The Story Continues...

Hi fellas,

This has been a busy week. Hardly had I returned from Goa, when I was off again to Khandala for a training program with the Monsanto Finance team. The venue was the Dukes Retreat, and I was pleased with the service, hospitality, food and general layout. The offsite was a lot of fun, as usual, but also tiring and I found myself dozing off in my chair after a wonderful lunch, the AC bang on my face.

But hey, I gotta get back to my travelogue. Spoke about my train journey last time (didn’t expect to compose an entire post on it, but you know me, can’t stop ranting!!) So, time to move on...

Yes, my cold did get better, but that wasn’t until dusk after I’d reached the resort. Dona Sylvia is located close to Hathi Mahal, Leela Kempinski and Holiday Inn in the plush but sparsely populated area of Mobor, South Goa (about an hour’s drive from the Dabolim airport). It’s a lovely place with cozy rooms and amiable staff. They have their own entrance to the beach, and other facilities to pamper guests include the spa, gym, swimming pool, a couple of bars and banquet halls, etc.

The swimming pool was a big hit amongst visitors – both ISABIANS and tourists. While I admired watching people enjoying themselves in the pool, I also felt a hint of remorse coz I couldn’t swim. Must learn ya! It’s great exercise and so much pleasure... Soon...

GK Test – What are “reduced milk dumplings in sugar syrup”?
Answer : Gulab jamuns!

Sounds eerie, eh?!!

(This piece of knowledge is brought to you by me courtesy the menu at Dona Sylvia.)

The main course was cheaper than the breakfast, and the booze seemed to be the cheapest, but as I soon discovered, the food quality was good. I wasn’t too happy when the same menu was repeated every 3rd day, but well, life isn’t perfect all the time!!

I shared my room with a female from Aamchi Mumbai, and as she had done my lab before, I found quite a bit of respite in sharing my experiences and questions with her.

(Jeez, I can sense I’m not telling you the full story coherently. Might as well familiarize you with some facts about ISABS.)

ISABS stands for Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science. It is a national, non profit, voluntary, professional organisation founded by a group of behavioural scientists engaged in applying their knowledge and skills for the well-being of persons and organisations. (Got doubts? Visit - http://isabs.org/ )

To cut a long story short, they conduct educational and training programmes based on experiential learning and the laboratory technology. These are carried out all over the country on a regional and national level, and are open to all regardless of age or occupation. (More details here - http://isabs.org/activity.shtml )

I’d gone for the Basic Lab, which is called Personal Growth Lab - the first step for any person wishing to start their ISABS journey, explore themselves further, or build a career in the training/facilitating domain.

The journey commences with the Basic Lab, followed by the Advanced, and then you have the Professional Development Program (PDP) which consists of 2 phases and an internship. One may choose the number of labs he/she wishes to do, and people may not necessarily join the PDP. It’s basically fun, and then if you think you’d like a career like that, then you go on... Get it?

Back to where I let off... Me and my roomie were in different labs. That’s how they pair room-mates and lab-mates; no one shares more than one connection. It's part of the learning process. So, ideally, people belonging to the same company (and I didn't realise a lot of organizations send their employees to ISABS on an ongoing basis, as part of their development) would not be in either the same room, or the same lab.

Now what IS a lab? It’s something that I can’t tell you. In fact, even if I tried, I don’t think you’d understand. (This isn’t an assumption; I still remember the facial expressions of the women in my house when I was trying to share my experience with them.)

Just take it from me that it’s probably one of the bestest things you’d be doing in your life. Whether you go for fun or learning or any other purpose, 95% satisfaction guaranteed. And you know better than me that nothing in life is 100% sure...

(Not even the Lasik eye surgery which costs a whopping 40 grand, they say you might get your glasses back even after the operation. Telling you this coz I’d planned to get it done before July this year – my birthday gift to myself – but the doc says I gotta wait until my eye power’s stable. It changed a few months ago, whereas it was constant for 4 years before that!! Dumb destiny...)

Looks like I’ve exhausted this post length in just introducing you to the resort and ISABS... Tell you what, you go have a good weekend, and when you return to this page, I’ll try to have it updated with the more electrifying stuff... I need a break too yaar!

Adios!
Princess