The Kayaking trip with Loc team.

It was a very much awaited day for the Localisation guys. They were supposed to go for a trip by 10 pm, 3rd March Friday eve. We all left the office by 8:30 pm and reached Madiwala by 9:15. We saw the Tempo traveler parked at the road side. Seeing this, we started making fun of Tindu, if this van is going to be parked here for some more time, you will have a trip to Madiwala Police station only. But from that moment itself, Tindu was insisting me and Shihas to join the trip. I should say, it was much unintended for me and Shihas, to join with the trip with the guys in Loc. Truly, we didn't even think of going for a trip, by getting arranged in another one hour. Also I was supposed to go to office, Saturday morning. Anyway, we had decided to go for the trip.

The big problem we faced then was to arrange the wardrobes. Please note that it was a Friday. As we dedicate the weekend specially for washing clothes, we had no enough stock. I should thank my roommate, Shyam for his pro-activeness shown on to the situation. Somehow we managed to take all the stuffs and put it in bags. While walking out the house to the road, I was thinking whether I have taken all or not. I was just listing out things, Tooth Paste is taken... Oops the brush is not taken....

By around 10:30 pm, we had started the trip. We picked up people in another one hour. All of us except Yuva were in the thought of a deep plan to wish Yuva on his B'day. Even though it was on 23rd Feb, we wished him and presented the gift. The greeting card holds the people's writings in the card. The very nice one was of Neelima's, which holds the wishes written in the form of VB macros. Good work Guroo, you missed an A+ rating. Bad luck, Tele2 had called ExitSub().

The next day by 8:30 am, we had reached the camp, geared up in another 1 hour. While having our breakfast, guide was telling about the nature. We were asking him questions like "Is there any crocodiles in the river?" He said Ya, Not only crocodiles; this is the region where the King cobras are plenty. I got scared, even though I thought “Hmm King Cobra....” I looked at everyone. I could see everyone looking at Sandaya’s face. And I didn't express my dreariness even though from my child hood itself I am very scared of dogs and snakes.

After the breakfast, we have just started the journey to the riverside, for White water Rafting and Kayaking. It took around 2 hours to reach the spot. We were in urge to put the life jacket as well as to inflate the raft and kayak. The Raft and Kayaks are of Sea Eagles, imported from US. Rafting/Kayaking offered us the broadest array of river experiences available from mild to wild with everything in between. It was an awesome nature trip, focused on the flora and fauna of the forest.

The trainer had given us a good session on how to control the kayak, and what to do in several situations. He trained us on how to paddle and manage the kayak in case if it gets stuck in the rock. Also it included how to use the life jackets in case someone had fallen into the water. Just after he finished his instructions, everyone secretly said their own prayer and was drawing a deep sigh.

It was the most awesome trip I have ever had in water. The most thrilling moment during the Kayaking was with the rapids. In still water, it's pretty easy to manage or control the kayak. But in rapids, the strong flow makes the kayak, move to its own direction which will lose the control and in turn put into turbulence. But that is the very interesting part in kayaking. We enjoyed a lot, paddling in rapids. The instructor had a tough time to give instructions - I was in the back row in the Raft. The instructor was standing beside me. Couple of times, I got hits on my head while paddling, for the mistakes in making the right move. He used to say "Forward paddle..... Backward paddle..... From my childhood days, I have been always confused in finding directions. When someone says Right or Left, I often used to check my hands to see which one I usually use for eating.

The most memorable moment happened after lunch. We were amazingly thrilled to enjoy every moment in the water. In rapids, we were heading towards the rocks with water flooding over the sides of the boat. This truly was an exhilarating experience. When our instructor, Manju handed over the Fist Aid kit and some other packs to the other trainer, we didn’t know that it was an intentional act to make all of us fall into water from the raft. He also told his friend to wait somewhere at the end. At that time we wanted again to go against the stream so he told to paddle very hard to go against the stream, purely an upstream activity. Once we get into the rapid the aim to make a fast turn towards the flow. This will make it more turbulent and the people who sit at that side of the raft will have to struggle a lot to hang onto it. This happened to most of us. When we tried to do the same, I was about to fall down to water. But Shihas pulled me into the raft. It happened to Neetha too, where she was partially fell into the water. But others somehow managed to pull her into the raft.

It was the third or fourth attempt to go against the stream to head the rocks in the rapid. We were paddling very hard to go upstream and suddenly the raft got slid to the left side. I saw the people sitting on the left side making the effort to get into the raft. Ultimately, it happened. Sandaya fell off the raft. Everyone saw what had taken place. But we couldn't see her for 2-3 seconds. Most of us were frightened and stood in the raft to look for her. She had drowned into the water, and was unable to surface up as she was below the raft. After some tine we saw her around 50 meters away the raft. Because of the big commotion, we lost control of paddles to the water. Manju told to retrieve it quickly. At the same moment, Sandaya was drowning again but somehow managed to make use of life jacket. Easily she was able to float on the water. She was around 200 meters now. We paddled quickly to reach Sandaya. Our hero, Tindu was roaring '' Sandaya, we are coming. Don’t worry...” Later Sandaya told that she had heard a voice that finally somebody had come to help her. (Pls note that Tindu has recently been selected to the Fire Task Force too). This is a memorable moment for everyone and will be too especially for "Sandaya from Kerala".

Alappuzha(Alleppey) is the land of backwaters, lakes and rivers. It is also known as 'Venice of East'. I take great pride in telling everyone that I hail from Alleppey. We finished rafting at the bank and the other group was just sitting on the rock which was in the middle of the river. And I wished to swim upto there. Easily managed to swim up to the stream and when I tried to cross the stream, I felt it was pulling me towards the flow and it was very hard for me to keep afloat. At the end of the story, HELPDESK had to come to my rescue by throwing the rope towards me. Nowadays, I don't tell anyone that I am from Alleppey. :)

A camp fire was arranged on Saturday night. Neelima was in high spirits to try out few dance steps. Even though our van driver was in some other dance mood, at last he agreed to play the songs to make us dance. We were very tired by the end of the day. And we got to sleep inside the tent which was really nice. That time also, I remembered Manju mention about snakes. I kept looking at the corners of the tent to see whether everything was covered fine or not.

On Sunday, we were on our way back to B'glore. But once we got into Malpe beach, we heard about another island nearer to that. We thought of going there by making a new plan suddenly.

Malpe is a natural harbour and an important fishing centre that enriches Karnataka's coastline with its' fabulous beach. The endless stretch of golden sand, clear blue sky and gurgle of the sea, all set the perfect mood for an idyllic holiday. Fishing boats bobbing in the distance make a pretty picture.

St. Mary's Island, another delightful get away is only a boat-ride away from Malpe Harbour. Here one can find a unique formation of volcanic rocks which have crystallized into columns and split into hexagonal mosaics. This is neither a swimming nor a strolling beach. It's a beach to be gazed and wondered at; and it's the only one of its kind in India. Legend has it that Vascoda Gama appears to have set foot on the island in 1498 before he reached Calicut. It has a coconut grove, which makes it the shadiest island of the group and gives it true South Sea colour.

The boat ride to the island leaves everyone, the breathless with excitement. For some people it seemed like a good place to have a film shooting. Dona was busy in pointing out the best places for shooting, seems that she got an aim to produce a film soon.
The return journey was also enjoyable. Everyone was in great gusto to take pleasure in. We were dancing under Neelima’s guidance, by just following her dance steps. Also Yuvaraj recited couples of poems. And Gitika’s Tumka dance was a noteworthy event for the trip.

And it’s very heartrending that just one week after the trip, the whole T2 team got scattered. The moments we had spent together, the instances we got together all have become reminiscence now.

I feel the time is getting close,
We all have to part soon.
And I will miss you, dear pals
But you will always be near.

We must be dreaming,
For it has gone to fast.
The time we have spent together,
will soon become the past.

Just hold on to our memories,
To move on to the future.
Now I say, Thanks a lot.
And I say, Goodbye.