Thansing

I wake up to the silent afternoon breeze and lead myself out of the hut as quietly as I can. Stopping at the porch, I start to wear my shoes rather absentmindedly – they’re almost a part of my body now, what with 12 hours of continuous accompaniment. The silence is only broken by the distant clattering of vessels in the kitchen and the heavy breathing of the weary trekkers slumbering inside the hut. It is a warm and sunny afternoon – A stark difference from our encounters of the last five days. Sunlight is good, I tell myself, stretching my numb limbs and making my way towards a big rock across the hut. I am basking in this glorious sunshine and looking over the huts that lay ahead of me, amidst the vast expanse of snowy terrain that is outlined by towering mountains. The mules are busy grazing whatever little vegetation they can find below the snow, and I find myself slipping into a recollection of the events of the last twelve hours…

Contemplation
PC: Raylene Monteiro

As we stood gazing into the velvety sky, our campsite was bustling with activity – Trekkers busy with last minute prepping,  micro-spikes clinking, kitchen staff hustling with packed food, the guides instructing each other in Nepali and the mules whinnying away. I remember thinking to myself how odd it was that while I was here, waiting to kick-start this adventure at 1 in the morning, all my family and friends were probably already asleep, oblivious to all the adrenalin rushing through my veins!
We collectively prayed to the mountain gods to support our endeavor with clear weather, and started off towards Lamuney which was another 4 km of pretty much flat walk. We walked silently, pausing frequently to sip some water but largely following our guides who had now reduced to mere torch-lights in the far. ‘This is the thing about trekking in the night’, I thought to myself, ‘It is probably nature’s way of showing us that we will always find light at the end of the tunnel’. We soon reached Lamuney (well in time), eager to continue to View Point 1 (VP1) to catch the sun rise over the glorious Kanchenjunga range.

Ita Sing in his element
PC: Jude Rayen

My pleasant reminiscing is interrupted by the sound of Sancha bhaiya and Ita Sing (our guides) giggling their way out of the kitchen tent. I smile to them and they smirk shyly and giggle away towards the mules. I dawdle my way around the flat land facing Pandim and realise that the melting snow has rendered the terrain mucky as soon as my foot slips into one of those mucky patches. I lift my foot, only to find the shoe dripping in different shades of brown. Hopping over to a drier spot, I take the shoe off and slip into a recollection of the events of the morning, together with cleaning the shoe…

Snow plume

The hike from Lamuney to VP1 was arduous. Under normal circumstances, we would have started for VP1 from the Lamuney campsite – but we had to cover this distance on the summit day itself, having had missed a day’s time on account of bad weather at Dzongri. What sounded like a measly 3.5kms was turning out to be the most hardcore thing any of us had done and rightly so – 15,200 ft was no mean feat! Sancha bhaiya had told us that 5.45 am was the perfect time to witness sunrise from VP1 and honestly, that was our only motivation to keep going. It was a test of endurance and patience, for the gradients were extremely steep and every time I felt like I was there, Sancha bhaiya would shout to say “thoda aur aage hai (it is a bit further away)”. At 5.30 am, I realised that I was still far away from VP1. Andi was marching ahead, breaking trail for the rest of us while Raylene and Jude were catching up to Sancha bhaiya and me. I kept asking Sancha bhaiya if I’d be able to make it in time for sunrise and he responded each time with an “araam se (easily)” and an impish smirk. We were 15 minutes away from being the first batch to summit Goecha La that season and of course our 19 year old guide was as excited as us!

The last leg was legitimately formidable, and we were ascending through knee-deep snow. Each step took herculean effort, and it was only then that Sancha shouted “Jaldi aajao abhi speed badhao..sunrise hone waala hai! (Come quick, speed up.. the sun is going to rise!)”. I pulled in all effort to move ahead as quickly as I could, walking along the treacherous trail – one mis-step in the deep snowy track, and a big fall down the valley eagerly awaited me. I had barely reached the end of the trail when Sancha bhaiya shouted, “Yehi hai View Point 1… welcome! (This is View Point 1… welcome!)”. I looked up to witness the first rays of sun falling on the illustrious Mt. Kabru and then slowly reflecting on the whole of the Kanchenjunga range. It felt like magic – to be standing there, barely 2kms from the world’s third highest peak, and watch this phenomenon. It felt like nature had placed those glimmering rays on the range, just like a veil over a bride’s head. If there was a quantifiable way to express gratitude, then it had to be this… and here.

Crowning glory

I am swiftly pulled out of my dream world by the animated conversation between Raylene and Andi. They are walking around deep in discussion about what sounds like college… or music. I begin to wear my now not-so-wet shoe and see Jude walking towards us. Even from a distance, it is easy to tell that he is playing some of his favourite Trishna Gurung Nepali folk songs. I start to hum Asaar in my head as I walk towards the group. I think for now and forever, Asaar is only going to remind me of the summit and the tears…

जिन्दगी कहिले घाम कहिले पानी, लै बरी लै
Life is sometimes like the sun and sometimes rain

माया नै सबै भन्दा ठुलो कुरो रैछ नि है
Love is the greatest thing in the world

चारैतिर निला निला आकाश नै छायो है
Big Blue clouds surround us   

वरिपरि लागेको यो कुहिरो हरायो है
The fog surrounding us gets dispersed

मनलाई साँचो राखी हिँडिरहेछु
I keep my heart pure and walking

म तिम्रो साहारामै बाँचिरहेछु, मायालु
I am living for you, Darling….

Asaar… and tears.
PC: Raylene Monteiro

All of us soon re-group and mull over the happenings of the day with renewed vigour. The fatigue from our noteworthy 14.5km long hike seems to have faded away like the green on autumn leaves. We are happily gupshupping about the day that was and how lucky we are to have been able to get out of Dzongri and finally made it to the summit.

Enroute Kokchurang
PC: Jude Rayen

We hiked from Dzongri to Thansing via Kokchurang, which is usually a preferred campsite among trekkers (not to mention the number of ghost stories about this place). But we decided to give it a miss and camp at Thansing instead, thanks to the snow. The route from Dzongri to Kokchurang was carpeted with snow and needless to say, we were breaking the trail through most of the route. It was a beautiful day and the sky was slowly clearing to reveal its perfect blue shade. We marched along the route, having received ample warning from Jude that the descent to Kokchurang was going to be steeper than we imagined, and our knees were going to take quite a beating. 

Panoramic views
PC: Jude Rayen

When we finally descended to Kokchurang – after a lot of puffing and panting, knee-jerking and micro-spiking – we were greeted by the utterly gorgeous Prek Chu river that flowed in all its force and glory. We quickly ran towards the river to touch its ice cold waters that were gushing through snow-laden boulders. The exuberant Prek Chu along with the pine and oak trees sprinkled with snow along its bed made for an unforgettable sight! The place was so scenic and calm, but we had to start towards Thansing, albeit reluctantly…

The gorgeous Prek Chu
PC: Raylene Monteiro

Our reminiscing is interrupted by Ita Sing and the big bowl of popcorn in his hand. Amidst all our dialogue, we had forgotten how hungry we were, and the popcorn only makes us aware of this reality. Just as we begin to grab the popcorn, Sancha bhaiya waltzes in with hot chai for us. We are gorging on the hot chai and popcorn, and of course fully intend to continue our walk down our recently walked memory lane. We realise that none of this conversation is complete with an elaborate discussion on our 3 day long stay at Dzongri…

Popping away
PC: Andi Duttagupta

We ended up spending a good 3 days in Dzongri, as against the initial two day plan – snow played truant to our plans. We were positively confined to the four walls of our trek hut for most of the time (except the mandatory pee-breaks) as it snowed away to glory. The visual outside our hut changed from barren brown to whirly white in no time. And even though the outdoors looked mesmerizing and a few of us experienced our first snow-fall, the enthusiastic trekkers were exasperated with staying indoors in this newly christened ‘hell-hole’.

When Dzongri was covered in snow..
PC: Raylene Monteiro

We kept stepping outside to play some games and do the ‘thermal dance’ to keep ourselves active, but the snow fall kept pushing us back indoors. The weather on all three days was pretty dull and the skies were filled with the darkest clouds, making us feel like we had caused some major upset up in the heavens. Our visit up Dzongri top was also mired in thunder and rain, and we rushed back down with no views of the gorgeous Kanchenjunga range.

Dzongri Top – All and nothing 🙂

Even though Andi merrily networked with the other trekkers who were stuck with us in Dzongri, we were collectively worried about our prospects for the summit and started to make alternate plans. The next day was going to be our make or break day. We were going to move out of Dzongri anyway – either back to base or towards Thansing. We were pretty much blank about what lay ahead of us.

A loud knock on the door awoke us on the next morning at 5 – One of guides walked in and declared that the sky had cleared! We rushed to pack ourselves and head to Thansing! I’d like to call it providence… 

Overlooking the gorgeous Pandim
PC: Jude Rayen

Our engaging discussion is abruptly paused with the realisation of sunset that is heavenly unfolding before us. We are gazing at the palette of colours as it dissolves into the endless sky, blissfully aware that time has no meaning in this moment. Just as the sun sets behind the Pandim, into the Kanchenjunga range, a bunch of clouds lumber in and cover themselves over the beautiful mountains… just like curtains closing over the stage after the final encore.

We silently walk back towards the hut, content and deeply grateful – knowing in our hearts that this was nature’s gift to us and us only 🙂

The “A” team!
PC: Sancha Bhaiya

PS: Thankyou Jude and Tour de Outdoors, for giving us the experience of a lifetime. Forever grateful 🙂

Trek to TakMakGad!

This gallery contains 11 photos.

Hello All! Here are a few photos from my recent trek to TakMakGad, in the Sahyadris. To call it beautiful would be an understatement. I started travelling with Breakfree Journeys a couple of years back, and my first trek was to TakMakGad. Having travelled to TakMakGad again (my tenth trek this time!), I must say […]

Walking in the clouds – at Visapur!

The clouds are heavy, the sky is set.
One day of adventure, we know we will get.
With nature some time we wish to spend.
We silently hope for the day to not come to an end.

Early Saturday morning, I was awoken by a noise. It wasn’t the alarm clock. I thought it was the sound of heavy rain hitting against my window. Wait. Rain? Rain! It was finally raining!
There was an instant surge of excitement in me! If it was raining here, then it must be raining in Lonavala for sure. So the IMD had made a precise forecast after all.

Dressing up as fast as I could, I was eagerly awaiting the Man in-charge (MIC) Rushikesh’s call. Had the Breakfree Bus left on time? How many people were finally joining us on the trek? What would the weather over there be like? So many questions were flooding my head. So much excitement was running through me. Boy! It was going to be a fantastic day. I just knew it.

Finally, at 5.30 am, I received an SMS from Rushikesh. The Breakfree Bus had left well on time. The next 15 minutes were spent in anticipation, randomly walking around the house, last minute checks, and glancing at the watch again and again.
I reached Kalanagar by 6 am, eagerly waiting for the bus to come.
Soon, I was joined by a couple of other trekkers. As we waited for the bus to come, we received a call from Rushikesh saying that there had been an unforeseen delay at Borivli as one of the trekkers had overslept (These late night matches, I tell you. As much as I love them, they’re an absolute no no before a trek!)

All good things come at a price, we’re always told.
Waiting for the bus, the raindrops left us cold.
Eagerly looking forward, we were, to the journey ahead.
The excitement on our faces any soul could have read.

By 6.20 am, the Breakfree Bus was there! This was not the bus we usually hired, but who cared! As long as it was there and as long as we were going to Lonavala, all was well.
As usual, we ran in to get ourselves the best seats. Some wanted the window seats while some (me, actually) rushed in to grab the last seat (they’re a comfort if you wish to sleep :-P)

The next stop was at Sion which was barely away. As usual, the Sion crowd was punctual and we heaved a sigh of relief as a couple of trekkers hopped in. There weren’t going to be any more delays, after all.
Well, we were proved wrong at Chembur. There was another 10 minute wait for another trekker who had overslept. (I could have cursed Euro 2012. No offence.)

Raining. On the express way.

As the last two trekkers arrived, the Breakfree Bus took off and we realised that our journey had finally begun.
The initial few minutes were spent in catching up with old pals, HIs and hellos and catching a good forty winks, too!
This new bus was sophisticated for it contained a big enough LCD screen and and a hi-fi music player, too. The journey ahead was filled with some nice music, humorous (and humour less) banter and some great conversations (The unprecedented delays had acted as a major ice breaker. Really.)

So with a few (short) stops at the petrol pump and the food court (the vada pavs were delicious!) we were getting closer and closer to our destination – Visapur.
This time, we had decided to not take the inner roads of Lonavala and went ahead from the Express way instead.
The weather was delightful and the showers only added to the pleasant atmosphere, the cool winds and our overly brimming excitement!
The monsoons had arrived, and how!
The roads were filled with Mumbai based cars. People were flocking to the hills to enjoy the rainy weekend. That caused a slightly delay due to heavy traffic, but that was OK. Everybody had a right to enjoy the beautiful weather, didn’t they?
En route Visapur, we were greeted by a panoramic view of the great mountains, green pastures, running rivers and newly formed waterfalls. There was silence in the bus as all the trekkers sat on their seats, looking outside the windows, observing the beauty of nature with awe. Somewhere in our minds, we were also wondering which of the great mountains we just saw, was the one we were going to climb.

Each of the mountains had a secret or a story to tell
Looking out of the window, only fresh air we could smell.
The beauty of nature was long in its prime
Who would have thought that one of these mountains, we were soon going to climb?

Having crossed the Malavli railway station, soon, by 9 am, we reached the base (this new driver drove the bus like a boss!!). The bus was filled with activity – trekkers grabbing their bags, some changing into their special Action trekking shoes, some picking up their windcheaters & cameras and some rushing outside to locate a washroom!

At the breakfast table!

Once everyone was out, we moved into Jay Malhar, a local eatery, for breakfast. Breakfast was a lavish affair with unlimited kanda poha (why! We need to fill our tummies before we start on our long trek) and chai (a beautiful weather like that would have been incomplete without the chai!). Post breakfast, we found a local guide named Sudhir who would guide us to the peak. Following the traditional Circle of Introduction, we started with the journey that was sure to remain etched in our minds forever.

At 9.45 am we started the trek. Sudhir led the 12 enthusiastic trekkers through the path. We had to climb a series of stone steps. Although we made faces initially for having to go on apparently easy to climb steps, we soon realised that steps, were in fact, extremely difficult to climb. (Ouch, the knees!) After having climbed some 75 steps, Sudhir led to an opening – into the mountain. Ah! Mountain! It immediately gave us a feeling of nostalgia and a sense of familiarity. Hadn’t we climbed so many mountains before?
The air was cool, the atmosphere calm. It felt like it was going to rain, and we collectively hoped that it would. One of the trekkers has enthusiastically brought mangoes for all of us (we believe in sharing and caring, don’t we?) and as we stood there, distributing the mangoes, three goats appeared from nowhere (and we thought it was only dogs who followed us!) and refused to leave us alone! They followed us even as we continued climbing uphill (sigh.)

Those pesky goats! 😛

Divided into groups, we continued our climb upwards. What we saw was exceptional beauty! Small villages, the express way, the railway track, the green pastures – all of it looked miniature and divine! Added to it were Sudhir’s anecdotes about the village, the mountains, the animals and birds.
As we ascended up, we realised that the place could have been a haven for bird watchers! (Oriental Magpie Robin, Indian Robin, Green bee eater, Black Drongos were some of the birds that we happened to spot!)

It had started pouring now. Light showers, not much. Most of the windcheaters were out already! By 11.30 am, we reached a clearing where we saw the remains of a house and a shed. That is when not-so-funny stories about haunted housed, bhooth bungalows and ghosts began to surface. However, we were shocked out of our wits when Sudhir told us that there were a couple of locals who had committed suicide from that very mountain!! Wide eyed, we started walking ahead – reluctantly, but quickly. Sudhir was playing the role of a guide to the tee. Sharing stories and experiences of his life in the village, he was leading us to the top. Just a short way into the mountain, he suddenly turned behind and softly asked to observe a deer which was barely 100 metres away from where we stood! However, in all our excitement at having spotted such a beautiful creature, we were too loud and the deer ran away and vanished somewhere behind the hills. It was then that Sudhir told us, that the forests on the mountain had been cleared very recently. This caused quite a lot of animals to come out in the open to hunt.

The enthusiasm comes to us when nature calls
It is, but impossible, to avoid the beautiful falls.
We walk ahead, awaiting the best
As we move, all apprehensions, we put to rest.

As we walked ahead, uphill, we were surrounded by ‘karavanda’ bushes (and innumerable crabs, too!). Walking ahead, we managed to pluck a few of the berries and boy, how sweet they were! There were plenty of Jamun trees, too! Didn’t we feast on fruits and berries? – First the mangoes, then the karavandas and now, jamuns! Just a little distance from the jamun trees was another clearing on the mountain. It was from here that we could see Visapur’s twin fort – Lohagad. Visapur fort is built on the same plateau as Lohagad, but as it is on a higher elevation than its twin fort, we got a beautiful view of Lohagad en route Visapur. We spent quite some time here, with all the cameras and binoculars out.
The weather was so beautiful and refreshing that it was quite a task for the MIC to get everyone moving again!

Lohagad in the background!

A little saddened at having to vacate the beautiful sight, but enthusiastic about reaching Visapur all the same, we followed Sudhir with discipline. That was when Sudhir mentioned about two routes to the fort – one easy, but long and another short, but difficult all the same. But because it had rained and the path was slippery, it was decided that we would take the easier route up. A little while into our walk ahead, we came to the caves where we took a short break – just to sit, relax and of course, click pictures!

Columbus 2.0 , eh? 😉

After the short pause, we started following Sudhir up again. We had reached high up to be able to see the Visapur fort now! What a sight it was! With renewed vigour, the trekkers starting climbing the rocks again, only to reach the peak and enjoy the fort! By 12.15 pm, we finally reached the top.
It was only when all of us reached atop that we realised, that the rain gods indeed were pleased with our efforts, for it started raining again! It started with a slight drizzle, but we could see a gigantic cloud approaching us! The view was panoramic. It was picture perfect. The fort walls were huge and the fort, enormous in size. It took us a good twenty minutes only to reach the other end of the fort! By now, the cloud was upon us and we were expecting the rains to hit us any moment! The trekkers were seen running around the peak like excited little children and yes, the cameras were out again!

What followed was a series of photo sessions, excited sigh seeing, and playful banter.

The winds brushing across our face, we could feel.
At nature’s feet forever we could kneel.
How could we explain the inexplicable high?
How would we explain why we were feeling so spry?

The massive cloud, ready to hit on us 😉

As we enjoyed our time at the peak, the cloud came over us and finally burst!! It started raining heavily and the delighted trekkers jumped with joy! We forgot how hungry we were supposed to be and were lost in enjoying the rain! After having spent a good 45 minutes on the peak, the MIC, Rushikesh, was concerned. We had to have our lunch – the misal pav that we had packed from the base. But that wouldn’t be possible in that kind of heavy rain. So we decided to move down to the caves and relish the local fare (with a heavy heart). Descending, we decided to stop at what we called a temporary refuge – a cave like structure that we thought would provide us some shelter from the rain. This was when the theplas, cakes, chocolates and mangoes were out again! We relished the semi-lunch and headed for the caves again. Drenched, we finally reached the caves which had a gigantic Hanuman (Maruti) carving welcoming us at the entrance.
In no time, we divided ourselves into groups of 4 and settled to have our lunch – delicious, spicy missal pav! The spicy food got us to forget the chill that we felt at having been drenched!

Lunch time!

Rejuvenated, the 12 trekkers started the descent after the hearty meal and a nice break.
The descent was uneventful, save the random discussions on various issues, random bird sightings and some leg pulling. That was when Sudhir mentioned that on a normal rainy day, the fort would have been filled with tourists and other enthusiastic trekkers. It was then that we thanked god for the exceptional luck on having the fort to ourselves for the second time in a row (Vitangad, remember??)
In no time, we reached the stone stairs again, albeit in groups. We waited for the others to return as we sat there, feeling the soothing sunlight! (Yes, the clouds had disappeared and there was sunshine again!)

Once the others returned, we sat at the steps – relaxing and already reminiscing the wonderful trek that we had just completed. After a little snack consisting of kurmuras, we headed back to the bus – dry by now – to go and change. But as luck would have it, it started pouring again and we were drenched, once again!!
After a quick change, we picked up a parcel of steaming hot vada pavs for the victorious, hungry trekkers. By 4.30 pm, we had hopped into the bus and were ready to take off for Mumbai again.
Like I have mentioned every time, return journeys are always a happy-sad affair for me. They make me cherish the wonderful trekking experience, but also rue the end of the amazing experience.
The return journey was filled with conversations and random songs, not to mention, a good nap for quite a few.
Soon, we reached Mumbai and thereby came the end of another beautiful day with nature.

A day with nature is a day well spent
Not one moment of the wonderful time, would we ever repent.
As we return, to where we say we reside
We have not just a feeling of exhilaration, but also pride.

The twelve lucky ones 😉

A big thank you to Ameya, Rahul, Farica and Aishwarya for the beautiful photos!

Than you, Rushikesh and Breakfree Journeys! This was one of the best treks ever! 🙂  

Adios SYBCom A :)

We were meant to be different, weren’t we?

What with almost all our friends (YES! 900 of them!!) opting for Advertisement, we were only 90 of us – courageous enough to have opted for Computer Programming! 😛

We were meant to meet, weren’t we?

REWIND>>>>JULY!!

–> Yes! College reopened! A little more than a month to go for the dreaded IPCC results, class attendance was at its peak and most of us did not even know each other!
–> All I remember of this time is Gnanesh and I sharing our trekking experiences, Samannaaz volunteering to set up the projector in all ALL the FC lectures and Nishit happily announcing to all the professors that he was off to Harvard Summer School 😛
–> Wait! We also played our first fish pond with Deepa Ma’am and had Prajit sing in class! This was an ice-breaker, for sure 🙂

COME…OK, DON’T COME AUGUST!

–> August came and so did the IPCC results and so did my jaundice *Sigh*

–> This was supposed to be one of the most happening months in college. The farewell programme for Mrs. Kher, Umang ’11 and loads of fun! I sure seem to have missed a lot of fun and activity! 😦
–> Oh yeah! Thanks Bhavik, for creating that fab group SYBcom A group on FB 😉

YO SEPTEMBER!

–> Jaundice over, I finally resumed college! 😀
–> A couple of weeks to exams, and there was absolute chaos in college for important markings, notes, etc etc (as usual :P)
–> I guess, most of us knew each other fairly well by now and Radhika ma’am finally managed to Gnanesh’s name right!
–> The FC project topics were announced leading to some much required excitement in an otherwise drab and exam infested month!
–> In other news, this was when we managed to extract out first free lecture from Chitra ma’am (FINALLY!! \m/), there was a mad scramble for Deepa ma’am’s famous “charts” :P, exams came. Wait. Wasn’t this was also when we started planning our super ambitious class picnic? Essel World? Remember? Oh you do? OK thanks bye! 😛

WE’RE BACK IN NOVEMBER 😀

–> After almost a month and a half of ‘funning and frolicking’ we got back to college!
–> The FC skit practice was a major ice breaker, I must say.
–> We got Melanie ma’am as our new Commerce professor!
–> What I remember most is mutual grievance over the non happening of the class picnic, discussing interesting issues with Radhika ma’am in every FC lecture and hopelessly hoping to have free lectures every day! 😛
–>And remember, guys? We tricked Chitra ma’am into wasting one whole Economics lecture over the Students’ Forum discussion?! ONE WHOLE ECO LECTURE!!!! *wipes a tear* 😛
–> Boy! Hadn’t we started loving college, already? 😀

DE..DE..DECEMBER!!!

–> This was when the final installment of ice-breaking happened! College days, class picnic, FC skits et al! 😀
–> College days :
This was the best!! Carnival day, Chocolate day, Gang day, Sports day! And I absolutely love how we bonded during Traditional day! maximum attendance, but no attendance sheet :P. Antakshari, and all the singing, class photographs, endless photo sessions and rose dedications! 😉
Also, sports day was fab! (PS: Sam & I won the throwball competition! #justsaying :P)
–> FC skits :
Thank God it got pushed to Jan! Phew! Although we did practice for it, that one extra month of practice worked wonders for most us 😀
–> CLASS PICNIC!! :
Thanks to Parv and Karishma, we finally did manage to have our first class picnic! *emotional*
Don 2, a fab lunch at RK, and some binging at Temptations got us to bond like never before! Those who missed the picnic, missed a hell lot of bonding, madness and some shameless couple stalking, too 😛

HAPPY NEW YEAR – JANUARY! :

–> With the new year came a renewed spirit of friendship!
–> I simply love how Radhika maa’am coaxed us into going for Sherlock Holmes! The confrontation with Chitra ma’am, the mass bunk, almost 40 of us at Cinemax and….POPAT!!!! *ROFLOL*
This flopshow *has* to be the highlight of the month 😉

–> The first surprise birthday celebration and cake cutting happened – Karishma.
–> In other news, the FC skits were fab! We sang, we danced, we clapped, we laughed! Thank you, Radhika ma’am for coming up with the brilliant idea of having us enact a skit! Presentations would’ve been drab and boring!

‘LOVE’LY FEBRUARY :

–> The last month of college! 😦
–> Birthday celebrations again! – Saili, Gnanesh, Krishma. The surprises we planned for each of them were super fun! Thankfully Saili came to college, Gnanesh didn’t figure the surprise party we planned for him, Krishma didn’t turn up and left the cake for all of us 😛
–> Exam time tables, scramble for notes, free lectures and the same old story!
–> We watched Kahaani after the last exam, took a looonngg break from articleship, bade adieu and finally found some free time to cherish all the memories of the year that had just passed by! 🙂

MISCELLANEOUS:

–> The secret entrance on the 4th floor was a major life saver 😉
–> Gnanesh’s secret crush on Shephali ma’am isn’t that secret after all 😛 (OMG! I hope he doesn’t kill me for this!!)
–> Priya, we will give you a surprise party on your birthday, too 😛
–> KPK, I guess you’ll need a little more publicity! 😛 and Yash, you are free to change your name to Sachin! 😉
–> Hardik, thanks for always being such a good sport! Drumil, you need to get us the Essel World tickets now ;). Kaushal, don’t worry, you’ll pass Computers :P. Vidhi, you’ll regain your lost weight just like me. Anu, the next time, we will ensure that your gift wrapping skills are utilised to the optimum level!
–> Raj = Cute terrorist (At least Radhika ma’am says :P). Kartik, I still haven’t figured who kept putting your proxies :P. Jinal, you raised way too many queries in Don 2! Harshil, Minal, Pooja, Priya, Ankita, Meet, Riddhi, Vibhuti, Shilpi, Monal, Devanshi, Tarjani, Niyati, Ragnyi, Mitali, Shilpan, Siddharth, Nishith, Karan, Nikhil, Shruti, Isha – it was awesome to have you as friends! 🙂
–> Jay Shah will always be Jay Shah. :P. Shwet, thanks for Kher ma’am’s farewell pics!
I have tried to include everyone in this list! (At least the ones who attended :P) Please pardon me if I have missed your name. It is unintentional. Arnav, I am not mentioning you here because of your lack of attendance :P.

This was way too much nostalgia and reminiscence for me!

I’m so glad to have made awesome friends like you! Thank you for being a part of my life and making this year such a memorable one! 🙂

Years will come and years will go…but it is these memories that will remain etched in our hearts forever! 🙂 

PS: I might have missed out on a lot of other ‘College happenings’! Please feel free to add to my list of memories 🙂