“When the going is tough, the tough gets going”, this was the case for two days in our OBT (Out Bound Training at Adventure Zone) which happened very recently. It was fun, adventurous and good learning experience. It was a very good team building program which consisted of Rappelling, Rock Climbing, Obstacle block, orienteering and some psychological test (similar to SSC test).
The first day of our college life started with a big bang. I felt this program conducted to show us, life is not going to be so easy for us in the incoming days, who have been sitting in A/C rooms and having coffee and tea whenever get bored in corporate offices till recently. It was like getting us ready physically first.
Major Roy, the facilitator for the OBT divided us into 6 teams (total of 120 students). We got our first activity as Obstacle Block. It was just like a military training where you need to do 10 things consecutively In 4 minutes. It included balanced walk on a narrow wood plate, crawling on rope, crawling through a pipe followed by tyres, Cheetah ladder, climbing rope ladder, mines, spider web and snake walk on a wire. I thought this was the easiest one, however after completion of the activity, I felt, probably it was the most difficult of all. Its not only squeezes your energy but also your team members while helping the person who is actually doing it. For the first member it was difficult as we don’t know how to do the activity in the best manner. It was happened to be me in Obstacle block. In spite of few mistakes I was able to complete it in 4 min and got 100 marks (10 activities). And all the members successfully completed it with few injuries in our bucket and good score. The second session was the same where group need to complete the task together including a pole which should be held by 3 people at every point of time. We considered this as a liability except the 50 points it brings. So we were unable to derive any benefit out of it as we ignored the hidden benefits that we can get with it. So each and every thing has its own importance and using it effectively makes it as an asset rather than liability.
Rappelling was real fun. Though people were scared a lot, they enjoyed it the most. First 10-15 members completed it very quickly (including me). The wall is straight rather than little bent which we see in IMAX. With first few steps we need to ensure that we are perpendicular to the wall. Then keeping your legs straight (90 degrees to wall) makes it very easy to come down just like walking. They bind us with a cantilever kind of lock which ensured our safety. When we are walking on a wall which is vertical we really enjoyed each and every step we made and loved every moment of it. Once we complete it we reached the terrace which is 4 floors above through steps without worrying about it at all and ready for the second time. Though we wished to do the third, the time is over and was unable to finish. If I get the time, I will surely go for it without any hesitation at any point of time.
After some time, I went upstairs to mentor our guys. Two people were toppled at the top in the first few steps which must be taken very carefully, however they were balanced and was able to complete it successfully. However after looking at them few of our guys were really scared to participate and missed the fun. So it depends not only on how good you are but also how your previous candidate is acting on it. If he is successful there is 100% scope for the other one to attempt it. Also it needs trust from other team members who are helping him by mentoring and by holding the rope. You need to trust your team and start doing things without hesitation. But doing things is important as your participatation effectively impacts the performance of your team.
Before we go to Rock Climbing, we were informed the scores of our team and other team. Other team scored 540 in Rock Climbing. We used that score and thought little logically and found we can do much better job by doing things strategically. For each candidate we get 20 points. And we got 20 members in our team where in 10 are thin and 10 are heavy. While climbing we can pull the rope so that the candidate can climb it easily. So we sent the first 10 thin members first and then the rest. As it included 3 laps where each lap need to be completed by all the members. Usually it is difficult as the wall is vertical and with the blocks which are not giving proper grip. Whenever you need help, if you ask to pull, our guys will pull us and you can reach the top in no time. So it was also fun however for pulling it needed lot of energy for heavy guys.
As for as the Orienteering is concerned it’s just like a treasure hunt however there is a difference. You will be given a card which consists of an angle and distance. Using Compass and foot steps of one candidate we need to measure angle and distance. With the given details you can find second card which leads to third and so forth. However the fun was that, all this happened in a jungle. With 300 meters to go, we walked all around the bushes, big tress etc and were able to found 2 cards. And for the third we ended up in a farm field which is completely out of the adventure zone. And we took some photos there and reached the destination 13 min late. We got 20 points however for each minute late 5 points will be deducted, so we ended up with -45 points. And our team was disappointed.
The real fun was at night. As we were given tents with AC and fan which wouldn’t be available during day time. So all people were settled in canteen and starting playing games. Dumbsharads (Hindi) with 6-8 people which was expanded to 30 members later. All our guys were acting superbly guessing with different words and the other team making fun of them.
We played another game named Mafia. In this game there will be one judge and judge will choose the mafia asking all the candidates to close their eyes. Then they will be asked to open the eyes and discuss to come out who is the mafia. Team should guess the mafia with the expressions on the face and way of defending. The guy who is mafia will defend himself and if he is able to come out in the last two people he is a good defender and the winner. It was fun when people choosing one who is not actually mafia and that guy defending he is not. If you are silent, as you are silent they will make you mafia and throw you out of the game and if you are making someone mafia they will make you mafia as you are imposing on others. So one need to be careful to be in the team and in choosing the right one.
The last one was psychometric test, a colonel conducted. We nearly had written around 15 pages – A4 size. We were asked to write what parents, friends and teachers opinion on us and our opinion about ourselves. Then stories based on the pictures and sentences based on words and reaction tests. By the time we complete that our hands were paining.
Over all it was a good team building exercise where we had fun although each and every part of our body is paining. Kudos to Adventure Zone
The first day of our college life started with a big bang. I felt this program conducted to show us, life is not going to be so easy for us in the incoming days, who have been sitting in A/C rooms and having coffee and tea whenever get bored in corporate offices till recently. It was like getting us ready physically first.
Major Roy, the facilitator for the OBT divided us into 6 teams (total of 120 students). We got our first activity as Obstacle Block. It was just like a military training where you need to do 10 things consecutively In 4 minutes. It included balanced walk on a narrow wood plate, crawling on rope, crawling through a pipe followed by tyres, Cheetah ladder, climbing rope ladder, mines, spider web and snake walk on a wire. I thought this was the easiest one, however after completion of the activity, I felt, probably it was the most difficult of all. Its not only squeezes your energy but also your team members while helping the person who is actually doing it. For the first member it was difficult as we don’t know how to do the activity in the best manner. It was happened to be me in Obstacle block. In spite of few mistakes I was able to complete it in 4 min and got 100 marks (10 activities). And all the members successfully completed it with few injuries in our bucket and good score. The second session was the same where group need to complete the task together including a pole which should be held by 3 people at every point of time. We considered this as a liability except the 50 points it brings. So we were unable to derive any benefit out of it as we ignored the hidden benefits that we can get with it. So each and every thing has its own importance and using it effectively makes it as an asset rather than liability.
Rappelling was real fun. Though people were scared a lot, they enjoyed it the most. First 10-15 members completed it very quickly (including me). The wall is straight rather than little bent which we see in IMAX. With first few steps we need to ensure that we are perpendicular to the wall. Then keeping your legs straight (90 degrees to wall) makes it very easy to come down just like walking. They bind us with a cantilever kind of lock which ensured our safety. When we are walking on a wall which is vertical we really enjoyed each and every step we made and loved every moment of it. Once we complete it we reached the terrace which is 4 floors above through steps without worrying about it at all and ready for the second time. Though we wished to do the third, the time is over and was unable to finish. If I get the time, I will surely go for it without any hesitation at any point of time.
After some time, I went upstairs to mentor our guys. Two people were toppled at the top in the first few steps which must be taken very carefully, however they were balanced and was able to complete it successfully. However after looking at them few of our guys were really scared to participate and missed the fun. So it depends not only on how good you are but also how your previous candidate is acting on it. If he is successful there is 100% scope for the other one to attempt it. Also it needs trust from other team members who are helping him by mentoring and by holding the rope. You need to trust your team and start doing things without hesitation. But doing things is important as your participatation effectively impacts the performance of your team.
Before we go to Rock Climbing, we were informed the scores of our team and other team. Other team scored 540 in Rock Climbing. We used that score and thought little logically and found we can do much better job by doing things strategically. For each candidate we get 20 points. And we got 20 members in our team where in 10 are thin and 10 are heavy. While climbing we can pull the rope so that the candidate can climb it easily. So we sent the first 10 thin members first and then the rest. As it included 3 laps where each lap need to be completed by all the members. Usually it is difficult as the wall is vertical and with the blocks which are not giving proper grip. Whenever you need help, if you ask to pull, our guys will pull us and you can reach the top in no time. So it was also fun however for pulling it needed lot of energy for heavy guys.
As for as the Orienteering is concerned it’s just like a treasure hunt however there is a difference. You will be given a card which consists of an angle and distance. Using Compass and foot steps of one candidate we need to measure angle and distance. With the given details you can find second card which leads to third and so forth. However the fun was that, all this happened in a jungle. With 300 meters to go, we walked all around the bushes, big tress etc and were able to found 2 cards. And for the third we ended up in a farm field which is completely out of the adventure zone. And we took some photos there and reached the destination 13 min late. We got 20 points however for each minute late 5 points will be deducted, so we ended up with -45 points. And our team was disappointed.
The real fun was at night. As we were given tents with AC and fan which wouldn’t be available during day time. So all people were settled in canteen and starting playing games. Dumbsharads (Hindi) with 6-8 people which was expanded to 30 members later. All our guys were acting superbly guessing with different words and the other team making fun of them.
We played another game named Mafia. In this game there will be one judge and judge will choose the mafia asking all the candidates to close their eyes. Then they will be asked to open the eyes and discuss to come out who is the mafia. Team should guess the mafia with the expressions on the face and way of defending. The guy who is mafia will defend himself and if he is able to come out in the last two people he is a good defender and the winner. It was fun when people choosing one who is not actually mafia and that guy defending he is not. If you are silent, as you are silent they will make you mafia and throw you out of the game and if you are making someone mafia they will make you mafia as you are imposing on others. So one need to be careful to be in the team and in choosing the right one.
The last one was psychometric test, a colonel conducted. We nearly had written around 15 pages – A4 size. We were asked to write what parents, friends and teachers opinion on us and our opinion about ourselves. Then stories based on the pictures and sentences based on words and reaction tests. By the time we complete that our hands were paining.
Over all it was a good team building exercise where we had fun although each and every part of our body is paining. Kudos to Adventure Zone
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