Our Time at the Annual Himalayan Retreat

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Our Time at the Annual Himalayan Retreat

14 Nov 2022
- admin
- Student Life
The Himalayan Retreat is a learning intervention organised at SOIL that helps us reveal our true strengths and inner self to us. It is a week-long programme in the foothills of Dharamshala that teaches Appreciative Inquiry. The focus for us was to learn what we truly want to do in life and how to get there through a variety of case studies, lectures, group activities, and personal reflection.

The Sidhbari annual retreat provided students and faculty with space and time to reflect and commit to a long-term plan for their journey to become value-driven leaders. The student’s learning was aided by the unique opportunity to interact with locals at the Chinmaya Ashram in Sidhbari, Himachal Pradesh. SOIL is a new paradigm in management education that aims to provide holistic education that inspires leaders to know, do, and be. The school organises an annual trip to Sidhbari in the Himalayas to help young minds recognise their purpose and realise their full potential.

The retreat began on Saturday, October 29 when the students along with SOIL’s faculty left for Sidhbari. On the first few days, after being comfortably adjusted in the accommodation of the revered Chinmaya Ashram, the students learnt more about the “Personal Power Session” by Mrs. Kanupriya Sekhri, Professor of Business Communication, followed by an “Appreciative Inquiry” session by Mr. Anil Sachdev, Founder & Chairman, SOIL. The fourth day engrossed students to work with the team of CORD (Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development), where they interacted with the villagers and understood their social & functional issues. This activity was led by the team of CORD and Dr. Kshama Metre, also known as Doctor Didi, who is a well-known Indian rural development leader, and a paediatrician, who leads CORD as its National Director.

As the day wound down, the Staff along with the students celebrated a beautiful and peaceful bonfire night where they sang songs and enjoy remembering the days gone by.

The next day saw a presentation on the Findings & Learnings with CORD, presented by the students which was reviewed by SOIL’s faculty, Dr. Metre and Mr. Anil Sachdev. We also had a type of workshop for the students by CMS team where they guided us on how to understand oneself, how to improve on our weaknesses and how to identify where we are lagging in our ongoing placements process and focussed especially on how we can improve. Also, they conducted various activities cohort wise for student’s placement preparations.

On the last day, we visited the amazing McLeod Ganj, a nearby hill station, where students and faculty spent the afternoon time by enjoying in the market, visiting different monasteries and finally returning to Pathankot railway station by evening to board the train.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Anil Sachdev, Founder & Chairman, SOIL said, “Sidhbari is an experience for students to grow and learn to have a sense of gratitude towards humanity. Our students come to Sidhbari every year, here I teach them a course that helps them to understand their inner potential. The whole experience of Sidhbari transforms the students into a better human beings. Here they interview villagers and later enact their learnings through dance, drama, poetry & literature. The experience of Sidhbari stays in the students’ lives as a high point of the learning experience in SOIL. SOIL’s whole purpose is to build leaders with deep inspiration, strong character and competence to take responsibility for their problems.”

CORD, Sidhbari:- CORD now extends beyond Himachal Pradesh and now exists in Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Sri Lanka. CORD’s programs and services have impacted over 700 villages in four provinces of India and it has touched the lives of over 550,000 beneficiaries through this integrated transformation. CORD has also become an inspirational training centre for individuals and institutions across India and from other parts of the world to train and successfully guide their programs. Its micro financing programs within the villages of rural India have been nationally recognized and become a successful model for urban banks to train their employees in these villages.

Finally, the Himalayan Retreat was a fantastic trip experience that provided us with a holistic education and will assist us in becoming inspired leaders.

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