Travelogue…

It happened. We had our second Industrial Visit. At last! Twice it got postponed and that made me not to look forward to it eagerly. Thankfully, it didn’t proceed to three, four and any further. Initially, we were supposed to go during November. So, I had my list ready and things packed a week back. But, it was put off and rescheduled to December first week. Again, pack. And, unpack. Much to our disappointment, trip got delayed. With that, enthusiasm suffered a blow. When third schedule was announced, we were like, “Oh! Ok”. I didn’t pack or buy things for I wanted to know for sure if plan would be put into action or not. Third time we were lucky.

Making of Video and Start of journey

This being our last trip together (probably), we girls wanted to try something like making a video of our memories for the past one and a half years of being together. Initially, we had difference of opinion and hence, video work got delayed. Only two days before the start date we started working. All of us worked on it and went on till late night. I (and few others) was so engrossed in the making that I never gave a thought about packing. We were supposed to reach bus by 9.30 PM. After making many changes, video was ready by 5 in the evening. This making video job brought all of us work together after a while and it goes without saying that we had so much fun throughout.

Scene shift: to my room. Checking to-do list gave me a mild shock! I had so much to do in less time! Till then, for every long trip, I would have my suitcases ready, a week back or few days back, at least. But this time I had only few hours to buy and pack things. Clothes scattered on the bed, cosmetics on the table, two bags wide open on the floor! At one point, I was laughing at myself for turning into this ‘last-minute’ person!

In three hours I was done. And then, an hour for dinner followed by checking things. By 9.45 PM, we reached the place where bus was parked. All set to go!!

Time spent in chatting, dancing, pulling others’ legs and of course, sleeping! It was around 6.30 AM when we reached Bangalore.

Day 1: Iskcon Temple, Snow City and Phoenix Market City

We started our trip with the blessings of Lord Krishna of the famous Iskcon Temple. It was a new experience to chant a mantra for every step before reaching the stairs. It had many stalls with various things related to Krishna like key chain, shirts, bags, dollars, cards, calendars, photos, dolls and what not! It was more than just a temple. We went around all the places and took few snaps to take back with us. It consumed more of the day time.

Afternoon, we decided to go to snow city. Ignore the fact that it is artificial, tremendously excited we were, to be seeing and touching the snow. Though adequately equipped with gloves, boots and jerkin, we were shivering and freezing. Regardless of that, we were on top of our spirits, pushing others down, throwing handful of snow at each other, sliding on the mat and dancing to the tunes. That day we brought our inner child out of us! Taking pictures forms an integral part of every visit. So, explicit mentioning is needless.

Next we stopped at Phoenix Market City, one of the numerous shopping malls. It wasn’t a part of our plan but a trip to Bangalore would be incomplete without visiting shopping malls right? Since it is Christmas time, every floor was decorated with colorful balls, toys and stars. A tall glittering X-MAS tree was set in the middle and it had colorful accessories. As I looked around, I was wondering at the amount of effort put in setting the tree and decorating the entire mall. I bought a stole and an earring and didn’t go beyond that. I spent most of the time observing the actions and emotions of random people around me, unnoticed. As time passed by, we were getting bored and came out of the mall to breathe fresh cold air. Guys made us wait for a while to go for dinner. Meanwhile, I captured few things around me. One is shown below. After having good food, we went back to hotel.

Day 2: Company Visit

Originally it was planned to visit only two companies. Later, a classmate arranged for another one through his friend, an ex-employee of that company.

First, we went to ThoughtWorks. We suggested this company since it practices a software development method which was one of our courses. Going around ThoughtWorks campus and observing its workspace were insightful. Workspace was very different. No cubicle could be seen anywhere. People sit around large tables and discuss works face-to-face. We had a good interactive session that cleared many of our doubts. The hosts gave us a cordial reception and more food for thought.

Second company we visited was Carmatech. We were educated about the jobs they do, their clients, and their success path. We got to spend only less time there since they were getting ready for Christmas celebrations.

Final visit to C-DAC, Centre for Development in Advanced Computing. It was our second trip to C-DAC. The same person who addressed us during 1^st IV was asked to talk to us. Since we already knew about C-DAC, we discussed about our final year projects and new projects allotted to C-DAC. He gave us few ideas to work upon. It was already 5 PM when we reached. From our looks he realized we were tired and let us free after one hour. Soon after rushing out of C-DAC, we gave a sigh of relief. Three companies in one day! Running between companies and hotels, hectic it was! But, the thought of going to Wonderla, a theme park, wiped us of the tiredness. In the hotel, all of us gathered in one room to chat and play cards. It went on for hours till we were asked to keep quiet by other inmates.

Day 3: Wonderla

After flavorful breakfast, we set out to Wonderla, with a glow of happiness. On the way, we played the game of charades. We had one full day to spend inside. Since I didn’t want to get into water, I decided to try all the land games. As per the rule, bags and other items should be placed in the locker room. Guys came out soon and I was waiting outside for the girls to join us. But, they took time to come out. Guys started moving and as I was the only girl standing without company, I joined them. We went on to try every ride. Luckily, there was at least one person who didn’t join and he was made the photographer. There were few terrific rides, spinning us on 360^o! Looking at others in action itself was scary. In such cases, I took up the job of photographer!

Initially, I thought of skipping everything, and sit in one place reading books I brought. But then I realized that was my last trip with friends and I had to enjoy each and every moment. That and encouraging words from friends gave me necessary energy and courage to jump into rides. Later, I was glad I did so. Loud shrieks out of fear, looking at friends from the air, at times upside down, and birds-eye view of the entire park are some of the best moments we had! I thoroughly enjoyed the company of guys..a chance to get to know more about them.

After lunch, we parted to get ready for the water games. I had two more guys to accompany and we sat there watching people happily getting drenched. Later on, we moved on to see a 3D cartoon film. A 15 minutes entertaining movie. Hero’s name, Chikku, turned out to be our favourite and that led to some historical event, naming ceremony! 😛

Like icing on the cake, we had musical fountain and LASER show as the concluding event. 15 minutes magic of lights and music! Christmas celebrations were all over the campus with Santa toys, X-MAS trees, bands playing music and as a final touch, fireworks lighting up the sky!

We left the campus around 8 PM after having light dinner. On the way, we discussed next day’s plan. Few said, shopping in Commercial Street. Few, Mysore. Few more, Hogenakkal. We had to make phone calls to check status of each place. Commercial street plan was dropped on the account of parking issues. We kept on discussing but never arrived at a conclusion. It was a long travel and some of us were already feeling hungry. So, we got down near a canteen to have dinner. Since bus was parked few miles away from the canteen, I and few guys had a chance to have a stroll, feeling the cool breeze and enjoying the rare silence of Bangalore roads. We resumed our discussion and decided to go to Shiva temple and a lake near Krishnagiri with boating facility. Soon as we reached room, we hit the bed. After a calm night of deep sleep, the next and final day began enthusiastically.

Day 4: Shiva Temple and Boating

We got ready quite early to check out of the hotel and started towards temple. It is famous for its tall and huge Shiva idol placed in open air. We went inside a cave that had look-alike of Shiva lingam from rest of the places in India like Kasi, Haridwar, Badrinath, Kedarnath, etc. After having breakfast, we bid goodbye to Bangalore with heavy hearts and started back to Coimbatore.

On the way, we stopped at Krishnagiri lake. It had boating facility both self pedalling and rowing. Many chose the former and I, along with 4 others, chose the latter. It was quite enjoyable. People who went on pedalling had a race among them and thus had their own enjoyment. We spent a quality time there before we resumed travel. Few stops in between for lunch, tea and dinner and reached the starting point and the end of our trip.

I must admit that from the lowest point of my mind (beginning the trip with less excitement) I had reached the highest point. It was indeed a journey tiring the body but rejuvenating our minds.