Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Odysseys...

Stars Trekking in KJS...Captain's Blog
I am beginning this blog post just like the Star Trek series as Captain Kirk says"Captains log dated XYZ...", I am absolutely thrilled to be writing a BLOG(also a log...hehehe) about the time, we Somaiyites used to travel to almost any place without a second thought, once the idea was broughtup. As time passes on, I feel it compulsive to write down the trips to all the places I can be reminded of, just in case when some among us might feel nostalgic and can look back into the days of Engg where an itinerary would bring out the light-hearted nature of almost everybody, and sometimes the dark side too...

Captains (B)log dated 2004: The Century Rayon/Birla Mandir trip--> This was technically the FIRST trip without a 'group' being formed. This was purely an EXTC group, div B (dunno why A was omitted) and no diplomats(diploma students). I think it was Shahad or Vithalwadi, but I do remember the group being headed by Mrs Lisha Sudeep aka Vinod Kumar s favorite madam and the great Nagori himself (who appeared meek in those times). The trip was a good one and most people liked the manufacturing techniques of rayon n synthetics...After the visit to CR, we decided to go to the nearby Birla mandir (3rd sem being diff, many actually prayed with their heart). We did have some good quality time there also, and overall, this trip was a successful one. This was because most of us were alien to others having been in diff divisions during FE. It was this trip throught which we gotto mingle with each other.By the end of the day, we were quite tired but it was a memorable day in the glorious history of KJS

Captains (B)log dated 2005: The great Galore to BanGalore--> Well after the Birla trip, most of us got busy with our mundane business of studying n chilling out and hence the thought of a TRIP just slipped out. It wasnt until the end of the dreaded SEM V(.....ouch!!) that we began the counter for the trips for the future. First of all lemme make it clear..It wasnt a trip, it was an IV(Industrial Visit)....atleast for namesake. I hadnt set my mind on the goin somewhere, as I wasnt too much of a "staying away from from" kinda guy, but eventually I was convinced. We packed our bags, leaving behind the thoughts of the dreaded exams and embarked upon a week of enjoyment n relaxation. We boarded the chalukya express to Bangalore at evening 9.30 pm so as to facilitate ourselves to reach Bangalore by night and go for the IV the other day. The trip was a good one...we finally manipulated our scattered seasts to adjacent ones...We were in TE and also accompanied by the then BE EXTC(Mahindroo, Tambe, Sumi & Co.). This trip has a special place in our history cos its from here (return train trip to Mumbai), that we all succumbed to a fatal game(or disease) called Mafia, a disease from which we never recovered...An addiction to one of the perfect games to play in groups, we took the game to our heart n owned it forever. For lighter moments, Vinod Kumar Yadav comes into the scene when he accidently (always an accident FYI) dropped hot tea onto the seat where Phadke was seated and boy, it was a hot, fuming ass alright....fuming with tea steam that is. But light hearted Ameya never makes a meal of such small (or large) things happening to him in life...Does anyone remember the eunuch's attack in the train while returning back?

Captains (B)log dated 2006: I happened to remember a small trip to Goregaon for attending some Science tech festival. That trip is quite memorable cos after the tech fest, we people had gone to Abhijit's house where we had the luck to eat his daily lunch to KJ...the idli-chutney. That visit was quite infamous for a game of Mafia which we played at his home and since this was after the 5th sem results, most of us were hardly out of the shock. At this critical juncture, Nikunj Pandya was teasing Shridhar about his Maths marks and hence the famous tagline "Nikunj, tu (Maths)marks pe mat jaa", in a tone which having great anguish as if his own blood had been abused...But soon after, the mood cleared and eventually we were all enjoying playing gully cricket....

Captains (B)log dated Sept 2006: September....the month during which rains tend to spoil the fun and ofcourse Ganeshotsav. It was the time during which we all used to go to our friends house for Ganapati celebrations. Finally I get to go to YP s house, thanks to some CONvinving given to my parents by the no.1 CON man himself, Sandeep Pillai. We had a good deal of enjoiment at YP s house in Bhiwandi. I remember having a small tiff with a passenger in ST bus(...hamesha ka tha, jhagdalu!) but I did win the war, ok? While coming back home, we also visited Rajeev vasani s house as he too had Ganesha celebrations at home. A nice event, nice journey on a lousy rainy day...

Captains (B)log dated Jan 2007: So, I think it was the day after our last tie/saree day in BE which we did enjoy to a large extent especially when Ameya Phadke's house served as a rest/guest house for people after the tie/saree day. We did come to knw, why Ameya loves the garden in front of his house so much [:D]. So, it was notified that the so-called "group" would meet up the other day in Thane for a visit to Sandy and Patange s house. It wasnt until the next day that poor Sandy was reeling over the decision to invitation as we left Sandy, a broken bed as a memento. Just a storm passes by his house..lolzz. We still have the pics as to who the culprits were...
So after this incident, we decided to behave as good n decent children at Patange s house where we did enjoi a lot, courtesy Nikhil Vichare s immaculate acting of certain people we knw very much...Here many people gotto eat the "crab curry". I did hear people asking for chisel n hammer to eat the crab.....

Captains (B)log dated April 2007: Yeah....finally after the Farewell party of BE 2007, we all couldnt knw wat to do with our joyous tempo, so we decided that a long trip would be the perfect solution to dry off our energies. So we decided to venture to the hills of Matheran, on the same day evening. Most of us guys left for Matheran in the same train by evening itself and reached there by late evening. Since our pal, Nikhilesh aka NTD stayed at Neral near to Matheran, we had a pitstop at his house too. But our house of stay was Phadke s guest house nearby where it was decided a "night-out maarnega". Oh, remembering those wonderful days is so nostalgic....Most of us were determined to stay awake the entire night, but people were succumbing to the night lord Somnus. I do remember we had a pillow bashing and poor Sandy got a bashing of his life at Matheran. We did pass the entire night sleeplessly by playing Mafia and cards (i did grab sleep for a couple of hours though [:D]). Next day, by early morning we were all ready to explore Matheran hills and we were joined by some additional gals n pals the next day. The meeting point was ofcourse, NTD s house and we had booked 3 vans to take us uphill. It was a perfect trekking experience but the summer heat took its toll on us and by late afternoon we were TOTALLY exhausted n tired..sweating, hungry n dying of thirst, but still enjoying knowing the fact that this might be one of the last chance for us to group n have a blast. One of the high points of the trip was the infamous echo points, no need to remind any1 wat all we had shouted on the top, mostly 3 times per person. We did end the trip on a happy note and we appreciated each people s efforts to make the trip as enjoyable as possible :)

Captains (B)log dated June 2007:Shootout at Bhiwandi....This shud be the epicentre of all controversial things that have happened in 1 year after this date :). Bhiwandi takes us to YP s house and I shudnt be writing too much about what happened n wat people saw. Just like the famous tag line which goes by "WHAT EVERY1 SAW WAS REAL, WHAT NO1 SAW WAS THE TRUTH". Nothing to take away from YP n his family, they were one of the good hosts we have ever known. Here we had clicked a unique pic, which i remember because it had every person showing their teeth and it was unique in the way that no1 had preplanned the pic, that way. Well, this day was one of those days to savour.

...this wasnt the end of the trips n itineraries....we had lotsa them, including many people s birthday celebration in the same age old RMall/Nirmal Lifestyles, visits to Atria mall, Worli sea face, Saraf s return to India trip (Juhu wala) and most recently the trip to Harshagiri, Asangaon. We all have been so lucky to have known each other and all of us have so differnt characteristics yet the bond of friendship kept us glued to one another. Distances may have reduced the frequency of meeting, yet the world is now like a nutshell. Friendhsip is never too far from the click of a mouse button or a mobile cell button. But still, I am confident of a day in the near future when we would still meet up together, saying "This wud be the last time we are meeting" (Duhh...as if this dialogue wasnt heard before). The question is WHEN??....