Extracting Value out of Value Lanes!!!

After a long wait, we all got the chance to set out for an outing with our colleagues to a place called Value Lanes. Most of us had never heard about this place before. We just got a clue that it was a camp set-up by a retired Major and it would be very adventurous. So, most of us had mixed reactions. What would we be made to do? Would we return back home in one piece? These were some of the things that were running on all our minds.

The suspense was to be broken as we set out our journey at 4PM on the 8th of August. We reached the place at 5PM after a bumpy ride and were welcomed by Major Vibhav Kapoor. We were served nice bhajji's and kesari-bath. Subsequently, we were given a welcome speech by the Major in which we were told about the objectives of this OBL before our first activity actually started.

The first activity given was a project which had three phases in it. Each phase had its own offerings and difficulty-levels. The project was complete only when all the three phases were completed by all of us. Some of us were delighted to be a part of a project atleast this way. It was a truly amazing experience even though some of us fell down more than often. But that didn't stop any of us from completing the tasks. After that, it was time for some relaxation as we were offered some biscuits and Nimbu-paani.

We were then called for a meeting with the Major himself to discuss the happenings of the project. What went right and what went wrong. Some valuable lessons were learnt. It was then time to set-up a Camp-fire and for all of us to dance after Barbeque was offered. All of us had a great time dancing and witnessing some weird dance-steps by Deepak Arora. Some of them were never seen before.

Later on, we had our dinner and our next activity was supposed to start at 7AM the next day. So, it was time to take a nap for some of them. But most of us had the energy within ourselves to play some games that reminded me of my childhood. After playing till 1AM in the night, most of us were tired and decided that it was time to sleep.

As we all set out to sleep, we hear a innocent voice from Nidhi - " I am not feeling sleepy at all ". So, we decide to sit and chat for sometime. We were 8 people in all chatting away till 2AM about some weird things before we settled in our respective tents anticipating a hard-day's work the next day.

We all were ready by 7AM the next morning and geared up for the next activity which was supposed to the most strainous of them all. We were divided into 3 teams. Each team had to complete a total of 11 tasks of varying difficulty-levels. Most of us were eager to try our hand at all the tasks even though it wasn't mandatory for all of us to complete all the 11 tasks. Some were more than just eager and wanted to try doing the most difficult tasks which led to a few pit falls. The most noteable one was when Nidhi tried to do the Tarzan jump and injured herself in the process. God save the pit she fell into. Just kidding eh. Some of them like Kirat had the time to repeat most of the tasks as they wanted to grab the bonuses offered.

After that, it was time for us to have some nice Idly-Vada and get ready for a session with the Major to comment on the happenings of the just concluded activity. Subsequently, the next activity was awaiting us in which we were supposed to walk on a rope tied 6 feet above the ground blind-folded. The look on many people's faces told how nervous they were. Among those, the look on Shweta Pandey's face said it all. She, after witnessing Nidhi's fall was very nervous and just wasn't ready yet for an activity like this one. Fortunately, most of us succeeded walking on the rope with the help of our team-mates. This time there was just one casualty.

We got to know that we would be going to the lake-side for Rafting after we had our lunch and this was supposedly our last activity. It was a ten-minute drive to the lake-side from where we were. We were then divided into 4 teams and were asked to design a raft. The best among the designs was going to be approved and we had to build the raft all by ourselves. We had a great time building it and each one of us contributed. After having built the raft, we had to check whether it was safe to serve its purpose. Fortunately, all of the raft's built were actually safe and we started rafting. We were in water for just 5 minutes when rain played spoil-sport and we were asked to return back.

Finally, after an eventful day we returned to our respective tent's to pack our bags. All of us were disappointed about the fact that our trip got over so quickly. We had a valedictory speech given by the Major in which we were asked about the learnings we were able to grab from the OBL. We all thanked the Major and his associates for the unforgettable day and a half we spent together with them. We all got into our bus and were given a send-off by the Major.

None of us would ever forget this memorable OBL, thanks to Manjunath without whom, this wouldn't have been possible. We had a lot of fun and there were some valuable lessons for us to learn and implement in our lives. Here are some of the important one's,

Time Management
Importance of Attentive listening
Good planning always leads to effective implementation
Effective utilization of the data/resources/inputs given
Trust your team-members
Proper understanding of the requirements
Power of feedback (Positive/Negative)
Efficient allocation of work considering the skills of each of your team-members
Last but not the least, Never forget the lessons learnt

I hope we never forget the lessons we learnt and try to implement those in our day-to-day activities. This is just a small contribution I have made towards achieving that.
Hope you could relive those cherishable moments while reading this.

Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna