everest two years later?”

Through his experience on the mountain he teaches us about dedication, focus, teamwork, fear, death and triumph. He talks about how everyone is treated as an equal on the mountains and how important it is for everyone to carry their own load, he talks about people from different parts of the world, he talks about different parts of the world, he talks about the Monks who stay in the higher reaches of the Himalayas and truly seem content and in touch with the Maker up above.

This is a wonderful read for all those who aspire to climb Mountains and especially for all the youth who think they have it tough; when in reality they all have it very very easy.  

I admit, I am not athletic; but going through the book, made me want to start off. I’m not promising to run the marathon; but I atleast get off my chair!!!

This book has made me realize, it’s easy to sit back and complain about every small thing and make excuses for everything we do not want to do; and how if you make up your mind, nothing..nothing at all seems like an uphill talk!!!  

A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!!!!

Mark Pfetzer

7 Ki Baat LAJA Ke Saath with Kiran Demble, Celebrity Fitness Expert, DJ ...

Being aware of and forming a self care routine should not be limited only to beauty and grooming; but to caring for your entire body and soul. LAJA is excited to bring to you one such speaker, who has fought against all odds, survived a health scare and is now an inspiration to many men, women and celebrities alike.

From being a homemaker, to being crowned the Most Beautiful Body Builder in Hungary in November 2013; Kiran has come a long way.

Vandana Joshil, Team LAJA has a heart-to-heart talk with Kiran Demble, Celebrity Fitness Expert, DJ and TEDx Speaker.

Allthatswritten: The Show must go on!!!

Allthatswritten: The Show must go on!!!: The Show Must Go On - On Tour with the LSO in 1912 & 2012  by  Gareth Davies

The Show must go on!!!

The Show Must Go On - On Tour with the LSO in 1912 & 2012 

by 

Gareth Davies

This is book that chronicles The London Symphony Orchestra’s historic maiden American tour of 1912 and the fairly recent tour in 2012. For someone interested in the life of musicians this is a good read. The life of the musicians, especially the members of the LSO in 1912 is brought to life through previously unpublished diaries and photographs.

The London Symphony Orchestra 1912

The London Symphony Orchestra 2012

It’s fun to read about the huge difference in kind of travel, accommodations and travel time of two different time zones. Also lovely to read is the difference in costumes, mannerisms, graciousness and overall gallantry of the two times.

If you are a music lover, you will love this book. If you are a historian, you will love this book. 

However if you are someone who’s reading because you like reading, this might be a slight drag. Nonetheless, do attempt it for a balcony view of the magnificent London Symphony Orchestra’s great Tour of America.

Thanks to Haresh Agarwal, for sharing this book.

It wasn't JUST a slap!!!

2020 promises to be a year of many FIRSTS!

For the first time last night, I decided I wanted to watch a movie without my husband tagging along. You see, all along I’ve wanted him to join me for movies. Most often I would miss out on the movies I wanted to see, because he didn’t like the subject, or the director, or the ideology, or the star. I don’t blame him. He had his reasons; genuine or not. I regretfully tagged along and gave the movies a skip. Not yesterday though!!!

I wanted to see Thappad and decided I would see it, even if I had to watch it all alone. Just as I logged into bookmyshow and selected my seat, I thought id ask my girlfriends if they wanted to tag along; and they did. Yehhh

So, five of us, hurried through our chores, cooked dinner and kept everything ready for our families and then dolled up and went for the movie.

Then as five of us sat and watched the movie, we went through an internal conflict. We retrospected, we introspected,  we responded, we sobbed, we empathized with the protagonist, and we sympathized with our own selves. Don’t get me wrong. We come from happy families, we come from happy marriages, we love our children, we love our husbands.

But for the umpteenth time I sat there wondering ‘WHY’, ‘why do we women choose to keep quiet, why do we accept this, why do we brush it under  the carpet, why do we tell our daughters that its ok, why do we silently watch other women fight their battles, why do we ignore a mans actions, why do we forgive him and tell others to forgive him, why do we advise women to forgive and move on! Why, Why, Why?

Thappad is a movie that questions all the teachings that mothers teach their daughters. This is a movie that questions age old patriarchal norms. It questions a woman’s self-worth.

Mind you, the husband loves his wife, the in-laws adore their daughter-in-law, the parents love their daughter and the brother loves his sister. Yet, when it came to calling out the wrong from the right; each one of them kept silent and then asked the wife to forgive and move on. WHY?

I recommend the movie to everyone and also ask them to watch it with their entire families and make a promise to fix things before it is too late.

The why of Networking

When you are an entrepreneur slogging hard to make your business a success, you need to work smart and use all the possible tools in hand. This includes joining networks, attending meets, interacting, collaborating, actively participating, proposing initiatives et al. While all this might seem like too much work, considering how busy you already are and how pressed for time; this is a much needed task.

You want to know why? Then go through the points below and if these resonate with you and make sense, then put them to use and see how your business grows.

Be like a bee

A bee never just sits on one flower always. It goes from flower to flower collecting honey. As it collects honey it also gives back something to the flower. A pollen here, a pollen there and soon you have a garden full of beautiful flowers of different hues. Similarly, when you network you take with you contacts that you already have; you make new contacts, you also get the opportunity to connect with the contacts of the people you network with. Imagine this A meets B, B introduces A to C, C introduces A and B to D..... so on and so forth. Isn’t this a win win situation?

Be a Student

While you network, you come across all kinds of people. Some great successes at their business, some failures at all ventures, some learners, some preachers, some teachers, some experienced veterans! These are your teachers! If you pay close attention, you will learn so much in a single night’s interaction. If you are a good learner, you might even get an opportunity to meet the best of the best personally and take private tuition from them. The possibilities are endless. Networking will always ... repeat always .. give you take always.

Be a sponge

Observe and absorb as much as possible. You will gain insight into so many market trends just by paying attention. You don’t need to necessarily know everything there is to know about the industry when you start off, but believe me, you will be a lot richer in terms of industry knowledge by the end of a meet.

Take away

The most important take away of Networking are the referrals. Most referrals referred at networking meets are of high quality and are genuinely genuine. When a person refers someone to someone, his reputation is also at stake here. So he will make sure that he passes on good referrals. How you convert the referrals is up to you!

Participate

Don’t just be a face in the crowd when you attend networking events. Straighten your shoulders, put on your best smile and have a conversation with people. You are here not for the free coffee or snacks, you are here to meet, interact and gain some. Unless you talk about yourself and your business, no one will know you. 

You need to make your presence felt for people to remember you and thus want to stay in touch with you.

In all, Networking is not just about dressing up and going into a room full of entrepreneurs. It is about letting the world know that you too are an entrepreneur and that you too are here to profit as much to teach and learn.