Unexpected start to SIP

After a night of unprecedented heat and lots of tossing and turning further enhanced by the fact I was using a hoody as a pillow since I had forgotten to bring one, the day had finally come, the beginning of SIP. Awaking at 6.30am was something which I had not been used to as of post exam celebrations and as the rest of the SIP participants will tell you I am not a morning person yet I was ready to get stuck into the first activity after breakfast.

There we all were, sitting eagerly awaiting the start of a new venture, a new exciting chance to aid Sangh in an innovative way, when Dipvandana and Dharmesh walked out of the room! The four of us thought they would be coming with something they might have forgotten to bring and thus in that time we sat and chatted, got to know each other before resting our eyes on the table in front of us. This table had many different objects on it but the one which took our collective eyes was the big red and white board game which takes everyone back to their childhood: monopoly.

We became caught up in the game for about an hour which helped break the ice between us four, even forgetting Dharmesh and Dipvandana were gone. As the start of the second hour began we decided to make a start on our projects and discussed ideas with each other and writing out initial plans until the session was complete.

This first session was named Choice, it was our own choice to play monopoly and mess about at the start but we then decided on our own terms to start working upon our projects. This would be replicated when we went back to our own towns since we would not be micro managed but our progress would be down to us. This was not the way we envisaged the start of SIP but we all felt we had gained something from it especially the new ideas and perspectives of our peers and we looked forward to the rest of the sessions hoping they were to be as imaginative as the first.