Friday, November 21, 2008

Panchgani


Huh!!

My second visit outside the SIC CAMPUS – first being the outbound session at Sinhagad.

So, where was this second visit- PANCHGANI.

It’s called as Moral Re-armament Camp (MRA)

So, what does it mean….that I am still figuring it out!!

First things first.

After putting in a lot of hard work (besides me, myself and friends, number of other factors also go into the exam preparation) SIIB allows us to rejuvenate ourselves after a stressing tenure of exams.

REFRESH!!

Hill station, with loads of trees,pure air,matchless ambience and no tensions….makes everyone happy ….so was I.

Panchgani is a beautiful place. I don’t know if it’s valid for the entire region or for the place where we went – ASIA PLATEAU.

But, it’s so divine.

From Pune it takes a close 3 hours depending upon certain factors to reach Asia Plateau.

The journey is smooth and when friends are around time flies.

The day we reached we were welcomed…..let me guess, not welcomed but rather given a series of sessions which we were REQUIRED to attend.

Give me a break!! Session = Classes ….not again

But, then learning is a continuous process…so, why worry. This one would be different.

There were a number of sessions conducted by a host of experienced “volunteers” as they like to be called.

Those I attended were- conflicts, choices, identity, and others based around the theme –IDENTITY.

Don’t ask me what all happened….I am still figuring out there names let apart what happened in them.

All in all , they were supposedly good for many and worthless for others.

Besides, all these, the stomach needs some good food to keep the system working.
So, food is really SIMPLE out here. Mark me on this.

Ek dum “saada “. Why??---simple eating good thinking.
The best part which I’ll pick would be two things –

washing / cleaning dishes

serving


Now, this was perhaps the first time I washed dishes- in short – “bartan saaf karma.”

And how did it I feel…that only the pics (for private circulation only) would tell.
But, one thing was for sure – I was happy …washing the dishes made me feel good about something. What ,I don’t know.

Here in Asia Plateau, they have this beautiful custom of washing dishes all by yourself. You eat well, and then wash the dish yourself.

Another important thing is serving and taking together i.e. – We as students were divided into groups…each group were marked for one particular task - washing / serving.

Also, when you eat on a table, any one person volunteers to pick up all the plates of the other people on that table and it’s his/her duty to take them to the kitchen.

Besides this, small things count a lot here. These are the things which give those yummy toppings on that final dish of manners.

We were taken for a small trek to the table tops – Panchgani (5 tops / 5 table tops)

Treks are great and especially when you know that the view from the top would be mesmerising.

Each day saw us learn new things.

Growing in the areas of honesty, love, unselfishness and purity.

The walk around the rock view and valley view edificio’s was simply too good.

There was plenty to take-away from this 4 day camp. It’s on individual to individual what they take.

The sole aims of such visits are making the world a better place to live. And no one but the individuals can do this.
So,all those who read this blog entry start right here right now..contributing in your own special way in making you a good global citizen and your world a place to come for.
For details about the MRA visit them @ - http://www.in.iofc.org/

Aloha on the Ganges

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