BENGALURU: Think summer vacations for children and parents often get into a flap. The hunt begins for activity workshops ---hobby craft classes, storytelling or theatre sessions, science workshops or swimming and soccer coaching, but all within the city.
In recent years though, Bengaluru has been seeing an outdoorsy spin to summer activities. Camping out, a takeaway from the west, is hugely gaining popularity here.
Parents are turning a tad adventurous, ready to spend that extra buck to send kids out into the wild, literally. Even if it means for a week or three. Or even if the children are as young as nine. The prices, starting from `15,000 to over a lakh (for international programmes), are no dampener too. So long as children connect with nature, learn new skills, shed some sweat, make new friends and have a fun-filled vacation. So you have kids river rafting in Uttarakhand, pitching camp tents in Yercaud, skiing in Manali, rock climbing in Bhillar, snorkelling in the Andamans, or closer home, cycling in Coorg.
And ensuring kids have the time of their lives is a slew of adventure campers, who’ve happily blended their own love for nature with sound business sense. For Saurabh Saklani, co-founder of Inme, “the love for learning, love for entrepreneurship and independence, and love for the outdoors” came together beautifully in the form of his adventure-based company. Bengaluru has been among Inme’s faster growing regions over the past three years, he says. “This summer we have about 800 children from the city, a solid jump from 600 the previous year.”
Vikas Bhasin, director of Youreka, a veteran player in adventure based learning, agrees. “Every year, we see an increase in first-time campers from the city,” he says.
Dev Sharad, 11, is one of them. Mom Archana, who sent him to a Yercaud camp two weeks ago run by Youreka, says she was a little apprehensive initially. “The instructions were clear: no tabs, no TV, no technology whatsoever. No chocolates, no fizzy drinks or junk food. My son frowned and even went binge eating the night before he left.”
But a week at the camp and he can’t stop raving about it, she says. The outdoor activities, healthy food, energetic trainers, the new friends and sleeping under the stars have simply changed him. “He can’t wait to go back,” says Archana, who works with Intel.
The digital onslaught and lack of opportunities and time to play after school are pushing parents to enrol children in such programmes, says Bhasin.
The companies have carefully-slotted age groups for different programmes. “Parents are willing to spend if they see value in the programme and trust the organisation,” says Bhasin.
Which is why Vandana Sinha, who runs a consultancy firm, has been sending her daughter regularly for these camps. “Bhavna was a shy nine-year-old when she went alone on her first camp. Six summers on, I believe the various programmes have helped her really open up.”
The increasing number of girls is an encouraging sign too, say organisers. “We have always seen a very well balanced gender spread. In fact on one of our toughest crown jewel programmes, the great American bicycle ride which we lead every summer from Seattle to San Francisco, we have had girls outnumber boys,” says Saklani.
The interest in outdoors has spawned many players in Karnataka. Toehold, a photography company, offers tours in Kabini, Bandipur and other forests, helping kids spot and snap sloth bears, bull gaurs, brown fish owls and more. Frolic Boonies, Woody Adventures, Vanamitra and The Green Martin Project run camps, from Agumbe to Mudumalai.
Some programmes even go beyond nature connect or endurance skills. Inme, for instance, engages kids in village outreach and community activities. Many of them also have tie-ups with schools that offer experiential learning as part of curriculum.
Calling it a detox for kids, Archana recalls, “My son never once missed his gadgets or city life during the camp.” And that explains why more parents are opting to send their kids out of the concrete jungles into some real ones.
CAMP FACTS
Age group: 9 to 17
Cost: D15,000-D60,000, depending on place, period and programmes; Rs 1 lakh upwards for foreign locales
Programmes: Mountain biking, rafting, camping, rock climbing, deep sea diving, trekking, ropes courses
Period: April to July, 5 to 21-day tours
Destinations: Across India, including Andamans; foreign programmes include African safaris, biking along US west coast, ski camps in Switzerland