The Best Way to Unwind this Summer

All in praise of Youreka! :



Saturday , April 23, 2005

Kids going over the hills this summer

Express News Service

New Delhi, April 22: Fifteen-year-old Rohit Rajagopalan’s favourite summer hangout is Sitlakhet in the Kumaon ranges in Himachal Pradesh. Post-examinations, this student of GD Goenka School, Vasant Kunj, is getting ready to keep his tryst with a trekking trip.

‘‘After slogging it out in classrooms, the best way to unwind is trekking,’’ he says. His mother, Kalpana agrees.

‘‘Rohit and my other son Bharat prefer the outdoors to indoor activities, like theatre workshops and painting classes. The outdoors are not only refreshing, they also teach kids to survive in the wild,’’ she says.

Youreka , an organisation that organises summer camps for children in the age group of 9 to 17 years, is taking kids to Sitklakhet, Tirthan and the Tons hill range in Garhwal for rock climbing and mountain biking. The eight-day camp will see the young ones living it up in the pristine hills.

The tough terrains are the flavour of the season - a cakewalk for 11-year-old Armaan Talreja, a student of St. Columbus School, Gol Dak Khana. ‘‘I went on a week long trip to Tirthan last year. We walked in the forests, it was very exciting to be there on our own. We learnt how to make and live in tents,’’ he says. Right now, Armaan is bargaining for a trekking trip as opposed to a family holiday.

Schools too encourage the outdoors — something not possible in a mountainless city like Delhi. ‘‘Our kids are going to Mussourie for 10 days where they can go horse riding, golfing, and for nature walks,’’ says Madhu Chandra, Lotus Valley International School, Noida.

Springdales, Dhaula Kuan has come up with a novel idea for their summer camp. ‘‘We have 133 kids from underprivileged backgrounds. So we are organising a month-long session where we will take them on nature walks, to the planetarium and also some activities like dance, music and computer awareness classes,’’ says principal, Jyoti Bose.