A memoir or two : On Mission Australia

The entire team at the Dinner awards Ceremony


Here i am at the extreme right on my way to collect my wine bottle
with Universitas Indonesia team at the background.

THE SAGA OF AUSTRALIA REVISITED

THE AUSSIE WAGONWHEEL

Hi guys. I am back and back after a sojourn to the land of golden fleece and kangaroos, "Australia". will tell more about it in latter posts. meanwhile, u can enjoy some of the photos of myself and my team at the Murdoch University, Perth.


Ayush, Babu, Vedant and Navneet discussing a point or two

against the IIU team from Malaysia

Me and Ayush pondering on the outcome of events

During the Inaugural ceremony

Vedant and Jeevan against UTS, Sydney in the general rounds

The Moments - Madurai Saga recaptured
We had just entered into Vijaywada while returning back.

Here i am comparing in the programme


In this photo, me and Ayush seen in a lighter vein.

The Madurai Adventure??????????

The Holy Meenakshi Temple at Madurai

Hi friendz!!!!!!!!!!! I am back and with a bang. Bang, because of the fact that in the last few months i had been on an Impromptou tour of India, for various reasons. On one such tour , I was supposed to go to Madurai. The same Madurai town, which i knew is famous for the Meenakshi Temple. Apart from that i had no other singular idea of why Madurai is famous for. This , I would learn, when I arrived in Madurai

The Saga Unfolds

First and foremost, the reason for my traveling to Madurai? The reason goes that I work for an NGO called TREES, which is based in Madurai. It works for the protection of environment while promoting the concept of sustainable development, i.e. economic development and ecological protection should go hand in hand. This NGO was founded by our affable teacher Professor. S. Shanthakumar, who had entrusted me the duty of organizing this Seminar as during that time he was going away to Cardiff, Wales on an Exchange Programme. This Seminar which was to be first held in the last week of February was postponed to 25th and 26th March,2006, because of some logistical problems. The organizer of this programme was an Engineering college in Madurai, called Pandian Saraswathi Yadava Engineering College (phew!!!! such a long name). It was situated some 29kms. away from the city. My role in the two-day paper presentation-cum seminar was to compare the programme and co-ordinate with the college to smoothly host the programme. The sessions for the Seminar were drawn up into six sessions, each session concentrating on a specialized aspect and pollution being caused to the Environment.

With all these information in mind, I along with three of my colleagues, Ayush Ganediwala, Sourav Keshri and Dyutimoy Mukherjee started on our sojourn to Madurai on the night of 21st March. We had to travel to Nagpur by train and then the next morning we had to catch out train to Madurai, which would take approximately 36 hours to reach Madurai. With excitement and fervour, I embarked on this journey, as it was my first foray into Tamil Nadu. We boarded the bus which was to take us to Nagpur at 11’o clock in the night and we were to reach there the next morning at 6 a:m. I had a sound sleep in the bus with a cool breeze fluttering, and had no idea of when we reached Nagpur. It was Ayush who woke us up near the Railway Station. We got down at the Railway Station and then straight away proceeded to the 2nd Class Waiting Room at the station. I always dreaded the waiting rooms at Railway Stations in India, because of the filthy atmosphere and the unhygienic conditions prevailing there. But as had no other alternative to sit and wait for our train which was to come at 10 a:m., so we had to make our way to the Waiting Room. Once inside it I found the stench emanating was horrendously horrible and till now only god knows how I survived those four hours in the waiting room. I quickly freshened up in the toilet of the waiting room, which the least to say was probably the ultimate pinnacle of my resistance against fainting. As the gong started ticking, I started anxiously waiting for the train. I was damn happy when the train arrived at 9:45 a:m, and I bade adieu to Nagpur and started towards the land of temples, “Madurai”.

The Journey Down Under!!!!!

At the onset I must confess that having heard a great many horror stories about long train journeys, I was a bit apprehensive about how I was going to travel for 36 long hours to Madurai. I didn’t have to wait long to get my answer. The Summers which had just begun seemed horrible, the heat was unbearable to say the least and I haven’t forgotten the gallons of Cold Drinks and other stuff I had to quench my thirst, but it was all in vain. We were perspiring like anything and were wondering about how we would survive this onslaught. We just kept on praying to the Lord Almighty to help us stay alive. Station after station went. We crossed Maharashtra, entered Andhra Pradesh, and for more than 20 hours galloped in the hinterlands of Telengana and Rayalseema and what not to get into Tamil Nadu. The food to say the least was very terrible, and I had a hard time. I was completely exhausted by the time we reached Madurai at 6 p:m . We were finally happy to come to the city, which we expected us to welcome us with open arms.

My tale of morbid survival

We were supposed to be received by S.Chellapandian, the Director of TREES, who had been a student of Shantha Sir at Government Law College, Madurai. After we telephoned him he came to pick us up from the Station. He said us that we were being put up in a Youth Hostel. We were disappointed at that as we thought we might be put up in some Hotel. But I quickly reconciled with myself and we made our way to the Hostel. The hostel it turned out was a dorm with four big halls, and each hall had eight beds. The hostel was nearly empty. By this time our condition was nearly bad, and all of us rushed to that much needed bath, after which we felt very refreshed and lively.I had a gut feeling that the coming days would be tough and I wasn’t wrong. First the mosquitoes literally bulldozed us in the night and the hot and sultry climate made our night miserable and I dint have an ounce of sleep in the night. The following morning was literally off for me and I had nothing to do except to sleep. Pandian Sir and Ayush were now handling all the work while Dyutimoy and Sourav were preparing for their paper presentation. We couldn’t have much food either because of the heat and to compensate that we drank a lot of Sugarcane Juice. At around 10 p:m in the night Ayush and Pandian Anna returned after a hard day of work and then Anna set me some work, which I quickly finished. He asked all of us to get ready early the next morning and to catch the College bus which would to the nearby Bus Stand at 8’o clock in the morning.

The Mosquitoes again tormented us and the heat made our sleep unbearable. I was much pleased by the time it was morning, as I quickly got up and dressed up elaborately for the function, taking great care to groom myself properly for the occasion. The four of us caught the bus at the designated hour and began our ride to the college. We saw all bewildered faces staring us in the bus and we could never know the reason for this. Soon we made our way to the College, which we found was situated in a very rural area. The land was totally bald and devoid of any plantation and the heat was unbearable by now. We quickly had a breakfast of idli and Chutney which we greatly relished as all of us were greatly hungry the Seminar was about to begin, and I quickly reached the Auditorium and started preparing myself for the Seminar. I had prepared well, and expected no flip-flop from my side. The two-day Seminar began with the traditional lighting of lamp and so on. Lots of speeches were delivered. But as the majority were in Tamil, I couldn’t make any head or tail out of them. Soon the paper presentations started and I got busy with my work. I must appreciate the fact that all the teams had come well prepared and put up a very spectacular show. Even Dyutimoy and Sourav put up a splendid show and it was no surprise when it was announced that they had won the second prize. We all were mighty pleased and were happy. At the end of the Seminar, we bade adieu to the College and wanted to quickly get back to college, as our exams were approaching fast. But our return journey was more dreadful and by the time we reached back Raipur, we were all mighty tired and didn’t have enough stamina left, but I knew that I had to be on my toes as the exams were approaching fast.

A Walk down the memory lane...

It's me in the middle, along with my close buddies
The Nirvana to self-realization...

As I saw some of my school days photos which my best buddy Jaselin had sent, I felt a sea of emotions surging on me. It seemed that the time had somehow stopped and i pondered down into the by-lanes of my past. Its true that the best part of your life are when you are in the school. I was fortunate enough to study in one of the best brand names in schooling, the Institution of DPS(Delhi Public School). First, it was during my primary school level in the DPS situated in Damanjodi, a sleepy Industrial town in Koraput district of Orissa. Next it was during my high school level in the DPS in Angul, a town which has become the "Shanghai of India", since the 1980's because of its Industrial progress and development. It was here that I completed my 10th and 12th from the DPS which had been mainly set up to cater the needs of NALCO, the PSU( Public Sector Undertaking) in which my father worked. it was here that i spent more than 8 years of my schooling life and it was indeed one of the most defining phases of my life. Great friends, foes, times, trials and tribulations. I saw them all and each one is sketched in my memory so clearly, as though they took place only a few days back. looking back at those days would definitely be an eventful tryst with destiny for me, and one which I can never forget.

It's me...

Hey friendz, dont be surprised by that. That's obviously me. I must confess that my friend Sandy, who took the photo from Anumeh's mobile camera is a great photographer, and can sometimes catch you off-guards by his mischievous pranks. Today, it so happened that Sandy Baba inadvertently put this beautiful photo of mine in all the Desktops of the Computers in the IT Lab and everyone who had a look at it had a sarcastic laugh. I was crimson red and seething in anger and would have probably blasted the staff of IT Lab, had it not been for the friendly intervention of Shanthakumar Sir and my buddy Rajveer. But Sandy later owned up for his mistake and both of us had a hearty laugh over the issue and as the curtains fall down on yet another engrossing and hectic day, my only concern now is to slog it out a bit more in the Gym and than go off to a hearty sleep in the night.

The Razmattaz begins...

Myself Anirudha Choudhury initiating incredible itinerary. First of all, I wanna wish Happy New Year to all and wish that you all have a rocking time. This is my first alarming post rendering a warm wishes for the following year. The sole intention of this particular post is to make you aware that your Anirudha has joined cosmo-bloggers. Therefore, plz plz plz give a huge applause for a dappering VIP personality of tommorow.