Mangaluru: When Western Ghats become a teacher for city kids

Mangaluru: Deep inside the minds of every parent living in the comforts of a city, is an urge that their kids should know what it is like living away from their comfort zones, preferably closer to nature, sharing resources and spaces with others, learning to climb rocks, trees, wading through the water and even sleeping in cramped tents under the open sky.

This coastal city is close to the sea and to the Western ghats. Such a learning experience has been created by the adventure-loving couple Nandagopal and Sachitawho have tied up with 'Hakuna Matata' (this word was popularized by the 1994 Disney film the Lion King) which is also an adventure club in the city. "In our decade long experience in running the Centre for Integrated Learning (CIL) we saw there was a definite void in the learning process of city-bred children. They are brought up in such a secure environment by their doting parents even to the stage when their children become young adults - making them misfits to live out of their comfort zones.This is a very sad thing to happen to a youngster, which is why we have devised this short adventure camp," director of the CIL,Nandagopal said.

The couple are also wary of the fact that the overtly protected environment also made the children selfish, as they have everything in abundance living in nuclear families. "Children in their early puberty days need that push for making them self-confident and developing a spirit of sharing and caring when they are in a group. The Hakuna Matata adventure camp wanted to give this experience to them. We have been conducting such exposure camps for 13 years - Village Visits, Jungle Survival, Nature Exploration, Adventure and what is under focus here is learning," Co-founder of CIL SachitaNandagopal told Hans India.

Parent of Anjana and Nia said, "We did not know what our children were missing all these years until I sent them to the CIL-Hakuna Matata adventure camp at Hakkalalli in Nandigod near Sagar in Shivamogga district. I am now more confident about my children that they can survive well anywhere as the things they learnt makes them better and confident individuals" the parent has told Nandagopal-Sachita to enrol her children even for the future camps.

Another parent found in their daughter and son marked change, they had done activities they did not they existed. Rock Craft- Free Climb and Rappling Down, Swimming in Sharavathi Backwaters, High Rope Activities- Hanging Ladder Climb, Single Rope Bridge and Zip Liner and many more "yes they had a few scratches on their elbows and knees and had to adjust with other campers in their tents. They also had their meals sitting in the bus stand, but it all made a great difference".

Safety was a major concern and the experts from Hakuna Matata- Gangadhar Gowda and his team trained in the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Himachal Pradesh took care of the safety says Nandagopal.