Tuesday, May 27, 2008

LEAP: Unbound

When you have a busy week and eagerly looking forward for the weekend to have some relaxing time with your loved ones, how does it feel to know that you have to attend an offsite training program thru the whole week? And then when you do not get a chance to sleep much on Friday, you also get to know that the training on Saturday would start when you reach and would continue till dinner time? May be like this?

Nevertheless, the whole team of trainees put on a smile, pulled up their spirits and with an attitude that says "We'll do it, no matter what comes!", left for the off-site training center. It had been a strenuous week and since the whole team was of the same designation level, the week would have been equally strenuous (with a little variation) to everyone. The difference, may be, was that some had no sleep while the others had gotten up early...so there was sleep residing somewhere within everyone. Yet when the camera rolled-on, the shining teeth and bright faces were captured!
A two-hour drive got us to Khandala and then thru the ups and downs (of the hills and missing the route), we finally reached the destination! Far-away from the world...in a world of our own, that was our destination, the Northpoint training academy. Hunger had struck long ago...so breakfast was the first thing to happen. A heavy breakfast led to sleepy heads and we all were pondering how would we stay awake thru the training sessions...but more important was to at least stay awake TILL that time! There were colleagues whom we knew, some whom we had seen but not interacted and some whom we were seeing for the first time, but as the interactions started, we started gelling with each other and in no time the strangers had vanished!
It was the learning time then and our experience tells us (except those who have been studious) how boring "learning" could be and with the fatigue all over us, we feared that the trainer would definitely catch some of us dozing. However it seemed that the trainer was well prepared for us. The sessions included learning games as well as theory part and we got in so involved in all that was happening and all that we reached the lunch break without feeling stressed out...feeling bored was completely out of question. The break was truly relaxing, but not the path to our rooms. That was literally an uphill task! The post-lunch session was noting different...engrossing, entertaining, interesting are a few words that could go with this session that was equally a learning experience.

By the time the day ended, we too were drained out and as the lights went off, we were off to a good night's sleep. The morning was fresh and a view from our room was something like this:
This was 7:00 am on a Sunday morning. Frankly speaking, I haven't seen much of Sunday mornings at home...definitely not so early, but still I am sure that they don't look so pretty. Fresh morning make you feel fresh...some still need the daily dose of their morning beverage.
All of us had a different experience about the Sunday morning; the feel however was the same "refreshing!" This was our second day of training and being recharged after a nice dinner, a wonderful sleep and pleasant morning, we were all ready for the shoot!
Our trainers and facilitators were equally prepared. Involving sessions and interesting discussions continued till the lunch break. While the pre-lunch session involved brain taxing, the second was more physical work. The most amazing part of this session was the undeterred enthusiasm and the never-say-die attitude of all the trainees. It was the "SkateBoard" event. It was good to see that everyone kept putting in their best till the end of the event and never ever for even a split second said "I cant do this". It was also nice to see the no-ego environment; it was never that "this is not my work", instead there was breaking of rules to help other teams finish. Whatever be the shape of the skateboard, the resultant of this exercise gave a very pleasant experience (except for the cuts that a couple of us had).
With the wonderful time that we had, we never knew how the weekend passed by. The training weekend was completely action packed. Each and every person involved displayed a remarkable zeal of enthusiasm. The trainers were kept busy counting scores to find the winners within equal competitors.
The energy levels were so high that the cameras and the photographers started reeling too! (just kidding!!!)
Well, finally it was big LEAP!


And finally a few more that my camera had captured...