The Trip..........................................(Feb 29th - Jan 4th 2008)

Im on a writing spree today. Wrote some testimonials, then a blog sometime back...This is my second blog of the day. this is a bit different from my previous postings. In most cases it has been some incident that has triggered a stream of thoughts which I immediately pen down. Some subjects have been been abstract and some very heavy.

But this one is special.

Its different.

Its about my class trip to Wayanad in Kerala.

It is different for other reasons. Its different beacuse here I am narrating a story..For a change, I would mention names. I would be explicit. Its high time I did. I am narrating a journey....

Stage 1: It all started of on the 9th of Jan when Gopal sent out this mail to the class

Hi All,

As you might know, a class tour being is being contemplated for the second years in the near future. Would need few organizers for this. Interested folks please reply asap.Offer valid till opportunities last. :-)

Suddenly the discussions in the mess was about the places where we could go. Each one coming up with their own choices. While this was going on silently the TOCO was being formed. Gops along with RBI and Rahul were having discussions about the possible choices. They were looking at various perspectives, logistics involved, permission from the department, rescheduling of examinations, speaking to the HOD. The work had already begun.

Stage 2: A class meet is held where they make a presentation and state that they have zeroed in on Wayanad in Kerala and reasons for the same. Oh.............Goa Goa Goa..the class erupts. It gets a bit uncontrollable. In the end we disperse hoping to reach for a consensus.

What follows is a survey where everyone is asked the places which they would like to visit, any place where they would not come etc etc ? Less than 50% of the class were ready for Wayanad.

There were a couple of mails like this one from TOCO...

Please find attached the excel sheet which contains the names of those coming for the MBA 2008 class trip to Wayanad. This list is collated based on the mail responses received so far. We shall wait for further additions till 5 PM today evening post which we would freeze the names.

No improvement ! The response kind of struck me.

Was'nt this a class trip ? I thought to myself. A class trip is where you go together as a class, enjoy, after all this is an opportunity that comes once a year. And for us this is our last year !. I guess I was wrong. At this stage everyone had their own perspectives. I strongly believed that the place was immaterial, its the people that mattered. But I guess I was wrong !.

Step 3: Tour in doubt ?

The number was 30; but still it was'nt stable. Over the next couple of days there were pull outs, speculations, rumors floating around. Would the tour get cancelled? What if more people drop out ? Would the overhead costs increase ? Would it throw all the budgets upside down ?

No, it would'nt. We got a reassuring mail from the TOCO team, that the tour was on !

Hi All,
Wayanad yathrayilekku swagatham !!!If you are wondering if the tour is still on with some of these dropouts, be assured we are going to Have fun -On time & On budget.

Step 4: The tour kicks off !

The final number is 22 !...22 people who believed we could have fun..22 people who believed that Wayanad was the best place to go....We left on the 29th of Feb. We had the priviledge of travelling by the insti bus upto the Cental Railway station. As soon as we got in the fun had begun! Click click..clickk...fotos......The train arrived an hour late. But who cared ? Some of us got into the Shatabdi that was standing in the nearby platform and chillaxed in the AC while some decided that this was the best time to play cards ! I must mention that something that was constant throughout was the click..click..click........

Stage 5: The train journey

When was the last time I got into the mood for singing ?

When was the last time I sang for hours and hours?

Long long ago. I remember my trips during my TCS training days where I had a fundoo group and we used to sing..sing..sometimes thru night during our journeys. This was something like that. We sang songs of almost all genres, and before we knew someone came over and said 'Please can you sing a bit softly". A quick look at our watches and boy ! it was almost 10 pm. And ya, before I forget: We had an amazing dinner..Chote toco had put in a lot of effort and got a lot of stuff packed from the famous 'Agrawal Bhojanalaya'. Dinner done by 8 ?..Not yet..Il get back to it....

Stage 6: The lights go off

Slowly the lights go off..one by one...Where do I sleep? I got my favorite middle berth. I somehow like it. Neither too high ! and not too low from the ground realities ! (Sounds like I have done my MBA !! ). We move to our places, then starts chit chat..This is the best part of the train journey..Yapping away through the night. Laughing, giggling away......This is what makes it awsome.....

Stage 7: 1 am

1 am...we are still awake....Starting to feel hungry...Suddenly we decide that wel have one more round of dinner..The lights are on..Doctor gets all the food packets..and before we know.....the rotis and sabjis are all cleaned up..15 minutes...tats all it took.......Dinner at midnight ! Maaza aa gaya.....

Stage 8: Magic Moments

• Can never forget the maggi that I had just before the camp fire and then the dinner that followed. Muuaaah.....We were hungry....The food was awsome ! The atmosphere was brilliant....We loved it.
  
• We were all tired, after the series of activities during the day. We boarded the bus and were heading back to our hotel. I thought everyone would doze off ! How wrong could I have been? This was no ordinary bus.. It was a 'disco-bus'. Suddenly a couple of cool numbers were being played, the disco lights came on and what followed was half an hour of magic ! It energized all of us...Dancing away to glory.By the time we reached the hotel we wanted more..and more....
  
• We were in the wild; in the forest watching animals. The driver showed us pug marks of the tiger ! Man, we have tigers here !!! Suddenly the question came up ' If a tiger comes in front of you ; how would you respond? ' And then we used this scenario to look at some unique traits and characteristics of class junta !....Just too good....Even as I write I can feel that experience !

Comments: The trip taught me a lot of things.

• There would be times when you start organizing events and then a majority of the people quit. If you feel your idea/concept is good, just go ahead. Do not have self doubts.
• In a group you would always find some hidden talents. People who rise to the occasion and deliver when it matters the most.
• Its not the place that matters but the people. You need the right set of people and then it just rocks ! Enjoy the journey and not the destination !

Finally I would like to end by saying.......

" Feb 29th comes atleast once in four years, this tour would never come again ! "