The Sinhagad Trip - II

This is no sequel to the previous one - the cast this time around is totally different except for 3 guys. And also I'd say, it was much more fun.
The Sinhagad trip undertaken by us, the FY students of E&TC has a long history. It was originally planned for the 2nd sunday of January and since then has benn though of & scrapped many a times. The latest occasion was when we were sitting in CCD on Friday the 24th, the last day of T2. But this time, things worked out & the trip became a reality.
Well I may not be the E & TC class topper & nor am I the CR, but I do hold a place of importance in the class. I'm in charge of organising any trip/event/party/any fun thing that our class guys plan to do. In fact if we had an entertainment committee, I'd surely be it's head. Hey that's an interesting idea. Hmmmmmm...........
Anyways, back to the trip. So on Friday we decided to go for the trip on Sunday and almost everybody agreed which is a huge achievement in itself. The next day was sort of a rest day but Saturday night was extremely hectic. Throughout the night me, Amit & Baviskar were sending invitations, reminders & requests to all E & TC students to come for the trip. So what was initially supposed to be a small trip, soon turned into a class picnic with no less than 20 students coming.
We decided to assemble near the boy's hostel at 6:30 AM on sunday morning. And with almost everybody coming on time, we were on our way to Sinhagad by 7:10. By Indian standards, that's very early. We reached there safely enough, despite the extremely bumpy road & with only a small hitch. That was when a few of us (not me) took the wrong route & ended up climbing Sinhagad by road. But they soon realised their folly & joined us at the foothill of the fort.
We started ascending at about 8:10 & kept a good speed in the beginning. But soon the harsh sun took it's toll & one of us (name not given to protect privacy............... okay fine it was Prajakta) started running into all sorts of problems including headaches & dizziness. But we all rallied around her and literally dragged her to the top thus ensuring that she at least completed her first & almost surely last Sinhagad trip.
We reached the top at about 10:10 AM, two hours after we had left. Then began the spree of photo-clicking which ensued for the rest of the day. All of us climbed the arched door that marks the entrance to the fort. That was the easy part, but the most hilarious part was when Shraddha & Sneha struggled & at times almost gave up while climbing down the arch. Boy, did I have a great laugh. The sight of Shraddha, just 2 metres above the ground & yet totally scared while trying to come down was one to remember.
I had already been to Sinhagad once earlier & hence wasn't much interested in sight-seeing. Hence I decided to take a short detour & climbed up to one of the points where cannons were placed & which was totally isolated from the rest of the fort. There I had an awesome time, enjoying nature & feeling it's power to give us peace & tranquility. We sat there for quite a while, chatting & just looking out into the various hills that encompassed the horizon. It was a beautiful place & I really enjoyed every minute I spent there.
But then we had to leave as we had been away from the main group for too long. We joined them soon enough & after spending some more quieter moments at the other end of the fort, we left for lunch. Lunch was pretty good, the 'taak' was awesome & we all had a heavy meal, as a consequence of which none of us was in any mood to roam around & all of usa wanted to return. In fact, most of us (not me yet again) were so tired that they decided to go down by Taxi while six of us - Me, Rohit, Chaitanya, Sneha , Apoorv & Prutha descended down the hill by the same way we came. That took us about 50 minutes, all of which were enjoyable as the sun was hidden by the clouds for most of the time.
After coming back to base, we all left for our next destination - Khadakwasla. This was totally unplanned & as it often happens, it's these unplanned things that give us most of the fun. There we had a total blast in the clear-blue water of the dam, splashing around in the water, trying to hold one's breath & giving bumps to a certain few (unfortunately, that included me) . We spent about an hour and a half there which was for me, the most enjoyable part of the trip.
We then left for home, soaking wet, but happy nevertheless. We reached home safely too, except for the occasional hiccup when 2 of us were fined by the Traffic policemen. But that notwithstanding, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day & one which I would remember for the rest of my life.

The Cast:
Aniket Khasgiwale : (organizer-cum-main target of all the teasing)
Rishikesh Baviskar (the constantly side-schanging sidekick)
Apoorv Vaidya (the financial manager - trust a Kokanastha Brahmin to do this)
Amit Jawade (yeah, he got up early, what a miracle)
Neelesh Balani (dancemaster)
Aditya Patil (the guy who scouted the horizon for a glimpse of SIT)
Kartikeya Lande (the one who managed to fool a traffic policeman once, but was unlucky the next time)
Sagar Gawli (the one who never took his cap off)
Pradeep Patil (photographer-cum-lord of the ring)
Chinmay Kulkarni (we managed to get him into the water finally)
Rohit Pandharkar (the fast guy - fast rider, fast climber & really fast descender. Also the one who was constantly worried about his elevation above sea level as he was trying to calculate the change in potential energy that he would undergo during the trip. The formula he is trying to use is:
delta E = ( (h2-h1) x g x m) - energy spent in neck vibrations )
Expect an answer anytime now.
Chaitanya Salunkhe (the one who started climbing down with Rohit but soon gave up seeing Rohit's speed)
Akshay Khole ( The guy who ate up all the 'dahi'. A very silent guy who managed to evade detection while on his eating spree)
Mayur Sadavarte (The guy who managed to come in time, despite having to pedal all the way from Bibwewadi. Watch out Lance Armstrong, you've got competition )
Milind Deulkar (the one who went up on his bike & came down the same way. Dude I agree it's an awesome bike but can't you leave it alone at least on a trek)
Vaddi Vishwa Shanti (no comments)
Sneha Das (the first girl to climb up & the last one to come down. Hey Rohit, I think she might have the highest value of instantaneous change in potential energy as she spent maximum time on the hill. If I write anything more, I'm dead, so that's it)
Prajakta Pardeshi (the girl who had all sorts of problems but actually had 2 sinhagad trips - her first & her last)
Prutha Shende ( the one who helped Prajakta on her way up & ensured that she never came down the same way)
Shraddha Pandhe ( the one who was really frightened while climbing down just 2 metres. Thank God she didn't attempt descending on foot)

Post-Script : Even though the day was thoroughly enjoyable, in writing it doesn't seem so interesting. I've still got a long way to go in improving my writing skills & I'll try to add more colour to my descriptions in the near future. Hence this post isn't for an outsider who wants to know what we did, but just for the 20 of us who went for the trip & for whom it'll be a refreshing memory.

P.P.S : I request everybody who went for the trip to PLEASE post their comments on the blog. It gives me an idea of how many people actually read whatever I write, as I've taken a lot of effort & time in putting up this post. And this is applicable to everything I write on my blog. So make sure you comment on everything you read. I promise to respond to the comments as well as I can.

P.P.P.S : The quote of the day: "If we had so much fun after a mid-sem exam, imagine what we'd do after the end-semester exam"
- Chinmay Kulkarni