Xpect tHe unXpected: Together always....

“Why you didn’t apply for course? It’s good for you. You must do this time”

It all started with the late call of the officer. I rushed home to collect my certificates. They waited for me to finish the application procedure. I wrote the article at a great speed and rushed to finish the process at late evening. From there the journey started. A dream journey, I must say.

On Aug 18th afternoon i walked into the hotel Trident alone. At the lobby I met Sheikh Nawas, the baby of the family for the first time, immediately after he met with an accident outside the hotel !!!. Later every one joined one by one. Ashu came with her family. As usual for the classes, Kriti entered late!

The real journey begins now.

We walked into the classes again, most of us after long years interval. Learned the Sea, the fleet and ships. Familiarized with the word Sonar (which made us laugh a lot). Designations like Commodore, rear admiral, captain, etc very soon replaced our News Editor, Executive Editor, desk chief,...

Andrew slept unending when the lectures prolonged for hours. Ashu followed Andrew and won the rank of Lady Andrew J and me indulged in the exercise of sketching others.

We Enjoyed the day at Fort Kochi and Mattanchery (for the first time i visited Jew Street and Synagogue !!!) Kartikey and Nawas clicked the photos of all the old gates on the way to Mattanchery. We ate the local food and swim in the pools at evening. Liyaqat you are a good swimming coach. We shouted as loud as we can to disturb the guests at Hotel Trident. Shared fun with the hotel staffs and roamed late nights through the roads of Willington Islands. Fought over the burning J&K. Chotta bhim Firdous entertained us a lot.

We didn’t dance in the Cochin party, but we danced during our off shore exercise. The ship made us to dance with the waves of calm Arabian Sea ;) And Lata discovered a new method to fish without using a net :)

We used sonar to trace our fish Lilly !!! (Oh...my Lilly ...where are you now...? in territorial water or in the international water !!!)

We left Kochi with a smile but landed at Ludhiana bit desperate. Meanwhile I had to walk along the corridor of the Indigo just to escape from my neighbour. Mr. Anand Mani Thripadi (tripotti) your crazy camera clicks made me walk through the narrow corridor and to steal the space of Ranjana and Nilima :)

Had a tough and tiring journey to Ludhiana from Delhi. The small van filled with music and unending shouting of Ashu and Sayantu. Ashu, i repeat, you must fit a silencer as early as possible ;) you people made Ludhiyana and other cities more sound polluted ;)

Even after reaching Ludhiana we didn’t forgot my city. But our shouting and enjoyment were got a bit controlled. We still managed to enjoy at pools. Deepjoy, you are a good swimmer.

We experienced the power of sky warriors and their accuracy. Fuck, All are damn good in trigonometry!!!

We went to see our border with our old brother Pakistan. We shouted there with Vande Mataram and Jai Hind,and some times Inquilab zindabad too. We saw our own armed Jawan standing with vigil while a Pakistani counterpart were watching us. Witnessed the historic flag down ceremony at Hussainiwala border of Punjab. Clicked photos with our BSF Jawans.

(Swati and Sandip Dige still I love Pakistan :D lol)

At night we roamed nearby streets and shopping mall. Had Golegappa with Ashu, but missed the Punjabi Dabha. Did shopping at Gumar Mandi market and had ice cream at far away Mc Donalds with Aarti. Stood against heavy wind and got drenched in rain. We made our days remarkable.

Later enjoyed the trip back to Delhi and explored the Connaught Place. Slept late and woke up so early to make sure we are going to join the last leg of the course with the mighty disciplined people ;)

We wished to see Kanchenjonga from the flight, but naughty clouds denied the chance. (on return Kartikey and me made iti, and some more later ). At Siliguri, we landed into the hands of the so called toughest team. But we were shocked with the reception. Travelled in their bus. We shacked hands with the officers, that time we didn’t knew the warmth of that shake hands will remain with us till date.

For the first time in DCC Liyaqat saw his name written without any mistake. At Siliguri we again tasted our childhood favourite chocolate Coffy Bite again (even though the officers finished the bowl of chocolate to keep away from sleeps during the lectures, we some how managed to get some !!!).

At evenings we rushed to Honkong Market, tasted momos, travelled in rickshaws and shared autos. Early mornings we cursed the army schedules but enjoyed the sleep. Here we learned how to finish our tea in just 5 minutes. We discovered many sharp shooters and vigilant men among us. Danced like anything in the Bar(a)khana.

Enjoyed the beauty of Darling Darjeeling. Kartikey and Nawas, we danced even in the small space of the Tata Sumo. Enjoyed all our foolish steps on the dance floors and whistled at the end. We walked across the Bridge and jumped over the stone walls. We conquered the rocks and tried our strength at artificial walls. We breathe the pure cool air, walked into the temple and prayed (rather clicked photos!!!). Tried the traditional food of north east, Thukpa, not that much tasty, but enjoyed. (Sioumi, you are yet to treat me with the tasty Thukpma which you offered me).

Later we walked into our dream, the mount Himalaya. We faced our first obstacle on the way. The much expected landslide stopped us. We pushed the car which stood in the middle of the heights. We drenched and looked for heaters to warm our body. None the jackets could rescue us there at Nathu La pass. We paid our tributes to the great warriors. We struggled to breath at the height of above 14000 ft. But we enjoyed. Shacked hands with the mighty Chinese soldier. He smiled to our questions, but didn’t respond. Saw many Chinese trucks coming out of the border gate and heading to the nearby market.

We saw Tsonga lake with all its beauty. On our return one of our vehicle saved us from a landslide. While we waited for the JCB to clear the way, we heard many fearing sounds of landslides at our back. Later we laughed with a sigh that “We would have ’passed ‘ or ‘passed away’ if the vehicle was perfect”...

We enjoyed our stay at the transit camp and began to hate our medical camps. Some of us were compelled to stay back due to their blood pressure shoot up to 160 and 170s. We missed few during our forward journey. But we travelled through the tough and marvelous terrains of the Great Himalaya. We realized the value of Oxygen at a height of 18000 ft. Saw the snowy mountains, Gurudongmar lake –which never get frozen even at minus degree temperature. Traveled through the toughest roads (?) in the world. Some of us took the help of oxygen cylinders to breath. Yeah...our Blood Pressure raised, but that couldn’t take away our Bloody Pleasure. We even saw the Dare Devil’s coffee shop, probably the one at the peak of the world.

We enjoyed the late night parties, we shacked our hips to the tunes, demanded for more. Hit our bed late night and ran to vehicles on every next dawn. We rushed to dance floor tire-less even after a 12 hr long tiring journey.

We faced obstacles from land slide to sickness, But we didn’t give up. Enjoyed and lived each moment. Many are flashing before my eyes now. Swati , the way you pose for the photo, the instant smiles of Aarti and Aparna on seeing the camera, Ashu, the way you stand and walk, the walking style of Rajib and Dr. Rahul, Vasundara you really imitated Sioumi well at the hotel. Kriti you made the word ‘Exactly’ more funny. Ajeet’s “ thu mere bhai...” (listen, im not drunken ;) ) Thripadi’s diary and craziness for photographs...Prasant’s funny steps, Sanjeevee’s lungi dance.... yeah... a lot are sparkling.... (Oh... I miss mocking you people...)

But the most touching one happened at the last moment. Yeah.. the most beautiful one will be kept for the final moment . After 2 weeks long conflicts and ego clash my cute little sister ‘Chotti mottu’ Nilima and Lata made it possible for me. They forgive each other and hugged me together. The most memorable moment of the whole course, I would say.

Dears... We walked in almost alone, but left as a family.