I was accessing my fb account when my MD came to me and asked - "Why your name is not there on the list?". I grinned,minimized the browser and replied - "Which list?". Later I came to know that we had received a mail from our HR and had to reply back saying whether we were coming to the 'Kurg' trip or not. A sorry with smile worked and I was member of the trip which was scheduled to leave on 14th July. The day was fast approaching and I started planning for it during bug-fixing hours though some people took 2-3 days leave to plan for it (Does anyone know- Ladki kyu na jaane kyu Ladko si ...).
Finally the day arrived.We were told to reach office by 11 p.m. from where we had to take the bus. At 9 p.m. I called Deepak to ask what stuffs I should keep. He told me to keep one toothpaste because he was not taking it, to keep some extra pairs of socks so that he can change when his socks get wet. I realised that the list was growing and disconnected the call saying - 'Thanks !!!'. I was delaying the things in order to create scope for filmy scene (Do you remember multiple instances in our Bollywood movies where hero arrives just when bus starts). I decided to keep it safe since there was possibility of being left also. So I reached office at 11:05 p.m. only to find that I was among the first ones to reach. Anyways, I found Shiva and Vinay there and joined them. Soon, all young hearts (including Sourabh and Shivaraman) were there. I played a prank on Rashmi by saying she should have come with her fiance. Richa was quick to reply - "She just bade him Good Night". I thought - "Life is so fast, our generation is so demanding, how can anyone get away with good-night only ???". Deepak arrived at last and his entry is worth mentioning as far as his belongings were concerned. His jacket reminded us that we were going to a hill-station (Though only few minutes back on phone he had told me that we bachelors don't require it since we are hot !!!), his bag reminded us that we were about to climb on mountain and his hat reminded us that when it comes to style, he has very few competitors. Everyone shouted "Long live SPLITS BABA". Though I couldn't understand it's meaning, i repeated it twice.
Soon, I was inside the bus. In my scariest dream (related to trip) also, I had never thought that I will be sitting just next to Abhishek. That's exactly when man proposes but god disposes. I still have to find why he wore goggles just before the bus started? The presence of Rama in our bus made me a little bit uncomfortable but it was soon overcome once he started serving that 'colourful water'.Our bus was detained for about an hour at a check-post for 'drink-and-drive' in Bangalore itself. When Pramod was getting down the bus to settle the matter, I tried my level best to stop him since after looking at him, police could suspect us of being drug-suppliers.
In Kurg, the first event was shooting. The helper showed us a circular spot on a thermocol which we had to target but forgot to show us the trigger which we had to press because there were multiple cases when people were pressing something else instead of trigger. The next one was river-crossing. Here I witnessed, how nature balances various creatures. The heavy ones used to go long distance but to pull their body weight to get to the extreme corner and returning back was never easy. It was tougher for pulley to carry lighter ones but if they could manage to reach the wrong corner, the return journey was much easier. Lots of other activities took place before we decided to play carom. I partnered with (first) Richa and (later) Priyanka but opponent was same both the times. I had no other option than to beat them beacuse I had already created enough fuss about my carom-skill. The contribution from other end was awesome and I fulfilled my dream of beating Sourabh in front of his wife. Then we played volley-ball. The never-stopping rain made it very special. Girls were bonus for opponents as always. I remember Vipula punching in air (like Dharmendra used to do in movies) when the ball just missed her head. The unorthodox pose of Ramaki sir distracted me a lot and I somehow persuaded him to play for my side. After that, it was easier for me to concentrate on the ball. Housie at night was a bit boring. Fate betrayed me once again and it got confirmed that whatever I have achieved till now, it is solely because of my hard work :) . Next morning, we were doing rafting. Kaveri river looked very scary though we were having life-jackets with us. Custodian asked- "Have you ever done rafting before?". I replied - "Forget about rafting, I have never done boating also". He pushed me out of the boat and amazingly I was floating. We did lots of things in between but the show by Shiva at night was above all. His performance is worth a separate blog in fact. Guitar played by Floyd was entertaining though i could connect to hindi songs only.It was Sunday morning and after breakfast, we were supposed to return back. The bus was waiting and it was time for final photo-op. Deepak's hat was cynosure of all the eyes again. While returning, we played 'Antyakshari' and the songs that I sang had lots of varieties but the same pitch which was noticed by swati. My team won at last with the final song sung by Shikha. It concluded our trip.
