Reliving the Lonavala bliss - part I

3-7-2005.The D-day had finally arrived.Our entire batch of 145 enthu cutlets were going to be packed off to Lonavala for a Personality Growth workshop.We had heard long tales from our seniors about how much fun we were going to have in Lonavala.There was some skepticism lurking in the background though:theirs was a batch that knew each other for 4 long months before Lonavala happened to them,while our batch had been together for hardly a month.Considering that we did not know most of our classmates even by name and considering the prejudiced opinion we had formed of our batch, a lot of us remained highly skeptical about having as good a time as our seniors did.

We were divided into three groups,each packed into a separate bus.Hardly half a km into our journey, the enthu levels began to soar.A lot of screaming and singing followed.I felt a much-craved-for sense of belonging in this junglee fun crowd - it was precisely my types :) The very first stop spot on our itinerary was Bhushy Dam.A dam that was overcrowded thanks to that day being a Sunday,still had some of the most treausrable moments to offer.Anu and I threw inhibitions to the winds and started off by sitting down on the steps, where the gush of water was extemely forceful.Twice in a row, we were literally washed away and luckily pulled back by someone!After experiencing this natural water massage for sometime, a group of us trekked uphill until we were directly below a huge waterfall.The fall of water on our heads was so powerful that I could feel a thousand hammers banging on my head all at once.Just one step further and we were safely behind this sheet of water.Turning to look back at our classmates who were cheering us from below,it felt like looking at the world from behind a sheet of glass.Beautiful sight indeed.Not too sure if this is a thing to be proud of but I was the only daredevil woman who could make it to the other side of this huge fall.It was extremely foggy by now and the visibility was severely limited to a few metres.Sat down on the strong-current-ridden steps for a while longer.The best part about this place is that while you relax on these steps with the cold water giving you a lovely massage,the chaai and butta vendors wade through the water right down to where you are sitting and offer the choicest of chaai and butta! We walked back down,had some hot vada paav and butta,enjoyed a roadside disc complete with DJ n all n then headed towards Shahani Holiday Home - our abode for the next 3 days.The drive, that should've ideally taken about an hour, took over 2 hours, thanks to our novice driver who had us spell-bound with atleast 7 U-turns and reverses on the way!

We checked into our rooms and gathered quickly for a session of ice breakers.The nice part about the ice breaker was that I got to interact with many of my classmates whom I didn't know even by name.The bad part was that it was too cliched a team game and hence quite boring.The funny part was noting how some people go about "talk to each other casually and get to know each other better" as a mundane activity....there they were,drawing out mighty pens n notepads and noting down points about the new person that they were supposed to make friends with!!!We were then divided into three random groups and asked to choose a name,punch line,motto for our group and make presentable posters accordingly.We named our group mosaic and the punch line was as simple and uncreative as "Together we rock".I enjoyed this activity immensely.I was the unanimous choice to make the presentation, thanks to the over-hyped image that people have of my supposedly awesome presentation skills, out here.Modesty apart, it did feel nice to hear all that people said about my presentation, once it was over.With a fair name,uninteresting punch line and a whole lot of gyaan to present, it did take a decent rocker of a presentation to make people sit up and listen!