26 Aug Estimation and Pirates

Date ; 26th Aug 2006

First of all, the uniforms were distributed to juniors and some seniors who had lost their uniforms.

One wouldn't call this meeting as exciting as the others so far, but nevertheless it was quite enjoyable (after all its scouts !!!).

To begin with, Ajit arrived first and asked the TL(Apurva) to call a rally. The patrols rallied and recited the prayer song. Andre of P4 found out that class XI A was vacant and we shifted to the place.

This was when we were explained what estimation is and which are the methods one can use to estimate height, distance or weight (we were taught just these three things that's why I am not stressing a lot on this).
Yahya Poonawalla and Rohan Menghani gave us sufficient and elaborate explanations and Ajit was always present to refine the explanations further thus making sure that everyone understood properly.

Five methods were explained, three for estimating height, one for distance and one for weight.
-For height, Lumberman's, H1-H2 and Inch to foot were the methods taught to us.
-For distance, 30-60-90 method
-and for weight the method where a weighing scale(load*load arm= force*force arm) is used was shown.
After this there was a short quiz on whatever had been taught. In this quiz P3 (35) and P2(35) came first, P3(25) second and P1 (20)last. Follwing this was the real thing, when we had to actually estimate heights. Each patrol had to complete 2 tasks ie. estimate 2 heights.

After this came the activity everyone was looking forward to, the game. We were suppose to play patacks but thanks to Troop A who had already taken the thumbsticks, and also due to missing thumbsticks in the scout den, we had to make a change in the plan and play Pirates (right in the middle of the ground). The game had 2 rounds with 10 turns each and it ended with the following scores:

1st-P2-8
2nd-P4-5
3rd-P3-4
4th-P1-3

The meeting then dispersed and ended with a council meeting.

-Ishan Sadwelkar

19th Aug: Scavenger hunt, Skit, Chair-making

Date: 19th Aug 2006

Today we had an action packed meeting where we had to perform 3 activities simultaneously within a time span of one and a half hours.
This meeting was purposely done in such a manner so that the PL's get acquainted with distributing work among their patrol efficiently.
The meeting kicked off in style with a highly entertaining but unexpected game of caterpillars. The ties for this game were as follows :

P1 vs P4
(P4 bt P1, 10-7)
&
P2 vs P3
(P2 bt P3, 15-13)

P2 vs P4 for first place
(P4 bt P2)
&
P1 vs P3 for third place
(P1 bt P3)

Game standings: P4, P2, P1, P3.

To follow, we had to perform 3 activities simultaneously (as mentioned earlier). These activities were Scavenger hunt, Skit and making a chair out of any material available in the scout den.

The list of Scavenger hunt Items are as follows. ( note that this list is prone to errors ). The numbers next to the items denote the weightage of points they carry.

Egg 2
Live animal 5
Live insect 2
Bone of any animal 4
Hair band 3
Times of India ( today's .ie. 19th Aug) 1
Leaves of 3 different colors 2
Fused Bulb 5
Key & a lock ( should be matching ) 2
C.D. ( of any kind )1
Bournvita bottle 2
Mickey Mouse Watch 1
5 coins (2 of 25p, 2 of 10p,1 of 10p) 5
3 marbles 2.5
1 postal stamp 3

We had to make a chair out of any material we could find in the scout den. The use of lashings and knots was necessary. In this competition, P4 came first as they made a chair by tying 3 bamboos on the back of box and adding a back support to it which was really comfortable and steady. The other patrol performances will soon be updated.

The skit was probably the most thrilling, enjoyable and most anticipated activity of the meeting. It was also the last activity. The skit topic was open and all the 4 patrols came up with action-packed comedies but with some silent and inaudible performances. It was first the turn of patrol 1, who made a comedy on how Himesh Reshamiyya gets kidnapped and how a police inspector who can't speak but can only sing (quite amusing, isn't it?) comes to his rescue after being informed by two Siamese about the kidnappers whereabouts. But since he hates Reshamiyya's music, he leaves him alone in the place and goes.Their conclusion could be understood but only by some people.

Then it was patrol4 who made a skit without a conclusion you could say. It was about two deaf and blind friends who are speaking to the commissioner about some murder case.
Patrol1 then copied last year's skit played in the major camp by patrol 9 about 3 friends who on going on a vacation to Goa come across a magical pond and on jumping in that pond and screamin ga wish the wish could be fulfilled. The first guy asks for wealth, the second asks for babes and while in a dilemma of what to choose, the third guy is pushed into the pond by a drunkard with his last word being shit!
Patrol2 then came up with a rather unclear skit on the madness of a sardar in the army. In order to get a holiday, he exchanges a tank from a Pakistani sardar so that both the sardars get a holiday.

After this the troop dispersed and the meeting ended with a council meeting.

scores
p1 = -62
p2 = 136
p3 = 95
p4 = 476

-Ishan Sadwelkar

12th Aug ; signaling & Debate session

Date : 12th Aug 2006

Signaling & Science Debate

For this meeting we had a very enjoyable session in which everyone could really rack their brains and show everyone if they had any.
The meeting started with an absorbing session which Khoj conducted. It was an open debate and the topic was anything which he could think of. To explain in simple terms, everyone had to define a term and define it until we could finally after passing through many ideas and definitions find an ultimate solution. Everyone had to keep contradicting each other's statements until we could reach a point where a statement could not be contradicted further which was taken as the final 'definition' of the pertaining term. For example, Khoj asked us to define 'life' and after going through many definitions ( such as life is the time span of an organism between it's birth and death), we finally reached (or rather, after giving up) Khoj told us that last year's batch defined life as 'something made up of cells' which was the final conclusion.

After this session we again had an amazing session on SIGNALING. Each patrol had to make four sub teams. The four sub teams had to work in the following manner :
Suppose patrol 1 divides themselves into 4 teams each then two teams had to work simultaneously. If one team received then the other had to send and vice versa. TWO MESSAGES WERE TO BE SIGNALED across the ground by each patrol. To make the understanding easier, I made the following diagram:

Patrol1

INTO FOUR SUB TEAMS OF TWO EACH
____

A,B C,D

A had to send a message to B
B had to receive it.

C had to receive a message
D had to send it

The main thing about this activity was that it was to be done by making as less noise as possible. No shouting across the field, no whistling was allowed

The messages given to the Patrols to be conveyed to the other side is as follows:
Patrol1
1) FLY EVIL MONKEYS IN THE MOONLIGHT.
2) A LIVE TENT FULL OF GORILLAS.

Patrol2
1) SPANK THE FERRARI.
2) THE GRASS IS GREEN THEN WHY ARE YOU CLEAN.

Patrol3
1) WHITE LADY IN THE PINK BUS.
2) DON'T SHOOT MY WIFE WILL DANCE.

Patrol4
1) A GOAT A DAY KEEPS A PLUMBER AWAY
2) EAT NEEM LEAVES GROW TREES

The rankings in signaling are as follows:
1st-Patrol4
2nd-Patrol1
3rd-Patrol3
4th-Patrol2


After this we had a nail-biting game of CAPTAINS RINGS . The ties were as follows:
P1-p2, p3-p4

p1 beat p2 (15-4) , p4 beat p3 (9-8)

p3-p2 for third place ( scores 9-8)
p3 beat p2

p1-p4 for first place ( 8-6)
p4 beat p1

The meeting concluded with a council meeting.

The scores after this meeting are as follows:
P1 = -150
P2 = 40
P3 = -25
P4 = 340

-Ishan Sadwelkar

Photos!

Some photos of the council for memory sake!

Have fun!

Khoj Badami (S.M.)

July '06; Treasure Hunt

Date: 29th July 2006

This was our first meeting which was conducted by our ASM's(Rohan Menghani, Yahya Poonawala & Kevin Gibson). They had arranged for us an Adventure activity in the form of 'Treasure Hunt'.


Each patrol was given some chits enclosed in envelopes. Each chit contained a clue , which the patrol had to solve . After solving the clue the patrol would come to know where they had to go next. But amongst these there were some extra and unwanted chits. This was done to ensure that no patrol opens any envelope randomly before calling up the ASM's. If they did, they would be disqualified.

The Treasure Hunt was all throughout Camp & Center Street. Each patrol was sent ten minutes after the previous patrol so that they could not cheat by sharing their answers. Each patrol was told to spend maximum Rs. 40 on the phone calls and the other expenses throughout the activity. Patrols were disqualified if they also lost their chits.

The final positions were decided based upon them amount of time taken by each patrol to complete the treasure hunt. Also penalties were awarded in case some patrol was unable to solve a certain clue.

After this activity we played a new scout game called Cows & Bulls. Everyone enjoyed this meeting and it was physically action packed!

The day ended with a normal council meeting where discussions were made about the Treasure Hunt.

The ranks of the patrols(Treasure Hunt)
First position :Patrol 4
Second position :Patrol 2
Third position :Patrol 3
Fourth position :Patrol 1

The ranks of the patrols(Cows & Bulls)
First position :Patrol 4 & Patrol 3
Second position :Patrol 2 & Patrol 1

The scores after this meeting are :
Patrol 1 = -150
Patrol 2 = 25
Patrol 3 = -25
Patrol 4 = 235