Zen Moments at Garudmachi on My Birthday
There are some moments in your life that you would remember for years to come and you feel like sharing with others. I want to share something similar. I went to Garudmachi,a place near pune for an office outing and guess what it was my birthday.(18th July)
So this two day trip which happened on 18th and 19th of July was a team engagement activity organized by my company. I would never have imagined that my birthday would be so eventful.
We have started at 6pm from our office in Pune. Though I slept for only for three hours, I was so excited to witness how I would spend rest of my birthday. The two hour bus journey to Garudmachi with the team made us witness the amazing views of nature and the best part is the music that we were vibing to.
Once we reached garudmachi, We were told that there would be no network for next two days. I was both happy and distrubed at the same time. Happy since I would get rid of something which I was addicted to for two days and disturbed also for the same reason. Also one down side is that I was not able to reply to lovely birthday wishes I received.
To give you a context about how the trip was planned,we were not informed about the activities that we would be part of. It was organized by a partner to our company. But the activities were planned in such a way that we would take some learning from each one of them. My strategy for the trip was to become calmer and observe things going around to judge and reflect upon things happening around me.
Nature was my romantic partner for those two days.
Let me walk you through what we have done in the two days. The roooms we were alloted were so much lively and had amazing views around. I woke up at 4am in the morning to enjoy the views in solitude.
The food that was served across the two days was light and so healthy.
ICE BREAKER SESSION
Post breakfast,We were divided into two groups and each group had a trainer. Everyone was asked to introduce themselves and the trainer also spoke about his experience training people for soft skills. I tried to understand the personality of the trainer by asking him some questions.
He is someone who has converted his passion into profession which is quite unusual. He made this possible by making changes to his lifestyle and removing dependency on money. This made me realize that attitude towards money plays a major part in making yourself happy. That person had many loans to waive, he is 58 but still super fit and doing what he likes.
I would definetly want to live that life but only earning enough for me and my family. Till then I will want to find happiness in what I do. It's ok if you dont like your work/boss eventually everything has a positive side to it.
Post this there was one more activity which was again a well thought and we were divided into a team of three and we had to accomplish a task with a good strategy and limited amount of time.
AN AMAZING TREK
Post Lunch,we headed out for a trek around Garudmachi. As some one who loves physical activities I was very excited for the trek. Any adjective that I would use to describe the trek experience would be an understatement.
It was a very refreshing experience which made me more conscious as human. I tried speaking very less to people and enjoy the moment, tried capturing few cute pictures for social media. The trek guide was so friendly and I was always at the front talking to him and understanding his experience.
I wish the trek was a bit longer. Before decending there was a point at which we got the network and I quickly posted a story on whatsapp thanking people for their wishes on my birthday.
Post this we chilled out together talking about different things. There was also a bonfire. I woke up at 4 to just sit in solitude and listen to the drops of rain falling one after the other. This was the ZEN moment. Never Felt so calmer in life. Everyone was sleeping and I could only see the trees and the rain. Its hard to document and express a moment like this.
Some moments cant be expressed they have to be experienced.
WE MADE A FOOL OF OURSELVES
So the next day after breakfast we were asked to come for an out door activity. It wouldn’t make sense to actually go and explain the activity and rules. It was a task and it had to be accomplished with some strategy.
I will tell you why we made a fool of ourselves. When the trainer was explaining about the activity he asked us to get seperated into two groups and later he said “All of you are supposed to accomplish this task”. But guess what we competed and have done this in teams.
Later when we were reflecting about the activity he made us realize that this was not meant to be a team activity can also be done together. While it sounds so trivial no body even thought about a scenario like this.
I mean this tells a lot about human behaviour. While I can further break this down but this would only make it more toxic. But overall the activity was fun and exciting.
RAPLING
The Final Activity of the day was the most exciting one. We went for Rapling and believe me it was so fun. Kudos to the guide here for a very detailed explanation of how all this works. He literally took us through every instrument used in this process.
I did it twice. It was crazy and was funny to see others doing this. Everyone had a child like excitement while doing this. I felt so heavy and proud when I was at the top of that cliff. Again My literature is not so good to express the feeling.
One observation here was about my boss who is 52 years old. He is so fit at that age and he had no difficulties in doing this. When we compare him with an average Indian it is such a positive sign to be stay fit after 50. When I say “FIT” its not about a well built physique or showing off muscles it is about mobility and willingness to do a physical activity. As some one who is passionate about fitness I would definetly thrive to be fittest in my circle at 50. I want to be called as that Fit Uncle at 60.
And then we headed back to pune post lunch. The bus journey was again filled with “Awwww” moments as we passed by the scintillating views of Nature.
Life comes a full circle and we went back to crunching data and discussing tech. After I came back home I immeadietly replied to all the birthday wishes I have received.
Overall,This was a very good experience and there were many personal thoughts and judgements I had about people and life in general. Now I feel like going on more trips like this alone and with strangers.
SOME GYAAN (you mostly would not need this)
“Life is an aggregation of moments. Every moment can have a different vibe. A moment can be sad, happy,rejuvenating,depressing. Overall experience of life is culmination of experirences of all these moments. Why can’t we live life in moments? MOMENT by MOMENT by MOMENT”
