Where Burnt Out Executives De-stress in Nature's Lap

A scenic wildlife resort in Assam is turning out to be the favourite destination for burnt out executives of leading private and public sectors companies

A scenic wildlife resort in Assam is turning out to be the favourite destination for burnt out executives of leading private and public sectors companies .

With performance being the latest mantra, several firms are making their key workforce take a break to de-stress themselves, virtually on the lap of the eastern Himalayas. And the Potasali Eco Camp, located near the 200 sq km Nameri National Park, about 220 km north from here, is one of the hotspots for these behavioural anti-stress approaches.

"This is a new thing for us to find teams of company executives booking the resort for a couple of days. The entire stay here is aimed at de-stressing their personnel by way of various games, pep talks, and adventure," Ranesh Roy, joint director of the Potasali Eco Camp, a resort-cum-wildlife conservation group in Nameri, told IANS.

In recent weeks, executives of Assam's Numaligarh Refinery and AREVA T&D Ltd, a power transmission and distribution consultancy firm, enjoyed exhaustive anti-stress drill.

Relaxation apart, the stay at Potasali could be a delight to any wildlife enthusiast.

Potasali is a small resort with the sparkling Jia Bhoroli, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, meandering its way by the side of the eco camp. The river is home to the prized game fish of the Indian sub-continent, the Golden Mahaseer.

The Eco Camp has thatched cottages raised on bamboo stilts, besides jungle tents with sleeping bags - a delight for any adventurous tourists.

Across the Jia Bhoroli is the Nameri National Park, which is also a tiger reserve.

And by dusk the mood at the resort at Potasali is one of camaraderie with tourists joining in a lively song and dance session with a bonfire adding to the fun filled atmosphere.

A sumptuous dinner with cuisines that cater to all kinds of palates is another highpoint of this eco-camp.

Tourists at Nameri prefer trekking through the green expanse of deciduous forests. One scouting the park on foot has the best chance of sighting the rare and endangered white-winged wood duck for which the sanctuary is known.

The park also boasts of a large number of elephants, a few tigers, leopard, sambar, barking deer, wild boar, gaur, sloth bear, Himalayan black bear, besides a variety of birds including four species of the hornbill.

And for the more adventurous, rafting on the Jia Bhoroli is a must.

The fiery rapids fuel the spirit of adventure in you with rubber rafts taking you downstream. Rafters from far and wide, mainly foreign tourists, spend hours.

"I have come all the way just to get a thrill of the spirited rapids at Jia Bhoroli," said Michael Rogers, a British tourist. "We had lunch in one of the small river islands during the course of the rafting."

Close to Nameri is Bhalukpung, a small village bordering Arunachal Pradesh and located on the foothills of the Himalayas.

This small border township is something like a paradise on earth with nature oozing with beauty beckoning you to her midst.

There are legends associated with name Bhalukpung - "Bhaluk" in Assamese means bear and "pung" is a well. It is said that sloth bears and Himalayan black bears frequented the township at least three to four times a day to drink salty water from a hot spring. The hot spring still is an attraction for tourists.

Said Rudolph Walters, an American angler: "This is a circuit that adventure tourists and wildlife lovers must include in their itinerary. I bet nobody would go disappointed from here."

Source-IANS
SRM