[Author's notes: A post on our department's team outing. The edited version was posted in the Perot System's internal documents website.]
TEAM OUTING OF INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS, BANGALORE-DAY1
John Donne wrote centuries ago, “No man is an island unto himself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."
The whole inspiration behind TGR’s plan of 3T program for Perot Bangalore Infrastructure-Solutions (IS) team was to instill this vision in every one of us.
Though our fields of expertise are diverse and so are our thoughts, yet, the mainstream equation is to work as a team cohesively, giving our best to achieve the common goal of prosperity- Prosperity of the individual, the company and the nation.
It’s an open secret that every individual in the IS team contributes to any event in their own special way. However, as always, TGR, Suby, Lavan, Meera and Rekha actively took up the mantle of organizing and co-ordination.
The murmurs about the surprises in store, during the expedition, like rafting and rock-climbing had already hit us hard.
So, when the D-Day finally arrived as a cozy Saturday morning, everyone in the team had already become enticingly excited.
The cabs were to take us to Ozone Valley, the IS team christened name for Ozone company and Wonder Valley.
Situated well within urban Bangalore, this place encompasses an area of 20 acres with accessibilities for most common adventure sports.
After reaching the enchanting place, a place close to the country club near Bannerghatta forest range, a group of three-four people were allocated a common tent. The tent had all basic amenities like clean beds, lockers, restroom, and fan, to mention a few.
Now that our luggages were well placed, our adventure hungry team was ready to venture relentlessly, without any inhibitions and concern.
To start off with, the whole team headed to the common outpost, where breakfast had already been laid out. It was a connoisseur’s delight- idly, sambhar, tea and vada to begin the day on a high note.
Following breakfast, we assembled in a thatched roof hall close to the lake downhill. There, TGR gave us a short welcome speech iterating our goals during our stay and further, introduced us to our external trainers, Brigadier Sivam and Mr Kale.
Thereafter, we had a small team building activity. The activity was to make human geometrical shapes, like triangles, squares and stars blindfolded.
Prior to this, we also had the activity of throwing rings to an erect stand placed 10 yards away with the aim of scoring maximum points in three attempts.
However, the most rigorous among all activities was an obstacle race. Also called the “Carry the baby safely home” game, we were taken to a ground and distributed in two teams. The idea was to carry a baby (a small drum impersonating it!!) from one end of the ground to the other using minimal resources. Each team was provided 2 bamboo poles and a few ropes to complete the task, on the condition that we were not allowed to step on the ground. However, there were few safe buffer areas where we could stand before proceeding further.
We initially thought that the game was all about winning but later came to realize that the game was only about co-operation. It was almost impossible to reach our goal without the help of the other team.
A great spectacle to the event was the participation of the ladies in our team, Meera and Rekha. In spite of being aware of the rough and tough nature of the event, one could not help but applaud the courage of the ladies, when they decided to join the teams.
The biggest outcome was that everyone (including the ladies in the team) managed to cross from one end to the other and vice-versa.
After the physical stress that we underwent, it was natural for us to have a hearty meal-Bon appetite.
As per directions, we assembled in the same thatched hall “partially” ready to take part in the other events of the day. “Partially ready” because we were too tired and sleepy after lunch.
To further add salt to our wounds, it started raining cats and dogs.
So, after a brief stint of photo sessions in the rain, the trainer commenced his session.
The first event after lunch was extempore on some common topics like Aishwarya Rai, Energy-How it can be saved and so on. The participants were good and we thoroughly enjoyed the proceedings.
Later, we had a team game called the “Walk the Duck”. A group of 4 people were supposed to walk on 2 movable wooden planks each attached with 4 ropes. It looked easy but we bet, it gave us a really tough time to co-ordinate and sync the movements.
Following tea, we had some PRM (Progressive relaxation of Muscles) session conducted by Brig. Sivam. It was fully refreshing and soothing. These exercises were simple and can be done easily anywhere.
The real party of the night however began in the evening. We had small quantities of Vodka which as usual brings along “intelligent, socially beneficial and politically correct” round table discussions.
We also had a musical chair event, “Bus-Ladoo” competition, and “Bad frog” event.
[[For the unaware: The directions and rules for playing these games can be “borrowed” from the IS team ]]
Thereafter, dinner was served and following dinner, we had a team walk downhill to the assembly hall. There, the topics of ghosts and real life encounters came in and we were fully entertained by the story tellers.
Back in the tent house, when our weary bodies rested on the soft cozy bed longing dearly for a good night's sleep, our eyes glittered in the dark with a sense of pride and achievement, as these virtues dominated the outcome of the proceedings.
Thus, ended an eventful first day in Wonder Valley.
TEAM OUTING OF INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS, BANGALORE-DAY1
John Donne wrote centuries ago, “No man is an island unto himself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."
The whole inspiration behind TGR’s plan of 3T program for Perot Bangalore Infrastructure-Solutions (IS) team was to instill this vision in every one of us.
Though our fields of expertise are diverse and so are our thoughts, yet, the mainstream equation is to work as a team cohesively, giving our best to achieve the common goal of prosperity- Prosperity of the individual, the company and the nation.
It’s an open secret that every individual in the IS team contributes to any event in their own special way. However, as always, TGR, Suby, Lavan, Meera and Rekha actively took up the mantle of organizing and co-ordination.
The murmurs about the surprises in store, during the expedition, like rafting and rock-climbing had already hit us hard.
So, when the D-Day finally arrived as a cozy Saturday morning, everyone in the team had already become enticingly excited.
The cabs were to take us to Ozone Valley, the IS team christened name for Ozone company and Wonder Valley.
Situated well within urban Bangalore, this place encompasses an area of 20 acres with accessibilities for most common adventure sports.
After reaching the enchanting place, a place close to the country club near Bannerghatta forest range, a group of three-four people were allocated a common tent. The tent had all basic amenities like clean beds, lockers, restroom, and fan, to mention a few.
Now that our luggages were well placed, our adventure hungry team was ready to venture relentlessly, without any inhibitions and concern.
To start off with, the whole team headed to the common outpost, where breakfast had already been laid out. It was a connoisseur’s delight- idly, sambhar, tea and vada to begin the day on a high note.
Following breakfast, we assembled in a thatched roof hall close to the lake downhill. There, TGR gave us a short welcome speech iterating our goals during our stay and further, introduced us to our external trainers, Brigadier Sivam and Mr Kale.
Thereafter, we had a small team building activity. The activity was to make human geometrical shapes, like triangles, squares and stars blindfolded.
Prior to this, we also had the activity of throwing rings to an erect stand placed 10 yards away with the aim of scoring maximum points in three attempts.
However, the most rigorous among all activities was an obstacle race. Also called the “Carry the baby safely home” game, we were taken to a ground and distributed in two teams. The idea was to carry a baby (a small drum impersonating it!!) from one end of the ground to the other using minimal resources. Each team was provided 2 bamboo poles and a few ropes to complete the task, on the condition that we were not allowed to step on the ground. However, there were few safe buffer areas where we could stand before proceeding further.
We initially thought that the game was all about winning but later came to realize that the game was only about co-operation. It was almost impossible to reach our goal without the help of the other team.
A great spectacle to the event was the participation of the ladies in our team, Meera and Rekha. In spite of being aware of the rough and tough nature of the event, one could not help but applaud the courage of the ladies, when they decided to join the teams.
The biggest outcome was that everyone (including the ladies in the team) managed to cross from one end to the other and vice-versa.
After the physical stress that we underwent, it was natural for us to have a hearty meal-Bon appetite.
As per directions, we assembled in the same thatched hall “partially” ready to take part in the other events of the day. “Partially ready” because we were too tired and sleepy after lunch.
To further add salt to our wounds, it started raining cats and dogs.
So, after a brief stint of photo sessions in the rain, the trainer commenced his session.
The first event after lunch was extempore on some common topics like Aishwarya Rai, Energy-How it can be saved and so on. The participants were good and we thoroughly enjoyed the proceedings.
Later, we had a team game called the “Walk the Duck”. A group of 4 people were supposed to walk on 2 movable wooden planks each attached with 4 ropes. It looked easy but we bet, it gave us a really tough time to co-ordinate and sync the movements.
Following tea, we had some PRM (Progressive relaxation of Muscles) session conducted by Brig. Sivam. It was fully refreshing and soothing. These exercises were simple and can be done easily anywhere.
The real party of the night however began in the evening. We had small quantities of Vodka which as usual brings along “intelligent, socially beneficial and politically correct” round table discussions.
We also had a musical chair event, “Bus-Ladoo” competition, and “Bad frog” event.
[[For the unaware: The directions and rules for playing these games can be “borrowed” from the IS team ]]
Thereafter, dinner was served and following dinner, we had a team walk downhill to the assembly hall. There, the topics of ghosts and real life encounters came in and we were fully entertained by the story tellers.
Back in the tent house, when our weary bodies rested on the soft cozy bed longing dearly for a good night's sleep, our eyes glittered in the dark with a sense of pride and achievement, as these virtues dominated the outcome of the proceedings.
Thus, ended an eventful first day in Wonder Valley.
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