शनिवार, 29 दिसंबर 2007

A Tour During Graduation...Part 3 of 3

Continued from part-2....

It was seven in the morning and we all got up....it was too cold outside...we bared all that and luckily for us...some of us got a chance to take bath....at the railway station...and I still remember it be one of the neat stations...we enquired on what to see...in the whole of Lonavala and Khandala....and our first destination for the day was the....bushi dam.....in Lonavala...which was 4 km away from the rail station. We decided to walk through the station....walking merrily all over the road...taking photographs of whatever interesting we could find.....walking through we found a steep peak on the way....and we all decided to trek...but found that...it was too difficult as it was too steep and there was a chance of falling down.....still we decided to take it on and were successful in reaching the top of it...it was a great feeling to see the path we had taken...to reach the top...we observed that it was thick forest ahead once we climbed on to the peak....and decided not to venture through it.....though there was a great natural beauty....before our eyes.....we slowly got down....luckily we got to a bus to go to the bushi dam...we were there in 15 mins...we walked through the dam and saw lot of people and enjoying the water....dancing and swimming in the water....but we had other plans...we just moved through the dam and found that we had another mountain to climb after which we could enjoy a bath after 1.5 days...we climbed through the rocky hill and reached the "tiger point" from where there was no way to go...but to just close our eyes and stand below the pouring water which was .....

The route to the top of the hill was not easy....as we had to climb through the rocks and make sure we do not fall down as the whole surface was skiddy due to the overnight rains...also the route had water flowing...if we slip and fall down we will directly land up at the water reservoir downside the hill....it was real tough thing to complete....but still we gathered wits to go and could complete the bath under the water falls....the water falls at a speed of nearly 40 KMPH and it was real ice cool.....after the cold bath...we had some food....then played in the water and who ever knew swimming went through with it.....but had to stop soon as it had started raining....braving all this we started for Khandala 20 km from where we were standing....at four in the evening we reached Khandala...by which time the rain had receded and there was bright sunshine.....we reached the highest point of whole Khandala from where we can see the vehicles going through the six lane road which was 1km down the hill......we walked for about 15 mins....and realized there was a area from which we can venture through to one of the thickest forests of the great western ghats...some of us wanted to go into the forest and venture into it....I stopped them and tried to make them remember what happened at the simhagad (in the first part)...but some of them wanted to have a look and they went inside.....but returned within seconds.....in a short distance we found a MP's guesthouse...on a hill...which had a steep end...it was very picturesque view of the three railway lines meeting a one place....feeling of seeing toy trains passed through my mind...whenever I saw two trains passing each other or a train passed through that route....it was one of the most memorable days....as we had done all sorts of things to fully enjoy the tour as such.....we spent around 2 hours and after it was told not safe anymore as it was getting darker and darker by each second in the evening and we had to catch a train to Pune from Lonavla....which was at 9 pm...we took autos and reached the Lonavla station around 8.30 pm and the train had not yet arrived to the station from Pune...we waited for 15 mins...and train was there....it started as scheduled and reached Pune at 10.20 pm....by which time we exhausted and had no choice but to go and sleep in the night.....but we had the cloak room paper lost and we had to take our luggage....we updated the staff working and they called the station master for the night....he said it was not possible for him...to give the luggage and we should not take anything from the luggage except the tickets and money we had kept in my luggage....we obeyed to what they said....we were asked to come arnd 11 am the next day and collect the luggage after listing down the articles in the each one's luggage.....we went the next day and without having much discussion I voluntarily paid the whole amount...and got the luggage back to the room....there was a sigh of relief in the whole team of my friends as we had the luggage back....we spent the rest of the day till the evening...sleeping...chatting...etc...it was four in the evening...we started for the station...faring goodbye to the hotel staff...we were in the station and realized the train was late by 20 mins...this time we were lucky enough to get the seats for all together....we chatted all through the night recollecting the memory of the days we had spent as a unit....it was six in the morning of 30 August, 2002 and we are back in Hyderabad after what would have been was a great tour....it was a holiday on account of "Janmashtami"....and a Friday tooo...after reaching home I went straight through to the hospital....to see my sweet little sister who was 3 days old then.......

After reaching the college the following Monday...we enjoyed seeing the photos and explaining the things we had done...during the whole tour....which the class listened to with curiosity and interest.

Hope u liked all the parts and my sweetest memory as a whole.....

A Tour During Graduation...Part 2 of 3

With the hope that the first part was interesting below is the second part....

In the night I called my parents enquiring about the my aunt...and my joy knew no bounds when I was told that I had a little sister to play with.....she was born on 26th August...2002...

It was arnd 10 pm in the night that I was cleaning all the mess of my bag. I found the copies of introduction letters of my college...given by our principal....and was to throw them out...when my friend requested not to throw them..and if I had done that I think it would have been the biggest blunder in my life....thinking why??? it would be answered....arnd 12 in the night...after a long discussion on what to do...we had decided to go to Bombay and to meet the expenses we decided to the keep the luggage in the cloak room at the station which would save a lot of money to go to Bombay....as we were in college..every rupee was important to us.....with the same idea...we went to sleep keeping whatever alarms we could that we should get up by 5 in the morning as we had train for Bombay at 7.50 AM...and it was then the fastest to reach Bombay....by 10.50 am......

It was 5.30 on a Tuesday morning....I wake up to see myself behind schedule by 30 mins.....after an hour we were all ready with the luggage to start for Bombay. We visited the temple of lord Shiva....near the hotel...and start our walk towards the railways station which was 10 mins away....we at first divide ourselves...one group to buy the tickets and other to keep the luggage in the cloak room...I gleefully accepted the receipt of the luggage and ran towards the train which was about to leave...as the train speeds towards its destination....we see the beauty of the nature....thick greenery engulfed in rain..mountains....and the tunnels....really it was a great experience...traveling through the beauty of the nature....we reach the lonavala station...which was in the midst of heavy rain......meanwhile we show the TC the tickets...2 hours pass eventfully and we finally smell the air of the financial capital....."BOMBAI NAGARIA"....a dream of every small man to become big after coming here.....we get down the train at Dadar station and we are caught the railway police for not paying reservation fee...of Rs 20/- each which was never told to us by the TC in the train....aaah...we were cursing the TC who was standing beside us as if he didn't know anything....1 hour passes and we were in a big mess....as the station master asked us to pay of fine of whooping 3600/- INR for the 18 members....we slowly started explaining that we were coming from a college from Hyderabad and we didn’t know all the rules....and it was our luck he accepted our explanation...but now he wants the proof that we were from the college....I realize that we have the introduction letters...once we showed the same to him...he took a copy of that and sent all of us to Juhu as Bombay had of colleges there...in a local train.....Local train in Bombay about which I had lot of fascination...their speed...accuracy of the services...network...covering every nook and corner of the metro.....it was a great feeling to be traveling in it...even though it was no different than the local trains in my own city...

Once we were in the train to Juhu...we sighed relief and started for shopping....bought something for each of us.....ate some junk food and started straight to the Juhu beach...in a metered auto......which we had seen in the TV or in the movies of bollywood...all those years till then.....we played in the water until it was dusk....at the each while returning I realize that the receipt of the cloak room is lost in the water...and all of us were worried about the luggage and we had time to think about it....we moved ahead to go to the Gateway of India....at first to Santa Cruz in a local train then in a metered taxi....it was a full moon day and sea was at bay.....the tide hitting the coast with great speed....we spent an hour and it was arnd 9.30 in the night...we made a plan to go to lonavala and khandala...one of the friends pulled information from the taxi driver that there was a train at 11.30 pm ...which goes to Lonavala at 3.30 am...immediately we make a plan to go to Lonavala...the next day....we buy tickets and realize that we have to sit in the train..and some of us should be awake as Lonavala would come at that odd hour of the night......after traveling for nearly 4 hours we reach..Khandala..I got down and sat on a bench on the platform facing to the opposite side as we had planned to alight the train at the
khandala station....to my horror I see that none of my friends got down and the train has started.....I ran back to train and luckily boarded the train...

We get down at the Lonavala station and we sleep in a room...thanks to the station master...which also helped us from the cold and the rain outside....it was arnd 7 in the morning....I get up and got ready for what I think was one of the most memorable day with friends in life.....

To name some who were on the tour were me, vivekanand, potti mahesh(as we used to call him), medchal mahesh, harsha, srikanth, shanker, kranthi.....would add as I remember them...

Would cover the rest of the tour in the third and concluding part.....hope I am not toooooo boring.....

A Tour During Graduation...Part 1 of 3

I was in final year of graduation at Aurora's degree & post graduate college....there was always a dissatisfaction in the whole class that we had not gone anywhere in the last 2 years of graduation....it was then we planned to go on an educational (namesake, as there was nothing as such...as it was just way to go out....) tour either to Bangalore or Pune to understand and apply for the colleges for a meaningful post graduate degree elsewhere than Hyderabad. Surprisingly there was never a mention of any college staff coming with us.

We had planned to go on a tour in the month of august, 2005. It was season of the year where in we had lot of rains and with a hope that everything would go well....we had approached our principal....who with the sort of nature the students of my class where studies was always second to everything...would never accept us going to Bangalore....decided to send us to Pune....for which we all gleefully agreed...and now started all the fight....when to go where to go and how to go.....luckily we had a lecturer who was from Pune who helped us sort out the issues....and was the person who gave us the details of places we visited during the tour...in and arnd the city of Pune....

After putting lot of efforts for 15 days.....we at last decided the date to go...it was 28th August, 2002...when we checked for the status of the railway tickets.....as it was only way to go and comeback cheaply....the trains were all full....by the time we booked the tickets.....the status was such bad that we even didn't know whether we would get a seat to sit forget about sleeping in the night.....and for me it was a now another fight to convince to go on the tour....but with help of aunt.....who always stood behind helping us.....I got a nod to go....and I think it was one of the finest moments of my life.....the day had finally arrived and we all were ready to go.....on the most memorable tour...as a class..representing the college...wearing college t-shirts...aah....it was a proud feeling.....

Once confirmed that we were all there in the station...to our dismay we observed that we were all divided to 3 parts of the train and couldn’t help but to just go and sit.....and another memorable thing was the spat with the TC over a petty issue over seat allocation....and the way we convinced him...we slept late in the night narrating each one's experiences in the college and recording them to the then cassettes.....taking photos...hoping for a great start to the tour from the next day morning...the train was scheduled to reach Pune at 8.30 AM...and as usual was late by 1 hour....which we had spent sitting and waiting for us to get down.....we reached Pune at 9.30 am....we went ahead to a hotel where we had completed all the formalities and started for a place called "PARVATI" (on a mountain) which was the highest place in the whole city of Pune..something like birla mandir for Hyderabad....going to the temple of lard shiva and parvarthi devi....was a energy sapping thing as we had to climb steep rocks...but was very interesting to have a look at the whole city. We returned back in the evening...and as it was a Sunday.....we resigned ourselves to the hotel rooms for the rest of the day...watching TV and sipping hot tea.....in that chilly weather.....also planning what to do for the next day....the Monday.....

The next day we all go to the NCL hoping to get an entry to the lab so that we could have a look as to how things go at the best chemical lab in the country...but our hopes were dashed as the recent fire at the lab prevented outsiders from visiting the lab....we had to return dejected and disappointed...but that was it....we moved ahead to the symbiosis institute which is famous all over for MBA programme and students from different countries come and pursue courses...it was a great experience as the institute welcomed us in a very good manner and arranged lunch for us as the time we reached was a lunch time...we spent lot of time there understanding the institute as such and taking snaps whenever possible with the faculty and students as well.....it was 4.30 in the evening.....not hearing anything to the driver we planned to go to "SIMHAGAD"....a fort in thick forest...50 KM away from Pune...

It was very risky going to the place in the evenings as it gets dark very fast and there was always a chance of encountering wild animals....still our young minds were ready to take the challenge and see how strong we can be...but we started feeling the heat of the challenge as it had started raining...still we were adamant on going there....after covering half distance we could see no vehicles...coming opposite to us nor on our way.....it was clouds and only clouds....and once we were on the top of the fort it was pitch darkness and rain..no cell phone signals..we could barely hear what the others were speaking...and I think it was one of the scariest moments for all of us...but was one of the best moments for all us..as friends. We had to stop our adventures as the driver of the cab which we hired was a worried about us reaching home....but as we were coming down to the cab..we lost our way and we were moving to an altogether a different direction...at that point of time we all thought it was all over but for a dog..the best friend of man..showed us the way back to the cab...we thought we have to believe god is still there....

We thanked the cab driver for the drive of the day...and left to the hotel and I still remember celebrating India's win over England in a test match in their own backyard.....

Be prepared for lots of stories of the tour in the following parts.....

Will continue the rest in the second part.....

रविवार, 18 नवंबर 2007

Experience of my first flying Part - 2

......meanwhile we had our seatbelts fastened and ready for takeoff....the plane slowly takes a turn to the main runway.....and I sit just thinking how I all these days I was on the other side on the road always seeing joyously flights landing and takeoff from the same runway....... meanwhile….the flight waits for the clearance of the runway......6 AM and the flight picks up the speed to fly and.....10 seconds and I am in the air for the first time and beside was a person who in fact was also like me flying for the first time and his word "Naadi kooda first time flight ekkadam" (its for the first time to fly for me also)...he is an administrative officer in Satyam going to meet his friends in Bangalore.....and my excitement had no bounds.....the flight slowly picked up height and I am able to see the Hussain Sagar becoming a small pond as seen.......the flight slowly picks up more height and slowly we are above the clouds and every thing on the ground seems to become smaller and smaller and after some time we are unable to see anything expect clouds...and its a joy seeing the clouds passing by and it just was so exciting that I forgot all about the interview i had to attend as I was lost in the clouds......meanwhile we had reached an altitude of 17000 feet above the earth where the temperture was -5 deg Celcius..we were moving towards the destination......the worst part of the whole thing was that even water had to be brought by us........1 hour of flight passes eventfully as the flight suddenly loses some height abruptly and makes it up for the same in the next second and the sound created by the propellers was all like music to me.....and its 7 am in the morning and we were slowly lowering towards the destination and I was still sitting in the window seat and watching the beauty and the enjoying the turns the flight makes in order to get down...... 7.05 am and the flight again finally touches ground and we all disembark....looking at the flight as if we have just had a travel in a jet liner.....and i said to myself "kitna accha tha yaar....."(How good it was.) and was going towards the bus taking the sweet memories of the first flight I ever had in my life.........were the feelings the same when u have also went through the first flight........ ?????

Experience of my first flying Part - 1

I receive the call the before day at 4 pm that I have to be there in Bangalore by 9.30 am in the morning for the interview the next day ....I had no choice but to book a flight to go as I had no time.......went to the office and informed my boss at 6 pm I had to Bangalore and took a print of the tickets that I had taken ....long and having 8 pages of instructions and I was circumspectly and excitedly having a look at all the pages in the ticket....
....In the evening went to the office and informed my colleagues ..I am leaving for Bangalore.....spoke to my TL and said with slow words in low tone "nenu interview ki veltuna sir Bangalore lo repu poddune"..(I am going to Bangalore....the next morning....for the interview) and...3 am in the morning and I had to start for home...took the printed tickets and locked my system and started for home in the cab after taking the wishes of my colleagues in the dark of the night in Hyderabad where people still roam around....with a feeling of excitement of flying for the first time and it was all about the interview which I was going to attend and thinking of how I would be ready for the same but was never less excited about boarding the flight for the first time.....
Slept at 3.30am in the morning after reaching home, went to sleep thinking about the whole thing as I had no sleep for the last 3 days....4.45am....in the morning and I had started for the airport...the darkness of the night still lingering and the birds chirping all over the place and slowly after taking blessing from my mother... and grand ma who was ....with an optimism that i would do well.....by 5.15 am I was in the airport on my dad's scooter who accompanied me to the airport....the after parking the scooter went into the airport as we had 2 terminals the International and Domestic and there are arrival and departure....I briskly walked towards one of the entrances and asked where to go in to board the Air Deccan flight "Air
Deccan flight ke liye kahaan jana hai" as he just showed the direction which when went was a wrong...after 10 mins of investigation...we got to know from which I have move in...a bit of excitement for me while was going for the security check.....had a long line of people waiting for the same to complete and I was one of them......trying to understand when will be there a line less INDIA where work will done faster.....meanwhile got a call from father anxiously.....asking for the where abouts and as I told him I am at the security check and will call once i am at the aircraft....and meanwhile my turn came where I gave my ticket and was asked for a proof of identity...showed with pride my recently received PAN card...and had to wait for the flight.....and by 5.30 AM I was at the gate to board the flight and the security personnel stops me to have the baggage checked for the security tag.....the stop was such effective that the intensity with which I was going to board the bus to the flight was dashed....and saying what a plight to board a flight...I returned back to the security check and has the suitcase have the security baggage added.....then slowly walked through to the bus which was as if eagerly waiting for us to take the flight.....and when I saw the flight I had one thought from Munna bhai...."aila yeh plane to shuru hote hi khatam hogaya re"...because the flight I was going to travel was a ATR and not a one which has jet engines....slowly I boarded the plane and tough the plane was a small one.. the excitement grew as the beautiful air hostess welcomed us into the plane and guided us to our seat and my heart was beating in excitement to see the flight flying...and in no time they started showing the safety measures.....5.50 am….now the point comes where the pilot of the flight Mr. Ali greets us and tells us the how is the weather outside and the conditions are perfect to fly.....slowly the propellers start and the I was just at the seat beside them....the flight slowly took a turn towards the runway and waited for the it to be cleared....and I observed that one of the air hostess was one of my school mates......I was very happy to see her...meanwhile the flight was slowly moving towards the runway....it was a dream come true for me......
Contd in part 2.......