Old Folks + Weekend Trip to Rishikesh = Awesome, Adventurous and Amazing

Rishikesh - Whenever this word comes to my mind, adrenaline rushes throughout my body. Yes, this is how I think I can explain the experience we have had this April, 2010 at Shivpuri, Rishikesh.

Near the banks of River Ganga, the setup is nothing less than paradise. Let me explain you this adventurous trip of mine in detail.

As mentioned earlier, I planned a surprise on my team by including myself in this excursion as none of them expected the same. I started from Pune on 6th April 2010 with loads of hope, courage and emotions for this journey. My uncle supported me with the necessary finances, I carried a bunch of clothes and traveled to Mumbai by train, from where this endeavor actually began.


Part 1 - Mumbai - to - Delhi

My tickets to Delhi were booked in Garib Rath (so called economic/cost effective Rajdhani express). Despite of the various commendations I had heard about it, the train turned out to be a disappointment once I entered. Hundreds of vendors (soft drinks, potato chips, tea, coffee, food, etc etc) continuously kept moving from one coach to other disturbing everyone everytime. However, to spend time, I started reading books. I read '2 States - By Chetan Bhagat' and 'Six Thinking Hats - By Edward de Bono' while my journey to Delhi. When the train halted at Ahmedabad in the evening at 8.00 PM, I bought myself double omlettes with bread from the vendor selling it at the platform, it was delicious. This constituted my dinner and I was ready to sleep by 11.00 PM post completion of 2 States, which again was a disappointing work by Chetan Bhagat. Didnt find anything new in this book. 
Early morning, I woke up at 7.00 AM in train and again the same set of vendors started their day selling various things. I had a cup of tea and looked out at stretches of land, harvested for some or the other plantations. Farmers had started their day and were all busy in clearing the weeds, planting new seeds, irrigating the soil etc etc etc.. This continued for an hour or so and then I started off with Six Thinking Hats. An excellent concept that teaches us how to think and conclude. I recommend this to all my readers. 
The scheduled arrival time to Delhi was 12.00 PM, however as a cow met with an accident with our train we got delayed by 2 hours flat. Exhausted, untidy, messed up and bored by the journey, I finally arrived at Delhi at around 2.45 PM. Then, from the railway station, to Shastri nagar for Metro and finally after changing 3 metro trains, I reached Noida.
Quite relieved after reaching, I called up my old colleague Kshitij, who came in on time and assisted me for getting ready to office.


Part 2 - Office Day 1
Even though, the plan of surprising the entire team didn't work out well due to delay, I had to inform a few of the administration guys who in turn spread the news like wildfire, HOWEVER, MANY of them were shocked to see me. Old friends, managers, colleagues, team leads, and infact even the new ones greeted me with warmth and affection. Answering bundle of questions with various dimensions had started. I really enjoyed those 60 minutes of fame which was last realized somewhere around October 2009. Anyway, matter of fact is, that my organization has grown tremendously in terms of people. In a year or so, from 12-14 head count (where I joined) to 150+ is really a commendable growth. A lot of faces which I never recognized/saw earlier, stared blankly towards me and feeling of intrudership swept inside. Well it was a nice comeback, except for the fact that I had to work for 6 hours even after such rigorous traveling. Indeed, life is cruel. My First Day ended at 11.00 PM in office. There on, along with Archit, I had roadside dinner at a chicken tikka/kathi roll vendor. This was another good part of the day. Finally, I moved in at Archit's room and slept of in a minute. The day to summarize was partly good (old friends & dinner) and partly boring (train delay, traveling in scorching heat and same old boring work). 
With the spirits high for tomorrow, I slept of to gain some rest at 1.00 AM.


Part 3 - Office Day 2
With Archit, you cannot expect to attend office on time. Yes, despite of waking up at 6.30 AM in the morning, I reached office at 9.45AM. Again, answering of questions started and so did work. Lunch happened twice (Athithi devo bhava), once with Anurag and friends and other with my QA team mates who eat Non Vegetarian, I am one of those who always stand on a toe for ordering Non Veg there, and they all bank on me for supporting for this cause. We ordered Chicked Biryani from "Deez" a famous biryani joint in the Northern Belt. Everyone had a blast. Entire afternoon was scheduled in trainings, meetings and discussions. What would I say, I was the chief guest. Loads of gossips, masala and information was continuously splattered. Haha. I ask myself, is this all about a corporate life? Well, I am sure you have the answer to it. 
As the clock struck 5'PM, people in my team started getting ready for the MEGA EVENT. Yes, all set at 6'PM to move from one avenue (office) to the other(Rishikesh).


Part 4 - Road Trip TO RISHIKESH

We all assembled for the grand opening ceremony, of the trip (I missed this photo session as I was busy arranging my luggage in the bus). It was an exclusive QA event, comprised of our entire team (names enlisted below), except, Arif, Dushyant, Deepa and Raj Suresh M. I personally missed all of them as they couldn't join us.
We started off a bit late than scheduled (Indian management prophecy fulfilled), and took off a wrong route in the beginning (no pain, no gain) which added up a couple of hours to our bus journey due to heavy traffic. All the way long we were having loads of amusement, with Gaurav carrying off the load of teasing others and entertaining the entire crowd. Believe me, you can chat with this guy in a way that you will never wish to leave him and he will never stop jestering. We played antakshari, and this was the time when everyone got their chance to pin point at others (especially, Amit and Abhishek were the two who were continuously being tortured by songs related to marriage and engagements). Kirti, did mimicry of Satya and some others. With the guys in the backdrop of the bus, it was a a different scene altogether. We were enjoying at a different level with 1000's of jokes/comments made every minute. 
A halt was announced at 9.00 PM for dinner at a Bikaner outlet. The concept was more or less like Haldiram's, however the food was much better. I clubbed along with Shweta, Gaurav and Harikesh & ordered Grand Deluxe Extra Large Veg Thalis, because as informed by Amit there would not be any other stop (for food) from here onwards until Rishikesh.

We had our dinner followed by coffee with Shweta and returned back to the Bus. Started off once again marching towards Rishikesh, however, now the energy levels had dropped. After dinner, many of them dozed away, some of them were listening to songs on their iPods, mp3 players, mobile phones etc, and finally some of them were busy chatting. I was busy chatting with Munira about the past events in the last 8-9 months. The bus kept moving till 3.00AM in the morning and finally we reached Shivpuri, Rishikesh. In the image along side, you can see the tent in which we were given instructions on arrival. It was very dark out there with minimal to NO electricity only the lamps lit provided some light. Boys and girls were given different tents to sleep in. Every one slept the very minute they laid on the bed, and that was end of our journey. Adventure starts tomorrow.


Part 5 - 10th April 2010,Rishikesh Day 1 - Morning Slot

Woke up at 6.00 AM in the morning, don't know why was I not getting sleep since 4 days now. I guess it was 'this' moment which I had to witness. I woke up at once for some god damn reason and came out of my tent. Believe me the scene was Nirvana. Huge Mountain, behind which the sun was rising, The Ganga flowing with full speed, beach sand in front of our tent... AMAZING. I can never forget that moment. I experienced nature at its very best. Thumped with excitement, I went to take a shower. Though the water was freezing cold, I didn't feel it, I was numbed by the beauty of this place. Followed by the shower, everyone was gathered and Photo Session started for the entire team. People didnt even freshen up but photographs were clicked. Breakfast was announced at 8.00AM and all assembled for the same on time. Breakfast was quite impressive, consisting of, cornflakes, butter, jam, omlettes, upma, bread and many other things which I cannot recollect at the moment. Once done with the breakfast, we all were requested to gear up for event#1 of the day, which was none other than "WHITE WATER RAFTING"


Part 6 - 10th April 2010,Rishikesh Day 1 - Rafting Zone 
With my shorts and t-shirt on, along with the rest of my team we headed towards the rafting zone on the banks of the river (prior to this a photo session performed while gearing up followed with forms filled for insuring everyone against any possible hazard)
What else to say, the 16KM (from our camp till Laxman Jhula, 2.5 hrs) journey started straightaway with our 18 member team split in 2 groups of 9 each. Each group was given a raft to row, Accompanied by 2 experts on the raft. As shown in the pic along side, we can see the raft, the guide and some of us. We were all excited to the core while listening to the instructions given by the guide. He demonstrated each and everything carefully ensuring that everyone listened to what he said. Only one question kept ringing through everyone's mind "What if i fall into water? Would I drown?" Yes that's the insecurity every one had. Inspite of the guide assuring everyone the same, not even one of us could believe. Well, it was just a matter of time.

We (I, Harikesh, Anirudh, Manish A, Munira, Satya, Shweta, Mohit and Shivanshu) started off on our raft, with I and Harikesh leading the effort of rowing from front. Initially, the trainer trained us to raft for 10 minutes and then we kicked it off from there. There are these currents which come up while the stream turns it self. These are called as Rapids. The adventure of rafting starts once you hit areas in streams with Rapids, your raft would roll like anything and all you have to experience is the rush through your spine, the fear that you induce, the nervosity you feel and one question keeps on hovering your mind "how to control this raft". We experienced four to five rapids (i remember a couple of names, i.e. Roller Coaster, Initiation etc etc). There were few artificial beaches set up on way to
Laxman Jhula (Haridwar) where the tourists were sun bathing (scenic stuff) ;)). 
Meanwhile, our trainer asked us to jump off the raft and all of us were astonished to his comments. He demonstrated the same and one after the other we followed. As we all were first timers (and none of us knew how to swim), we budged earlier, but once in the water and post analysis of the power of life jacket, we all were enjoying ourselves in water (this was approximately 70 feet deep). This event will be always remembered for one persone and that's Munira, she didnt catch the rope and was carried by the currents for to upto 1KM. Finally, Bhaskar picked her up in the other raft, till we reached a spot for rest.

The spot for rest wasnt actually as it sounds. It was a spot of adventure, where one had to jump off a rock positioned 20 feet above the ground into water. It required a lot of guts to jump off this rock. Well, the brave ones were, myself, Manish Arora, Shweta, Munira and Archit to jump off. I jumped off it twice because it was highly adventurous. The photograph along side can explain you the length and breadth of this event. Once done, we all started off again looking forward for more rapids, beaches and finally the Ram and Laxman Jhula, Haridwar.
Some general knowledge from the trainer helped us know that a typical raft costs approximately Rs. 300,000/-. The best (most dangerous) season to raft is somewhere between Oct-Dec. There were certain chants which I would like to share, these were chanted while on the raft, 

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ganga Maiyya Superstar
• Chil Mil Chil Mil Dhoom Dhadaka, Hooo Haaa Hooo Haaa
• Yo Baby, Yo
• Ganga maiyya ki.... Jai and so on...

After rafting for 2.5 hours we all were exhausted and even the sun had come up torching the entire area. We landed from the raft at haridwar, where our bus was waiting for us. Finally, we returned back to our tents in an hour, which was followed by lunch. This event will never erase from my memories until I go back and revisit.

Part 7- 10th April 2010,Rishikesh Day 1 - Post Rafting Zone (Afternoon/Evening)
Post Lunch, the entire afternoon was spent playing cards, chatting, joking around and chilling out in the water fall.

In the evening we played volley ball for approximately an hour or so. We played 2 games, and later on planned to rest for a while. This was to be followed by bonfire/night safari etc etc on that day. However, as we all were exhausted, nigh safari was dropped and we resorted for the bon fire stuff.


We all gathered again at 6.30 PM for Bon Fire and this incepts our 7th Part.


Part 8 - 10th April 2010,Rishikesh Day 1 - Camping/Bonfire/Good Night
The gathering started up with regular photo sessions, one to one chatting, snacks/drinks were served & in an hour or so everyone settled down. We played Dumb Charades, where all of us enjoyed for more than 1.5hr. This was followed by Antakshari and many other small time games. We played until 9.30 PM, and was over when we all started to play Antakshari with Dance. Few of them were offended by the vulgarity it invoked, but I enjoyed it. It's part and parcel of the game. You have to chip in thats it. Something different, I observed were the stars in sky. Millions of them. You never see these many stars in the city. It was beautiful. 
We proceeded for dinner which was a disappointment to many, as the quality levels had dropped as compared to what it was in the afternoon and morning. Anyway, it wasn't inedible. We managed to eat some and returned back to the camping zone. Jokes, talks, songs and performances continued until midnight. 
The day was finally called off by Bhaskar. We slept of with beautiful memories of the day. Looking forward for more adventure the next day.


Part 9 - 11th April 2010,Rishikesh Day 2 - Bridge Rappelling

Mornings are the same in Rishikesh. Immediately after breakfast, we all were asked for moving ahead for Bridge Rappelling, which was the next adventure to experience. We were taken to an old abandoned bridge from where we had to climb down using rope wire. As simple as it sounds, I got off on the hook first. Never had experienced this before but life's all about taking risks. The trainer demonstrated first and all we had to do was to follow the instructions carefully. 
Well, as far as my experience is concernd, this was the far much easier than rafting. It gives you the fear in the initial few minutes, once you get the feel of safety, you get relaxed and there onwards its just plain rappelling. Nonetheless, I experienced a lot of fear within when I was hanging out on the rope. :) It was a lifetime experience. All of them (except: Manish Mittal, Bhaskar and Abhishek) attempted this. Munira got a second chance. I was envied by that. (Girls always get undue advantages). Hundreds of photographs clicked on the bridge, it was like many portfolios being shot. Once this was over we all returned to the water fall and started off again playing in water. We all enjoyed until lunch in the water stream. Amit, tried to catch few fishes, but the fishes were smart. Better luck next time. Will go with fishing equipment the next time.



Part 10- 11th April 2010, Return Road Trip to Noida
Everybody took a shower and we all were set to leave. We all had lunch and post lunch we started off back to Noida. Memories were the only thing we could take along.
After restig for an hour or so, everyone started dancing in the bus. Manish Arora, rocked the party with his mind - blasting moves. He engaged everyone with his killer expressions and wow it was fun alll the way back. We reached Noida at 12.00AM and that marked the end of this wonderful trip. I thanked all my colleagues for making this trip a successfull event.
I returned back to Archit's place and slept for the night. Sleep wasnt coming easy amidsts the remembrances.
Tomorrow was a heavy day, thoughts returning to the hole weren't cool. But as we all know, life is cruel, I had to return.


Part 11- 12th April 2010, Return of the King ;)

Woke up early, in order that I could pack my stuff quick. My train was scheduled at 11.00 AM from Nizamuddin. Got readied up quick and requested Archit to drop me at the office. I came in office at 8.30 AM and completed the final ceremony. Once it was over I rushed for Nizamuddin. Train was on time and so was I. Duronto Express, was a wonderful experience. 20 hours of non stop journey with loads of food served (eat till you die). I completely enjoyed the trip. On my way back I made a good friend, read books, kept messaging, and missed all the adventure I had.
I reached Pune as scheduled on 13th Apr 7.30 AM and rushed to office at 9.00 to view the photographs :)


Cheers,
Younus