Memorable Moments-My trips with Friends

 My life was basically full of everything. By far I had my share of problems, enjoyment, entertainment, the collective flow of emotions, etc. as every teenager would have. Out of them all, there are some memories which are always with me and are unforgettable.

A trip with family is comfortable, safe, needed and are enjoyed by all. But I feel we should sometimes travel to far off places with our friends too, that would be 10 times more fun. So, I am a huge wanderlust, and I went to many places in 7 states of the south and Deccan India. All of them were interesting and fun. But I had a few trips with my friends which were the best!

CLASS-8, NAGARJUNA SAGAR TRIP (December 3^rd, 2016)

I clearly remember almost every detail in this trip. 4 days before the trip day, I was irritating my parents to the core, as snacks and drinks are a must to a foodie like me…principal mam said mobile phones are allowed, but you need your parents' consent. I asked my dad. Though I had a mobile phone, he still refused that and bought me a smartwatch for the day. Then he got a new sim card, and it was fun till December 2^nd. That night, I was chatting with my bestie, Gnaneswar about all kinds of tricks we’d play onboard our bus. I myself couldn’t sleep at night and due to the chill weather, I snug in my blanket and had a short nap. I woke up at 4 the next day. My dad was like, “sleep. I will drop you directly at Nagarjuna Sagar if you are late. No worries.” Still, I took a dip in ice-cold water (I like that coz it actually makes me active), I was ready with all my bag, snacks, drinks and stuff by 5. My friend’s father came to pick me up at 5:30am in the morning. Till then I was at the security gate of my colony, doing rounds and listening to my favourite songs. We then left for school and reached by 6:00am.

I then met all my friends at school who came with their parents. Here, let me tell you one thing. When you meet your friends especially before such one-day trips or so, you will feel an electric shock going up your spine and that kinda makes you more energized. Then we boarded some tour buses. (there was a confusion between class 10 and 9 but for us 8^th graders, it was a bit of fun). Then we left the school by 6:15am amidst the cheering and well wishes of all the parents.

The bus journey was very fun. But all the buses should go in a coordinated convoy, as one driver only knew the route to our destination. So, we had to stop at Ameerpet, and then we stopped a bit on the highway, right at the outskirts of some village, waiting for the last bus behind. The bus trip was crazy fun. We all played antakshari (teachers joined in too!). one of my friends, Smaran, showed off his dance moves among everyone’s cheers. If you think what I was doing, I popped in my earphones and was busy having snacks (lays, Kurkure, you know? The regular ones.). Avani mam gave me a sound scolding and said kurkure consists of plastic. And stop being to yourself and mingle with the group, etc. so I did. We reached our destination by 10 am. In between, we stopped at a restaurant and had our breakfast which was basically a loaded menu. Idly, dosa, Mysore bondas, pooris, you name it. There we snapped some pics.

All of us were tired due to the excitement on the bus and sat down moodily. Then at a distance, we saw the majestic Nagarjuna Sagar dam, which made us drop our jaws (most of us were first-time viewers, including me). Then we stopped at the dam, we got to see the huge turbines, ran around a bit and then, I took my mam’s mobile and did some research regarding those ancient sculptures which welcomed us into the plant. I was fond of history. So, when I saw that, I guessed that they were Buddhist. And Acharya Nagarjuna was a Buddhist propagator. As I was busy seeing those beautiful sculptures and the archway that welcomed us, I was snapped out of my thought by my gang who pulled me inside. Later, we came to know about acharya Nagarjuna.

Nagarjuna (c. 150 – c. 250 CE), is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. Along with his disciple Aryadeva, he is considered the founder of the Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism. Nagarjuna is also credited with developing the philosophy of the prajnaparamita sutras and, by some sources, with having revealed these scriptures to the world after recovering them from the nagas. He is traditionally thought to have written many treatises on Rasayana, as well as serving a term as the head of the famous Nalanda University. According to some accounts, Nagarjuna was originally from South India. Some scholars believe that Nagarjuna was an advisor to a king of the Satavahana dynasty. Archaeological evidence at Amaravati indicates that if this is true, the king may have been Yajna Sri Satakarni, who ruled between 167 and 196 CE. On the basis of this association, Nagarjuna is conventionally placed at around 150–250 CE. Some sources claim that in his later years, Nagarjuna lived on the mountain of Srīparvata near the city that would later be called Nagarjuna Konda ("Hill of Nagarjuna"). The ruins of Nagarjuna Konda are located in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. The Chaitika and Bahusrutiya nikayas are known to have had monasteries in Nagarjunakoṇḍa. The archaeological finds at Nagarjunakonda have not resulted in any evidence that the site was associated with Nagarjuna. The name "Nagarjunakonda" dates from the medieval period and the 3rd-4th century inscriptions found at the site make it clear that it was known as "Vijayapuri" in the ancient period.

After this, we went to the ethipothala waterfalls nearby. They were so beautiful. We were told by our PT sir that there were crocodiles in the stream nearby and hence, we weren’t allowed to get there. The path to the stream was covered by a thicket. So, teachers crossed that thorny thicket and went past, including some naughty seniors who wouldn’t obey rules. We took some pictures. And then we went back to the restraint. It was lunchtime! We got treated to a pleasant vegetarian meal. I loved it especially. Later, we went to a museum which consisted of statues of buddha, some ancient inscriptions, etc. then we entered a garden, played some music, danced to our heart’s content and around 4:30pm, we left. Actually, we were told that we would leave immediately, but there was a surprise in store for us. Principal mam took all of us for a boat tour in the Krishna river. That was fun. Next, we had some snacks, bought some cold drinks at a shop and we departed back to school by 6:30pm. The restaurant people had our dinner packed so we would have it on our bus. We reached our school, wearily, at around 11:45pm.

This was my first trip without my parents and entirely with my friends.

CLASS-9, DECCAN TRAILS RESORT(November 25^th, 2017)

Now, the trip was very fun but wasn’t much like the other trips. But the uniqueness of this trip was that all of us are left out in the open, to play and have fun all day. You can play cricket, badminton, ride bicycles, jump upon trampolines, what not!. This was, in actuality, a resort-cum-adventure camp. So, I enjoyed to the fullest here.

We began the journey around 6:30am and we reached the place at Vikarabad within 2-3 hours. We started our trip with wholesome fun and frolic! I played badminton with my principal mam, raced on bicycles with my friends, played cricket and jumped on trampolines too. Apart from this, there was a hillock and on top of that, there were more adventure tasks for us. We had to climb up a pillar and slam the bell on top. And there was a zipline too! Unfortunately, we got one chance each but it was fun! But the wires that support the harness and carry us down are extremely hot due to the sun and the friction. Unknowingly, I held that wire and severely burnt my hand. But it was fun though. When we stopped for lunch, we were welcomed with an awesome menu. Noodles, soup, parathas, Manchurian, etc. Fortunately, everything was vegetarian for me…just like I wanted. Then we sat down for a bit. Took some rest under a shady tree and around 3:45pm, we were taken to a nice trek atop the hill.

I didn’t know this and I was left behind. When I came and asked the students as to why they were standing, they told me my class has left without me 20 minutes ago. I had to catch up with them. So I ran atop the hill and finally caught up with them by around 4:15pm. After the trek, we played our games and at around 7pm, it was bye-time. We had an interesting and fun day and were dog-tired. This one was a pretty cool trip.

the next trip will be in my next blog :)