Well. We all occasionally make mistakes that midway through them, or afterwards, definitely wake our senses. This is the story of likewise for me.
Sem - 5th
Most Recent academic achievement - Completed CT-2 (Called Mid-Term tests, or MTTs)
Mental Status - Peach
Date - October 1st, 2011
Place to go - Dongargarh, C.G's sacred Durga temple sits proudly on a hilltop there
Possible (and likely) problems - Lacs of pilgrims...
Time of departure - 19.15 (ex Hostel)
Time of Return - 02.30
Well, after 2 years of part-stay in the hostel, out of the blue - came the idea of joining my comrades for their annual trip to Dongargarh during the Navratras (not the Rama one, folks). The idea is simple. It's just a fun trip for most, although I have to admit a few of them are really serious about the 'Bhakti'.
#PROCEDURE :-
1. Board a packed local train after dinner.
2. Survive the seemingly never ending journey of 62 Kms (Yes I calculated it, CG's present CM's home Rajnandgaon is exactly in the middle at 31 Kms).
3. Ten minute walk to the hill base, the last 5 of it barefoot if you like.
4. Start a 2 hour, 1100 steps (from what I've heard) climb.
5. Escape!!!
#INFERENCE :-
Yes, as you would've probably guessed, we (meaning half of us) never quite made it past step #3. Everything went right up until then, and despite the local train - crouching us, denying us breathing and standing space - we made it in 1 piece. The trouble began when the police, with an otherwise healthy view to avoid congestion on the stairs, blocked the crowd at the base for over half an hour. That sparked the crowd to force their way, and despite the attempts to control them, the mob caused an almost stampede situation, a situation that I thought was best to escape out of and save my life. After all, there's no point in sacrificing your life by making foolish decisions, is it?
So, handing out to my unscathed friends whatever was left of my supposed offerings to the Devi, I made my way out somehow and was pondering over what to do next - considering I had deposited my footwear at one of the local "Seva" stalls and these stalls gave you your footwear back in the same way as anywhere across India - on giving back their token - when I received a call from my room-mate Nirmal, who had also escaped, and decided to wait for any more escapees from our 15-man strong group. 7 in total, we decided that there wasn't much point in sitting there in the chaos and time was up for us.
We took the token back from the person responsible, got back to the stalls and wore back our footwear, and this is really where portable Internet rocks...:)
I quickly did a search for train listings and found one train in the next couple of hours back home - but only in 10 minutes. Barely able to stand, we gathered ourselves and ran at full speed to the station. Once there, we did what I normally never do - not purchase a ticket - and boarded the train's unreserved compartment.
This is where the vast disparity between various categories of trains and their operating priorities comes into light. While the forward journey in the local train took a whopping 1.55 hrs(D: 20.50, A: 22.45) at an average speed of 32.3 Kmph, the return leg took just 45 mins in a super fast train(as they're called in India; D: 01.20, A: 02.05) at an average speed of 82.6 Kmph. Any ways, back at the base, I had yet another 1st in a single day (or wait. It's a new day, isn't it!) - Jumping the college main gate. You see, through 1st year, I've had requests to jump out of the hostel (quite crazy, it is..) and go to have Poha, a local breakfast favourite, right in the middle of the night. Crazy as it sounds, still I'd have to be a fool if I didn't admit a secret fantasy about jumping walls and gates - Especially when you've been locked in; it's human.
Now that that fantasy was fulfilled, I felt some satisfaction.
Finally, before calling it a day, one final task. Drank gallons of water - After all, we were dead dry after our 8 hour, 125 Km "Mini" expedition!!!
#RESULT :-
Well, the mission didn't exactly go according to plan, but I did manage to bring home some 'prasad' and learnt an important rule which I henceforth wish to follow diligently -
Sem - 5th
Most Recent academic achievement - Completed CT-2 (Called Mid-Term tests, or MTTs)
Mental Status - Peach
Date - October 1st, 2011
Place to go - Dongargarh, C.G's sacred Durga temple sits proudly on a hilltop there
Possible (and likely) problems - Lacs of pilgrims...
Time of departure - 19.15 (ex Hostel)
Time of Return - 02.30
Well, after 2 years of part-stay in the hostel, out of the blue - came the idea of joining my comrades for their annual trip to Dongargarh during the Navratras (not the Rama one, folks). The idea is simple. It's just a fun trip for most, although I have to admit a few of them are really serious about the 'Bhakti'.
#AIM :- Pilgrimage and safe return back to base
1. Board a packed local train after dinner.
2. Survive the seemingly never ending journey of 62 Kms (Yes I calculated it, CG's present CM's home Rajnandgaon is exactly in the middle at 31 Kms).
3. Ten minute walk to the hill base, the last 5 of it barefoot if you like.
4. Start a 2 hour, 1100 steps (from what I've heard) climb.
5. Escape!!!
#INFERENCE :-
Yes, as you would've probably guessed, we (meaning half of us) never quite made it past step #3. Everything went right up until then, and despite the local train - crouching us, denying us breathing and standing space - we made it in 1 piece. The trouble began when the police, with an otherwise healthy view to avoid congestion on the stairs, blocked the crowd at the base for over half an hour. That sparked the crowd to force their way, and despite the attempts to control them, the mob caused an almost stampede situation, a situation that I thought was best to escape out of and save my life. After all, there's no point in sacrificing your life by making foolish decisions, is it?
So, handing out to my unscathed friends whatever was left of my supposed offerings to the Devi, I made my way out somehow and was pondering over what to do next - considering I had deposited my footwear at one of the local "Seva" stalls and these stalls gave you your footwear back in the same way as anywhere across India - on giving back their token - when I received a call from my room-mate Nirmal, who had also escaped, and decided to wait for any more escapees from our 15-man strong group. 7 in total, we decided that there wasn't much point in sitting there in the chaos and time was up for us.
We took the token back from the person responsible, got back to the stalls and wore back our footwear, and this is really where portable Internet rocks...:)
I quickly did a search for train listings and found one train in the next couple of hours back home - but only in 10 minutes. Barely able to stand, we gathered ourselves and ran at full speed to the station. Once there, we did what I normally never do - not purchase a ticket - and boarded the train's unreserved compartment.
This is where the vast disparity between various categories of trains and their operating priorities comes into light. While the forward journey in the local train took a whopping 1.55 hrs(D: 20.50, A: 22.45) at an average speed of 32.3 Kmph, the return leg took just 45 mins in a super fast train(as they're called in India; D: 01.20, A: 02.05) at an average speed of 82.6 Kmph. Any ways, back at the base, I had yet another 1st in a single day (or wait. It's a new day, isn't it!) - Jumping the college main gate. You see, through 1st year, I've had requests to jump out of the hostel (quite crazy, it is..) and go to have Poha, a local breakfast favourite, right in the middle of the night. Crazy as it sounds, still I'd have to be a fool if I didn't admit a secret fantasy about jumping walls and gates - Especially when you've been locked in; it's human.
Now that that fantasy was fulfilled, I felt some satisfaction.
Finally, before calling it a day, one final task. Drank gallons of water - After all, we were dead dry after our 8 hour, 125 Km "Mini" expedition!!!
#RESULT :-
Well, the mission didn't exactly go according to plan, but I did manage to bring home some 'prasad' and learnt an important rule which I henceforth wish to follow diligently -
"Never, ever, ever try to visit a sacred tourist spot during a festival
It's like walking into a reign of fire"
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