This Is Where Gandhi Stayed His Last 144 Days

Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum

Gandhi Smriti (used to be Birla House) or Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum is where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and was assassinated on 30 January 1948.

Gandhi, a noble man who was the epitome of piety, goodness and unselfishness, and who professed peace and non-violence, was shot dead after he had said his prayers.

There are footsteps that show the path on which Gandhi last walked from his residence to the garden. This is where this symbol of peace and non-violence was murdered.

If you are in New Delhi, visiting Gandhi Museum should be a must. But for now, you can watch my video of the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum. During my India trip, I made several videos of historic sites such as the Taj Mahal, India Gate, Gandhi Museum, and much more. All these videos from my India travels can be found here:

India Travel Vlog | Destination New Delhi & Agra

Arctic Vacation; Do Something Different

Arctic Travel

While the idea of a holiday for most people is to pack their shorts and swimming costumes, buy an ugly shirt and prepare for a week or two of siestas and questionable music, there is a large and growing sector of society which feels like the party animal in all of us can be catered for adequately by bars and clubs in our home towns, and to expect this from our holidays is merely to export our town center to a sunnier location. Indeed, for many people the idea of sun, sand, sangria and other assorted things beginning with “S” is as far away from the perfect holiday as it is possible for a thing to be. Snow, however, is to be actively welcomed on a trip to the Arctic – something which has caught the imagination of many since the first packages to the area started running.

A holiday to the Arctic may seem like the direct opposite of what constitutes a “proper” holiday for many people, but when you consider it for a while, it makes perfect sense. After all, what could be more different than traveling to somewhere where the temperature is perpetually sub-zero (Celsius) and the common practice of a typical holiday almost literally a world away? If sea and sun is what you expect of a holiday, of course it won’t hold much magic for you, but for many the most important thing about a holiday is  to see something different and live in a different way. This much is definitely possible on an Arctic vacation.

An Arctic holiday, essentially, can be any break taken inside the “Arctic Circle” in a geographic sense. This means that we are not just talking North Pole here, there are several other locations, including some within Canada and much of Alaska. Additionally there are European locations such as Greenland, Iceland and Russia, as well as Antarctica itself. So what would you do while there? There are countless things that make it worth a visit, not least a range of wildlife that makes it entirely different and original. On any safari holiday you can see lions or tigers and a number of other wild cats among other things, but only on a visit to somewhere as cold as the Arctic can you see Polar bears, snow leopards and penguins. Opportunities for the photographer are certainly plentiful.

Additionally, the difference of the activities you can take part in makes an Arctic holiday a really good idea. At the right times of year you can see the famed Aurora Borealis – almost habitually listed among the things you must do before you die – and the opportunities for pursuits like dog sledding and kayaking are also worth bearing in mind. If you fancy doing something really different, a break in the Arctic Circle – possibly by cruise – would be well worth looking in to. There is an increasingly long list of travel agents which offer the opportunity to go, as well as many who specialize in particularly fascinating breaks.

The World's Longest Freshwater Beach

Freshwater Beach in Canada

Wasaga Beach — the world’s longest freshwater beach is also a part of Georgian Bay. Wasaga Beach offers 14 kilometres white sand beach, panoramic lush mountain views across the bay, clean pristine waters, and much more.

Seagulls are always a delight. I saw lots of them on the beach trying to steal potato chips from open potato chips bags. They sure love to mingle with humans.

You can watch my video clips on this here:

The World's Longest Freshwater Beach

Wasaga Beach -- the world's longest

The Internet and Personal Development

The Internet Can Aid Personal Growth Immensely

There are an awful lot of stereotypes directed at the Internet and its users, although to some extent these stereotypes are becoming less prominent. Regardless of the changing opinions of individuals, however, there is still a hard-wired impression that those of us who choose to spend a fair portion of our life online must be socially inadequate, and in some way not equipped to live a “normal life”. It should not be ignored that the people who express this impression most vocally are rarely much of a role model for anyone – and their unfounded prejudices may well suggest that they are quite the opposite. The Internet can, in fact, work excellently as a tool for personal development.

Think about it this way. If you are growing up in a relatively small town with very clearly defined values and preferences, and happen to grow up with a mindset that is at odds with those values and preferences, life can be pretty lonely. Geography in this sense is incredibly limiting. With the advent of the Internet, however, it has become possible for like minded individuals from locations poles apart to form strong bonds of friendship. There are caveats to this process, of course – taking people at face value is inadvisable – but these caveats are no more pronounced than those which arise when interacting with someone who is physically in the same room as you. It is always important to keep an eye out for people who are keen to dissemble and distract.

Online forums are one way of getting to know people who have similar interests. There are so many forums and message boards on the Internet, devoted to such a wide range of interests, that it would be quicker to name the subjects that are not catered to than those that are. Sports, music, politics, whatever interests you there is likely to be a community or two (or a few thousand) devoted to it. On here, you may get the kind of conversation that you simply cannot have with a geographical neighbour. In addition, it is an excellent way to get a bit of debating practice – by speaking to people whose opinions on your subject of interest differ from yours, you can build a greater understanding of matters, something which aids personal growth immensely.

Social networking sites are often viewed very dimly by media commentators and everyday skeptics. There is a certain selective interpretation of the medium in this – for one thing, the media commentators are a little concerned that they will cease to be as relevant, and secondly the most scathing attitudes to social networking are based on a hugely skewed sample. Yes, there are some complete and utter fools on these sites, and when their pronouncements are frozen for posterity online it is hard not to cringe. But some real deep thinkers also use these sites simply because they have so much difficulty finding like-minded people nearby. By using the Internet wisely, you can find people who are really worth talking to. Like anything else, it is a matter of knowing how to separate the good from the bad.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com site. This article originally published on the above website on May 19, 2009.

How To Get Cheaper Air Fares

How To Get Cheap Airfare Tickets

One sector of the economy which has suffered perhaps more than any other from the depression in the global financial market is the travel industry. To be slightly more accurate, international travel is where the squeeze has really been placed. A lot of people who most years would actively consider flying abroad for their holiday have decided in the wake of job losses and reduced incomes that staying close to home for a holiday is perhaps more prudent. For anyone who retains an element of wanderlust that simply cannot be satisfied by a short stay in a neighbouring state, the importance of reduced air fares has become all the greater. You can still fly abroad for a holiday, assuming you have the means to pay – it is all about maximising what you can get for your money.

To find the cheapest air fares, you need to widen the range of your search. The laws of supply and demand dictate that where there is a lot of demand the prices will be higher. Therefore, while prices may have dropped to forestall a mass exodus from the traditional holiday hot spots, there will still be a premium for flying to places where a lot of people still want to go. But just because a place is not frequented by as many tourists, that does not mean that it is going to be a bad place to visit. For many of us, in fact, that is a selling point. Many people complain about the tourist traps as holiday destinations, feeling that if they want an experience that is just like home, they could stay at home and save a lot of money. Visiting somewhere that is off the beaten track may be the best thing you can do to enjoy your holiday and save on your budget.

To find a cheaper air fare you may be well advised to avoid package deals. Certainly, it is easier to make one payment and have your flight, board and meals covered for the holiday. It is, however, also more expensive. You can make an immediate saving by looking to arrange the details separately, although this will obviously be easier if you have a working knowledge of the language spoken in the country you are visiting. Travel agents are excellent at arranging lower cost air-fares if these are not bundled with transfers and accommodation.

Another way of finding lower air fares is to look online. There are numerous sites which promise to arrange the flight for you, and search for the lowest fare. You do, however, then have to pay them for the privilege of arranging things. There is an alternative here – you can use these sites to search for lower air fares and then book directly via the airline website, saving the arrangement fees in the process. This will mean more work on your part, but when you see the savings you make by being prepared to make your own arrangements it can easily pay for itself, and also give you greater freedom once you are on the ground in your destination.