Everyday at 5 AM in the chilly winter of Mussoorie, 561 officer trainees (OTs) in LBSNAA were expected to leave for the Polo PT ground, an uphill 2.5 KM “walk” (read: trek) on a hilly terrain.
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Everyday at 5 AM in the chilly winter of Mussoorie, 561 officer trainees (OTs) in LBSNAA were expected to leave for the Polo PT ground, an uphill 2.5 KM “walk” (read: trek) on a hilly terrain.
The course director had made it crystal clear during orientation: Violation of any rule will attract a visit to Reflection Centre. What’s the Reflection Centre? It's the innovation of FC 98—a cozy little room where you get to sit in silence for 3 hours, with no phone, no laptop, no books—just you and your thoughts, reflecting on a topic the faculty kindly assigns. We all had a good laugh about it... until reality hit.
Heading to LBSNAA, we were told training is all fun. Day one of PT hit, and the reality check was quick! On onesuch day, while we were trekking to the PT ground, one brave soul suddenly had an Eureka moment. After some quick mental math, he figured out - if you factor in the buffer time, and this trek+ PT was basically a 2.5-hour endurance test. It’s better to skip the PT, sleep for 2.5 hours, and then cruise into the Reflection Centre to do absolutely nothing for 3 hours!
As predicted, I didn’t see him the next morning. Smart move—or so he thought!
However, for the rest of the training PT days, he was suddenly the most punctual OT around—talk about a miraculous change! Never risked a visit to Reflection centre again. Just like him, 500 other OTs would rather break a sweat in gruelling PT than face the true terror: the Reflection Centre.
We tend to wish challenges could just pack their bags and leave us in peace. But here’s the twist—life without challenges is like a story without plot twists: flat and boring. These hurdles? They’re the spice that makes life interesting. They teach us to truly cherish the small wins—a good cup of coffee, a sunny morning, or a quiet moment.
Let’s be honest, the real challenge isn’t in the freezing 5KM treks through Mussoorie; it’s sitting alone in a cozy, warm room for three hours with nothing but your thoughts and that too after intense training sessions of around 12 hours! The “innovation” of the Reflection Centre? It worked like a charm—turns out, The toughest trek is often the one through your own mind.
You can outrun the miles, but can you outrun your thoughts?
That's the PT ground visible in the pic :)