Sunday 16 February 2014

Just a Picnic??? [Steamer Aground]

Having been to about a dozen picnics, never had I imagined a grounded steamer would bring about such huge dollops of joy!!!

It's 6 am. The incessant rains and chilly weather sends a shiver down my spine as I climb out of my snug and cozy bed.

Damn!!! What a horrible start to the Picnic Day of our department.
The Kurua Island - a wonderful landmass of natural and serene beauty was where we were headed. After a few hiccups, more pathetic jokes( :D ) and still more rain; delayed by an hour finally we set sail at 9:30 am for the island. Amidst the throttle and rolling of the steamer, we enjoy a game of Mafia. Cartloads of frolicking and laughters later we jigged to random lovely music pieces till we could dance no more. Man, that part was awesome. Oh boy, there was more to come...

Three quick hours pass by when we reach the island. The cool breeze weaving a tale of its own welcomed us onto the island. The slight drizzle was the cherry on icing. A short trek to the top of a hill on the island finds us a gallant foggy view of the mighty Brahmaputra river. After a few group images, we headed off to the greener and deeper parts of the island. Time flew, and we were soon back to the steamer for a (quick?) hearty lunch. And only then did we realize we had only about half-an-hour more to enjoy, before we were to head back.

By 4:30 pm we were dragging ourselves back to the steamer well against our wishes, the heart lunging inside to have just one more moment of the feel of the soft, very soft sand of the banks against the bare feet. The steamer set sail back to the downstream Brahmaputra and we got on with a game of Dumb Charades(with some really weird movie names :D ). Barely had the shoreline left the horizon that we were rocked by a VIOLENT JOLT of the steamer!!!

Woww, that was a violent jolt indeed! Some confusion and still more minutes later we realize the steamer had been grounded in a-foot-and-a-half depth of water!!! This meant we would be delayed for at-least an hour. Silently, I was happy, very happy. An hour more with my batch-mates! :D We continued with mimicry of pals (and others :D ), ghost stories (one among them : this) until the pearl blackness of the night engulfed the huge expanse of the mighty Brahmaputra. That moment was just too serene to put into words. But, it was also a moment when we realized how chilly the winds had grown and how the steamer would remain grounded for the foreseeable hours.

As against reaching the Ferry Ghats back at 6 pm, we were stuck here.
At 7:00 pm, arrangements were then made to take us back ashore and then a separate steamer would take us back to the Ferry Ghats. At that point, it seemed like a spoilt day. Nevertheless, in batches we were taken ashore and we lay waiting. The kick finally hit us when we all got jovial and discussed about language, Chanakya( the anecdotes :P ) , about our crushes and what not...

Then, the plans changed (it was 9:30 pm and already 4 hours delayed) when we were informed that autos would be our rides back to IIT Guwahati (meanwhile local news channels were also flashing the reports on the turbulence caused due to the steamer.) Man, the 54 kilometre ride back in the cramped up autos in that freezing drizzling cold weather??? It was THRILLING!!!! :D :D

The ride back reminded me how fortunate that steamer-grounding was and how much more enjoyable this turned out to be. Not to mention, how we got to know each other even better...
So, was it just the picnic? Or the crush stories and silly games? Or was it the ghost stories and the lovely weather? It was an ADVENTURE... Phew!!!  :)


4 comments:

  1. I'd suggest you to change the background colour of the blog to some lighter shade with dark fonts. c'ze this game my eyes a strain. Might have been the case with others as well.

    And believe me, departmental picnics are the best one could ask for. See my experience here:
    http://vivekgunawat.blogspot.in/2012/09/adventure-trip-things-required.html

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    1. Thanks for the feedback on the background!!! Will see to it. :)

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