A Retreat at Sitlakhet

I was part of a group of teachers from the S.P. Group that visited Sitlakhet for a four-day retreat before the commencement of classes after the summer break. We gathered at the New Delhi Railway station for the onward journey on the 25th prior to boarding the Shatabdi express which then departed for Kathgodam at 6:00 a.m. A few stoppages en route meant we reached Kathgodam after 12:00 p.m. After arriving at Kathgodam, we boarded Innovas for the rest of the journey to Sitlakhet (We stopped for lunch at the Royal Wind restaurant a couple of kilometres from the Railway Station). Since we were already running late, we reached our destination, The Pinewood Cliff Camp well after 5:00 p.m. After the tent allotments, there was a briefing about the adventure activities for the rest of the days by Mohd. Zahid, also known as Vicky also part of Team Adventure and a briefing by Vikramjeet Sinha our well known Art Therapist. The brief stretch was then followed by an evening session by Vikramjeet Sinha on nurturing and bringing out the child within ourselves.

On the 26th of June, we had a lot to do! There was a Zen Walk followed by a Zen Painting session conducted by Vikramjeet before breakfast. After Breakfast, there was a warm-up session by Vicky from Team Adventure followed by a briefing about the day's adventure activity which was a trek to the Sihai Devi Temple. We were given maps and compasses and told to find the way. It was a fun activity especially with so many of us suggesting different routes. We finally did reach the temple well in time as we decided to take the oft-trodden path. After we returned we had lunch and thereafter a training session with Vikramjeet Sinha post lunch and dinner. The rest of the time was spent exploring the campsite. We were surprised to know that the camp had quite an interesting history. It had once been a tea-plantation. The main building seemed to be a flashback into the history of the Victorian era buildings.

The 27th of June was yet another busy day for all of us. After breakfast and a Zen Painting session With Vikramjeet, there was a briefing by Vicky of Team Adventure and then we proceeded to the site for the Zipline adventure activity which included learning how to tie different knots so that we could tie ropes to two trees. This activity was completed well in time and we reached the camp on time. We had two workshops with Vikram post lunch and dinner on connecting with the inner child. There was a lot to do after we returned to the camp such as identifying archetypes in us and creating and sharing stories.

We were scheduled to return to Gurgaon on the 28th so many of us woke up early for the return trip. after breakfast, we had a brief warm-up session with Vicky and his team. After closure, we boarded our Innovas for the trip to Kathgodam. We left the Camp at 8:45 a.m., reached the Royal Wind Restaurant at 1:00 p.m. and boarded the train at the Kathgodam railway which departed at 3:30 p.m. We reached the New Delhi Railway station at 9:42 p.m.

It had indeed been a hectic but most rewarding trip especially as it provided us with many anecdotes about life both abstruse as well as mundane and funny. Taking photographs of each other, selfies with mobile cameras, taking photographs of the stars (in which one seemed to capture a UFO in flight), the night trip to the ruin a little way beyond, the campfire and the dance, all of them seemed to be an appropriate way to mix fun with the serious.