So as I had mentioned earlier, we the students of R.D.National College performed a 5 day excursion to Rajasthan, more precisely to Jaipur and Ranthambore. Well I didn’t find any taste in the idea of describing a 5 day long event in a limited issue like a blog. But still some people wanted me to write it up though I am pretty confident that you won’t find it interesting at all. On my defence I warn you that this is like a documentary. Don’t blame me if you people don’t like it!!
THE FIRST DAY: We were asked to be present at the main reservation counter of Mumbai Central railway station at 5 pm sharp to board the Mumbai-Jaipur Superfast train at 6.30 pm. I was the second one to reach the spot preceded by Nandita. Others flowed in with the passing time. All of them especially girls were accompanied by their parents. Almost all students arrived on time and checked themselves against the name sheet. Ofcourse there were those eternal ‘laters’ like Hafsa and Vivek, but they weren’t late enough to miss the train. After ensuring that all the students had arrived we went on to the platform and boarded our train. We were 39 in total and were dispersed among 9 compartments- from S1 to S9. My friends were all in the adjacent compartments and I had only Vijendra Sir and some Second Years for company. After ensuring everyone had settled down Vijendra sir relayed between the bogies to make sure all were as close as possible. Even I helped him to some extent. As night fell and people started going to sleep, we were all still awake and well. The idea of sleep seemed like absolute absurdity to all of us. Sir was with Mohsin and group and they ofcourse had a great time. Me and Mukul indulged in watching movies on Mahendra’s I-pod. So insomniac were we that we didn’t close our eyelids until 3 am. We did sleep for an hour for the sake of it though.
THE SECOND DAY: But when we woke up it was very cold. It was so cold that Mahendra snatched Jaya’s bed sheet and covered himself from head to toe and dozed of again. Me and Mukul covered ourselves in Saylee’s huge blanket and were chatting with Jaya. Our talks were repeatedly interrupted by Mahendra’s snoring which sounded like a F-16 fighter waiting for take off. In the far horizon, orange strips tore across the blue sky marking the onset of dawn. After our body maintained some homeostasis we both got up and moved on to the other bogies to perform formal goodmornings on those who were awake (and to wake up those who were asleep!!!). By four thirty Ratnam Station arrived and we got down to free our body and experience some real cold. We bought some tea after the train started ( it sucked) and I lost my appetite. When Sawai Madhopur arrived we saw hawkers selling some really big perus. They were so big that each of them could qualify as a medium sized coconut. Only three of them fitted in a 1 kg range. Our generous sir bought them for all of us. Even though it was bright outside we couldn’t afford to open the windows due to the cold wind. Rest of the journey was uneventful apart from the occasional shivering when someone opened the doors or windows. We reached Jaipur by 12.30 pm. We dragged our bags and loaded it onto the bus which was waiting for us. The bus sucked in the first look itself. We reached the hotel in 15 minutes. Vijendra sir instructed us to get ready in 1 hr time and have lunch after which we had to visit places like the Sisodiya garden and the Monkey valley and an ethnic restaurant called Chokhi Dhani. Our hotel was superb and the food was mind-blowing given the skimpy budget to which it was squeezed in. After having lunch we all departed for Sisodiya Garden- a 300 year old garden built by a certain Raja to please his wife. The garden was huge and marvelous and superbly maintained and was peculiarly full of Cycas plants. Photography was not allowed but nobody gave a damn! Our stay was limited and we soon drove of to the Monkey valley. As the name suggested it was a valley kind of thing swarmed by monkeys which were used to the human attention. After spending some time there we went to the last spot for the day- Chokhi Dhani.
It was essentially an ethnic fun place meant to present the cultural and traditional diversity of Rajasthan. There were things like folk dance, rabri,elephant rides, camel rides, puppet shows, magic shows, boat rides etc. All of them wasted there time on camel rides and missed out on other stuff. Except some of us ofcourse. It was time for food at last. We found it hard to get accustomed to the Rajasthani food but it was very healthy to say a compliment. We reached hotel by 12 in the night. We needed to get up early the next day but sleep came by hard and we wasted our time making calls to the girls through the intercom present in the hotel room.
THE THIRD DAY: As usual, the alarm was ringing on 3 of our phones and we four (Myself, Mukul Mahendra and Vivek) were encouraging each other to get up. We got up late and hurriedly got ready and ran down for the breakfast. Boys came on time. Girls were never expected to arrive on time. After all they had things like nails, hair, eyelashes, lips, face, nose, ears etc to account for.
After breakfast we set of for the Jalamahal; a palace in between a lake, the name of which I can’t recollect. The water was very polluted a few years back, hence a committee of which Vijendra sir was a part planted plants like Fragmitis austrelis and Cesbania as part of Phytoremediation. We saw the Pargota of Jaipur; a miniature version of the China Wall which surrounded Jaipur. It was built for securing the territory during the rule of Rajputs. We then proceeded to the Amber fort. It was classy and beautifully built and showcased architecture which was not influenced by the Mughals. It took around 2 hrs to roam the whole palace. The Diwaan-e-khaas was my favourite; for its scenic beauty and the glassy gloss. Though it was a fort it resembled a palace due to its architectural style.
Next up was the Jaigarh fort which was visible from the Amber fort. Jaigarh fort was nowhere close to the architectural grandeur its companion down the hill possessed. Yet it was strategically more important and viable for artillery strikes. The main attractions were the fire arm museum and ofcourse the Jaivana- world’s largest cannon on wheels. It was a structure weighing 250 tons, made of eight metals, had a range of 35 km and needed 4 elephants to change its direction. Interestingly there was a pit dug behind the cannon which had earlier been filled with water . It was made for the man who would light the cannon so that he could jump into the water and escape the recoil impact! Enough time was wasted and so Nahargarh was cancelled and we all returned to the hotel for lunch. We then went to Jantar Mantar but could not make it in time. We were taken to the Jawaharlal Art Gallery and allowed a shopping time of 1 hr after which we took a walk into the art building. Beautiful indeed but I didn’t understand anything of it! That was up for the day and we all retired back to our hotel for dinner and yea..something called sleep- which was again wasted by making useless calls to girls.
It was essentially an ethnic fun place meant to present the cultural and traditional diversity of Rajasthan. There were things like folk dance, rabri,elephant rides, camel rides, puppet shows, magic shows, boat rides etc. All of them wasted there time on camel rides and missed out on other stuff. Except some of us ofcourse. It was time for food at last. We found it hard to get accustomed to the Rajasthani food but it was very healthy to say a compliment. We reached hotel by 12 in the night. We needed to get up early the next day but sleep came by hard and we wasted our time making calls to the girls through the intercom present in the hotel room.
THE THIRD DAY: As usual, the alarm was ringing on 3 of our phones and we four (Myself, Mukul Mahendra and Vivek) were encouraging each other to get up. We got up late and hurriedly got ready and ran down for the breakfast. Boys came on time. Girls were never expected to arrive on time. After all they had things like nails, hair, eyelashes, lips, face, nose, ears etc to account for.
After breakfast we set of for the Jalamahal; a palace in between a lake, the name of which I can’t recollect. The water was very polluted a few years back, hence a committee of which Vijendra sir was a part planted plants like Fragmitis austrelis and Cesbania as part of Phytoremediation. We saw the Pargota of Jaipur; a miniature version of the China Wall which surrounded Jaipur. It was built for securing the territory during the rule of Rajputs. We then proceeded to the Amber fort. It was classy and beautifully built and showcased architecture which was not influenced by the Mughals. It took around 2 hrs to roam the whole palace. The Diwaan-e-khaas was my favourite; for its scenic beauty and the glassy gloss. Though it was a fort it resembled a palace due to its architectural style.
Next up was the Jaigarh fort which was visible from the Amber fort. Jaigarh fort was nowhere close to the architectural grandeur its companion down the hill possessed. Yet it was strategically more important and viable for artillery strikes. The main attractions were the fire arm museum and ofcourse the Jaivana- world’s largest cannon on wheels. It was a structure weighing 250 tons, made of eight metals, had a range of 35 km and needed 4 elephants to change its direction. Interestingly there was a pit dug behind the cannon which had earlier been filled with water . It was made for the man who would light the cannon so that he could jump into the water and escape the recoil impact! Enough time was wasted and so Nahargarh was cancelled and we all returned to the hotel for lunch. We then went to Jantar Mantar but could not make it in time. We were taken to the Jawaharlal Art Gallery and allowed a shopping time of 1 hr after which we took a walk into the art building. Beautiful indeed but I didn’t understand anything of it! That was up for the day and we all retired back to our hotel for dinner and yea..something called sleep- which was again wasted by making useless calls to girls.
THE FOURTH DAY: As usual hurried waking ups were followed by hurried baths and getting ready for the day. Today was going to be educational. Breakfast as by custom was great. 12 noon was the official checkout time. So we loaded our bags in the bus in the morning itself. We were first taken to an area of land consisting of 56 acres which was basically a bio-diesel project of which Vijendra sir was a part earlier. We learnt of plants like the Jatropha and Acacia tortalis. A project on 56 acres of land! My projects hardly cross 5 pages! We then went to a nature park exclusively botanical which hosted a large number of plants and trees which we use in our day to day life. Names were too scientific to be remembered and written here. There were also exotic plants from countries like Israel, Argentina, Spain, Peru etc. Lot of studies already though it was quite interesting. Especially when u get showered with knowledge by your faculty. Again due to lack of time we cancelled more engrossing ventures like a Bio-gas plant and a Water treatment plant. We went straight to the Central Park- which if I am not wrong is the largest public park in India. It had a 10 km long track! The high point is that it has India’s tallest national flag at a height of 207 ft with a flag which is 78 ft long and 48 ft wide. Huge indeed. After heading back to the hotel and having lunch we proceeded to Sawai Madhopur or precisely Ranthambore. It was a 4 hr long journey which was further added to 6 hrs thanks to our driver who lost his way and then to 8 hrs due to the catastrophic road and some unfortunate events which need a special mention later. We reached by 12 am. Ranthambore was even more cooler than Jaipur All of them were shivering from head to toe. Tempertaures hovered around 5-6 C. We arranged our bags and had dinner in the new hotel and dozed off. We had to depart at 7 am for the safari. All of us set alarms on our phones and went to sleep hoping we will get up early.
THE FIFTH DAY: Again we woke up late at 6.30 am. Bathing was not an option thanks to the blistering cold.We finished the toiletries and went out for the safari. Coffee and tea were served which was a temperory relief. Me and Mukul ran around the hotel to generate heat and also did push-ups but to little relief. It was time for the safari. We were divided in two batches; each one in an open air van(colldd!!). We were lucky to have Sir sitting besides us. He gave regular inputs and seemed to know more than the guide himself. We were unlucky to spot the tiger but we did see his pug marks. We spotted the sloth bear which is a singularity in itself. Jackals, Nilgais, Mongooses, Sambar deer, Spotted deer and the Tree Pie were the main attractions. We returned back all thrilled and elevated and had our breakfast. After that there was a gap of about 4 hrs during which we had lunch and did some shopping. Then we departed for the Hammir fort. The driver of our bus; Mr.Rahis Alam was a Sanctuary Award recipient- One of India’s most prestigious awards- for maximum number of tiger spottings! His eyes were so trained that he could see and identify all the birds perched on any damn tree; all this while driving. We also had hopes of seeing a tiger when people coming out said they spotted one. But the necessity to go to the fort ruined it. We tried when we returned but to no avail. We got an insight into Mr.Alam’s capability when while returning( it was around 7pm and dark) he spotted an owl which was on top of a tree which was on top of a considerably high hillock. We were seriously amazed. Suchandra Mam was all jaws on the floor! We returned back with complete excitement. The thrill of a safari never dies! After some time we had dinner at around 9.30pm and then there was the camp fire. A group of tribal people performed the Rajasthani folk dance and there was also some brilliant fire show performance by the dancer. The dancer also encouraged others to join him and many burst into impromptu dances. Almost all of the students joined him. I didn't. Dance was never my thing. I have never danced even in the bathroom! The camp fire dance was like a farewell gift that Rajasthan gave us. It was really the curtain closer. After some time we departed for Sawai Madhopur station to get back to Mumbai. There was this unhappy feeling about this journey coming to an end especially thinking about the time we spent with sir. All of them developed an instant bond with Vijendra sir. He came out as a superb entertainer and was a like a father figure to the students.; caring for them at all moments and even picking up fights for them with bad men in the train. A special thanks to him.
The Train arrived at Bandra Terminus the next afternoon and we all parted ways with New Year wishes to all. A wonderful and treasurable journey had come to an end. I don’t know why but goodbyes to friends felt like farewell parties. All went their separate ways. I took the train to my home all the way thinking about this wonderful trip of ours!!!
The Train arrived at Bandra Terminus the next afternoon and we all parted ways with New Year wishes to all. A wonderful and treasurable journey had come to an end. I don’t know why but goodbyes to friends felt like farewell parties. All went their separate ways. I took the train to my home all the way thinking about this wonderful trip of ours!!!
