One of the best things of being a part of chemical 2k3batch of TU (formerly known as TIET) Patiala is tha tyou get to do a lot of things that students from other branches can only dream about! Take for example theno. of so called “industrial trips” that I have been apart of. The no. stands at 5 as of now. And when youthink that some students can’t even think aboutorganizing let alone going to even a single trip, thisindeed is a big number. Infact, it is a TU record! We“chemchiz” have been to NFL nangal, a brewery inSolan, Nestle, shreyans paper mill during the courseof the last three years. The one thing common betweenall these trips was that each one of them was more enjoyable than its previous counterpart. So thebiggest challenge of our fifth trip to McLeod Ganj waswhether or not we could yet again have a fantabolous time. And take my word for it that this time we surpassed all our expectations!!!

The big difference was the fact that our junior chemical batch was also along with us this time & thatmade this trip all the more memorable. Actually officially we were supposed to visit a food industry named shivambu, but like past trips it was just a formality as this again was a “fun trip” instead. We left for this amazing journey at around 6am fromTU. The private bus was a video coach & unfortunatelyit started with never-heard-of & intolerable Punjabi songs. Moreover both senior & junior batches were busyin their own groups & I wondered what lies ahead?

Ourfirst major stop was at the anandpur sahib gurudwara,where we all took the blessings of the “wahe guru” forthe ensuing journey ahead. We reached the industry indistrict Una at around lunch time as was expected. Andthis is what we did there: Drank mango & pineapple juices made by them, then had a sumptuous lunch afterwhich amidst loud yawns, most of the tired souls wentto sleep in the comfortable sofas there. So much sothat the industry guys had to serve us tea to wake usagain. Then we had a whirlwind round of the industry in a record time of exactly 40 min.!Then we left for dharamshala & henceforth the most interesting part of our voyage began.

Now “antakshari”is one game that everyone can play & in this case itserved as the binding glue between the two batches.The contest was intense with both sides singing onesong after the other & so on… The whole group was nowenjoying. It first started drizzling when we reachedour hotel & then the clouds bursted during dinnertime. Everyone had a sound sleep of 3-4 hrs that night. Because we wake up at 5am again the next day &left for the “valley of hills: McLeod Ganj”. Thescenery was enigmatic, mountains were majestic & the whole atmosphere was magnificent. Our firstdestination at McLeod Ganj was the “Dall lake” &everyone was busy capturing each & every moment ontheir cameras, mobiles, digicams, handicams & what not!

And then we had the thrill of our life. Next targetwas the waterfall & the road leading to it was nothingless than a trekking experience. 2-3 times we had almost decided that we can’t go any further because itwas almost impossible to do so without risking one’slife!!! But the sight of the wonderful waterfall keptall of us going… & finally we reached there & what asight it was???

An out of the world experience which mesmerized everyone of us. The place was simply stunningly beautiful, the water was icy cold & all ofus had gone berserk at this sight. It was 2 hours ofpure & uninhibited fun & frolic…Then we had our last stop at the Dalai Lama monastery& after doing some shopping we were on our way back.This time though the journey was even more fascinating. Kudos to our hosts, we played games likeKoffee with chemchiz, Dum shiraz, song dedication &Intro time!!!

The best part was that now there was no demarcation between juniors & seniors, everyone wasenjoying now with everybody else…Finally we reached our college again at around 1am,with everyone exhausted not because we had traveled around 16kms in hills for around 7-8 hrs but becausenobody of us had ever dreamt that we were going to have such an electrifying trip!!!

And for those who think that its all over now… justfor your kind information that we all are now planning “A trip to vaishno devi”!!!

And I assure you that we will have even more funthere…

Till then good-bye…