Whitewater rafting at Rishikesh....Riding the turbulent rapids of the Ganges.

It was Wednesday eve; breezy, soothing atmosphere and a slight drizzle - the perfect weather one gets to hangout and relax. We had just had our second midsems over a few hours back, after a taxing time, and were going through a "group discussion" concerning "how to spend the coming weekend". One bloke suggested going places, another suggested having a "Meta Premier League" again (remember the last time? wrapped up after a few matches !). And after an hour of "bakar" including wayward propositions but none of them worthy enough to result in a common consensus, I finally departed to peace in my room to enjoy the one thing I had been the most deprived of during the past few days - sleep.

The next day, when I was still wondering how I'd spend the weekend while almost everybody else departed either home or to some other fun place, Mahajan conceived this great idea to go for river rafting on the Ganges at Rishikesh. And so it was decided. All necessary arrangements made, the weather forecast taken into notice. We were going on an adventure trip the next morning - the best I've had until now.

The nine of us set off for Rishikesh at the stipulated time. The scene at the spot(Shivpuri) was a serene, enthralling one. After the usual "nautanki" and "hulladbaaji", we finally paid heed to the words of the instructor who would be guiding us through the entire journey (he tried to, but failed miserably !). Only two amongst us knew swimming, but the rest couldn't rely on them to save our lives if we fell into the river (or so we thought), hence we listened carefully when he elaborated necessary precautions to be taken. (Besides, we had all the protective gear, so we never really cared). After the briefing, we set sail to face the mysteries of the sacred river beckoning us to explore its waters. "Gujju" was appointed the group commander, being the only one to accomplish this feat before (nobody ever listened to him though). The guide Mr.Deepak and his associate Mr.Dev had to strive hard to steer the raft in the right direction - clear of the rocks and boulders that could put a lame end to the expedition, while we were carrying out "logical" experiments with the rows only to take it wayward.

The journey began on quiet waters, and as we progressed further, we came across seven "rapids" - sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. The first one gave us the jitters, and we were unaware of the fact that there were still more taunting "4th degree" ones capable of giving us the shudders and the heebie-jeebies. I was the most bewildered by the names given to these natural formations in the Ganga river - "Golf course"and "Roller coaster" which were the most stupendous, plus "double trouble", "Marine drive", "T-off" and "Daniel's dip". For a moment, I wondered whether this was my homeland and if it was, whether India had yet to gain independence from the British marauders.

All the way, we kept receiving commands like "Forward !", "Right back left forward !", "High side !"and "Stop !" but it took a while to realize what they meant (anyways, why should we follow orders by anybody else when we can screw things up ourselves). Each time a rapid overlooked our path, two people squatted on the edge in the front, drinking up half the water gushing into their faces while the others rowed with all their might to pull out of the turbulence. At times it seemed the waves wanted a hitch on the raft too, intentionally forming crevices when we least expected them.

On reaching still water finally, we made the most of it by diving out of the raft to swim until we all were frozen by the chill while the "guides" took the least pity on our helplessness (why didn't they tell us we couldn't get back on our own), and jumping from a cliff into the water about 80 feet deep (any takers for doing so without a lifejacket?) before resuming the voyage. After the 3 hours, 14 kilometres stretch was over and we had just enough vitality to walk to "Chotiwala" for lunch - fully drenched in water, some rest was all we needed. And what better option than to lie in the sunshine in the sands along the riverside. A walk back to the agent's office was the last stage of this wonderful excursion that was my first outing for "adventure sports".

I hope many more such trips await me in the near future, because I kinda liked the thrills that are associated.

Global Financial Recession impacting the Midsems?!!

It's finally over.....but the hangover still persists in the form of indolance to do anything (which is considered) fruitful.....

The Midsems have concluded after a tough ordeal which kept most of us toiling day-and-night (read "all night") to reconcile with the fact that only people who possess a "good-enough" CGPA (does anybody have the faintest idea what that actually means? I get variable opinions each soul I seek an enlightening answer from) can make it to a decent organization at the end of the 8th semester while the rest will have to be allayed with a job at "Career Point" or "Resonance" or "COER" doing the same thing as a few years back (or was it centuries ago?...because that is out of fashion now, rather a lame pastime) - gorging volumes of concepts and mugging up more than an ordinary human being is capacitated to, what lead us here in the first place - the difference being this they would not be doing for themselves because they won't be entitled to take the prestigious JEE another time.

Four years well spent devising funny stories about each and every professor in the campus, assigning them "suitable" nicknames, bringing out our best abilities in anime - and voila! You step into the latter's shoes when you know that the back benchers are never really interested in the weird theories and pestering mathematics you blabber about; they're busy carefully observing your slightest nuances which can be mimicked on "Bhawan Day" in front of an audience from the entire insti with yourself gracing the occasion as "chief guest". What an honour!

This situation was an alien one until the previous year, and stems from the recent financial recession that has affected not only "raddiwalas", "Thomso - 09", businessmen, corporates and governments alike, but also final year students in search of propective employers. This wariness has been bestowed upon us second yearites by our seniors who have witnessed the consequences of the global slowdown in the form of companies not willing to recruit. As I come to know about the interviews for the selection process, a not-so-major firm was made fun of when students haughtily stated to the interviewer - "We never wanted to be part of your workforce but have come for the sole purpose of gaining some experience for tackling interview questions". Now the same firm has been requested "humbly" to return to the premises.

What if the situation continues for a few more years? Heeding the fact that companies today are more interested in your CGPA rather than your instumental role in organizing "Thomso" as coordinator or even convenor, as secy of various student societies or as a 4-time inter-IIT player - our peers have taken up study more seriously than ever before.

The number of doubts fielded by professors who earlier used to have the front benchers sleeping in their class, has increased exponentially. The library and reading room get occupied to their full capacity a week before the midsems. Everybody seems to be giving some importance to the midsems, subsequently increasing the woes of "Ghissus" who earlier had no challenges from any other quarters. And to further add to this pandemonium, the department has tightened the noose around our necks by means of attendance backs and substituting a "dassi" for an "atthi".

It would be in our best interests if this turmoil in financial systems around the world is brought to a halt immediately. The longer it persists, the longer it will take for us to return to our "normal" way of living at IITR.

PS : Mr. Obama, are you listening?