SASHAY ‘09
PONDICHERRY HYDERABAD HOGENAKKAL
Clutch ammarthi, Gearil ittu, Vroom!!! We’re on roll… Our tour is ON!! The tour of a lifetime… Or is it??... hmm maybe. Ha!!
After all the fights, groupism, emotional atyachaar, teasing, whining, discouragement and objection. Forty six of us are finally on this bus which blasted from here at around 7 P.M on 15th August and which will lead us to Pondicherry, Hyderabad and Hogenakkal through next five days. With OT as our coordinator (Shamsheer and Jazzad actually) and Hisham Sir and Amina Miss as our staff In charge.
So AAARRRAPPEEEEE…. Hoooroh! Hoooroh! Hoooroh! (Mallu style)
16th Aug: with about 40 KM more to Pondicherry, we checked into a local hotel in T.N just to refresh ourselves. A congested hotel though with uggh!! Facilities. Whatever we’ve got used to this ehh???!! We however witnessed a good Tamizh fight there. Ahh!!
First stop Pondicherry beach. Wov! Just a great place to hangout. One thing you notice is there are more foreigners than Indians there. We had lot of photo-ops there. And I mean a lot. With everyone trying to get their pics in different positions in different background, especially Noor. The rain however ruined the party. Some were too desperate to get out of there. and because of that we missed some artworks and museums on the other side. If only we’d some less photo moments. It really irritates me when you come for a tour, don’t explore the places but just stay at one place and Click! Click! Baaahh!!!
From there to Auroville. Jyeh!! I was damn excited about this place. I’ve read and heard many things about this ashram and desperately wanted to see the globe, the place and all. But as the luck would have it. It was a Sunday and the place is closed. Baaahh!! Again. Some photo-ops and we left.
Analyzing we realize Pondicherry was a big waste. And the travel is hell lot from here to Hyderabad. The manager said it was the worst planning he’d ever seen. Ooooh! So here we are.
HYDERABAD: The land of nawabs. Claims to be one of the richest and vibrant places in India. And honestly Rich and Vibrant it is! In culture and heritage.
We checked into a 3 Star hotel Sitara in the heart of the city. And WOW! What a hotel. Lavish lifestyle. The city reminded me of Delhi. Wohi crowd, wohi lawlessness, wohi smell. Mm..hmm! And there was this guide, red haired, red mouthed, and seemed like he hadn’t bathed for 5 months. Meet Shaukath bhai, who is supposed to introduce us this city. And he did well. “apne right side mein dekhiye, woh hai high court’ and he points to a monument in the left side. Pretty smart. He had everything planned for us.
We were first taken to a big park. And I mean BIG. We had a great time with pics taken around. And wow, great colors man!! Girls, unlike the ones back home, demand a second look. Pretty. The park was well built and was the finest in Hyderabad.
After that the best experience in the whole tour the snow world. Anirvachaneeyamaya Anubhooti. Can’t get a better word. Ah! Firstly they gave us those suits inside which we all looked weird, especially Sajad. He looked like Cutie pie the alien. We had our photo moments there. And then we entered… what shall I say.. Heaven maybe. Experience mann!!! We played, threw snow at each other, slide through the snow, had max fun. WOW!!!
Then again, a boating at the Hussain sagar lake. We had an awesome boating experience around the Buddha statue. They even dedicated a whole performance for us. We even danced there. Just loved the whole show. Later we were taken to buy pearls. The shop I guess had dealings with Shaukath sahib. We kayari irangi about three shops. Thala and Sajad wanted me as their interpreter and this lead me to buy some. I wasn’t interested initially but whatever it is beautiful. Others had got frustrated. Whatever.. it’s all part of tour. Then the night at sitara. We’d biriyani dinner. 60% of which was wasted. We made a lot of noise that night. There were even some problems with guys in last room of the corridor. But whatever, nothing big! We, that is me, Anisha and team, had planned to have chaat later the night. However I slipped in alone to have some. And I did, and I guess that’s what lead to my stomach ache for the next fifteen days. Anisha’s curse, I guess.
That day was awesome.
Next day early we took off to see the one of India’s wonder the Charminar and the adjacent mecca masjid. A heritage place In the heart of Nizam’s empire. We were awestruck to see the charm of the four minarets. Sheer beauty. Adjacent mecca masjid , one of largest in India, also a great heritage place. The flights of the pigeons was an awesome sight. We took many pics with these as the background. A special peaceful feeling altogether. The area was also called ‘Chota Pakistan’ and you can guess why. The place however was still asleep at 9 in the morning. According to Shaukath, the place awakes at 12 noon. And when it does its one of the busiest and congested market place in whole of India. Aha!!
Then to the RAMOJI FILM CITY. Another delightful experience to relate. We first of all toured the city in their bus. We saw Airport, Train Station, Local galiyaans, foreign locations, even the Taj mahal and many other places all made up of this plywood and POP. The place was a majestic and magnificent piece of work. Hats Off Ramoji. It was also an entertainment park. We saw circus, wild wild west shows, dance performances etc. Then there were bhoot bungalows, rollercoaster ride (It was hell awesome), a plane crash experience… many things. We had our moments too. Maximum fun.
One important incident was the lunch there we had. It was a buffet and there were more than 15 dishes. And we had whatever we could. It was aaarrpp!! Delicious. And this all contributed to formation of TSU. With Thala doing the inaugurals followed by me and Sajad. And Shamsheer, Jazzad, Hisham, Rayiz and Sangu all being part of it. It was queer, really funny man.
That night we had our campfire set up. What an experience… dancing all the way. We rocked till we dropped. CT and Thouseef even jumped through fire. UC teaching dance to the girls, Jazzad and Shamsheer to the boys. Everyone letting themselves loose. Aha! Our class was so vibrant. My stomach problem took its toll and I almost collapsed very early. TSUians had a good times in the toilet thereafter.
Next day, we were in a fix. There was this IV which cannot be omitted (Amina miss was stern). And there was Golconda Fort and Salarjung museum which shouldn’t be missed. Well due to some internal planning problems (all in a bid to outshine CSEians) we’d to drop museum and fort. Tcheh!! A great miss.
Industrial visit to SPECTROCHEM LTD. then. The Industry was in a No Man’s Land. And it seemed like a middle class family house. When you get inside you realize that there’s more than what meets eye. One thing I learnt there is, you don’t need big set-ups and all to have an Industry. You just need the will and some skills. The manager was a brilliant man who showcased many things that his company has produced. He explained to us the minute details of the instruments they made. ( I don’t however remember those). It was encouraging. After that we’d shopping. We bought many things and had fun hanging around the market in Hyderabad. Some just went too far just to buy things you could get here cheaper. Ehh hehh!!! No one reported on time, still. It was me and Thala inside the whole bus waiting for about 2 hours, most irritating wait.
Then off to Hogenakkal. We had our dinner somewhere in AP. And Tsu and all just refreshed ourselves. I was you know dying with headache and stomach probs. Hogenakkal was a place to be visited. We had many colleges to our company. And that was really good for our eyes. We were ferried across the river in a tub like boat. Superb feeling yaar! The might of the river was awesome and I had this fear of being washed away while inside the boat. Anyway we didn’t. The waterfall was magnanimous. What a view. Just can’t get it off my mind. We took great pics with it in our background. Aha!!! After that we bathed in the running water man! It was muddish although. Still we all jumped into the water and made the most of it. It was all rocks and I cut my hands in one of very sharp piece. Still I enjoyed my time in the water. Although gave me a good fever later. And that was the last of it.
We after a long wait, left Hogenakkal, back to our home. We had Jingle all the way. We reached here at about 6:30 in the morning. And say THAT WAS IT.
We just danced all the way. The bus had the laser thing in it, which gave us a good atmosphere inside the bus. There was party in the back of the bus and t’was funny if you relate with them. Some were uncomfortable with that. Still we hit off well. TSU had their meetings everywhere. And even talks inside the bus came to that level.
OT was in a bid to outshine the CSEians and there were some sparks coz of that. The CSEians were with us during the whole tour. They were good company at Ramoji. They however had fort and museum tour. I told some of them we’d museum and just missed fort coz of IV which they didn’t had. Vittu kodukkaan patillallo?? They missed their boating in Hyd, at which point we really boooed at them. Ehh!! Whatever. They had their time, we had ours.
Class groupism died out during the tour. All were equally good with each other. Everyone I guess had great time especially UC (really pissed us). Hisham Sir and Amina Miss looked two year younger than us and just equally blasted with us. OT however with help of Shams and Jazzad did an excellent job.
Overall, A youthful Joyride which eventually has become a memory.
Ah!! I’m still in its hangover. Excuse me! But I think I need to go to toilet.