ThE DooNY-TunES!!

12th May-the day that spelled independence for all of us...and the day when we had long-planned to take that special trip to dehradun jst 2 celebrate the impending b'days of 5 ppl(though i was pushed into that list later on so that i could contribute some green bucks to the camaraderie,and in the fine mood that i was in,i heartily obliged)...though ,of course some ppl had other intensions which weren't safe and morally-sound!!!

We endeavoured to catch the 4 pm bus after shedding off the exam hangover from our shoulders (and face too with our evidently growing beards a clear tell-tale of our exam agonies) . We surprised the Uttarakhand transport guyz when we turned up in huge group of unmanagable 32 IITians ,and obviously we were the given the pleasure of an entire bus to ourselves….the journey was gud ,although since I was sleeping most of the time,what with signs of fever already hanging around my head,I have not much to recollect from it. All I know was that I kinda enjoyed that short hilly climb upto dehradun and the not-so-breathtaking views …

We landed at about 6 and made our way straight to the only place worth whiling away time in dd-Rajpur road…and outta utter desperation or to release our minds of the frustration that was welling up inside our opposite sex-deprived hearts, our heads began straying to infinite distances to catch a glimpse of that elusive hot bird walkin around with her equally hot friends firmly in tow. But as I had already warned ,much to the agony of the others,this was no delhi..and all we got was utter disappointment.

Feeling dejected or betrayed,in whatever way u’d like to put it,we strolled a bit along the happening hub of dehradun,which ,at that fateful time when almost 50 IITians were overburdening it with their unusual lingo,had been deserted by the “creamy “ layer of the society!! Maybe even the dehradun girls knew that IITR’s btech guyz are gonna have it done off with their end sems that very day,n so they ran off for cover !!!

As we reached our destination ,Yo!China,we figured out that we were only 20 ppl and the others had somehow gone astray… what happened???We supposed they prob ran after a gud-looking chick in the wilderness!!!Nah, it seemed they were makin their own planz fr d own evening…so v placed the order in advance and thought it worthwhile to hang out a li’l bit more until we were joined by the precarious missing part of our entourage…We had everythin frm ice-creams to puddings and then finally a reunion!!

Everybody ate their hearts out at Yo!China.Having ordered a sumptuous feast and having taken the most out of what the pockets of th 5 bakras cud give em ,they ate like apes gorging on food that has just been ordained frm the skies…And since I was one of the bakras,I restrained myself a bit and went along with what had already been ordered rather than adding my own part .From honey potatoes,veg schezwan sauce, lamb/rabbit/buffalo/chicken and a whole jungle of animals to the most exotic mocktails(read electric spark and blue ocean) everythin was ordered…The bill itself was enuf for us to digest the sumptuous meal that we had just eaten ..a whooping 5500 bucks…thankfully brought down to 5000…. Guess IITians are offered the 10% discount everywhere!!! We did eat a lot,but we shed a lot of weight too..our wallets felt lighter by 1000 bucks each (n this is fr d chapo givin bakras only) after a lotta bargaining and brain-smashin with the Yo!China guyz…

We snapped a few pics and then split up again…one grp proceedin with its planz to spend the nite in a Lounge and try out Tequilla just to get a feel of it(uh!!!!!!!!!!!),with 4 non-drinkers firmly in tow for post-Tequilla team management purposes ,and the other too worn out to even eat an ice-cream and dragging their legs to the ISBT(and that,ofcourse,included me!!) .Dnt really know what happened to the drinkers’ gang ,except that they did try out tequila and danced their hearts out,as was reported by those who were left lookin after them ,but enjoyed,nevertheless.But to our horror,no bus at the ISBT ,was ready to take passengers for roorkee,coz as it seemed ,there were ample passengers fr delhi,and even though we were 15 ppl and cu’ve given the bus-wallas a decent business ,and even as we were haplessly standin near 4 shatabdi’s standin in line ,we cudnt find a bus to ferry us bak to that sweet prison called IITR…Twas the case of “water water everywhere ,not a drop to drink”,and we shared Coolidge’s popular predicament.

Finally ,a bus conductor had mercy on us and even as it was filled to the brim ,and we weondered how we were supposed to fit in,we were offered a chance to hop in and undertake a unique standing journey all the way to rrkee!!!Even the passengers were left aghast at how 15 ppl (bechaare bachhe!!!) would go all d way standing to delhi(ofcourse they never knew we were a bunch of IITRians)…No option in sight,we shoved ourselves in and fr the nect 15 mins ,kept on our frail legs which were already giving way. We couldn’t take it any longer and decided its better that we sat down on the bus floor itself!!!It was kinda weird at first ,coz …I dunno it was just weird…and even as the ppl stared at our desperation ,they were equally helpless…thank gawd they closed all lights,we were saved the embarrassment fr the rest of the journey… I kept on wondering if a citizen of this country(leave aside the IIT tag) deserved such disrespect and even as I did so,a bag from the heaven above fell straight on my specs and they broke in two!!! Too tired to feel anything ,I just let it be and kept on staring at the stars which were visible from the vent opening on the roof of the bus, thinking once again of how as children we used to wonder-“we’ll be one of em one day when we die”…Well,if that’s the case I’d love to die….