Girimitra Sammelan 2012
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Topic: Girimitra Sammelan 2012
Posted By: harshalmahajan
Subject: Girimitra Sammelan 2012
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2012 at 11:10pm
Mountaineers are those outdoors creatures who are
comfortable wandering in the mountains, valleys and jungles not confined
by the constraints of routine lives. They are always eager to set their
feet in pursuit of something. Their wanderlust respects the nature,
follows the thumb rules of safety and yet they can be termed as 'free
birds'. There was a need to exchange ideas, discuss newer techniques and
interact with others on various issues. Some early attempts had been
made but they were not very fruitful.
In Maharashtra, there are
about 150 to 200 mountaineering clubs and groups with a combined
estimated strength of thousands of mountaineers. It is really a
difficult task to gather them together. But, Maharashtra Seva Sangh,
Mulund, took the lead. In consultation with some of the mountaineers,
came up a concept of organising the Girimitra Sammelan. Mr Natekar, Mr
Chandrashekhar Vaze, Mr Ravindra Lad, Mr D V Kulkarni and Mr Arun
Bhandare were some of the strong supporters from Maharashtra Seva Sangh.
Although the concept of get-together was finalised, there was
no fixed agenda of the activities. Dhananjay Madan, Pradip Kelkar,
Prashant Thosar, Girish Jadhav, Sameer Paranjape started to meet and
discuss about bringing structured approach. It was decided that the
programme should be such that it appeals to the whole outdoor
fraternity. Hrishikesh Yadav was the prime force behind bringing
together, the concepts and the mountaineers, on one platform. Everybody
was happy to finally visualise the get-together of mountaineers but the
event did not have a name yet. Dr. Rahul Warange, Mahad suggested
“Girimitra Sammelan” and it was a perfect fit. The date of the maiden
event was also finalised. The seeds were sown.
The very first Girimitra Sammelan was successfully organised
on 14th July 2002. There was mixed response from the mountaineering
community. The planning, organisation and execution was carried out by
everybody who were involved in the Sammelan. From the second year
onwards, the event started to be hosted and managed, turn-by-turn, by
various mountaineering organizations. Also, every event started to have a
broad theme or focus area. Some of the notable focus areas are “New
Routes in Mountaineering”, “50 Years of Mountaineering in Maharashtra”,
“Education Through Mountaineering”, “Sahyadri”, “Conversation Through
Mountaineering”, “Wandering One Gathers Honey” and so on. With this
change, the event started getting better in scope and size too. In no
time, the attendance grew from a mere 200/300 to more than 600 and thus
the original objective of having a platform for the mountaineers was
successfully achieved.
Each year brought more excitement and added scope. Third
year onwards, the event started to have a dedicated segment for
audio-visual presentations. From the third year onwards, film
competitions have been held. The rock climbing attempts, trekking
activities, Himalayan expeditions etc. started getting filmed for these
specific purposes. As the years progressed, the quality of the films
produced went up considerably. Over the years, more than 50 such
wonderful films have been produced. From the fourth year onwards, an
audio-visual presentation on the central theme of the event has been
happening. Notable among these are, “50 Years of Mountaineering”, “The
Life and Times of Sahyadri” (Sahyadrichi Jeevangatha), “Spcial Aspect of
the Mountaineering Organizations” and so on. This is a treasure in
itself.
The fourth year saw yet another dimension added to the
event. Since then, various types of awards and commendations have been
given away every year. Primarily the individuals and organisations
making significant contribution in the mountaineering field have been
felicitated. Some of them are Lifetime Achievement Award, Mountaineer of
the Year, Climber of the Year and so on.
Photography competitions were added from fifth year onwards.
This was an instant hit as people got to witness the thrill of rock
climbing being caught or the beauty of a pristine Himalayan lake being
caught, in a photo. These days more than 500 entries are submitted for
the photography competition. The event has been growing by leaps and
bounds. Various other activities have also included such as information
booklet publication, providing a dedicated slot of time for special
purpose activities. A single day of activities was too less of a
duration and that is when 'Girimitra Sandhya' was introduced. It is the
dedicated time slot, on the previous evening of the main function, where
the mountaineers get a chance to interact with the invited guests
actively involved in mountaineering on national level.
The Girimitra Sammelan has achieved a level of recognition
within India and many high profiled personalities have participated in
the events till date. Colonel N. Kumar, the leader of the 3rd highest
peak in Himalayas – Kanchenjunga; Major HPS Ahluwalia, President, Indian
Mountaineering Foundation; Mr. Bhishmaraj Baam, Retd. Director General
of Maharashtra Police; Mr Kesari Patil of Kesari Tours; Mr Arvind
Jamkhedkar, Retd. Director of Archaeological Dept., Mr Uddhav Thakre,
Brig. Ashok Abey, Mr. Jaykumar, Chief Conservator, State of Karnataka
and Mr Ninad Bedekar, Historian are some of the prominent names to have
participated the event.
Every year, various mountaineering organisations actively
participate in shaping the event. Without their active participation and
voluntary work, the event would have not been able to continue year
after year. Yes, it should be noted that no organisation or person gets
paid for the efforts they put, yet no one complains about it. In fact,
they all look forward to every year's Girimitra Sammelan. Equally
important is the very firm support provided by Maharashtra Seva Sangh.
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uploads/1/Photography_Competition_Entry_Form_2012.doc" rel="nofollow - uploads/1/Photography_Competition_Entry_Form_2012.doc
uploads/1/Photography_Competition_Entry_Form_2012.doc" rel="nofollow - uploads/1/Audio_Visual_Competition_2012.doc" rel="nofollow - uploads/1/Audio_Visual_Competition_2012.doc
http://trekshitiz.com/trekshitiz/discussionboard/uploads/1/Photography_competition_Rules_2012.pdf" rel="nofollow - uploads/1/Photography_competition_Rules_2012.pdf
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