MBA Class Trip to Kalpetta, Waynad

DoMS, IIT Madras - MBA Batch of 2008
Class Trip…
From Coromondel to Malabar Coast…
From Bay of Bengal to Arabian Sea…
From Eastern Ghats to the Western…
From the Land of Sunrise to that of Sunset…
From Tamil land to that of Malayalam…
To God’s Own Country…In Our Own Country…
To Kalpetta,.. Waynad…

Complete Photos on: http://picasaweb.google.com/rahuldangra/Waynad ...

WHEN? 29th February 2008 – 4th March 2008
WHO? 22 Students of MBA Batch of 2008 – 13 guys & 9 gals
HOW & WHERE?

INTRO
It was afternoon of 29th Feb. At a time when I should have been excited about the trip, I was struggling with my team-mates to somehow complete the Mergers and Acquisitions presentation which was to be delivered on 5th March – the very next day of our return to Chennai. But as always Parkinson’s Law was proven true this time as well – “work expands to fill time” – and we decided to complete the presentation on 4th March itself. (The ppt making continued till 1:15 PM on March 5 and was to be presented at 1:45PM on the same day!!!)

DAY 0 – 29th February 2008
GOING TO CHENNAI CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION
Initially we had planned to go to Chennai Central station individually but then the news spread that IIT authorities (transportation department) had arranged the institute bus (an application in this regard had been submitted earlier) for us to go to the station.

We had booked tickets through bulk booking – Train No. 2685, Mangalore Express. The train was to start at 5:30 pm but it was late by 1.5 hours. We spent time taking snaps, playing cards at the platform…In the train we again spent time playing card games like Bluff, Donkey, Judgement etc. At around 8 pm we had delicious dinner – arranged by “toco” from “Agarwal Bhojanalay”.

DAY I – 1st March 2008
AFTER REACHING CALICUT
We reached Calicut at around 6:30 am. After getting down at the station we had ‘breakfast’ at Calicut station. A bus (Bus no. KL 10 / Y 1010. I remember it!!!) was waiting for us (this was to be with us till our return to Calicut station on 3rd March).

Along the way, the view from the bus was quite good. It is said, “the grass on the other side is always green”. Here I found that grass/plantations on my side were green too!!

REACHING WAYNAD - KALPETTA
Two and a half hours in the bus and we were in Waynad(Kalpetta, to be exact – Waynad is the district name and Kalpetta its headquarters). The hotel rooms had already been booked by “TOCO” in Chandragiri Inn. Three people were to stay in a room. Suresh, Arun and I stayed together. The rooms were decent enough (spacious, well furnished, neat) with very good bathrooms (with all taps in proper places and in working condition!). The service (providing drinking water) and hospitality were also good enough.

We had lunch at Udupi Restaurant which was at walking distance from Chandragiri Inn.
Since our train was late, we could only start visiting places after lunch. We set out for Edakkal Caves at 1.00 PM.

EDAKKAL CAVES
Climbing to the top to reach the caves was not easy. The sultry climate made it tougher. Initially, we had to walk on steep paths till the point where tickets were available after which there was no proper way. We had to find one on our own although at some places “stairs” were provided for easy access to the next level. After reaching the top, we had a photo session. In an attempt to be in a photograph, I hit Meghna on her injured toe (The first-aid box came into use now!!!). After spending about 45 minutes at the top we started to move back down to the ticket counter. Towards the end of it all, I found my feet trembling (due to lack of sleep, I was more tired than I would have been otherwise). Somehow managed to get into the bus after which we started for Soochipara Falls.

SOOCHIPARA FALLS
We had to walk down to get to the falls. Initially there was a way but towards the end it again got lost (seems like they make roads initially to attract tourists and then leave it when they feel that people won’t go back to the starting point!!!) – with only rocks and more rocks to be seen. Some of the guys took a bath in the falls. Raghuram and I being the only LMOs (Lean Men Organization…wanna join???…visit http://www.lmo.com/) started shivering sooner than others.
A few people could be seen slipping and hurting themselves a bit, due to the slippery rocks.

CAMPFIRE
After coming back from the falls, some of us ordered Maggi - the taste was simply superb – thanks to Lavanya. We also had a campfire where most of us performed something (from hip hop dance to singing songs). We had dinner at the same place – it was ‘made-to-order’. The dinner (North Indian) too was grrreat – daal, rotis, aloo subzi, one tomato dish and chicken – it’s difficult to say which was better than the other.

By the time we finished our dinner it was completely dark. We spotted some constellations in the sky – the one I had seen in ‘Swades’ – the Orion – and also the Saptrishi.

ON WAY BACK TO THE HOTEL
This could be one of the perfect examples of customer delight – when you get something good at a time when you don’t expect it. The bus had a good lighting system – colored and blinking. Opposite to the popular concept of having “dance floors”, we had “dance ceiling” in the bus. (No..no..we danced on the floor only!!!). And most of us rocked on dance numbers. It was real fun – so much so that we were upset when we reached our hotel!!!

DAY II – 2nd March 2008
MATHUNGA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
The challenge that had been put to us the previous night was to get ready by 5 am today, as we had to leave for Mathunga Wildlife Sanctuary. It is said that chances of sighting various animals are higher in early mornings than if you go late. So we had to get up at around 4 am which was like getting up at midnight. Since buses were not allowed in the area (we could spot some SUVs), we hired ‘Mahindra’ Jeeps (run by the authorities there). We spotted elephants, bisons, foxes, monkeys and deers in the forest. The driver also showed us the foot prints of tiger/leopards/lions and told us that they had been on the road before we came.
Near the entrance of the Sanctuary was a water-body with flowing water. We had a photo session there as well.

KURUVA ISLANDS
This was the part of the trip which I enjoyed the most - a group of islands which are surrounded by rivulets. These streams are to be crossed to get to another island. We also enjoyed rafting here and climbed on a house tree only to find that it was locked. Nothing much to describe here – pics would tell the story better.

BANASURA SAGAR DAM
This dam is located 21 km from Kalpetta in the Western Ghats. It is the largest earthen dam in India and the second largest in Asia. We decided not to go for boating here as we were to do that the next day. The view from the top of the dam was good especially the sunset.

DAY III – 3rd March 2008
POOKOT LAKE
We visited this lake on our way back to Calicut. This beautiful lake nestles in the lap of mountains surrounding it. Boating in the Pookot Lake was a memorable experience. Tall trees and dense forests lined the pathway around the lake. Besides the regular pedal boat, we also enjoyed rowing the kayaks – which was a new experience for all of us. There was also a children’s park which made some of us get into the ‘child state’.

MOVING BACK TO CALICUT
After Pookote Lake we got into the bus to move to Calicut. Since we had some time, we decided to visit a beach there. We missed the sunset as we had to catch the train at 5:30 pm – Train No. 2602 –Chennai Mail. The train was on time. Unlike our ‘to’ journey, seats in the ‘fro’ journey were scattered all over the train despite the fact that we had gone for bulk booking. This was due to less number of seats available at the time of reserving the berths. But that did not dampen our spirits. We (where I was located) sung songs, took snaps, played cards, had dinner and finally slept (got very good sleep that night).

DAY IV – 4TH March 2008
BACK TO CHENNAI
We were back to Chennai. In fact, the train was before time (may be Laloo Prasad wanted to compensate for the delay in our first journey). We went back to IIT by MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System) – which is nothing but Chennai local train. After taking snaps at the main entrance, we waited for IIT bus to go inside.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE / LESSONS LEARNT
All in all it was a nice trip.
My image of Kerala being a safe state for women (like Tamil Nadu) is gone.
Kerala is not just sight seeing. It is adventure as well.
Stay away from people who are injured!!!
Girls need not necessarily take more time to get ready. It is worth mentioning that at none of the places we got delayed because of the girls. They were always ready in time. (Was this an exception??!!) I must Congratulate them for this. Well done gals!!! Keep it up!!! Asutosh…are you reading???
Hand your camera to others before you speak out “Photo Lo”.
Thanks to all those who took snaps and sacrificed being in them.