Adventure is the light that can inspire the Sun. It possesses the power to broaden the mind. At Butterfly Innovations, working on CollPoll itself is an adventure spanning across several challenges that teach and inspire. We share common interests within the team; we’re all explorers who work together. We aren’t afraid to step foot into uncharted territories.

Having had an engaging yet exhausting month, it was imperative that we take a refreshing break somewhere away from the city. This break came in the form of a trip to one of our colleague’s farmhouse in Chikmagalur. We, the team members started off on a chilly Friday mid-January morning (15th) in two cars. Traversing across Bangalore, we headed North West.

We stopped over for breakfast and refreshments on the way and travelled about 300 kilometres to encounter dense forests and a view so scenic that it took our breaths away! We got down from our cars where the concrete roads ended and kuchcha roads started. The reactions on each member’s face were pretty polarised when we realised that the farmhouse was a kilometer climb away!

Sifting through, climbing a sufficiently wide road across a dense forest and sparse habitation, we finally reached our place of residence for the next few days. The cars made their way with our luggage after we reached. Nestled between hills, coffee and cardamom plantations, and lush tall trees was the farmhouse. We found ourselves in the safe arms of natural wilderness.

We revved up our bodily engines with adequate rest before indulging in a game of box-Cricket. We were hit with the realisation that we were not in Bangalore when it hit us that was no food delivery service to bring us lunch. Hell, there was hardly accessible mobile internet for us! We trekked back the kilometre we came through and walked further to the nearest town to get lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking rest and gathering firewood for the evening. In the evening, a very interesting group activity helped all of us team members retrospect individually and gain insights into each other’s thought processes. Each member was asked to write down his/her obituary. This activity helped us assess ourselves and our standing in life, comparing it to what we want to be. We then held an interactive session where each member shared his/her thoughts about the other. These activities, spanning more than 4 hours proved to be the highlight of the trip.

Gazing into the clear night-skies, we then lit a bonfire. The heat from the bonfire when the chilly winds blow past your cold senses; is an experienced better felt than written. We then cooked dinner, enjoyed conversing gleefully and then retired to bed.

With a new morning came in new plans, but the Cricket remained. Deciding to scale things up, we walked back on the same route to a field near a local school. We played 2 games of 10 overs each there. Quoting the children who screamed from the school windows, ‘we played Cricket in English’! Having well stretched our bodies and senses, we headed to town for lunch. Was it the tiredness or was it the food in itself; we found some of the tastiest Silver-Fish fry there, and satiated our taste buds to some magical food. We returned through a hilly climb through the back road (it was the second route to the farmhouse), stopping over at a small stream flowing past. We cooled our feet and found a Puppy patiently following us and guarding us through. He followed us till a farm after which we had to climb the hill all the way to the farmhouse.

After returning, we took rest and played some board games. A half of our group then went back to town to refresh our food supplies and the other went around the farmhouse exploring. While returning from town, the same Pup followed us again. His vigour enhanced double fold after we fed him biscuits. He followed us all the way to the farm again. All of us returned back to the farmhouse by the evening.
We lit a bonfire again and went to sleep after enjoying a sumptuous home-made dinner.

The next morning, we returned back to Bangalore. On our way back, we stopped at Chenakeshava Temple in Belur. We were amazed by the sculpting work on stones in the temple which had stood the test of time.

The essence of this trip can be summed up by the simple things we did which helped us re-energize our senses. From simple games of Cricket to conversations at dinner to appreciating nature in its purest form to spending blissful time with the guard Pup; it’s difficult to find ourselves indulging in these simple pleasures of life every day. We returned back with new perspectives, newer stories to tell, newer mountains to scale and newer horizons to achieve with our passion – CollPoll.