The
13th National Boscoree 2018 in progress at the Don Bosco Campsite in
Nashik, Maharashtra welcomed the first day of the New Year 2019 at the crack of
dawn with BP’s Six. Having waited up till midnight to bid goodbye to 2018 with
prayer, song and dance, the tired yet enthused scouts and guides were up and
ready for yet another gruelling day of fun, adventure and harmony.
The
mandatory morning scout practices of Scout’s Own, inspection of the campsite
and the tent cleanliness, and the Flag Break was done with the usual
discipline. Wrapping up the early morning deeds, the scouts and guides were all
keen and eager to get to the ‘adventure games’ zone specially erected for a
day-long adventure thrill. The general theme of the first day of the New Year
was ‘harmony’. Each of the scouts and guides participated in the 20-game
adventure setup, earning points and winning laurels for their efforts.
Mr. Zahid Qureshi the only Indian to be certified
as official bungee Jump Master from the Bungee Consultant International, Canada
(BCI) and a professionally certified mountain climbing expert apart from being the
youngest jump master in India, designed
and set up the ‘adventure games zone’. The scouts and guides thoroughly enjoyed the games designed. Tarzan
swing, vertical rope ladder, swing crossing, horizontal ladder, log balancing,
plank walk, sloth walk, bamboo wall net climbing, monkey crawl, commando bridge
and tyre jumping ensured that the young guns had an exciting adventure of fun,
frolic and grit.
Father
Glenford Lowe, Programme Coordinator 13th National Boscoree said,
“this adventure sports at the 13th National Boscoree 2018 is
designed to evaluate and build up resilience, common sense, kindness and an
independence of mind among the young scouts and guides. The question what
really makes the difference when it comes to making a success of your life,
resulted in us deciding to do something about one thing: character. Grit,
resilience, determination through outdoor activities frees the mind and
liberates the spirit. Moreover it helps develop camaraderie of sorts, allowing
the young to live harmonious lives.”
The
evening, after a tiring day of adventure, thrill and harmonious competition to
outdo each other in succeeding at the games, was dedicated to a reflective and
introspective session on ‘harmony’. The scouts and guides traced their palms on
a piece of paper after which they asked five others from other patrols/schools
to trace their palms over theirs. This added a colourful touch to the activity. Yet,
the day is not done. Eagerly awaiting the colourful array of dazzling cultural
displays, the scouts and guides are all excited to witness the harmony in
diversity of Indian cultural attire through song and dance.
Qureshi, the adventure enthusiast and expert
–trainer quipped, “character training is nothing new. It is exactly what Robert
Baden-Powell wanted scouting to be. For him,
it was of more value than any other attribute in life, and that can happen very
well with these theme adventure and extreme sports zones.”
