Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 | Page 8

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Little wonder, management institutes and corporate
organisations are now incorporating treks and day hikes
as part of their outbound leadership programmes.
Put simply, what we now term as a trek or a day hike
into the wild was nothing, but a part of the daily
routine of our ancestors, as they foraged the hills and
forests for food and shelter. Sometimes, these hunting
and food-gathering expeditions could run into days or
even a week, and they would then have to depend on the
forest resources for food, shelter and medicine.
We also knew all that and the life-saving skills of our
ancestors, but forgot them as we took to the city life. That
is why several countries in the West, and South Africa and
Australia, which follow a predominantly western style of
life, courtesy the British colonisation, have Boy Scout
programmes modelled on bushcrafting and woodcraft.
households with the same amenities that one would find
in his or her home in the city. But what a 10-year-old
village boy or girl will also know are the valuable lessons in
wilderness skills and survival, passed down from father to
son and daughter through generations, irrespective of his
cultural and financial background.
Little wonder, if a city-bred boy and another boy of
his age from a village finds themselves stranded on a
mountain or an island, the latter will be better equipped
mentally to deal with the situation and bring back both
safely home.
As a nation, we should ensure that our city-bred boys
and girls do not turn up as caricatures of comic strips
who only know how to navigate the virtual world of
smart-phones and social media. That is something we
must avoid at all cost. But before we ask our children
to take to the woods, it’s time we took the initiative to
It’s all about preparing the young ones for the
a healthy lifestyle through treks, day hikes and bush-
hardships of life and the ways of the wild, whether
crafting.
or not the boy grows up to be a forester or a banker.
In the rural India of today, it is not difficult to find
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Welcome to the wonderful life of treks, day hikes and
bushcraft.
Vol 1|Issue 5-6|Nov 16 - Jan 17