Wonder Valley !

The place was aptly named "Wonder Valley", yet another place of fun & team exercise.
A group of 37 assembled at the Wonder Valley to hang out for a day & drench ourselves in a plethora of planning & adventure.

We were warmed up by the organizers there who made us stand in a circle & did those "energizers" which were the names given to such games. It was done to break apart the lethargy and reluctance among the people to freely participate in teamwork.

Dynamic Obstacle Course (DOC) was the next one, I must say this was the best Team Building Event I have ever come across. The whole course reminded me of Takeshi's Castle in POGO, which I had always wanted to try out. DOC though not so vigorous in degree was atleast similar in intention. Four teams were formed out of the 37 and each was asked to choose their own territories to play the game. Each team needs to go through 3 sectors and get to the other side. There are obstacles in each sector and the team needs to use the resources provided; poles and rope, to get from one side to the other.

So we began having a look at the resources we were given - two wooden poles, two ropes, and a drum (nay I call that a Baby). Yes, the drum was a portable one termed as the "Baby" in DOC game. The objective of the game was to carry the baby from one end to the other (of the entire territory ridden with various obstacles), without putting it down on the ground or handling it violently (by tossing him into air, etc..). In addition, all the team members had to also get over to the other end with their respective resources. The obstacles present were crossbars, swings, rubber tyres suspended from trees, free hanging ropes, stones and other artificially created ones. If a team member touched the ground while crossing over, he had come back & start over again. But the worst part said - "If you put down the baby, all of you need to come back to the starting point & begin again !!"

We were given 10 mins to devise our game plan. We needed to use the poles for walking over from one obstacle to another, exploring every possible way we could best beat the obstacles, keeping the baby safe with us. We could spot another team approaching from the other end. So it was going to be based on mutual cooperation. We both helped us in understanding the sectors each of us crossed and about how we overcame the obstacles.

It took an hour for completing the DOC. Having had lunch then, we were ready for the next activity - "rafting" which was to be exciting specially because it was we who were going to build out raft. The raw materials at our disposal were -
* Bamboos (12 ft, 6ft, 4ft)
* Rubber Cylinders (to be inflated)
* Ropes
The life-jackets, paddles were the common accessories.
We were given 10 mins to sketch the design of our raft and get it approved from our guides. Then we needed to procure the stuff & build the raft.
It was a novel experience out there learning how to set a raft and float on it.

Having built the raft, six of us could get into water with four guys paddling, two at front, two at the rear. Being built of merely bamboos and designed like a grid, we were thoroughly soaked in water. After frolicking in water, going out to three-fourths of the breadth of a lake (which our guides told us was about 60 ft deep), we had to return to our base.

We returned thoroughly drenched & the coffee that ensured was relishing indeed.
Overall a different experience for me :)

Catch the glimpse here :

PaintBall @ Yuyutsa..

Two weeks flew past after I joined my Internship @ Intel and my team was already craving for a "Quarterly", which was how our outings were branded as. And so our itinerary finally stood out promising an exciting finish of PaintBall.

The Agenda for the day long (Dec 7) event run as -
----
10:30-12:00 (Comprised of collective team building activities)
12:00 (Lunch)
Post Lunch (PaintBall Game)

Here we go !! 15 of us set out in the typical IT-Garuda Vaahan (SWARAJ MAZDA), the eternally adapted vehicle for transporting all software engineers and IT analysts across the city. The weather in the city was not very promising but then we hoped that we would invent fun @ the end. The talk in the bus mainly focussed on the heroic and highly inspiring starlwarts of Tamil/Telugu Cinema viz - Vijaykanth, Balakrishna, etc..

After reaching the Confident Casacades Club at 10:30, it was now time for us to settle down at a shelter & plan our team building games. Finding a place was difficult, too many groups had already camped with their own agenda.

Having settled down, we divided ourselves into 3 teams and started off with simple ones like Newspaper Building (in which each team was required to build something out of newspapers). Our teams were supposed to build "Bridge", "Charminar", "Cubicle @ Intel" respectively. After couple of minutes, we got some reasonable pieces of architecture, which each of the teams justified & marketed overwhelmingly. For instance, The Cubicle was designed so that it had a Laptop, ergonomic chair, cupboard, labels, shelf & so on. It was overall a commendable team work. We had couple of other games involving linking random sets of pictures (which turned out an exotic fun to my surprise) & a MinersGame in which we had a 3x8 grid of black&white tiles & each team had to crossover from one end to the other, without stepping on certain tiles which had mines lying underneath them. It involved considerable presence of mind & memory.

It was 12 when we ended & proceeded to the Lunch arranged by the Cascades team.
It was drizzling by then & there was a shallow swimming pool wherein hell lots of school kids were tumbling, tossing each other and wildly diving into the water. We specifically spotted a guy (kid ofcourse) sporting a brown monkey cap, sweater, sitting composed on a chair & staring at the kids as if remarking - "What crazy fun are you having out there !!!" (I suggest you check him out in the pics below). It was awesome to see the diverse reaction that he displayed on his little face.

Lunch was a complete one - Soup to Desert, I don't intend to delve into any specific details.

Post Lunch was the game that we had planned for - PAINTBALL. I had heard of it from quite a lot of sources & the mixed remarks were :

* It might hurt you at times
* It a tiresome activity
* Ultimate fun

We reached the PaintBall spot & I now knew that all the conceptions I had of the game was going to unfold. So here it was before my eyes, two large netted game arena designed much akin to a military field wherein you are supposed to get into in teams of two with guns and protective gear & shoot your opponents with bullets (which were balls filled with paint). Each arena is basically stacked with bunkers facilitating each gunman to hide & march further shooting down their opponents. The bullets used are filled with paint & leave a traceable mark when they strike a person. So the bottomline is - you are out of the game if you get a mark on your body (helmet, gun or elsewhere).

We played three variations of the game -

1.Dead Man Out
The objective was simple. You team has to shoot down all your opponents.
Ideal strategies need to be followed by a team as to the formation, combat & firing their opponents. Once you are hit by a bullet (the paintball pellet spills spreading color on you), you come out of the battle field & watch the game from outside cheering up your team.
2. Center Flag
Aim is to capture the flag at the center and take it to the opponent's base. The team that accomplishes this first, wins. But hold, its not as simple as it may seem. You need to plan as to who gives the person carrying the flag a safety cover & safeguards him, keeping the opponents occupied by engaging them in crossfire.
3. Double Flag
There are two flags each at the base bunkers (the bunker where you hide initially & start the game). Your have a dual role to play - to capture your enemy's flag bringing it to your base & to defend your own flag. You need to execute this combo of defence & attack efficiently.

The game as such exposed huge fun with situations wherein people ran out of bullets & kept revolving around a bunker, people getting shot from behind without noticing their enemy having surrounded them, shots fired from distance of a meter or so (mind you, it hurts at times, especially if fired from so close a vicinity, afterall the bullets travel at a maximum speed of 80 miles an hour !), getting blows on the helmet (bull's eye !!). There are situations in which an the entire team gets out but for a single person & he is surrounded with all of his enemies pointing guns at him. The game drives sheer amount of thrill and fun.

After having completed our three games of PaintBall and couple of our team members injured (because they were shot at their limbs which werent protected properly & they were struck from a very close distance), we made a move.

We then had some snacks @ the club & returned. The experience we had was amazing, I would suggest the reader to go & try it out. It gives you a hands on idea of how a real combat firing could possibly turn out, without the danger of getting killed ;)

Have a luk @ the pics :


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