Mahesh’s World

The happy week which passed by made me write this post. The week itself was too good with wednesday as a holiday reducing the office strain. And as usual from friday morning, I was thinking about the weekend. It was many flops in past when we planned for SSN rice house visit and boopathi got all possible mokkais coming all the way from banglore. SO this time we decided to make it happen somehow and we adopeted the good old strategy of poker night! And yeah, it worked out. It was Samba,boopathi, Kudi(sathish),Ciberaj,sriram,sadesh,harish and me who assembled for poker night at samba’s place. We started off with polambals of each and by 1, we started playing a good 2 hours session of poker. After that we saw some video songs from ilayaraja hits, but in “different flavour”. Next day morning when I woke up, it was me,samba and kudi there. Others have left.

That day(saturday) we had plans to go to SSN rice house. I had my dress in my bag and so i went to kudi house, had food and got ready for the day. Kudi and me went to Leo’s Dance academy and was there to watch the choreo of chengalpet medical college girls. After a refreshing session for the eye, we started from there. Thats when leo reminded me about the promo video to be done. I had not yet started that then. No matter what, always being last minute guys, we left to Bessie beach. Samba, boopi and SSN rice joined us there. We had ice cream, molaga bajji, sonpapdi, solam and a brilliant treat by Samba on account of his birthday which passed on August 24th. After that we went to the worst ever movie experience at INOX watching PIRANHA 3d. For god sake, please dont watch the movie. After that me,samba,boopi and Kudi once again assembled at kudi’s house. On the way back, it was drizzling and me and kudi were shouting songs at top of our voices and riding way back home. Finally boopathi, kudi had their money worth spending coming all the way down to chennai. And yeah finally we met SSN rice too!

Next day(sunday) morning we woke up to have egg kozhambu and rasam meals prepared by Kudi’s mom. She was on her way to join her new govt. job near Kallakurichy. But so kind of her that she prepared the food for us. After that, kudi’s parents dropped boopi and me in the cab and I reached home by 12 noon. Even then i didn’t start the promo. I started for a marriage reception for the evening. Wow wow wowow owowow.!! The best ever reception i have attended so far. Lots of figures.. Best ever bride and groom.. soft flute music, brilliant food and altogether a breezy feel throughout.

Luckily i got monday off, coz i need to go all 3 days this long weekend to office for production release. So, i started off by monday morning with hands on Adobe power director to start doing the promo for leo. It was by evening 5.40 i completed it and it came out more than what i expected. Leo was also so happy with the output. Today am gonna go to the culturals where the promo will be screened. Also gonna take few snaps and video there. The fully packed media gears is there in the locker room. Hope the week goes ahead as pleasant as it does now.

It is always a great pleasure to see people who are closely associated with you grow up in their lives and achieve great positions. It makes you feel sad when your friend is not able to achieve something. It also makes you feel sad when your friends keep achieving very big things and you remain stagnant with no idea of what to do further. The latter is exactly my situation now and this post is on those who have led me to this sadness and thought process.

N.V. Deepak : He is one of my very close friends from school days. He did his engineering in a government college at a remote place and managed to get placed in Caritor(now keane) who took none inside their company till date, He was working too hard, attending five interviews in a week, got into Sutherland first and then into a firm named moneytree. But, he never found himself satisfied and wanted to achieve big. He kept trying for the defense forces and one day he got a letter in reply to his application in Indian Navy through SSB(Sahastra Seema Bal – http://ssb.nic.in/welcome.asp?langid=2). This interview is believed to be one of the toughest. He cleared it in first attempt and after that had a extreme test for his physical fitness. And after all his perseverance and handwork, he is today Sub lieutenant in Indian Navy!!

Ramanujam parthasarathy: He is my college friend and he was the guru for us as far as the online world is concerned. He was the one who told us about blogging. We all started a blog together, but he was the only person to do it regularly, attend bloggers meet, gain more knowledge, build up the network and learn new trends. He taught us to make money out of blogs through which our entire class made wholesome money. He was the inspiration to many to start thinking about a Masters degree too. Now he is pursuing his Masters at Virginia tech and has got a internship at the United Nations - http://www.un.org/en/ !

I always admire these two for their sincerity. Kudos to them! They, as per my perspective, have achieved so big in their lives within the past two years with all their dedication and hard work. There are many more who are to be mentioned like Sano(tech virus), Raja(future politician), VJ(Clemson fella) who are going to be appended to this list in future. Taking inspirations from them, people like me, kudi should do something to make ourselves eligible to be added to this list.

That day when I was roaming with sriram, in long shot we saw a honda activa. It is general hormone secretion for boys when they see a honda activa or scooty pep. That too when you see a t-shirt jean or skirt combination. It was a similar combination which we saw that day. I chased as speed as I could and finally found it to be aunty..aunty..aunty…(godrej …hair dye…). That instant, sriram came out with a brilliant phrase! I never expected that from sriram and it will be for sure a frequently used phrase very soon. “Figure thol porthiya Aunty!” (aunty disguised as figure.. very sorry.. the english version is not as crisp and fun giving as it does in tamil). Though it was a pure mokkai for us, we couldn’t control the laughter after this phrase. I bet many would have got such bulbs! Share such of them in the comments!

Sometimes in life, you feel that no one is true in this world. Your mind says this often when you find someone blasting you for nothing wrong done from your side. But your intellect says that you are still having good number of friends and well wishers around you and so not to worry. But the What if dominates you at this juncture. What if in both positive and negative senses. What if the remaining well wishers also pounce back like the one who currently did? What if you come to realize that all who you thought as same frequency friends aren’t really so?

Here comes the saying, “some questions in life are always unanswered”. But one thing is for sure that all has split personality in them. One chase the racing world and racing world and another says try to be satisfied with what you have! Really I don’t know why am I typing all these. But this has made me feel lighter, that’s more than what is needed!

We witnessed our first international trip on Jan 22nd, 2010. Though it was planned for years, implementing it took only few weeks. Right from the day when Sidharth said that the fares to Singapore are less in tiger airways till the last minute Visa stamp, everything happened within two weeks. It was really a great feel to go on a holiday motto to a foreign land. Sometimes made me think am I crossing my limits on spending? But, it was one of the best things I have done so far.

Day 1:
We kept our foot at Changi Airport,Singapore and we started taking photographs from that point onwards. Everyone got Singapore dollars from possible ways(exchange, ATM, through friends) and we did our first purchase in Singapore – Easy link cards which can be used in buses and MRT. We reached our A/C Dormitory in “RED light area” of Little India by 1. With small problems initially, we got settled and the first search was towards a hotel. We found “Shakunthalas”. We ate dosas, meals, Biriyani there too! Then we roamed around the streets in and around our hotel and planned to go to Jurong bird sanctuary the next day and dozed off.

Day 2:
Once again to Shakunthalas for a unlimited(6 times sambhar, 5 apalams, unlimited kootu,poriyals) south Indian meals this time! From there, we reached Boon lay MRT station. On the way to board the bus to Bird sanctuary, we saw the Traditional Chinese lion dance and stunts performance. That was the first stunning experience for us at Singapore. After a splendid sight there, we boarded the bus and reached Jurong Bird Sanctuary! It was from there where we felt, our country has lots to do as improvements right from our Vandaloor Zoo. Well maintained and organized bird park, varieties of birds at closest distance possible, Ambience of the park and not to miss the special shows! The Birds your buddies show and the Birds of Prey show stole the attraction of everyone. Really lots of hardwork done was visible to us. We enjoyed a lot there and from there we moved to night safari. It was a all new experience going amidst thick forest in night time. But since we couldn’t take snaps, we missed some fun. But the gals always kept us entertaining with smooches, hugs and kisses etc(lots hidden in this etc) throughout the trip. The BEST of the day award or infact one of the best moments of Singapore trip award goes to JUDY akka(from AP, India), who presented the Animals of night show. It was midnight again when we reached the hotel and we ate at Rahmania where we got most economical package for food in Singapore.

Day 3:
Though we had entry ticket for zoo, we didn’t go there. Few people got tired of wildlife observations the previous day itself. So we decided to roam with a impromptu plan. Raja suggested Marina bay which was like parrys corner in Chennai. All official buildings and altogether a Attu area. So we moved to Raffles Place. It was there we saw beautiful riverside and boating, asian culture museum, Starbucks coffee, Mc.D burger, Supreme court and not to forget the MERLION. We randomly keep walking and took snaps wherever possible experimenting with panoramic shots and aperture settings. We came across two lamborgini which was fit enough for a guy and gal in each adding fuel to our envious stomach fires. Then we went to Esplande mall and then finally landed at China town!

China town is ranganathan street of Singapore! People have microphones like MTV Vjs and they sell products like “3 for 10S$”(that too in chinese). The mariamman temple which is under construction there is the only chinese-free place there. We browsed almost every shop there and found all things there were damn cheap and duplicate for sure. I bought a chinese type fan for 3S$ and spent more on rice cakes, thailand coconuts, ice creams. The ice creamwala was the center of attraction in the market. He had a separate group of audience to look at his tricks when giving the ice creams especially to kids. Sid and Sriram purchased a lot and thiruvalluvar(a.k.a arun) also bought some commodities. We reached little india and charged inside Shakunthalas to have our unlimited meals. We settled at hotel hours after midnight after settling the accounts.(this was a daily activity before hitting the sack).

Day 4:
Sentosa Island was the agenda for the day and we booked a 9-seater cab for that. That was the first Singapore settled Indian involved in our travel plan and he was the first person to cheat us taking almost 35S$ commission from each for sentosa package. All is fair in a new place and to ensure enjoyment. So we had a great time in sentosa watching 4D movie, enjoying the dolphin and sea lions show, underwater world, butterfly park, sky tower view of singapore, swimming in singapore beach and Songs of the Sea. Altogether it was a perfect package in Sentosa and when we came back we had tiffin in Chennai Arya bhavan hotel. Few of them started again to mustafa for purchase and few of us remained in hotel watching twilight movie.

Day 5:
Impromptu trip day. Each one went in each possible direction and we chose to go Singapore Art Museum which came on our way. Worth watching place where they had special displays on egyptian concept of immortality. We got a student pass for 5 S$ and the photography section was awesome too. We were to start to the airport by 6. But we started by 7.15 and boarded the flight in the last call. Arun provided the entertainment when coming back. Still we are surprised how he spoke for 4 complete hours. So finally we were back to Singara Chennai.

Few of the best happenings of the trip:
1.Arun and I being called by the call girls in our street

2.Raja getting caught in customs for the non alcoholic drinks which he bought. (Later we bought alcoholic drinks for his friends, that’s different)

3.Arun getting tensed for that Sentosa driver cheating us and the next second changing the reactions.

4.Sadesh suffering for food in China town. He was so hungry that he left without seeing many places.

5. Arun talking for 4 hours continuously during the return journey

6.Being very good boys though we stayed in red light area for four days

7.Me and raja going in search of sadesh,sriram and sid in sentosa thinking that they are waiting for us. But, we found them coming back after bathing in beach. When we came back to samba and co, they were also enjoying in the beach. We cooled ourselves by dipping in the beach and witnessing few Kingfisher calendar snaps around.

8.In MRTs, you could see people smooching and hugging everywhere. No one would be concerned except for 12 or 15 of them. 9 of us and other 6 also Indians. So it was very easy identifying our people there!

9.Sidharth had a vegetable biriyani for 10S$ when we were flying to singapore. He was so vexed seeing the quality and quantity that he was saying that even after coming back. He will remember that 10S$ for lifetime for sure!

10.Everyone had a unique, crazy happiness and smile in their face once the passports were stamped for the first time.

Before this trip, we were Thanjavur pugazh Enna koduma saravanan or valparai pugazh Enna koduma saravanan. But now we are Singapore pugazh Enna koduma saravanan team!!

It was the most anticipated day from the last week. Yesterday, the 4^th of august, birthday of this famous blogger and our best friend Ramanujam alias Babbu.I started early from my home by 8 in the morning and reached T.Nagar by 9. Then Sid and I went to Kapathu’s house where we all planned to meet to make the arrangements for the birthday celebrations. I started fair copying the Tamil poem which I prepared the previous night with tear-filled eyes for my best friend. Kapathu played very good songs from her collections and we were later joined by samba and jayasri (baabi).

We had the cashew nut embedded pongal along with tasty sambar prepared specially for us by mom. Then we all laid in the sofa which along with the song by the side really made us sleep. It was 12 noon… Suddenly Kapathu reminded we were actually there for babbu’s birthday. And baabiji was keeping on insisting that we have to start early for babbu’s birthday. Sid and Kapathu bought the cake and the other requirements for the party. We started by half past twelve in the noon to babbu’s house and reached the spot in five minutes. There babbu and sano were singing the isai kalaignan song in the highest pitch possible. We entered and watched our college variety show for sometime and then few chats about the college activities which ultimately gave us a fulltime comedy show effect.

Then we were joined by the other members kudi, raja, vijay, dhaadhi, ragavanandam and ragavendran. Then we had a game of uno and around 2.45 we had the cake cutting ceremony. Kapathu broke the “2” In the candle “20”by giving her full force. That added to the comedy around. Then we had the birthday song “Rama, inniki un pirandhanaal, nee azhaga porandhuttiye” and Rama unexpectedly handled the first piece of cake to dhaadi…enna koduma sir!! Then the next piece to his mom and then the next piece to “RAMA”. We gave our presentations and then brushed the cake in his face and then around 4 we started to Besant nagar beach. Kapathu couldn’t join us due to mom’s eye checkup. We reached Bessie beach along with the eggs to be showered on the birthday boy.

I was there at the Besant nagar beach for the first time and decided it must be the last time too. Terror fool pairs around doing all nonsense which shouldn’t be done outdoor. Clearing all that of f my mind I moved like a horse with the kadivalam. (I dunno wat it is in English) and then Rama and “rama” joined us after ten minutes. And yes, the great BALA joined us. If I had not specified this in my Blog he would have cursed me. Then we all brushed Rama with the eggs we had hidden in our hands. But another girl who was sitting nearby also got her t-shirt full of egg-splash. We said sorry which was replied by a strong look.

It was time to have our kalasal session where we kalasified all the girls around who were half dressed in the name of fashion and then moved to the traditional beach eatable- BAJJI. Our friends got overjoyed and started jumping and standing upside down and all tricks. It was like a vidhai show there. Then we left the beach and moved to planet yumm and ate for 2000 rupees for 14 of us. A good treat by rama and we all wished rama that he should get birthday every month. Prasi was one of the candidates who missed out the entire celebrations and fun due to her GRE exam on 8^th of August.

It was lots of fun the full day and the most surprising and the gunnies event of the day is that my dad showed NO terror even though I came home by half past ten at night. There were my sister’s efforts in putting full fledged bits to maintain my status and make me escape the terror. But no terror is the greatest thing which I have experienced.

This being our last year of college we have decided to celebrate each and every day of this year and each and every event of this year. We conduct regular stays at our sanga room at chrompet and also regular get- together meetings. The birthday was also a celebration for the friendship day which is today. So to end this post…HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY TO ALL…

“What is your name?”, “All students introduce yourself”, “hi, I’m Mahesh. What is your name?” These were the commonly used statements during the beginning of the college life. But all the information collected by these means is absolutely waste now. Nobody is called by their own names. Some are called by their nick names, some by their short forms and few others by dagalti words. The terror has grown so much that in our class we have nick names for almost all the members. So I and Vijay Krishnan have joined our hands to put the entire panorama in front of you. I will write the nick names of those having Even roll numbers and Vijay will carry on with odd ones along with the reason why they are called so. So… lights on… camera… Action…

Roll number 2: Mr. Arul Prakash a.k.a Urul© a.k.a Baby©:

Mr. Arul prakash is a man known for his villain and hero combined smile and terror dialogues. He was called as “BABY©” because roll number 4 and this man burnt the stove due to their extreme groundnuts during lab hours. But later due to the confusion of baby shifting to Dhaadi (refer roll number 30), his name was changed to Urul© which in Tamil means “to roll”. Due to the name similarity Arul matching with urul we adopted this new name. Now he is called “URUL BABY©®”- a name formed by combining both his old and new ones.

Roll number 4: Ms. Baby Ambica a.k.a Maravattai©:

I will not do the crime of once again reminding you people that roll numbers 2 and 4 comes next to one another and 4 were one of the reasons for the nick name of 2. “BABY” ambica is called as Maravattai© after we ran out of options of very small insects due to the copyrights problem of having same registered trade marks. And one more hidden ex reason there for the name which you people can mail Vijay and ask. Vijay I didn’t tell anything da.

Roll number 6: Mr. Boopathi a.k.a Era© a.k.a Aalu©:

Boopathi was called Aalu© during the school days as the acronym for “AAL THOTA BOOPATHI” which was very popular name at that time. But in due course of time the name vanished and this name of Era© was given to him by Mr. Rajesh of infosys. It was due to boopi’s physical appearance and also his food habits.

Roll number 8: Ms.Divya a.k.a Bajju© a.k.a Autograph©:

She was one of the early birds to get her name as Autograph© which she attained due to her regularly wearing the costume of “OVVORU POOKALUME SNEHAs” costume. Just to mention the second name i.e Bajju© I have put it. There lies a so called top secret behind this which I will come and type after seeing super singer.

Roll number 10: Mr.Ganesh a.k.a Kosu (m) © a.k.a Noyali©:

This great bench-mate of mine is called as Kosu (m) ©. (Refer Kosu (f) at vijay krishnan’s Blog). And his second name Noyali© is to signify his resistant power against diseases. He got typhoid, malaria and viral fever which contributed for his one month absence in class and to his hat-trick visit to hospital… (I suspect the doctor…the same fellow all 3 times).

Roll number 12: Ms.A.H.Gayathri a.k.a A.H© a.k.a Thalaivi©:

A.H is just calling her by initials and Thalaivi© is thalaivi only. I can’t tell any single word more. She dances within a plate and we suggested her to dance within a tumbler as her next venture. All the best for it a.h.

Roll number 14: Ms.Janani a.k.a Jana©:

Just a short form of her name. One smaller thing which I heard is that she likes PRASADHAMS which is given in temples… also in colleges!

Roll number 16: Ms.Kanmani a.k.a left©:

She left our college during the second year. So from that time whenever this roll number is called all of us will shout “LEFT” and hence the name for her.

P.S: Engirundhalum Vaazhga!

Roll number 18: Mr. Mahesh Subramanian a.k.a Magi©:

Naandhan…Naandhan. Mahesh a.k.a Magi. Obvious reason. Short form. That’s it.

Roll number 20: Ms. Meenakshi a.k.a Meena© : Refer Swaminathan- roll no-40.

Roll number 22: Ms. Neeraja a.k.a Promise©:

This girl is the worstest fellow ever in engineering history. She has the bad habit of scoring 90% and above in each semester which even though fetches her rs.25000 as scholarship, lead her to do a series of promises during her placements saying she will not go for further studies. Just camphor was missing when she promised each and every time. So promise.

Roll number 24: Ms. Prasidhha a.k.a Chellam© a.k.a 15000© a.k.a Nashi©:

The name Chellam© was kept to her by Bhai (m) (refer Vijay’s Blog roll number 19). But later she was renamed to Nashi© by the magalir ani due to our pugundha veetu pillai’s track. Nashi was an inspiration from Kushi. Here “Na” stands for pugundha veetu pillai and “si” is the suffix of prasi. And the name 15000© is for her winning the scholarship in first year. She is still to give treat for that long back incident.

Roll number 26: Mr. Ragavanandham a.k.a Anna© a.k.a Rep©:

He was our class representative for the first three complete years. So the short form of representative is Rep©. And due to his resemblance of Captain Vijayakant in a family role we called him “engal anna” which later maruvified (got changed) to Anna©.

Roll number 28: Mr. Rajesh a.k.a Rice©:

Rajesh when called at a faster pace will lead to a sound similar to Rice© and so we kept this name. To mention a great thing about this ambitious fellow, he came from Tamil medium and he is proving his best in the exams. His rocking performance in the English training session cannot be forgotten by any one in our class. Keep rocking rice.

Roll number 30: Mr. Sadesh a.k.a Dhaadi© a.k.a Storage
tank©:

Man of power, man of terror. He is called Dhaadi© because of the most interesting reason ever. If he shaves in the morning, he will be fit enough to get a shave once again in the evening. That’s his capaquity. And yes, he has one more capaquity to store whatever is eatable for 3 to 4 days without letting them to go out. In fact a needed skill during tour days. He is one of the main reasons for us clearing the semester subjects. Our teacher during the semester exam season.

Roll number 32: Mr. Santosh kumar a.k.a Sano©:

Just the short form of his name lead to this call name. Man of intelligence and cat aspirant. That’s why I think he has very harmful nails which are the ultimate deadly weapons which protects him during wartime.

Roll number 34: Mr. Shankar a.k.a Satti©:

Mr.Shankar is my friend from my school days. He is called Satti© from his young days and exclusive reason is hidden as it is a very old information and the researches are going on to explore the original reason for the name. I will not forgive this guy for dropping the five rupees kuchi ice fearing for our PT sir which I got for him and adding to my tension he eppam vittufied near my ears. Panni kutty!!

Roll number 36: Ms. Sivashankari a.k.a Siva©:

Once again just a short form of her name but her friends call it in such a way that they call a boy named Shiva and the entire class turned asking “yaaruda shiva” during the starting days of the names’ arrival in the market.

Roll number 38: Ms. Sudha a.k.a Su©:

The brilliant group of girls shortened the longest name ever possible in world history, “Sudha” to Su©. This would be the first time in world to short such a long name. Many a times this girl doesn’t know whether her friends are calling her or telling her to remain silent. They just turn to her and say “SU” and this girl will stop talking and at the same time turn to them asking “kooptiya?”

Roll number 40: Mr. Swaminathan a.k.a Sambhu_******©:

(Refer bibliographic notes on roll number 20). And for this name Sambhu_******© the reason is his fantastic mail id @ yahoo which at the moment when heard by anyone they either start rolling on the floor laughing or give a wacky reaction.

Competition: Guess those SIX stars after underscore and SMS to 20-40 and win fishing nets and sea foods as prizes.

Roll number 42: Ms. Uma maheshwari a.k.a uma©:

Silence…shhh…and this is all this girl is known for. She reveals her identity only when the attendance is taken. The remaining times we can’t find a clue whether she is present in class or not. Determined girl with lots of late attendance fine to her credit in this college life.

Roll number 44: Mr. Vijayaragavan a.k.a Bajji© :

Just now I called him to ask the reason for his name. To the greatest surprise he himself doesn’t know the reason. When asked to Boopathi (Era©) he says, “Edho vaayila vandhuchu da…adhan koopadrom”. So this is all I got from a phone call of 6 minutes and 34 seconds.

Roll number 46: Mr. Malar Mannan a.k.a Malar© a.k.a Flower king©:

Man of smiles. Once again a person from the short form name club. He is also a member of “En peru Englishla sangam”. So he is also called as Flower king©.

Roll number 48: Mr. Venkatesan a.k.a Annachi©:

He is called so because the first look you take at him wearing a “munda banian” i.e a banian without sleeves, you’ll say that he owns provisional stores in a town or a village located at tirunelveli. So obviously we call him Annachi© which maruvified from his old full name Maligai kadai annachi.

Roll number 50: Ms. Japamala Chackraborty a.k.a Asim Premji (copyrights poda mattene!!) :

Due to this girl’s hairstyle and spectacles and also for the reason she got placed in WIPRO this name is adopted for her.

This post is to make awareness among our class members and just for jolly. If this hurts somebody I apologize. Hope all will take it healthily.

Disclaimer:

All the information provided above are true to the best of my knowledge. Blog is a medium to express one self and share. But some stingy fellows use this for spying. Let them spy and let us share. No fear…only terror.

References:
*Archives of Varutha padadha Valibar sangam(VVS)

Guidance:
* Vijay krishnan *Bajji *Boopi *Kaapaathu

Security provider:

Body Guard Muneeswarar thunai!!

Tour…. What a greatest time of ten days which flew away in seconds!! We started on 21^st of June and we are back today. We went with all our department guys to have the enjoyment of our lifetime.

The starting day in Grand trunk express started with whistle sounds tearing the skies and Tamil film songs and dance. We took a small time to settle down but the beginning itself was a terror! With night time waking up of guys and girls and a good series of rummy went on getting me a profit of 35 rupees.

On 23^rd morning we reached Agra by morning 9 or so. It took few minutes to come out of the station due to the ticket checker who didn’t know a single Indian language. But we got out somehow and we started towards our hotel and we checked out of the hotel after swallowing stones and sand in names of idly and puri. The first place we visited was Sikandara- akbars ’ tomb. A place to depict the mughal architecture and a cool place to hangout for more than an hour.

Next we went to Agra fort which is really a place to be seen in a relaxed atmosphere. Lots of history lies behind it but we came to know only a few because we went there without a guide. But we tried to find out few secret pathways and smelled a few. Nice experience.

Then we went to the place which is now on the polls to become one of the seven wonders. What a place it is!! We didn’t repeat the mistake of going without a guide and so we came to know a lot about “The Taj Mahal” and its architectures. We took some snaps and trick shots and then we started towards railway station to move to Delhi from where we were to travel to shimla.
The train journey from Agra to Delhi was of 3 hours and that was the most terror filled session ever. The entire train was looking at our group and many joined us during the journey. Our group of six members started singing songs and all members joined and there were dance performances by all possible pairs of boys and girls. Those three hours passed without our knowledge.

We reached Delhi and started off to shimla. Twelve of us alone went in a tempo traveler. The driver of our tempo, Mr. Ashok Sharma is a man of comedy, errors and action. He with his full fledged Hindi speech received many scolding from us and he stopped at frequent places due to his back side problems. He got down eight times and we served him with a LOPARET to stop his backflow. We reached shimla by evening.
In shimla, we trekked till highest point possible and the tea at the shimla shop was remarkable. The next day we started towards Kufri where we went in horsebacks to make our up and down journey in the hill in a path filled with horse shits and marsh. I won’t tell nobody fell off the horse. Ask Vijay about that. At Kufri, we took photos with the poor snake Bandhapuri and there was a fun world out there which offered four rides for 125rs. But we chose to go down to the village which was fully covered with a blanket of tea estates and flowers and we spent nearly two hours there. That night we started to KULU.

At Kulu, we went to Manikaran where river Beas flows at the most rapid pace possible. The place was a Gurudwara where Guru Nanak served people for a long time staying there. The water of Beas River is ice cold. But the spring very close to it is of hot water and it is natural. Just the recycling is done artificially. We had a nice bath there and then we worshipped at the gurudwara and we had the prasadam. Nice place to be at. Temples always are calm places. But here the noise of Beas River is heard heavily but the divinity and the oneness is maintained and we felt peace of mind there in that noise too! Temples are always special, whatever the religion may be!

Then was the hot experience of rafting along the course of river Beas at the rapid pace of its flow. It was a journey of 7 kms and it is a lifetime experience. We felt our muscles tightening when we rowed through the river. Every place we went, we made friends out there and the centre person of the raft was no exception. He said that he never met such guys in his lifetime.
We reached the hotel at Manali by 6 pm. The camp-fire was arranged and it started by half past seven. It went till half past ten and it was the hours of ultimate dance and comedy. We arranged for speakers and Tamil songs after long time made all of us jump to skies. We all went to bed to make sure we all are ready out there in morning for our journey for Rohtang pass.
The next morning we started to Rohtang pass, the place to go in jeep for two hours from manali. Rohtang pass is full of ice throughout the year. We had a fight by throwing ice on each other and since we got nicely from each other, we started climbing up in the ice. We went till the top point of ice and skidded from there. I skidded for three times and impossible to make it the fourth time we stayed at 13000 ft for nearly an hour taking photos and talking. We came back by evening six to manali. Ramanujam a.k.a Mr.”JAYA”ram got lost in rohtang pass and was later found after an hours’ search. Then we started that night to Delhi.

We reached Delhi the next day evening only. We went to Karol bagh, the Burma bazaar of Delhi and I had the worstest experience of longest shopping ever due to the presence of two girls with us. But thank god it ended in a time span of three hours. It was 22:00 hours by then. It was then we all started for second show of SIVAJI- THE BOSS at deluxe diamond. The theatre had 80 members all belonging to our group. All of us lost our voice there by interval shouting for our thala.

We reached the hotel by 3 and the next day morning we visited indira Gandhi museum, qutub minar, lotus temple and India gate. We boarded the train by 6.30 pm and the return journey was the feelings part of the tour. All of us felt that ten days passed very quickly and so all of us kept awake playing cards and talking. We arrived at Chennai on July 1^st morning 7.15am. Home town at last!! By ten o clock, Home sweet home. I had the delicious meals by my mom after long gap and after the meals I had a nice sleep.
The tour as an overall thing to say was a life time opportunity. We enjoyed, we fought, we regretted, we learnt many things and above all we all had an opportunity to get closer to each
other. I achieved one of my short term goals of solving the deadly dispute between two good brains of our class. Wat else…?? Two pages full of text and still I feel I haven’t given even half of the tour’s excitement and happenings. It will take a year’s time to describe the tour completely and in this lifetime nobody in our gang can forget this tour. Thanks to all the staff members and our godmother for making this possible and all our gang members!! Tour-de-North!! Still in eyes…a milestone in our lives…a chamber in our hearts!