Subash Aryal

“Together as a team” is the main theme of outings held by the Deerwalk teams. For Q4 Deerwalk Designer Team Outing, the destination chosen was Sauraha, Chitwan; where lies the Chitwan National Park. Sauraha is famous for its natural beauty, and its diversity in flora and fauna. For the outing, on 19 January, Saturday morning, we (Nimesh, Kedar and I) left deerwalk premises at 6:30 am. As scheduled Dambar, Shukra, Nisha, Manisha joined us at Balaju while Kanchan, Sunil were picked up at Kalanki. We left Thankot at around 7:15 am.

We started to enjoy our time by cracking jokes, singing and playing madal. After reaching Dasdhunga, we stopped and decided to enjoy the Trisuli River side. We played in the sand and took some snaps. Around 12 o’clock we reached Narayangarh and Anjan joined us for lunch. We did some shopping for the evening and headed towards Sauraha; reaching our destination at around 1:00 pm.

We had made reservation at a hotel; and after some refreshments we started on our first activity, canoeing.

In cold weather with the bon fire going, drinks in hand and the team singing together; two hours passed by without anyone noticing.

Our guide Bishnu, received us at the hotel, and we went for canoeing at the Budhi Rapti River. We were excited to see crocodiles and birds while canoeing. We were instructed not to make a lot of noise, as there was a possibility of the crocodiles getting disturbed and attacking us. But the moment was so much fun and exciting that we could not stop laughing, shouting while taking pictures. We saw two types of crocodiles there, Gharial (the one with long pointed mouth) and Magar.

After canoeing, Bishnu asked us if we wanted to go for the jungle walk and we agreed. The weather was getting colder and we felt it was a perfect time for a stroll. We came to know about different species of trees, and saw a herd of deer. Our guide Bishnu was instructing us to walk together as a team while he walked ahead of us. He told us that the huge elephant in front of us was a wild one. We all kept silent, our heart beating faster than normal as we started to walk away from the animal. There was no way to go further and we changed our path. As we were heading towards the elephant breeding center, we suddenly heard the sound of the wild elephant and that caused us to hasten out gait. We roamed around the breeding center for some time before returning to the hotel at 5:00 pm.

We ordered some snacks and waited to watch the sunset. After that we had dinner and started the team building games. We played musical chair. An interesting modification to the game we made was that the one who loses in the musical chair has to perform as per the request of the others. Nimesh arranged the game, Kanchan played the music and we participated and performed. Lastly, Anjan was declared the winner.We prepared for the barbecue. In cold weather with the bon fire going, drinks in hand and the team singing together; two hours passed by without anyone noticing.

After this outing, having seen quick and agile manners of a real deer, we Deerwalkers have a renewed motivation to model our work habits in the same efficient way.

Next day was scheduled for the elephant ride. After having breakfast we went for the ride at 8:00 am. We divided ourselves into three groups for the ride. In one were Kanchan, Nimesh, Kedar, Anjan, in the next were Sunil and Subash and in the last were Dambar, Shukra, Nisha and Manisha. Most of us were riding for the first time. It was morning and the fog was covering the forest. The ride was a lot of fun because we were able to see peacocks and different kinds of deer. We Deerwalkers saw how a real deer walks; and it was quick and agile, no different than the way we develop the software back at the office . We got a chance to see a rhino up close and that was a thrilling experience.

This outing was special for everyone involved. Dambar, who had been a mentor for a lot of the designers at Deerwalk, was leaving the company. We bought him a farewell gift as a token for the time spent together. He was a great professional throughout his years at the company and will be missed.

It was just 10:00 am, so we decided to go for cycling. We cycled for an hour and returned to the hotel. We left the hotel at 1:00 pm. On the way back we stopped at the Bis Hajari Taal (a lake). Collecting fun memories and feeling fully refreshed, we reached Kathmandu in the evening.

Though we saw how a real deer walks, we were unable to see how it does its “shit”. After this outing, having seen quick and agile manners of a real deer, we Deerwalkers have a renewed motivation to model our work habits in the same efficient way.