NIM (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering) is one of the most famous and best
mountaineering institute of Asia. Abhishek Maurya, Mohd Aneesh, Annapurna, Rohan
Panwar, Sagar Sharma, Ritesh Singh, Deepak Thapa, Rishabh Jain and Ayushi Rana
were the ten lucky students who got a wonderful chance to visit NIM and to participate
in 181st adventure course .We all have only heard about this and now got the
opportunity to be a part of this institute.
Tired with the monotonous work, wishing for something new and exciting and thankfully
god has listened to our pray. 20 days before we were told about the trip to Uttarkashi.
10 students have to be chosen for this .We feel very lucky to be a part of this trip and its
like dream come true for all of us.
In the beginning we were very nervous as well as very excited as for the 1st time we
were going for a mountaineering trip without our parents or teachers which serve as a
guidelines for us and help and guide us in every problem. But for 15 days we have to be
all alone with no one around whom we know much and who cares about us expect our
group of 10 students but we overcame and hid our anxieties because we want a break.
On the 1st day of our journey we were told to assembled there in Purkal and with the
blessings of our teachers and elders we started our journey to Uttarkashi. We all were
very happy and were busy weaving our thoughts – what will be there, what we will be
doing there, how much fun we will be having so everything was going on and on in our
mind. In the evening we reached there we all were very happy as we were feeling like
free bird. There we first registered our name and were allotted the rooms in the hostel.
Next day we had a brief introduction with all 90 students who were selected for this
mountaineering trip like all of us, our instructors and principal of NIM which followed by
division of students into groups. So we had 10 groups comprising 9 students each. We
were very happy as we made many new friends. They shared their experiences and
some beautiful moments of their lives with all of us. Our instructors though not very
interactive but helped us whenever we asked. They showed as their campus. Every day
we had physical exercises. After doing that we were like full of energy and felt very
active. It was very tiring but we used to do that with full enjoyment and the breakfast we
had after that was osem that we forgot all our tiredness we were in.
We were shown the equipments which we have to use during our adventure course
.Some of them are Rucksack (bag), Mattress, sleeping bag, long selling, water bottle,
mustine (utensil for eating food), wind sheeter, poncho (raincoat) etc. each one of us
was given the equipments and we were very happy to get that and it seems as if a child
has got some toys to play with. We were also laughing after hearing the names of the
equipments. That day we were full of laughter. There we were given many tasks to do
which were both adventurous as well as dangerous.
Next day we all packed our bags for 4 days outing at Tehkla. It was a beautiful place.
From hostel we marched 13-14 km to Tehkla! We were very tired after that long walk,
so we had juice to refresh our body. After that we were back on our work, we pitched
tents and made arrangements for our task. There we did rock climbing, jumaring,
rappling which we were finding very difficult after seeing others doing that. We were
very nervous and scared but when we did ourselves then that was the thing which we
were enjoying the most. We were no longer timid and nervous and if given a chance we
would have done it again.
In the beginning we were very nervous as everything was new for us. We were thinking
that it will be a little difficult for all of us to do but somehow we gathered our courage
and were successful in accomplishing the given task. The task which we found the most
difficult one was that of river crossing because the flow of water was very high as well
as it was very Cold that we were finding it very difficult to keep our balance in that heavy
flow .Since we had not bathed for three days so we were also very excited to go into the
river. So all and all it was both terrifying and enjoying. In the evening we came back
from there walking and we were so tired that we were looking for a bed where we could
stretch our arms and legs. We all looked pathetic.
In the hostel we also had seen a movie ’Vertical limits’ which was based on Everest
expedition. It was a very beautiful movie, very inspiring that we wanted to climb the
Everest in the same way as was done by the characters of the movie. Before our
second outing we did artificial wall climbing, obstacle racing, cross country and also had
speech competition. Artificial wall climbing was very tough but was very interesting to
do. As a lizard crawl on the wall, in the same way we were also crawling on the
mountain. It was great fun. Obstacle race was also full of enjoyment, one of the most
interesting part of this activity was Brahma bridge which was very scary and where we
have to maintain our balance on the rope.
There in every step we were learning something without sitting in just one corner of a
room .We learnt how to pitch tents, reading maps etc .In the second outing we did point
to point march which was a group competition. In this we have to use map and had
been told to reach to our destination i.e. Oyali without the assistance of our instructors.
It was very interesting; the distance which we had to cover was very long and had to
cross the forest where the most troubling thing we faced were the leeches. We were
very tired that we did not want to walk further and also we were carrying those heavy
equipped bags on our backs that it almost broke our backs.
On reaching Oyali, we found it a beautiful place with grass looking so serene and quiet.
There we pitched our tents, took rest for some time and then had dinner. In Oyali we
visited Chaurangi khal and Nachiketa Taal which were in the middle of the forest. Oyali
was a big place. There we enjoyed the beauty of the nature and felt how calm it is. We
were feeling lucky to be in the lap of nature. From Oyali we came by bus to hostel and
feeling so happy and relaxed that we do not have to walk back. There in the hostel we
prepared for graduation ceremony and camp fun. We prepared dances, skit, songs,
small plays etc for camp fun to relax ourselves. Preparing for camp fun was very
exciting as for the first time in those 15 days we were enjoying together and were free to
do whatever we wanted . In graduation ceremony we got batches of NIM by the Chief
Guest and students were also awarded who came up with flying colour in different
activities and competitions,
In the evening we had our camp fun where we enjoyed a lot. We saw different types of
dances and plays and they were very thrilling. We also gave our performance in front of
those 90 students and were feeling very confident and we were not taking that for a
competition, we were just enjoying ourselves and feeling free that we do not have to do
any activity.
But in some corner of our heart we were also sad as very soon we will be leaving that
place and friends with whom we had spent those 15 days which were some of the most
beautiful moments of our lives. We left the place at 6: 00a.m. All were very sad and
depressed. There we exchanged our numbers and id’s with our colleagues. Also we
were happy to go back home which is considered to be the most peaceful place for any
person. All and all it was a good experience for all of us. We learnt many things from
this trip to Uttarkashi and the most important of all, we want to thank PYDS and IAYP
for giving us this wonderful opportunity where we got to learn many new things and it
was a good exposure for all of us. Lastly we can say that always ready to face
challenges and enjoy life as much as you can that is what life is all about. Don’t back
step in any stage of life whether it is good or bad. In fact dare all the challenges for a
successful life.
As Hellen Keller had rightly said : "Life is either a Daring Adventure....... Or Nothing !!!"