A paradise called Goa

Last week some of us went for an amazing trip to Goa. The group comprised of myself, Ajitav, Sunil, Macha, Pankaj, Karthik, Kamle and CP. For all of us, it was our first time to Goa. We started our journey on 15th Feb night. We had booked AC Volvo sleeper tickets. It was my first time on a sleeper bus. Overall the journey was comfortable except for the AC. Each sleeper had it's own small AC that could be switched ON or OFF. But the AC on my sleeper had it's switch ripped off by some former passenger and the owners didn't find it very useful to fit a new switch. Thus the damn thing was blasting cold air directly on to my face. By morning I felt like an Antartican polar bear minus it's fur.

No sooner did the bus stop at the Panjim bus stand, the next day morning, than we were hounded by tour operators offering their services which included everything from arranging a guest house for all of us to stay, arranging for rented bikes if needed, arranging sight seeing trips etc. We finally chose one out of them, who then led us to a house nearby. Inside the house there were 5 beds. We looked at him.

"But there are 8 of us"

"C'mon 5 beds are more than sufficient. U guys are all thin right", he said taking a quick look at all of us before resting his eyes on Macha.

"Ok not all of you, but atleast most of you"

Macha's ego was hurt. Not only because the truth was revealed, but also because, I, the other fatty in the group, escaped "unhurt".

 

 

We soon freshened up and went Goa exploring. Towards afternoon we reached Dona Paula and had our lunch here. I was very excited about having Goan food, so I ordered fish curry rice. I was expecting the menu to be fish + some good curry + rice. But when the food arrived it was actually fish curry (without any stupid fish in it) + plain rice + some black half burned object which the waiter claimed was fish fry. The food items ordered by others were no better. Looks like Goan people prepare food using only sugar and coconut oil. The "spicy" fish masala was actually tasting sweet.

From Dona Paula we went to MiraMar beach and had a great time there. After spending around one hour playing in the waves, we left for Mapusa, where the Goan Carnival was going on.

By the time we came out of the carnival it was past 9 pm. It was then that we came to know that in Goa there was no public bus service after 9 pm. Thus we had to catch a taxi to return back to our house.

The next day CP joined us. He couldn't join us on the first day because of  his "academic commitments".
The tour operator had arranged for a bus for us that day for sight seeing. The trip included a boating session

 
a visit to a temple (sorry forgot it's name)

 

 

a visit to Vagator beach

 

 

then to Anjuna beach

 

 

and finally to Calangute beach. This was one of the best and most frequented beaches in Goa. We all had our first para sailing experience here. There were many more exciting water sports that we wanted to take, but since we had a cruise to catch, we had to leave soon. The cruise was a laidback experience when compared to the water sports in Calangute beach, but good nevertheless.

 

On the 3rd and final day we arranged for a taxi to explore South Goa. South Goa is filled with old churches which are architectural marvels.

CP was the most enthusiastic of us to explore all the churches. He even started conversing in Hindi with the driver. Now, as far as CP is concerned, all hindi sentences should end with "jaata hei". He bought a Goa guide book, showed the driver some random picture and then instructed him  

"idhar jaata hei". 

Driver : "Acha aapko *** jaana hei kya" (don't ask me the name of the place. Ask CP or ajitav for that).

CP : "Udhar nehi jaata hei. Idhaar jaata hei"

Then he turns to Ajitav

"Abhi hum idhaar jaata hei. Lunch kaha jaata hei"

In the afternoon, we visited a place called Big Foot, a famous place in Goa. It was such a calm, cool and serene environment that greeted us. It is definitely a must visit place for anyone planning a visit in Goa.

 

Our final destination in Goa was Colva beach, the biggest beach in Goa. This is also one of the busiest beaches in Goa. Here too we had fultoo masti and fun.

 

 

This was one of the best trips I have ever had. Hoping for more such trips in the years to come.

Crisis management

Making sure a company pre placement talk goes without a hitch has been one of the greatest challenges for a DPN (Department Placement Nominee), especially if the pre placement talk is that of a company that he himself was handling (Each DPNs will be handling a handful of companies). The most critical aspect of this was to make sure that sufficient number of students were present for each PPT. The following happened during one such PPT of a particular company.

The PPT was scheduled to start around 8 pm. At around 7:50 pm the students started trickling in and by around 8:10 pm there were sufficient number of students. But then there was no sign of the company officials. The DPN (let's call him Raj) handling the company was already getting nervous.

He tried calling up on the phone of the HR. No use. No one was picking up the phone. The audience, comprising of the "disciplined" students of IIT Bombay, were trying to communicate to him how much they are loving this. Some gave him the finger. Some showed a slow motion action of how his nose was going to be punched. Some even threatened him that they will celebrate his "birthday" that day.

8:20 pm. Yet no sign. Our DPN saab sweating. Now and then he looked at the audience. They were growing restless. He started realizing that something must be done before things go out of hand. He called the other DPNs for a quick meeting.

"Kya kare yaaro", Raj asked. Raj looked at me. I looked at Rakesh. Rakesh looked at Jainendra. Jainendra looked at Raj.

"Aree kuch tho karooo, nehi tho maar khayega aaj. Aur kal muche guide ke saath meeting bhi hei. Aaj hospital mei admit hua tho kal guide ka maar bhi khaana padega", Raj started lamenting.

Just then Raj pointed at the door of the hall and started shouting, "Catch him catch him".

We all turned around. A student was leaving the room. All of us gasped at the same time

"Oh No".

We ran towards him,as if our life depended on it, and caught him in the nick of time.

"Plz don't go, plz don't go. The company guys will come any minute. Please go back and be seated", Raj pleaded.

"But I have to go, it's urgent, I..."

Even before he could complete what he was saying, Raj let loose his desperation

"Plz plzz if you want, I will buy you tea and medu-vada after the session is over, but please go back and be seated"

"But I can't hold on any longer".

"Plzz you have to. The HR will arrive any moment now".

"That's exactly why I have to go to the restroom now. I can't hold any longer".

"Ohh". For a moment Raj didn't know what to say.

"First turn to the right", Raj replied giving him a sheepish smile.

8:40 pm. Yet no HR. Raj called us again.

"I am going outside and will try calling the HR. You guys somehow keep the students inside the hall".

And before we could say something, Raj vanished, leaving us among the pack of wolves baying for our blood.

I looked at the audience and muttering all my courage I asked

"The HR will be here any moment. In the meantime why not have some entertainment. Who will come forward and entertain us with a song or a dance".

The students started whispering among themselves. I was expecting a rotten egg or a tomato to fall on my face any moment from any direction. Luckily one enthu guy volunteered for "entertaining" us.

He came up to the front, turned and faced the audience.

"How about a nice break dance everyone".

Even before anyone could respond, he started shaking his hands, then legs, then hands and legs, then his whole body. He seemed to be enjoying his own show, though the same could not be said of the audience.

Suddenly the hall went quiet. The only noise that could be heard was our enthu guy dancing. Our hero stopped dancing.

"What happened", he asked the crowd.

No one replied.

He turned around to face us. There Raj, along with 2-3 persons with business suits, were standing, with their mouths wide open. On seeing them, our Michael Jackson slowly returned to his seat.

Raj turned to the HR.
"Sir, I can assure you that you have not come to the wrong place".

Thus goes the endless list of "innovative" crisis management techniques that are adopted by the DPNs of IIT Bombay.