Page 67 - SAM CLUB DAY 2016 all pages.cdr

SAM CLUB DAY ‘16

TECHNICAL TOUR FOR FINAL YEAR SCAs

- Parth Adhikari '2k11, Penuboina Bharath Krishna '2k12 and Alok Bha '2k11

Although in wri ng part of this ar cle, I feel somewhat like the medieval traveller Ibn Batuta (“Travelling – it
leaves you speechless, and then turns you into a storyteller.”) I will refrain myself, hard though it is, from telling
you stories. There will be facts and, alas, no fandangle; but you should excuse flashes of our collec ve
expressionism.

To travel is not solely to cover the miles lying stretched between two places. And that is something an SCA
definitely learns during their Technical Tour. SCAs of the final year, of batches 2011 and 2012 also learnt that
they were wrong in considering themselves perpetually unfortunate (they have had shop submissions, tests
and interviews dot on me during all these years of appren ceship) and found that fate had really blessed them
in their fourth year – what be er year-ending present than a twenty five day Technical Tour crossing most parts
of Southern India.
*
The seventh semester was hec c for us, with the mixed emo ons of bidding farewell to academic
examina ons, and preparing for the technical tour side by side. Whatever me we got in between papers, we
collected ourselves and plans were made and scratched; TAAGs (Trains at a Glance) turned and tossed aside;
calendars constantly looked at for dates. The examina ons finally concluded and we returned to Jamalpur, with
our tenta ve programmes prepared, just like us.

The drama that unfolded before the tour was just a reinforcement of the famous Murphy's Law. Two nights
before we were to leave, we were informed that clearances from the different zones were yet to be received,
trains had to be changed, new reserva ons had to be made and the coach had to be rerouted. The next 25 days
were le to fate, which silently mocked our situa on. With just a single working day le before the start of the
tour, we faxed, phoned, typed and finally got our zone approvals. On the morning of the tour, mul ple
reserva ons were made, by evening our coach was adequately stocked and finally the caravan began.

Our first stop was Puri, where we were accommodated at a guest house overlooking the Bay of Bengal. It was a
precursor to the later mee ngs we were to have with the mighty Bay on our journey. It was also the first of many
of our feasts of sea food. We visited the Jagannath and the Konark temples which made us marvel at their
pris ne architecture. From there, we proceeded to Pondicherry, a small and beau ful town. It was a paradise of
no taxes and the well paved roads had our speedometers clocked unimaginable speeds. The serene
Promenade with a lighthouse overlooking the seashore and the Paradise beach were some of the unforge able
memories we took back from Pondicherry. Our next stop was Rameswaram and the experience aboard the
train on the Pamban Bridge was breathtaking. We then reached Kanyakumari to capture the spectacular
sunrise and sunset at the southernmost point of Indian mainland, both in our cameras as well as our hearts.
Biding adieu to Tamil Nadu, we then entered Kerala - God's own country. We had our share of beaches,
coconuts and mouth-watering thalis served on banana leaves. The day-long house-boa ng on the backwaters
at Allepey with its wholesome diet of tradi onal Kerala dishes was an experience of a life me. Celebra ng
Christmas Eve at Kochi's China town, we then le for the hill sta on of Ooty aboard the Nilgiri Queen on a
journey through long and winding tunnels, several waterfalls, alluring teak forests and tea planta ons. We
visited the Botanical Gardens, Dodabe a peak, the tea factory, and also had our share of homemade
chocolates. A'2k12 achieved his goal of visi ng the shoo ng site of the famous Bollywood horror movie Raaz.

65