Annual Retreat at Pachmadhi

We (IMT Nagpur) have started a custom of an annual faculty retreat for a couple of days in April, after winding up of the academic year. We debate a few issues, including student-related stuff, teaching-learning related stuff, and design of courses and manning them for the coming year.

This year we went to Pachmadhi, a British-era hill station (actually all of them are Bristish-era) in Madhya Pradesh, about 5-6 hours drive from Nagpur. First thing we noticed was that the roads were in good condition. The road winds its way through a few hills in the Satpura range, through Chhindwara, Parasiya, and Matkuli where you turn into the final ghat (hill) road that takes you up to Pachmadhi. Though the area is mostly dry now, there are a lot of trees, that would turn green with the arrival of rains.

Pachmadhi is named after five caves, that the Pandavas are supposed to have occupied briefly while on their wanderings through forests. There are also some views of deep gorges and a couple of temples, including one called Gupt (hidden) Mahadev, where you squeeze in through parallel rocks to get a glimpse of the Shiva-linga inside. We did not get to cover all the sights since there was work to do, but this is a relatively peaceful hill station to visit, unlike some super-crowded ones.

From a marketing standpoint, MP tourism is very friendly, flexible, and organised this (out of their Nagpur office) as per our convenience, for a group of about 44. All in all, a good experience.