The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A trip that helped him become self-reliant

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A trip that helped him become self-reliant

By Divya Sreedharan

LEARNING TO BE PART OF A TEAM: Mayur (left), Ashwin, Samrath and Nagarjun. — Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

BANGALORE, MAY 9. After his trip to Manali, Samarth is a changed little boy. He gets up earlier now, watches less television, eats better and exercises more. For a 10-year-old seeing snow for the first time, he didn't do too badly. "The trip has made me more self-reliant," he says.

Samarth had great company; most of the 23 persons who went on the trip were first-time skiers too. The trek — from April 15 to April 29 — was organised by city-based Woody Adventurers Inc. in association with Himalayan Adventurers of Manali. Madhusudhan H. Shukla of Woody Adventurers said the trip was arranged for the students of Sri Kumaran's Children's Home. "But children from other schools came along too," he added.

The trip was not all about pleasure. The children could not eat junk food or sip soft drinks. Six children developed snow blindness because they did not wear the requisite goggles. And while, Nagarjun (15), a veteran trekker, easily lifted a 40-litre (the measurement used) rucksack, his younger friends, had to manage 30-litre bags. But, the children learnt to be part of a team and meet new friends. As nine-year-old Ashwin remarked: "We did not miss television at all."

Bangalore's trekkers are getting younger. Ravi Shankar from "The Wild", another organisation that arranges nature camps/treks for children and adults, says more children go on treks now.

Mr. Shukla, who was accompanied by seven adult volunteers on the Manali trip, said, "I asked the children if they missed their parents. Some said they would not have come if their parents were around." The children who went to Manali were in the nine to 15 age group. But Mr. Shankar took a couple of seven-year-olds on a recent trek to Rangaswamy Betta (60 km from Bangalore). "It was a tough climb but they coped with (the trek) well."

Mr. Shukla said the Manali trip cost Rs. 11,500 per person. This included food, boarding and travelling expenses.

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