Sikkim – A Monsoon Unconference
WordWeb defines ‘conference’ as “A prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion.” How does one go about unconferencing? The name appears unintutive when you try to bring people together to ‘unfonference’.
When I was invited along with a bunch of bloggers for an unconference, titled ConCLAY, to Club Mahindra Resort at Baiguney, Sikkim, I was unsure of what we do there. It was going to be a prearranged meeting; it was likely to be exchange of information and perhaps a discussion. In that case, what is it about unconference that makes it not a conference? Do we just get there and talk at will without anything specific in mind? How does that really serve a purpose? The friendly folks at Club Mahindra tried to ease the questions, but the answers did not entirely assure me. In any case, I went ahead, decided what I will talk about. But to make it an ‘unconference-style’, I did not work on a tightly prepared presentation and nor did I put my ideas into a powerpoint slideshow. Finally when we were gathered out there, the doubts vanished quickly. It turned out I was with a bunch of people who were doing odd and interesting things because they enjoyed doing it, and the unconference happened to be a wonderful platform to share those odd and interesting things.
There was Mridula, for example, who taught in a university in Delhi and lived to travel. She shared her experiences from her recent trek to Everest Base Camp, narrating her what seemed to be a life-changing experience. ‘Nepal did something to me,’ she said, probably a hundred times in the two days we were there and made me strongly consider a visit to Nepal very soon.
Nepal is not faraway and a trip to Everest Base Camp is perhaps a low hanging fruit that I just have to decide to pluck. But Priya Venkatesh‘s narration of her journey to Antarctica with Sir Robert Swan was something that made me wish I was in her shoes. Priya’s journey was with an important intent, trying to spread awareness on a moratorium to keep the frozen continent unexploited, which will expire in 2041.
Monica Manchanda spoke about her love for food and travel, which made her quit her desk-job in the information technology industry, take timeout to travel and eventually start her own baking business. She showcased images of her preparations, which were tempting enough that we decided to break for lunch soon after her presentation.
And there was Rakhee, an Australian, who once decided to take time off from her work to wander around India and could not leave. Her six months backpacking trip extended to nine, and now she has set up base in Mumbai which may offer her more opportunities to explore the country. Rakhee showcased her images from her travels across the country.
The last presentation was from yet another person who quit his desk job in favour of something else. Vishal Sabharwal bid adieu to his day job to pursue photography and has been spending a lot of time capturing the faces of North East India. He took us through his brilliant collection of portraits of tribes from North East India, which he has been compiling for many years.
I happened to be the first in line to talk during the unconference, thanks to an arbitrary decision to sequence the talks by alphabetical order of names. A decision collectively made by all those people whose names do not begin with ‘a’. I showcased my images from across the Himalayas, which I have been compiling in the last few years.
By the end of the unconference, it was fairly clear to me why it was called an unconference. The atmosphere was not stiff. Each person spoke about a topic he or she liked and there wasn’t any binding common thread. We broke into related and random discussions anytime in the middle, without worrying about any protocols. We went on telling stories without worrying too much about sticking to a crisp agenda. There were no goals to be achieved or targets to be met, except just to share information and have a healthy discussion. And despite this free-talk, we all came out wiser at the end.
The unconference was one of the few gatherings where I truly enjoyed being part of. It was a gathering of good people who were working on interesting things, and were keen to spread awareness of what they were doing. The whole day of the unconference seemed too quick and too short; we could have continued this forever. The Club Mahindra team of Arun, Akshat and Saurabh did an exceptional job in conceiving and organizing the program.
There was, however, much more to the visit to Sikkim besides the unconference. Chef Gagan kept us craving for his delicacies all the time. We spent a morning on a beautiful walking trail at nearby Chakung Village, and an afternoon at Pelling. The pictures above tell much about those places, so I will let the words be. The location of Club Mahindra Baiguney, Sikkim, by itself was charming, next to a river in a green valley. I spent a full morning sitting by Rangeet River next to the campus, and watching a thin strip of fog dancing over the flow.