THE SERENITY AMONG LEAVES…

THE SERENITY AMONG LEAVES…

Mangalore Today News Network

By Vaishnavi Pavithran, Pranjal Ghate and Sanjana Pai
Mangalore, May 28, 2014: Stretching to the limits, the city kids had an experience of their lifetime at the Jungle Survival Camp organized by Centre for Integrated Learning. From the hustle bustle of the city to the serenity amidst wilderness; from cozy comfort zones to moonlit skies without electricity and the mobiles; from mother’s cooked delicacies to sumptuous self cooked food; from the cushioned beds to sleeping on gunny bags, the campers worked hard to survive but at the end of the three days, felt blessed to have this experience that only made them bolder, tougher and stronger. Here are a few campers sharing their experience on their journey to a different world far away from theirs…

 

Ever wanted to get away from the buzz of the city and wonder how it feels to live without these modern human creations? Well, I have and I got an answer that  satisfied all the curiosity I had from so many years. The answer is ABSOLUTE bliss. The peace of the jungle, the music of the river, the harmony of various sounds arising from around you and giving you a sense of awareness about the diversity in the beauty of nature just cannot be explained in words.

A lot changed in those quick 72 hours. By the end of the first day we learnt to forget that we had our phones switched off and enjoy the pleasure of singing around the bonfire under an open twinkling sky. And as we neared the third day and dipped ourselves into the river which was our last stop for the trip, we were transformed into carefree youngsters immersing ourselves into the waters with gleeful smiles without a single trace of worry over bugs or any other small insect, cherishing each other’s company and enjoying the natural Jacuzzi gifted to us by mother nature from modern brats cribbing about everything and freaking out over every tiny creature existing around us and pinning our lives on the batteries of our phones.
 
It was really an eye opening stuff which made a pampered urban kid like me to really care for the people who struggled to even survive. I wanted to do something that could help them and then I realized it was out of my reach. It kindled my inner chord which was urging to help people who were in trouble.

The irony lies in the fact that we were city monkeys who went to the jungle and got civilized.

One thing is very sure though; the notion that we are modern and developed from them is not exactly right. Because after seeing them, I think they are civilized and we need to learn from them away from our concrete jungles…among the serenity of the leaves.

“We were there with a purpose and did realize at the end of three days how profound and meaningful this journey was all about.”