Youreka! Discover excitement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper

Saturday, May 03, 2003

Young World
Youreka! Discover excitement
YUSUF AHMAD KHAN

Step out of your comfort zone this summer; be adventurous so that you have many "I did it" moments with the iDiscoveri people.

Rapture on rafts...

Summer vacations have this quality of quietly slipping by. There you were watching TV till 2 a.m. and waking up to a lazy breakfast at 11 a.m., and then suddenly there are less than 10 days for the schools to reopen. You are confronted with the familiar hollow feeling of not making the holidays count by doing something productive or of any worth.
The summer vacation is a good time to get away from the closed confines of urban life and experience the refreshing wilderness. Outdoor activities like rock climbing, trekking and river rafting present fulfilling challenges that are great confidence boosters.
To provide a learning experience set in the wilderness, iDiscoveri has organised a series of summer camps of eight days each called Youreka! 2003 which continue till June 30. The camps are located at Tirthan near Kulu-Manali, Sitlakhet near Nainital, Tons near Mori in Uttaranchal and Coorg in Karnataka.
The iDiscoveri philosophy is that for a powerful learning experience, one has to step out of one's comfort zone. A safe environment has been carefully designed for the participants to experiment and acquire new skills. These camps instil confidence through engaging activities, rich relationships and numerous "I did it" moments. Each day participants choose one major activity and two or three minor ones. Five hours each day are spent on the major activity, which could be rock climbing, trekking, white-water rafting, outdoor survival skills, photography, rifle shooting, theatre, aero modelling or mountain biking, while two hours are spent on the minor activities — such as astronomy, first aid, campus radio or newspaper, magic, painting, music or choreography.

Competent course leaders conduct the activities. The emphasis is on learning by doing instead of listening and watching. The activities are designed to be progressively challenging. Very memorable is the "Trust Fall", which requires participants to fall backwards from a raised platform into the arms of fellow participants. You might wonder what the fuss is about, until your turn comes to fall, and you find your body instinctively refusing to obey your mind and fall. Many enduring friendships are formed, and participants go back with the feeling that they were part of a unique experience.

It is significant that iDiscoveri has an impeccable safety record, with more than ,9000 participants having been through the camps without any untoward incident. Each camp has a doctor and adequate supply of medicines.
Downloadable registration forms for the Youreka! summer camps can be obtained from the website www.idiscoveri.com or from iDiscoveri offices in New Delhi (phone 26524331-32, 26517578-79, 26530701-05), Lucknow (phone: 2332397, 2331809) and Chandigarh (phone: 741046).