ON TOP OF THE WORLD!

Young people, just like everyone else, feel the need to go on holiday, enjoy themselves, visit new places, shop, eat, and be entertained.

However, there is perhaps a deeper, more meaningful way of ‘holidaying’ that might serve students better than the mere shopping vacation to Dubai! To embark on a trip that combines life experiences, character building and adventure.

I remember one such incredible sojourn of my own that I’d like to share to provide an example of what I mean.

The Round Square – a selection of schools from across the world that meets each year over a Conference and a Social Service Camp. The idea is simple – to discuss, deliberate, debate and derive solutions to some of the world’s pressing issues, particularly from young peoples’ perspectives.

While that is the mainstay of the Conference, the Camp on the other hand is much more immediate, less theoretical, entirely practical.

A need is identified at a specific place and a group of approximately forty students, an amalgam of a few kids each from these international schools, gathers over a month and conducts this Social Service Camp.

It so happened that I had an opportunity to be part of my school’s Round Square Service Camp delegation in my eleventh grade, and Ladakh, specifically the town of Leh, was identified as our base. We were to reach there, stay with the Indian Armed Forces for a month, work as daily wage labourers each day and assist in the construction of a local school building.

Most of us took the only Indian Airlines flight from New Delhi to Leh (note this was circa 1996, pre-Private Airlines).

We could spot the awe-inspiring, though a dry and almost arid vast landscape of Ladakh from our daytime flight and made a smooth touchdown into Leh Airport – a rather modest shack with a single runway at the time.

The moment we stepped off the plane, we could sense a certain effort was required to breathe. As per our on-campus briefing, we were prepared to expect lower levels of oxygen at this height, and without any euphoria or obvious physical strain, boarded the Army 1 ton Truck to our living quarters, about four miles from the airstrip.

That day, we were under strict instructions to stay still, not move around too much, and let our bodies and natural biological rhythms acclimatize to the local climate.

The following morning, in typical army style, we were woken up at the crack of dawn. A quick shower and a healthy if somewhat bland breakfast later, we were dropped off at our Construction Point.

In earnest, we met with our team leader, a rather stoic looking Tony Hide, and were shown what to do and where.

Hence began a two-week routine of getting to the construction site early each morning, spending the day laying bricks and cement with our bare hands (something I dare say none of us had ever done previously or even conceived of doing).

By the end of the day, we’d be all but dead; yet the sense of achievement, accomplishment , pride, and the knowledge that we were truly contributing to local welfare, spurred us the following day! Right after two weeks, we were rewarded with a threeday trip to the Nubra Valley.

Crossing glaciers, needing to help in moving trucks off the road during landslides, river-rafting the highest patch on earth from a place called Phe to Nimmu, visiting Chug La, the base camp of Siachen, and consuming copious quantities of the initially terrible but later-comforting Butter Tea and Yak Cheese at several Buddhist Monasteries – it was a time of much discovery, exploration, reflection, and amazement.

Memories became an indelible part of our collective consciousness as we grew more bonded as a cohort. Returning to Leh after our amazing adventures, we had another two weeks of hard work at the school site.

Along with other locals, we managed to complete the basic structure of this new school building, handed over the building official to the local administration, bid our adieus to Ladakh and returned to school in Dehra Dun just in time for the new term to start.

One might wonder why I considered this rather labour-intensive stint a holiday in the first place, more curiously, my favourite vacation!

That is simply because the combination of uncovering uncharted territory, once-in-a-lifetime experiences with the genuinely good work we did, is simply unmatched by any other holiday experience I’ve ever had, and am likely to! I felt, On Top Of The World!