Perhaps the worst thing our superiors could have done was let us know about our Out-Bound-Training program just 2 days before it was to happen, and that they did. Writing about it is very difficult because there was just no structure, no starting point, and no clear goal. Surprisingly, the OBT was successful and pleased our superiors.
The entire batch of 22 of us was divided in to 3 teams of 8-7-7. All teams were to meet the following objectives:
My team of 7 had 4 non-sporting, more than slightly obese entities so we were covered as far as the food department was concerned but on the athletics front, our performance was poor. We brain-stormed on dishes and learnt that only one of us knew to cook. So we decided on my idea of simple-practical. A common gravy of tomato-onion with the usual spices for the two dishes (cottage cheese and chicken). And as for dessert, we received a suggestion to make coconut laddoo.
We had just 2 hours for shopping the previous evening for our inventories that included 3 serving bowls, 2 cooking pots, a gas stove, LPG cylinder, spatulas, serving spoons, refined oil, spices et all. We were totally stuck when we discovered that the whole town of Hosur was out of cottage cheese. We hunted for a substitute and zeroed in on Soy chunks, its called meal-maker but that night it was a savior. Phew!!!
I was second to reach the destination, very close to the catchment area of a dam. By making good time I ensured that our team average time would be mediocre and not abyssmal. We won 1 out of 4 management games mostly due to the athletics handicap, and finished either 2nd or 3rd in the others. The time finally came for us to prepare the meal and it was agreed that I do the dessert. I don’t know what a coconut laddoo is but that day I got my hands rogered in a paste of dessicated coconut and condensed milk. Sticky, and I couldn’t even scratch my nose when it itched. I had to seek assistance. I came up with a dessert item that was so much in demand that we couldn’t meet it. It won praises from all who were lucky enough.
Chicken was exquisitely prepared and it was rated the best among the 3 chicken dishes. The soy preparation was very salty. The lady in the team had no sense of proportion and dumped too much of it. It had to be doused with more masala. It turned out that we were the first to deliver- 5 minutes before the bell. We won the food challenge and since we used just half a litre of refined oil, there was none left. Our oil waste was minimum, no waste in the dessert, no chicken wasted and all the food was finished. No waste other than some plastic from the packaging. We got the points on waste and inventory management.
But sometimes when things are going too well, something must be wrong. So along came the news that athletic ability weighed higher than food preparation and we came in second. I expected to be third when the OBT began, but we did better than that. This post is dedicated to the team that accomplished it. Cheers!
