Saturday, August 1, 2009

Treasure Hunt


30/07/2009
And the game begins thus...

You shall be given words to meddle with. One Whole night to unravel the mystery, the forbidden secret shall be the holy key to the gates of unfathomable riches of giza. Encounter, you shall, divine intervention at the turn of the day, your hearts may pound at the sight of every pigeon, for with it comes a new message, a new challenge. Success harbinges wisdom whilst failure comes dear. Bask in the moon's glory to usher in the empire of the sun.

Well, this is how the game began, but a lot went on before that. But a brief into about the Treasure Hunt for the uninitiated...
Its a fun game for the PGP I students...and I am emphasizing on FUN! Firstly, the game starts the night before, and the freshers have to cross a maze of puzzles to find the key which will make them worthy of the next clue. The next clue is given the next morning at 0600 hrs along with a treasure map to help them along the way. And it is here that the plethora of 'fun' breaks loose. One clue to the next, the freshers have to look out in every nook and corner of the campus. And finally, the worthy gets the treasure..eh...there is a minor twist though...
The PGP IIs will provide resistance to their probe as loyal natives...resistance like throwing water balloons, heck...buckets of water...giving out wrong clues so as to set their direction awry! But the motivated and inspired set of seekers do get to the unfathomable riches, yes they do. And that surely is worth all the getting wet.

But, there is more to it than just seeking out the clue...its placing the clues and preparing the puzzles so that it gets the best out of juniors that is so challenging. We started of a week ahead of the date. Decided upon the theme for this year's Treasure Hunt and designed the Treasure Map. Then a day before, we called for entries and started the first round. The game started at 2200 Hrs sharp. We sent out a puzzle to each team for them to decipher. Then stayed up whole night to prepare the other clues, getting them printed, preparing the 'Treasure'. And then at 0400 hrs, we set our journey accross the campus to place all the clues, making sure that the untrained eye would not catch it.

And the game thus began...

What do i feel about it? When I was in the freshman year, I went through the same hunting, and quite frankly, I believe, it is much more than just following the trail, apart from building team spirit, it familiarises the freshers with the seniors, making the bond stronger. And besides, as the freshers search for bounty through the campus, they get to see each and every part of this campus which is going to be their heaven (or Haven...it depends...) for the next two years.

Now, isn't that an unfathomable treasure in itself??

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