Update: Sorry for the deleted comments. I lost them during a server crash!
The Personal Growth Lab (PG Lab) is an important part of the SPJIMR PGDM curriculum. Conducted at Lonavala every year for the new batch, it is a mix of fun with learning.
The PG Lab for our batch was conducted from 16 to 20 July 2009. 178 of us (half of whom were still strangers to me) set out for Lonavala from Mumbai in four buses. We stopped at Expressway Food Mall for breakfast, before entering the beautiful Sahyadris.
 |
| Dancing in the bus. From SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
At Lonavala, our “laboratory” was the D T Shahani Holiday Home. The Lab started with an ice-breaking session. We were asked to form groups of five people such that none of the five members belong to the same gender, same city, same state or have the same bachelor’s degree. After the formation of the group, the group members were asked to introduce themselves to the other group members. Each of these groups was then asked to merge with another group to form groups of 10 people each. This process continued until three groups, each consisting of 60 members, emerged. The three groups were named “Cocktail”, “Outliers”, and “Floaters”.
 |
| Subrajit enjoying the last piece of cake at George’s birthday bash. From SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
The first two days in the classroom mainly revolved around psychological testing tools such as the perceived self and the ideal self, the Big Five, Johari window, EQ Map, FIRO-B etc. These helped us know more about ourselves and our fellow participants.
 |
| Self-concept of a participant: Boat. From SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
The evenings were spent in birthday celebrations, DJ nights, egg contraption contests, dumb charades, Pictionary and Antakshari.
Finally, on the third and the fourth day, we had the outside activities – trekking, team building games (”Assault”) and the treasure hunt.
The trekking destination was the Lohagad fort. Trekking being one of my favorite activities, I was right behind (sometimes ahead of) the guide. One of the things I hate most about trekking with large groups is that people walk too slowly! Fortunately, this time, I had at least five to ten people accompanying me. The trekking experience was amazing, thanks to the beautiful scenery and waterfalls, the rains and the “reverse waterfall” at the top, where the water was rising upwards due to the strong wind.
 |
| Trekking to Lohagad: Reverse Waterfall – Strong winds make the water rise up! From SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
The “Assault” team-building exercises were my next favorite in the PG Lab. Our group of 60 people was subdivided into 6 teams (one of which named themselves “The Chindichors”!), and each of the teams had to do six activities in minimum time possible. The six activities were:
- Acid Walk: In this game, we were given n+1 wooden planks (for n team members), and had to cross a “river of acid” with the help of these wooden planks.
- A-Frame: Here, we were given a huge A-shaped wooden frame, having four ropes attached to it. One person had to stand on the frame and make it move from one place to another like a compass, while the others had to pull the ropes to balance it.
- River Crossing: Here, we were suppposed to cross a distance of few meters, assuming it to be a river. We were given two wooden planks with strings attached to them. We had to stand on the wooden planks and make sure that we didn’t step out of the wooden planks. Every time a member stepped outside the wooden plank, s/he had to stand in the reverse direction. The ‘river” consisted of two zones: a communication zone (in which we could converse with each other), and a silent zone (in which we had to use hand signals to communicate with each other).
- Roller Coaster: Here we had transfer few balls from one point to another using a series of small pipes, without dropping the balls. Once the ball sets rolling, the team has to keep forming a chain quickly to make sure that the ball doesn’t drop.
- Transfer of Goods: In this activity, we had to transfer balls from one bucket filled with water to another. The only medium we had was a basket with ropes attached to it, and we had to stand in a circle, away from both the buckets.
- Waving the Flock: In this game, one person was the shepherd, and rest of the team members were blindfolded sheep. The shepherd had to guide the sheep (located at different places) to their pen, without using any human language.
Each of the Assault activities required logical thinking, coordination and teamwork.
 |
| Assault team-building games: River Crossing. From SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
The last outdoor activity was the treasure hunt in the open meadows and hills, and the “treasure” was a packet of chikkis!
 |
| From The mariner’s compass came in handy during the treasure hunt. SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
Finally, we had talent search contest, in which everybody was supposed to participate. In spite of almost no time to practice, our batch put up a great show.
 |
| From SPJIMR PG Lab 16-20 July 2009 |
On the last day, we were asked to reflect over our strengths and areas of improvement, and prepare a Personal Development Plan for the rest of our stay at SPJIMR. After this, we had two hours to explore the Lonavala market, and most of us preferred to haunt the chocolate fudge and the chikki shops.
By the time we set out for Mumbai, I knew almost everyone in the 178-strong batch! Overall, a great experience!
Here are some of the photos; I’ve some videos too, but unfortunately, the SPJIMR computer center has put limits on the size of files that can be uploaded or downloaded.
