Trekking has now become a passion for most of us and part of our daily thinking process. This renews our energy. By giving more exposure to nature, the outlook to life changes, as it helps in developing personality, teamwork & leadership abilities, which in turn makes us more creative, constructive and confident in our places of work - inspiring the will to work & the will to win.

K. C. Kidder, Tata Steel Jamshedpur

If anyone ask me how does climbing or river rafting inculcate such qualities, my reply will be "go and do it", you will get the answer. A lot of people go through life never enjoying a sense of achievement because they never set goals. Unless you have a vision of what you want to achieve, you will never achieve it. I can imagine what Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay & Bachendri Pal felt when they reached the Summit of Mt. Everest. That is the power of achievement which drove them to do much more in life. But first & foremost is goal setting, which is learnt in adventure activities. This quality is equally important for any industry. I recommend that adventure activities, under able guides of trained instructors, must be made compulsory in Schools & Colleges, regularly. This will build positive attitude & strong team, which are basic ingredients for a successful organization and a strong nation. "Participate in adventure activities, it is learning with entertainment".

Lt. Col (Retd.) M. Khan, Principal, Usha Martin Training Institute, Jamshedpur

Seeing the rafts moving in harmony, with all six persons paddling together, my children learnt the lessons of excellent team work which would have been difficult to explain in a Class Room. The next lesson one learns is that nothing comes in a silver platter. One has to work for the reward. In today's world children are with either books or TV. This programme really helped my children to be out with nature and feel the flowing river and understand the importance of environment. Once we were back after the lovely adventure my son asks me 'Dad, when are we going again?' This clearly shows the spirit of enjoyment. To sum it up, the whole programme rejuvenates your life style and recharges your batteries. Kudos to all the staff of TSAF who gave us this opportunity for bringing spice to life.

Sarosh D. Rana, Parent participant with wife, son, daughter.

It was one of a kind experience to scale a height of 3000ft. My first such trip and an enjoyable one. Going up or down - both were difficult. As a team we did it. As an individual I would have lost the battle much early. The pain and pinch did happen at the end of the day but the satisfaction accomplishment of the task was more. Our performance as a team made me proud. Hope to enroll in such exercise in future.

Sarbojit M Bose, HCL Infosystems
Attended XLRI Management Development Programme WITH TSAF

Although I had been associated with your adventure sports and had even participated in a few of these, this is the first time that I sent a team of students under my command to such a training programme. Myself being a defence officer, know fully well the value and importance of such programme, yet the feeling was different when I was now looking at them from a different angle. The feeling was fantastic. One can spot the leader in a team through such programmes very easily. During the debriefing at my Institute after their return from the Camp, I could see each one of them fully reformed. They had no inhibition in admitting openly the weaknesses they discovered about themselves and making commitments to work vigorously to overcome these. I also found them to be good team members, understanding each others problems and helping each other. This training programme has definitely helped in creating team spirit and self growth. No class room training can create an impact of this nature. Thank you very much for providing such a good training to our boys and we assure you that we will be your permanent customer for years to come. Wishing you and your team all the best.

Brig. (Retd.) C.S.Vaidyanathan, General Manager, Usha Martin Training Institute, Usha Martin Industries, Jamshedpur
Attended Outdoor Development Programme

I had a wonderful time during the programme. My objective in enrolling for the programme was to spend time with nature in the beautiful Himalayas while getting fit as well. As it turned out, my objectives were quite modest and achievement was much more. I particularly found it very useful to test myself in practical situations where team play, leadership, initiative & tenacity were in demand. It was also useful to observe inter-personal interactions in moments of anxiety, excitement, danger and pleasure. It was indeed pleasurable to experience all these in the beautiful environment of the Garhwal Himalayas. No less a privilege was to receive the medal from the first Indian Woman Everester. Now I find myself wishing that I get many more occassions like that.

Your team's enthusiasm was a great motivator and I particularly cherish the brief interactions I had with you and your colleagues which betrayed the genuine enjoyment that you derive from your work. I dare say, that was a great lesson I learnt.

G.S.Narasimha Prasad, Manager, ICICI Bank Ltd., Chennai
Attended Outdoor Development Programme

Somewhere in Kutch, on a visit as the leader of the Tata Relief Committe to the earthquake devastated region, Mr. Prasad Menon MD, Tata Chemicals met up with the famous mountaineer, Ms Bachendri Pal - who had brought a team from Jamshedpur for relief work. A casual chat resulted in Mr. Prasad Menon being convinced that a stint in the rugged Himalayan outback for some of our managers would go a long way in creating an attitudinal transformation within the organisation. The benefits of this programme can be seen in the energy levels and the positive "can do" approach of these team members, sustained even months after their return. Santosh Shetty writes about his baptism into world of high altitude, low oxygen, high morale, low physical reserves et al ...

Vivek Talwar, Sr. Manager HR, Tata Chemicals Ltd.

... The well structured programme has inculcated into us the aspects of positive attitude, synergy, empathy, leadership, determination, confidence, team spirit and eco-awareness. We thank Mr. Prasad Menon who had the vision that such Outdoor Management training programmes would be effective for personal development. It is said that only through striving and enduring shall one learn to realize oneself, and develop a strong, values based character. This will definitely help us to become better citizens which is the need of the hour in this envious world, which was shamefully depicted in the recent ghastly & barbaric riots of Gujarat.

Santosh Shetty, Asst. Manager, Tata Chemicals, Babrala
Attended Outdoor Development Programme

An Exhilarating experience