Outbound program Experience (Surya Shibir)

Now this term ‘Outbound Program’ was something new to me. Yes got to know from seniors that you would be taken to a a resort and with night stay, team building activities and games. This sounded excited until we read the mail to gather in front of the campus gate at 6:15 am.

The program day activities

Day 1

5 :00 am : woke up with totally tired eyes, stood up from my bed and on my way to the washroom saw my roomie’s bed and fell down to sleep again.

5:40 am : woke up again and then there was a rush among the roommates to get ready.

6:15 am : at college gate (somehow made it)

7:00 am : After all the necessary attendance was completed , got onto the bus and met my new friends of Division A

9:30 am : After a wonderful bus trip with songs and antakshari, in which my team won though I was more of a morale support rather than a logistic support, we reached Surya Shibir.

Rooms were allocated to all the students to get freshen up before a long hectic day ahead and was provided with breakfast.

10:15 am : All the students were addressed by the OutFit team, which consisted of retired defence personnel, and were divided into different teams. I got into maroon team.

10:45 am : The trek of 10 km started.

The Trek…

Although some guys hesitated, a strong push from Colonel Lal was enough to get them going. This was my first experience of trekking. It was tough, I have to say but at the same time it was fun with lots of other people trying to move ahead, which was enough motivation to carry yourself and get going.

When we reached the hill top, we all felt so happy for a short while until we came to know that the downward trek is even more tougher, a new challenge!

The downward trek was indeed much more challenging , some slipped, some didn’t, those who slipped were helped by those who didn’t and this was a lesson learnt, to carry yourself forward and help others to carry them forward.

1:45 pm : We were back at Surya Shibir after a tiring trek and were told to gather back at 3:30pm after freshening up and having our lunch.

3:30 pm : The ex army men were so strict about the timings, those who were late got to hear a handful from them. Now,the ice breaking session started.

Ice Breaking Session

This as the name suggests was meant to break the ice among the new college mates.

Everyone was divided into groups of 3 and was told to interview one another and draw a caricature of each other. This activity helped us to learn about each other and made us laugh to the extreme because of the funny caricatures.

5:30 pm : After the ice breaking session the teams ie Red, Green, Marooon etc… were asked to prepare some cultural events like Skit Dance Songs and present before everyone at 8pm

8:00 pm :All the teams had put in their entire efforts to ready different cultural events, in a very short time, another lesson learnt. We witnessed some wonderful performances from our fellow mates

9:30 pm : Dinner was served.

10:00 pm : Lights out. And this completed our first hectic day, all the tired souls went back to the respective rooms to take some sleep before the second hectic day beginning at 6:00 am .

Day 2

4:30 am : As there were 8 people, we started early and were ready in the given time.

6:00 am : Assembled again at the assembly space, sleep just refusing to go away from our eyes. We were served tea and biscuits.

6:30 am – 1:30 pm : Different team activities were held, the major thing which I got to learn from them is

1.)Team work – you as a single person cannot win the show alone, you require your team so the load is balanced and the work is completed quickly.

2.)Strategy – Just going out in the field without a strategy is like going to a battlefield without a gun. In a fun way we were able to understand the importance of strategy.

3.) Overcoming your fears – This is necessary to make you bold and help you take bold decisions.

1:30 pm : Lunch was served.

3:00 pm : The last activity for the day ‘Poster Making’, we were divided into teams of 10 each and at times we were given different obstacles like hands were tied, blindfolding etc.This was to make us learn to overcome the difficulties which we may face when one of our resource is out.

5:30 pm : Tea along with snacks were served and the cameras were in full fledge to capture the last few minutes of such an exciting program.

6:00 pm : Tired bodies but fresh minds got onto the bus and left behind Surya Shibir.

It was a wonderful experience, with many learning big and small. The program made us laugh, think, tired and explained real world challenges through games and activities.

And this sum’s up my experience, signing out.