The You-Know-Which-Trip...dissected Part 1

This blog is dedicated to all my friends at MMC...U guys seriously rock!

Let me start off by saying that all of us have shared so many pictures, videos and most importantly, moments on this trip, that it is hard to pin down all of them in this blog. I am expecting additions in comments people!!!

I am going to break this blog down according to dates, because there is so much of information that it needs to be broken down.

Saturday, 5th March 2010, 10.30 A.M.

I entered college full of apprehensions. My college project was going nowhere, and the solution did not seem to be in sight. Pramod and Nidhi (My project partners) had not come to college as yet so I was waiting for them when I saw Rohan (Rohan Ji, as he is now called). He asked me about a trip that was being planned for us to Corbett and Nainital. I asked him the details. What he said in reply baffled me. "Yaar, abhi trip organizer pakka nahi hua hai, itinerary final nahi hai, kaun kaun jaa raha hai final nahi hai, bas hum jaa rahe hain." I could sense a hint of desperation in his voice, as if a 4 year old is trying to build his Lego from scratch but the pieces are missing. I anyway joined him in our college studio where Divya, Rashneer, Mohit, Danish and Keerti were sitting. Frankly, I had not spoken properly to anyone of them in my 1.5 yrs of college life, and they coming along to the trip was not very helpful at that time either.

Rohan asked me to come along. I said I'm not sure (frankly speaking, I didn't want to). He said it will be fun, and he was also going so company should not be a problem. Slowly, I was persuaded and I went ahead anyway, still knowing nothing has been finalized as such. I thought this would be a good break from the monotonous tone life was taking. I dived in.

8th March 2010, 7.00 A.M.

I boarded the Metro from Keshav Puram for Kashmere Gate, where we were supposed to assemble in the University for the bus. The clock had been set early, so that there is not much of a traffic jam. I was cursing Rohan Ji for not keeping it a little late, beacuse I had to miss my gym schedule for 5 days now. (Alright, alright enough of laughing on this). Mohit called me when I reached Shastri Nagar, still 10 mins away. "Kahan hai tu?" He asked me in his booming voice. "Aa rahan hu yaar in another 10 mins, baaki sab aa gaye kya?" I asked him. "Haan, tu bhi fatafat aa jaa", pat came the reply. Somewhat i didn't believe him. You see, I know my college friends too well. And punctuality was not one of their forte. So, I messaged Ratika (my classmate going on the trip), whether everyone had come or not. She told me only 10-11 students had come. I heaved a sigh of relief.

Upon exiting the station, I started to walk towards the campus. I would have walked barely for 5 mins, when I spotted Rohan Ji. Earplugs in, sitting on a rickshaw, lost in his world as usual, he din't see me. I yelled at him, but to no avail. I literally had to throw a stone at him to make him realize someone is there. "Dude, aaja rickshaw mein", he said in his typical, muffed voice. Accepting the offer, we adjusted in the rickshaw and headed towards the campus. 

Reaching the campus, we could see three girls, literally fuming. "Kahan rah gaye yaar, hum 7 baje ke khade hain, ye koi tareeka hai, blah blah". Gitika, Apoorva and Swati came storming towards us, hurling abuses. I moved behind Rohan ji, anticipating World War 3, looking for a place to hide. But Rohan Ji calmed them down and then started calling people up. By 8:00 a.m. everyone was there. The bus came at around 8.15

9.00 A.M.

Everyone packed in, we went inside the bus. Everyone was looking for their favorite spot to sit, while some were advising people (including me) where to sit so that the bus journey is not too tiring for them. Suddenly, all hell broke lose. "The bus windows don't open"!!! yelled someone. Shocked, I checked my window. Sealed shut. What the fuck? I thought. How are we supposed to breathe? Then we were told that the bus is air-conditioned. With a little disbelief and excitement mixed in, I asked the driver. He confirmed. I thought 'Nirvana'.

We moved off the campus at around 9.30. We would't have even reached the gate when the bus stopped. "Ab kya?", I asked Rohan Ji. Suddenly, we saw C.P.Singh (for the uninitiated, he is our Course Supervisor/ In-charge/ Consultant) getting off the bus, heading towards the campus. Conspiracy theories started to pour in. "Loo gaya hoga", "No.2 aayi hogi", "Samaan bhul gaya" etc etc. Finally, after 15 mins, he emerged with Deepak Sir, another teacher who was supposed to accompany us to the trip. Finally, the bus moved.

1.00 P.M.

After beating our classmates 3-2 in charades,and braving a traffic jam at Ghaziabad, I started to sink in my seat. Everyone started taking seats to rest. After about 15 mins, we heard "Yaar badi zor se aa raha hai, bas rukwa de". These worlds came floating from somewhere. I looked up from my seat and saw Mohit standing, looking at me and Rohan Ji as if his life is about to end. Suddenly, half the bus remembered that they had not peed for about 5 hrs. And when you put girls in the picture, the bus had to be stopped. We took our first halt. Everyone zipped for the bathroom as if Santa Claus was giving away free gifts there. After about 15 mins, when we had peed to our heart's content and choked their drains, we started to enjoy the scenery. Some of us went for tea, while some got their picture clicked at a tractor nearby. Some smoked, while some roamed around. After half an hour, our bus moved again.

2.30 P.M.

At noon, the hunger lions came roaring. Chips, snacks etc were almost finished and everyone craved for a proper meal. Thus, we had our next halt at 'Tadka', a famous dhaba along NH24. The dhaba, it was told to me, was famous because while going for the shooting of 'Kaal', John Abraham and the rest had made a stop here for food. I thought this is what publicity does for your business. Anyway, we all got down at the bus when we saw the absolutely beautiful, mesmerizing Red and Yellow logo. The logo which is amongst the 5 most recognized symbols in the world. The logo which sells a burger every second. We saw 'McDonalds'.

Immediately, I made up my mind I had to eat there. Even after being a gym-affectionado, there is something about McDonalds I find very hard to resist. I asked around if anyone else was interested in eating there. Apart from Megha, (who had to show her brand loyalty because she worked for Mc Donalds in Leo Burnett), no one was willing to come., After all, you cannot ask Indian psyche to switch from Shahi Panner to McChicken that easily. I had almost given up hope for further company when Rohan Ji also decided to come. I was relieved. We walked towards the place.

After ordering, we were sitting at the table when I saw a a horde of people coming toward the joint. A lot of my classmates came over to Mc Donalds to eat. Astonished, I resumed eating.

3.30 P.M.

Sitting in the bus, we all were getting bored. Megha came up with an idea that would change the entire definition of killing boredom. "UNO khele?" She asked. 90% of us did not have a clue of what it was about. After about 20 mins of learning and trying to understand the game, we started to play. Before the first game could finish, I came to the following conclusions: 

1. Rohan Ji sucked at this game.

2. Whoever portrayed girls in the past to be shy and innocent should be hanged till death. Don't believe me, watch Apoorva and Megha play. They would make you wish you had never learnt the game in the first place.

 3. It was a game meant to confuse people, so that the less-confused, more-experienced could win. Every time.

4. Luck did not play as big a role, as any old grudges you have with you fellow players. They can screw your game up real bad.

Anyway, after playing the game a couple of times, we decided to rest. Corbett was still a little distance away.

6.00 P.M.

We finally reached on the outskirts of our resort, where we were supposed to stay. Rohan Ji confirmed the place, and a small, shabby bus came to pick the girls and our luggage. The resort was 800 mts from where the bus dropped us, and the guys decided to walk (Megha also came along). 

When we reached the resort, I was dumbstruck.  Only one word came to my mind. HUGE. The resort was on the outskirts of the jungle. The resort was made on a big piece of land, so much so that walking from one room from another could easily digest your meal. To my disappointment, the swimming pool was not ready, and I really (really!) wanted to relax and swim to my heart's content. The room which was allotted to us was good enough for 4 people, but we adjusted 5 without a hitch.

After spending another hour in getting the rooms alotted and wandering, we bunked. In our room, we were 5 guys. Rohan Ji, me, Mohit, Mohnish, and Danish. We changed, I took a bath (mentioned this cause no one else did) watched Pakistan's match and walked out. A bonfire was being put in place, and dinner was almost ready. We ate to our heart's content and gathered around the bonfire, soaking in the heat. (Special mention to Roahn Ji for providing chicken for me). Some people were wandering, some were showing their monkey instincts (Mustaquim Mia) and rest of us were just chillin'. At about 10 a.m., we decided to head towards our rooms.

11.00 P.M. 

All of us decided to head towards Rashneer's room to play cards. We all gathered around, and the game started. I was getting bored, and so was Rohan Ji. We decided to head back to our room. We watched  television for a couple of minutes, when Rohan went out for a smoke and I slept, anticipating what was to come the next day...Had I known what was in store, i wouldn't have batted an eyelid that night, but more on that later.

End of Part 1