THROUGH HEAVEN,HELL AND BACK !

The 9 day himalayan trek - the mother of all LBSNAA treks started on october 1.. Our entire batch was divided into 15 groups ( with groups 11 and 12 being "usain bolt" groups and 15 being " the bhajan mandal " group ie. injured guys who travel in bus all over the pilgrim places and create mischief). I was "placed" in group 3 which had quite a few attractive destinations. We loitered all over mussoorie in the name of "trek shopping" and purchased everything from gloves to monkey caps to all toileteries. I decided beforehand that i wasnt going to bath for the next 10 days and bought myself a very strong DEO. We were also given sleeping mats and bags from the academy. So with all the fun of "trek shopping", we were all set to leave on Oct 1st morning.
                                                                     It was 5.30 am and the loud PT whistle shook me off my bed. As usual, the previous day, i played the fool when all others were busy packing and finally now it was time to go and my things were lying all over my room. I dumped everything into the bag and ran out of the room as fast i could to " karmshila" building where the buses were stationed. "Hindustani" sung by shankar mahadevan welcomed me there (in the loud speakers)  as most people were busy clicking photographs, some were delivering last minute "advices" to people ( as if they do the himalayan trek every month), some tech geeks were busy meddling with their GPS gadgets,Some romeos were still cribbing that they could get into their juliets' group, few members of "usain bolt" group were still talking about their gym workouts - overall it was a festive and a busy atmosphere. Soon the final whistle blew and all the buses started (groupwise) , all of us were literally PUMPED UP for the occasion.
                                                                      The bus hardly moved 20kms and most of my "pumped up" friends puked up !, the uneven terrain being the primary reason. I sat beside my friend, listening to music, munching namkeen and enjoying the holiness possessed by the hills. We were supposed to travel about 260km by bus that day - It meant more puking, sleeping for some,but meant more snacks and music for me. I also used up this time to get acquainted with new people who were in my group. Along the way, we crossed picturesque places like Dhanolti, Tehri dam, some wonderful apple farms, ravaging ganges past uttarkashi and finally landed in gangotri ( our destination for the day) amidst rainfall and very cold conditions. I got down from the bus cribbing about the weather, not knowing that the best and the worst were yet to come...
( To be continued)

LBSNAA Times

PT times ( "painful" walk to polo ground contd)

At the blow of the whistle, all of us are expected to arrange ourselves according to our groups and roll numbers. Then our physical instructor goes "kamar ke upar hath"( hands on your hips) and there begins my massacre, where iam stretched,washed and wrung. I try my best to evade as many steps as possible,as do most of my friends, barring a few Usain bolt wannabes. we do the exercises for half an hour and then begins the -JOG. I'v been bunking the jogs eversince LKG and here iam at 6000 feet above sea level at 6.30 am in the morning, jogging at the polo ground (shame on my legacy !). the joggers again are divided into 3 groups - The "usain bolt" group, the 'walkwala group" consisting of the injured,niggle carrying people and then finally the 'vijayakarthikeyan" group -who are coerced to run. Initially it was 3 rounds, then increased to 5 rounds and now its half an hour of uninterrupted jog and god knows what they are going to do next. On some days, after the drill, instead of jogging, we have "conditioning " treks ( wonder why they are so obsessed with treks)                                                                After the session is over, 'centre close' calls our instructor we all buzz, bump into each other and get closer to him.Then he starts his "rawatisms" ( his version of the sidhuisms) Absentees are called out after that ( with memos and show cause notices promptly despatched to their lockers), then people who'v come without shaving ( we are expected to shave everyday, that too before coming to PT- again damaging my legacy) are called up and made to do punishment push ups. There ends the PT and off we go.. On the way back, i usually chat and giggle with my friends and that makes the uphill task a lot easier. The sun comes out brightly in mussoorie by then, and I have to admit that at the end of it all, when i get back to my room, iam more brisk than being tired.

P.S - The 'usain bolts" dont get back to rooms after the PT. They go to GYM !

'PAINFUL' WALK TO THE POLO GROUND

Life here begins at 5 am for most people, leaving literally no room for a night life. My day begins at 4.45 everyday( i set an alarm for 5 am but wake up before it rings), and by the time i get ready i hear alarms go all around the hostel - regular tring, trings ,bolly ringtones,koundamani ring tones in tamil guys' rooms, some strange animal coos - you can hear it all at 5- 5.15. I start walking out of my room at 5.30 with hands in pocket ,with mother mussoorie's coldness at its pinnacle.Our PT everyday is at the Polo ground, which is 2km downhill from our hostel.When i come out of the hostel, i see 3 kinds of animals usually - the sleeping dogs ( which iam very conscious of not stepping onto), sleeping cows by the roadside( i always wonder how relevant our mother's words are "maadu madhiri thoonguran paaru") and there are the monkeys which are very active and jump across the trees( post PLANET OF THE APES, they all seem violent to me ). Usually there are only 5-6 people ahead of me, but i walk very slowly that many people catch up in due course of time. And i get to hear so many conversations among my mates-people who curse the PT, people who discuss the "supply and demand curve" of economics at that hour ! , Guys talking about girls, girls gossiping about the faculty - you can hear it all during the walk downhill to the polo ground And there are people who are still in "sleep" and talk the wrong road and walk straight to the tibetian school. There are some brilliant views of the mountains on the way, and i find the sky to be marvelously changing colours everyday ( i'v seen colours from violet to red) and inspite of all the above mentioned entertainment i get, it is indeed a pretty tough job to walk downhill at such cold conditons.
                                                  But having said that,by the time i reach the polo ground, my body is warmed up and all sleep in my eyes are gone. I sit there for sometime admiring the beauty of mother mussoorie. By then everybody else join in, Our PT instructor marches in, and up goes the whistle....

A SIMPLETON LOOKS AT AEROBICS

As if all other activities at the academy are not enough, we also have an aerobics class every week. "aerobics" class rung a bell in my head - reminding all pretty women who do aerobics in movies. Since i'v never tried it before, i went in eagerly, after all the last time i heard of this term was in microbiology class. The class was already full by the time i entered. After a briefing in hindi(of which i understood nothing) they started playing the music and we followed what our instructor did. Girls were very elegant and stylish and to be honest most of the boys were awkward and i was the "awkwardest" of all. There were range of steps from simple marching to swinging the hands along with feet movements, to formimg a "t". We had to do the steps slowly initially and then pick up pace. my favourite one was the "tikilonaa" step where u bend forward and walk backward- how i wished i were koundamani.Though initially out of sorts, i slowly picked pace and did a decent enough job. Our class lasted an hour, but was pretty light and funny( especially when u look at your/others steps in the nearby mirror and laugh). Aerobics - developed by Dr.kenneth cooper is thus very  interesting indeed and when u weigh the added advantages(apart from the obvious cardio workout, calorie breaks) like improving neuromuscular functioning, hand-leg- eye co -ordination, it definitely gets a tick in the box of a health freak's "to do " list. For those of you who are not health freaks, i still suggest you to do aerobics , just for sheer fun,music and the pretty girls ! 

lal tibba

Felt blessed to wake up at 7 as there was no morning PT today because of the trek. following my customary of not taking bath on trek days, went straight to mess and filled up my stomach. Trek started at 8.45 and seemed "picnicy" and harmless entirely.My friend devender wanted me to walk fast in the beginning and get an "early advantage" over the pack.And we had it.. we were among the first few to come out of the academy.. But Lots of chatter, photography in between left us at the tail as usual.. plus we followed a wrong trial and were "officially" the last among 264 people who took the trek. Still laughing around, i looked at a nearby mountain and found that our people were almost on top of the next hill ! now i had to finish this hill then go there, and climb that one. I huffed, puffed and reached the place in the next hill where i had earlier seen my colleagues. With immense pride i looked up - i hadnt even climbed 25 % of that hill ! I climbed, climbed and climbed.. Our PT instructor kept reassuring me for almost 2 hours, that it was the last 15mins of the trek. Finally after 4 hours of struggle i was on the top of the hill - at 6600 feet and clouds just passing by me. I proudly trotted out into the open field, to find that most of my colleagues had finished the trek and were having their lunch..
                                 At lunch, i was the champion as usual.. after another round of bullying with my friends and photography, i returned to the academy. I also happened to see a place called "charbagh" which i heard, sachin tendulkar visits often. So thats the end of "conditioning trek " 3 and i can see the upcoming himalayan trek smiling at me sarcastically ! planning to have a quiet evening and a heavy dinner.. and a heavier sleep !

A day to remember !

  Thoughts of my school days filled my mind, brought out a smile on my lips as i boarded the academy bus to visit dehradun today.. The buses started out of the academy one by one and here i was, reliving my school days - with the antaksharis and games that were played among my friends in the bus amidst spectacular mountains which were breathtakingly pierced by the clouds. The scenic view was so good that i tucked into a corner quietly to admire it and to listen to some soul stirring music..
                                                                    The visits to NIVH - national institute for visually handicapped and raphael (a NGO for care of special children ) brought in a sea of inspirations into me.Being a doctor, I have seen a lot of physically challenged people in the hospitals but the thing that always struck me was to take care of their health and their cure in terms of physical health alone but what i saw today was truly remarkable - people without vision, people with special needs were operating computers, making papers, weaving baskets, reading, writing and what not ! everyone of them would have failed in their attempts to learn things but they kept doing their jobs and reached pinnacles of efficiency.Their hardwork,dedication,determination, togetherness really taught me lots of lessons, most important being that "human spirit can never be handicapped".. I left those places with moist eyes but with a stronger heart and greater will to serve my fellow beings..   

                 Evening was spent with my friends - shopping,coffee,chuckling along,shopping,dinner and then rushing onto the academy. Today has also been very special to me as its the wedding anniversary of my parents.Though i wasnt around with them this time, having spent the day with such wonderful children has given me great satisfaction indeed.
                                                   Iam off to bed now, with prayers in my heart and lips for those lovely children and my "best" parents ! Oops ! tomorrow is a saturday- trek day ! phew... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz