Khopoli trip memories..

As always, the Maitree team again took the initiative to make a difference in this world.. And consequently floated the mail of Khopoli trip. The moment the mail hit the mail boxes; there was an outstanding response of our TCSers to be a part of the noble cause. But as decided, 50 entries were considered for the same and an acknowledgement for the same was sent across.

Saturday morning .. every one assembled near the Nortel building by 6.00 AM. The organizers made sure that the people were evenly distributed in two buses and on the way all the instructions about the entire day were chalked out. I loved the theme “Mujhse dosti karoge??”. We were supposed to be the Jai’s of Sholey and the kids, Veeru’s. I was, and so were the others, already too eager to meet the kids. We all settled in the bus and headed for the Victoria school to pick up the kids. Each Veeru was given a school bag and some eatables. So, now that we had able Maitree heading the mission, there was very little scope for any ambiguity. The trip was flawlessly planned out, right from the trip timings to the individual responsibility. Each one of us chose our own Veerus and headed for the journey.
With lovely music floating in the bus, we moved out of Mumbai, our tummies full with anticipation of what was in store for us!! What do you expect when not just 1 pair of Jai-Veeru, but 50 such pairs are put inside the bus.. o yeah! The sounds of “Ye dosti hum nahi chodenge..” echoed through the roads.. It took no time to click! There were these very innocent smiles on each Veeru’s face. The ice between Jai and Veeru broke. They now knew that we all belonged together and were eager to show their talents. Believe me, we all were taken aback by each one’s talent!! They knew almost all the songs of any movie. Name a song and they knew it! Some knew to play flute beautifully. All seemed to be born dancers! Man, I was getting inferiority complex now! Each Veeru had a story to tell ... we all listened to the songs .. and made merry !! Our first stop was at a joint where we all had a nice breakfast of poha, bread sandwich and coffee. All were blissfully happy in each others company.

After that animated breakfast we resumed our journey towards the much awaited river crossing spot. After changing into the comfortable water clothes, everyone rushed near the river. Sun had risen high in the sky, and so had the spirits of Jais and Veerus! It was a short river and a rope had been laid across the entire span. Organizers helped each pair, to cross the river. The feeling that the touch of the water brought on each Veeru’s face was ecstatic! After enjoying the river crossing, kids still could not gasp enough of it. We then headed for Swimming pool. There were two sized pools, one especially for kids. 100 people in the pool, with each one’s spirits at their peaks, playing soccer and ball, singing, swimming.. oo laa laa! It was already quite some time when we realized that our stomachs had stated churning and we all needed some thing to stuff in. Reluctantly, everyone headed towards changing rooms and then proceeded for lunch. Lunch was organized in this cool open space, covered with lots of trees, a temple and a hall in the centre. After having lunch we all assembled in the hall for some masti time!!! We played passing-the-parcel, with the Veerus being more enthusiastic than we Jais. There were some singing and dancing sessions as well. After that euphoric experience, we all settled in the open place and had some snacks. It was followed by people sharing their whole day experiences and the learning’s that we got from the trip. We all had found a true friend in that one day. It was more of an experience for us. The rapturous experience thus ended by bidding the kids good-bye as they boarded the bus. It was a lifetime experience.. “Ye dosti hum nahi chodenge..”