The eagerly awaited team outing for Platform Engineering team finally made headway as we started at 6.30 am from MG Road office for Wonder Valley, Bangalore. Wonder Valley is about 25 Kms from Bangalore, in the backdrops of Bannerghatta National Park. The facilitating company for the day was OZONE India.
The team for the day comprised Swamy, Swaroop, Badi, Varun, Senthil, Hemang, Dorai, Nikhil, Srinidhi, Rohit, Girija, Praveen and me, all set to have a blast.
On our arrival, we were treated to a sumptuous breakfast in a hut like enclave. The majestic Eucalyptus, Silk Cotton, Silver Oaks trees provided a charismatic view with the criss-cross of sun rays trying to make its mark on the ground. Ravi ( from team OZONE ) was to be our co-ordinator for the day which he promised to be nothing short of being exhilirating.
The warm-up session began with some stupid exercises, fun games and formation of wierd circles - like the chicken soup circle. We played structure games in which we needed to enact an Elephant, a Giraffe or a rabbit with the adjacent person on either side of the performer required to form the missing legs and ears, appropriate to the animal being enacted. Confusion ensued and sometimes rabbit got Elephant's ears and elephant got giraffe legs - leading to a laughter riot.
In the end, this little session energized us for the tougher activities of the day.
It was time for some group activity and the stage was set to apply brains and power in the Dynamic Obstacle Course - a short course on ground defined in 3 stages, that involved crossing or negotiating through fixed obstacles successfully, as an entire team. The two teams ( Me, Praveen, Swamy, Varun, Nikhil, Srinidhi, Rohit Vs Swaroop, Badi, Senthil, Hemang, Girija, Dorai ) started at the opposite ends. We were given some resourses ( ropes, bamboo etc ) and a baby ( a container half filled with water - quite a heavy baby to carry ). Each team needed to get to the other end without setting a foot on the ground and transporting the baby unharmed ;-).
We started at the easier end and pushed ourselves fast to the 2nd stage while Swaroop's team still negotiated the first. But our strategy was soon proved wrong as fast movers Swaroop and Dorai quickly made it into the second stage and we needed to negotiate with them as we got stuck on high grounds getting out of which required mutual co-operation. The two teams helped each other getting through the innovative bamboo track six feet above the ground. It was a dangerous path and one wrong foot meant restarting the stage.Leaping and swinging in full flow, both the teams advanced to the 3rd stage but the easier course for the other team proved disastrous for us and we lost by seconds. Still, we knew the ground reality as to who the real innovators were :D ! Lime water was served quenching our thirst as we felt a bit dehydrated.
The next task on hand was to save the world of nuclear bombs planted all around the world with triggers located in a house of Death. The triggers ( 30 of them ) were to be diffused ( tapped ) in chronological order inside 50 seconds. Each team had just 3 chances after which the triggers would set and the the whole world would be destroyed. Nikhil's team started first and they messed it up pretty fast, while we found it hard finding the numbers and could manage only 15 triggers in the first attempt. Second chance ( 40 seconds ) also saw both teams faltering and making silly goof-ups. Third and the last chance ( 30 seconds ) - Nikhil's team went in first and managed to tap all 30 triggers, but they took more than a minute. Now the onus of saving the universe from perishing lay in our hands and we did not disappoint the world. It was an act of co-ordination and determined concentration ( hats off to our team ).
After a courteous lunch around 2, we played some volley before the much anticipatedActivity Wall Climbing stunts. The artificial structure looked huge and the knuckles seemed not too deep to give a solid footing. Six levels to the summit, the hike looked improbable. But no amount of difficulty could dampen our spirits as one after the other valiant attempts were made. Some made no more than one level up while Rohit and Srinidhi could touch the third level. At its most primitive, climbing is a “neuro-muscular” activity and each attempt left our fingers more numb and our bodies more consumed. Swamy did a morale boosting climb to the second level for the teams dying spirits and Varun gave a false (read funny) pose of clutching the knuckles and ascending the wall.
After more fun games in the form of untanglings and knee-walks, the highlight activity of the day was finally at hand. In Raft building eachActivity group had the task of constructing or building a floating device with the resources provided to them, such that it can carry 5-6 people on it in water at any given time. It was a test of creativity for both the teams as the rough interface (skeleton) of the raft was designed. We (me, Senthil, Rohit, Hemang, Girija, Badi) went in for early aggression and tried to make the raft as simple and durable with minimum resources. While Senthil started blowing up the floaters, we tied the ropes with deft imagineering. It took us no more than 30 minutes to launch our alpha version into the pacific ocean which we needed to cross. The raft looked fragile and once Hemang went on top, it sunk from his end. The alpha version failed, but thats how we learn from mistakes. Varun's team (Varun, Swaroop, Srinidhi, Nikhil, Dorai, Swamy, Praveen) was still fiddling around with bamboo sticks and ropes. They were so scared of high waters that they required 6 floaters and also a 6-6 bamboo configuration as opposed to our simple 4-6 one.
Nonetheless, we quickly fixed the bug and the beta version sustained a rough test course. But one of the floaters soon gave in to extra pressure from Hemang and this required emergency rescue operations for the boat. This time we had to be sure, no more loopholes would be tolerated and we were ready to go racing. The other team could manage to get their raft ready only after half an hour. In a real race scenario, they had already lost. The other raft looked more sturdy and had more manpower to manoeuvre the course. It was neck to neck as both the teams touched the opposite bank. We turned first and looked comfortable but Varun's team had already mastered the art of rowing and they soon started to catch up. More gallant efforts led to catastrophic results as the floater on Hemang's side could no longer hold on. Half submerged and crippled, we did not give up and continued rafting braving the high tides with renewed vigour. Their was a sense of urgency and though we lost by inches Hemang was the first to get back to the starting point - swimming all the way back from the point where the raft had broken in mid sea.
We laid to rest the carcasses of the raft and attacked the other raft for some photo session and a ride to the open waters. We sailed to a far distance and mused over the sunset. With the life jackets on, most of us dived into the lake water. Praveen, Swaroop, me, Girija, Srinidhi, Badi and Ravi ( our guide ) were part of this exciting journey in which we swam to our hearts content. All fears of water had gone as everyone displayed their swimming stunts from freestyle to backstroke.Me, Nikhil and Swaroop swam while the rest rowed back in the raft. It was a damn tiresome exercise and most of us were almost weared out.
After a light shower, we bid goodbye to Ravi and team OZONE for the amazing day and headed back home with Badi, Nikhil and Varun providing good humour about the days proceedings and mini fights as to which team was best. In all, it was a heart pulsating trip and a lot better than boring resort outings where you do no more than laze around or play the usual games like TT or pool. The outing brought us together as a team and there were plenty of lessons to be learnt from.
Definitely worth a try !
`Enjoii !
PS: Snaps uploaded here.
The team for the day comprised Swamy, Swaroop, Badi, Varun, Senthil, Hemang, Dorai, Nikhil, Srinidhi, Rohit, Girija, Praveen and me, all set to have a blast.
On our arrival, we were treated to a sumptuous breakfast in a hut like enclave. The majestic Eucalyptus, Silk Cotton, Silver Oaks trees provided a charismatic view with the criss-cross of sun rays trying to make its mark on the ground. Ravi ( from team OZONE ) was to be our co-ordinator for the day which he promised to be nothing short of being exhilirating.
The warm-up session began with some stupid exercises, fun games and formation of wierd circles - like the chicken soup circle. We played structure games in which we needed to enact an Elephant, a Giraffe or a rabbit with the adjacent person on either side of the performer required to form the missing legs and ears, appropriate to the animal being enacted. Confusion ensued and sometimes rabbit got Elephant's ears and elephant got giraffe legs - leading to a laughter riot.
In the end, this little session energized us for the tougher activities of the day.
It was time for some group activity and the stage was set to apply brains and power in the Dynamic Obstacle Course - a short course on ground defined in 3 stages, that involved crossing or negotiating through fixed obstacles successfully, as an entire team. The two teams ( Me, Praveen, Swamy, Varun, Nikhil, Srinidhi, Rohit Vs Swaroop, Badi, Senthil, Hemang, Girija, Dorai ) started at the opposite ends. We were given some resourses ( ropes, bamboo etc ) and a baby ( a container half filled with water - quite a heavy baby to carry ). Each team needed to get to the other end without setting a foot on the ground and transporting the baby unharmed ;-).
We started at the easier end and pushed ourselves fast to the 2nd stage while Swaroop's team still negotiated the first. But our strategy was soon proved wrong as fast movers Swaroop and Dorai quickly made it into the second stage and we needed to negotiate with them as we got stuck on high grounds getting out of which required mutual co-operation. The two teams helped each other getting through the innovative bamboo track six feet above the ground. It was a dangerous path and one wrong foot meant restarting the stage.Leaping and swinging in full flow, both the teams advanced to the 3rd stage but the easier course for the other team proved disastrous for us and we lost by seconds. Still, we knew the ground reality as to who the real innovators were :D ! Lime water was served quenching our thirst as we felt a bit dehydrated.
The next task on hand was to save the world of nuclear bombs planted all around the world with triggers located in a house of Death. The triggers ( 30 of them ) were to be diffused ( tapped ) in chronological order inside 50 seconds. Each team had just 3 chances after which the triggers would set and the the whole world would be destroyed. Nikhil's team started first and they messed it up pretty fast, while we found it hard finding the numbers and could manage only 15 triggers in the first attempt. Second chance ( 40 seconds ) also saw both teams faltering and making silly goof-ups. Third and the last chance ( 30 seconds ) - Nikhil's team went in first and managed to tap all 30 triggers, but they took more than a minute. Now the onus of saving the universe from perishing lay in our hands and we did not disappoint the world. It was an act of co-ordination and determined concentration ( hats off to our team ).
After a courteous lunch around 2, we played some volley before the much anticipated
After more fun games in the form of untanglings and knee-walks, the highlight activity of the day was finally at hand. In Raft building each
Nonetheless, we quickly fixed the bug and the beta version sustained a rough test course. But one of the floaters soon gave in to extra pressure from Hemang and this required emergency rescue operations for the boat. This time we had to be sure, no more loopholes would be tolerated and we were ready to go racing. The other team could manage to get their raft ready only after half an hour. In a real race scenario, they had already lost. The other raft looked more sturdy and had more manpower to manoeuvre the course. It was neck to neck as both the teams touched the opposite bank. We turned first and looked comfortable but Varun's team had already mastered the art of rowing and they soon started to catch up. More gallant efforts led to catastrophic results as the floater on Hemang's side could no longer hold on. Half submerged and crippled, we did not give up and continued rafting braving the high tides with renewed vigour. Their was a sense of urgency and though we lost by inches Hemang was the first to get back to the starting point - swimming all the way back from the point where the raft had broken in mid sea.
We laid to rest the carcasses of the raft and attacked the other raft for some photo session and a ride to the open waters. We sailed to a far distance and mused over the sunset. With the life jackets on, most of us dived into the lake water. Praveen, Swaroop, me, Girija, Srinidhi, Badi and Ravi ( our guide ) were part of this exciting journey in which we swam to our hearts content. All fears of water had gone as everyone displayed their swimming stunts from freestyle to backstroke.Me, Nikhil and Swaroop swam while the rest rowed back in the raft. It was a damn tiresome exercise and most of us were almost weared out.
After a light shower, we bid goodbye to Ravi and team OZONE for the amazing day and headed back home with Badi, Nikhil and Varun providing good humour about the days proceedings and mini fights as to which team was best. In all, it was a heart pulsating trip and a lot better than boring resort outings where you do no more than laze around or play the usual games like TT or pool. The outing brought us together as a team and there were plenty of lessons to be learnt from.
Definitely worth a try !
`Enjoii !
PS: Snaps uploaded here.
1 comment:
Enjoyed a lot! »
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