“The journey of thousand miles begins with one step”The Proud Rkkians with the membership flag of AFS-India entered the threshold of
Selaqui International school in Dehradun for an Inter-Cultural exchange program from 20th November to 30th November 2022. 14 RKK’s Delegation were
- Yashna Parashar, Shreya Maloo, Mansi Birla, Aarushi Malu, Riddhi Lalwani, Divisha Jain, Mayurika Singh, Divya Budhwani, Vidushi Digga, Yashika Bharti, Advika Bhansali, Divisha Bhandari, Kashvi Goil, Prachi Jain, with their Escort Teacher Ms Awanesh Sharma.On the very same day we were given a warm welcome followed by the tour of the campus and an interactive sessions with the students of SelaQui. Early morning started with spiritual Vedic mantra Chanting, Yoga with music and Zumba sessions. To keep all of us busy, we had many workshops like Pottery, weaving dance, music etc that allowed us to imbibe the diverse culture of Dehradun and Uttarakhand. A visit to Indian Military Academy gave us the chance to bow in the honour of all those soldiers where they all have been chiseled to become a man with difference to make a difference. Exploring the north and south campus including chetwode hall, Salaria Aquatic hall, War memorial and the museum filled our hearts with patriotism.
A trek to Doonga village offered the view of majestic mountains and picturesque scenes which was indeed a blissful sight for all of us. Photo-sessions at “sahastradhara” was mind-blowing, where we clicked and gathered memories. Sports like horse riding and golf came as a surprise that we totally enjoyed the most. A DJ night and bonding time with the students added the vibes to enjoy with the flow. The visit to the printing press offered us to know the journey of a newspaper which reaches to all of us early morning. And at the top of this we were surprised to see our photograph, which was clicked and printed in a while for all of us, gave us the feel of celebrity. A visit to Purkul gave us the opportunity to know about all those ladies who crossed the distance of 30 miles from the peak of the mountain till the foothills to reach out to many through their dextrous handwork through various online shopping stores to earn their livelihood.
Visit to a buddhist monastery taught us the value of peace and we realised how difficult it would have been for a prince to become a monk for the upliftment and betterment for humanity. We left the campus of 50.2 acres of SelaQui on 28 but more adventure was waiting for all of us when we reached to Shivpuri for our camp stay. All the members were trying their best to stay fit in the completely opposite weather conditions and were able to test their skills of being sporty and a challenger.
Caring the fear of to drop down on the heads of barite or the groom as an uninvited guest, right from the top had no fun but a thrill in it during the zip-lining at the height of 85 metres with 340 metres of distance while crossing Barat processions, vast river bed and huge trees left all of us with a wonderful experience, it was indeed a treat to compliment for many of us who idi it for the first time. A visit to Janki Setu, ram Setu, food offerings to the fishes and the rituals of Ganga Aarti allowed us to offer our prayers on behalf of our loved ones and made us realise that we all belong to the Almighty, One Religion, One Community as the holy water reaches to all without difference of caste and creed.
The real definition of adventure is to experience the adventure. And trust me if I say that, while water rafting with 5 high rapids, left all of us with a cold shiver every time we hit the waves, We rowed with strength and experience the literal meaning to sail against the tides. 360 flip into the holy water of Ganges infused all of us with a feeling of satisfaction that we must have been able to get rid of all our innocent mistakes committed so far.
Rightly said,
the few life lessons are learnt while experiencing the real life situations, so trust me that all my team mates have experienced many things as at the end of each day, what food they ate, the place they stayed, the weather they experienced took a back seat as they were busy counting their blessings and preparing themselves for the next day challenges.
