15th November 2010
The day when the second batch from SCIT headed to the much heard about place- Panchgani.
“Panchgani” literally means a congregation of five hills. It is a small town lying to the south-west of Maharashtra.
As the bus started its journey, almost everyone contributed to making the journey a memorable one by enhancing the fun quotient through the varied skills they possessed- singing, acting, and dancing too. After about a three-hour drive from the SIC campus, we had reached our destination. The sign board at the entrance read: “MRA- Initiatives of Change, Asia Plateau”. The peacefulness and the serenity of the place mesmerised one and all. On getting down from the bus, we were extended a warm and hearty welcome by Joshi uncle. We were taken for the introductory session hence.
The camp apparently had some strange rules which some even dreaded, but eventually; they turned out to add to the fun quotient of the whole trip. We were divided into teams, and every single meal was to be served by students of any one of the teams. Also, we had to do the dishes on our own, with some help from the facilitators and the other staff.
Enjoyment at work!
The Dining Hall
Later in the day, we all went to the table land which is Asia’s second largest table land, only after one in Tibet. Ah! And amazing that day was! The trek, which was a first time experience for many (like me) was thoroughly enjoyable.
Trek to the table land
The next day began with the “Nature Walk”. In the sixty eight acres of lush greenery, everyone was absorbed by the natural beauty. The time was effectively utilised by one and all for listening to their respective inner voice and it was indeed worth it! In the evening, we visited Grampari (Grameen evam Paryavaran Kendra) which is an initiative taken up by the Asia Plateau Centre. The centre preaches and promotes self-employment to rural people and teaches them about various aspects of life such as hygiene, food and nutrition etc. It also attempts to make households self-sufficient through practices such as creating biogas from the regular biodegradable wastes which can hence be turned into compost. We volunteered for some shramadan which required us to get our hands dirty in the soil and extend a helping hand to the various facilitators over there. It was an absolutely enriching experience.
Greenery all around
Explaining 'tipi-tap' and the 'compost pit'
Volunteers at work- Shramadan
In between all of these field-work activities, there were sessions which helped us interact with phenomenal people. As we heard their tales, we realized that there’s much more to life than what we’d actually thought. All of us love to be in our comfort zone and remain functional within it. But only when we push ourselves and try to extend our boundaries, do we achieve something more than the regular mediocrity. We delved deeper into our relationships and how do we maintain them. I must say, it was an overwhelming session where everyone had moist eyes listening to some real-life incidents of people which completely changed our perspective towards them. A movie “Tuesdays with Morrie” was screened later in the evening, which dealt with a similar concept (read ‘realtionships’).
The third day was full of crazy fun and frolic. In one of the sessions called the “Appreciation Workshop”, all of us were asked to pin up sheets of paper on our back, which therefore had to be filled in by the others by thoughts which appreciated the person. The session ended in the foyer being turned into a dance floor!
The Appreciation Workshop
The night was simply incredible. It was the night of some superior performances by the students, facilitators and the interns of different nationalities. Some sang, while the others danced, and some others showed their talent through skits. And the audience was immensely supportive. There were sounds of cheer from all sides of the auditorium!
Cultural Night
The last day began with remembering the Almighty who is addressed differently by people of different faiths; hence ensued the multi-faith prayer session. After lunch, we started from Asia Plateau, bidding adieu to the beautiful place and wonderful people. It was quite hard to leave the place as the three and a half day trip came to a close. The session ended, but we took along great memories and certain thought-provoking issues which would definitely help us in reflecting at ourselves in greater depth!
Aditi Nawani
SCIT-SSR
