when burying a used car....

• always insist on the insurance history of the car. ask for 'no claim bonus' availed previously
  
• take a good mechanic along with u.
• check for visible signs of dents / paint rework / rusting.
• insist on a test drive.
  
• check the approximate price of car by using the estimates used by insurance companies. either ask a company by posing as a customer else check the insurance co's website for calculating the value of the car n the premium amount
  

Industrial Tripp March 2007

23 March 2007

I leave home for college with plans to stay at Aravali Boys’ Hostel at night. Had to leave early morning at 6 next day for Havell’s, Haridwar as a part of the ‘Industrial Trip’. Left home with my backpack for my regular 658 at 8:30 which never came. Was it an ill omen, given the fact that the trip had already been postponed once earlier at the eleventh hour the previous week?? I hoped not. Reached college in 984 for CSK Singh’s class. We had a ‘rally extended’ class that day, one pre-lunch and one post lunch. The post lunch session was really tiring with the class divided into 3 quasi groups - those who were going for the trip n wanted to leave early to pack their stuff, the ones who did not have to pack bags as they were not planning to go for the trip n the third group of people like me – indifferent n undecided. Well the class got over by 4. Spent some time with the MA Psychology girls chatting with them n being a meek witness to plans of phasaoing one of my friend who had planed to stay overnight at the hostel that night like me.

Then went to the hostel with Kawal to arrange for the room. Another problem seemed to loom before me, the hostel people wanted to put me in the guest room instead of the dormitory which implied and additional expense of Rs. 75 over n above the rent of the dorm. Enter Amitji… who used his ‘links’ to arrange for the dorm. At the hostel’s visitor’s room met pragya n anu. Chatted for sometime with them, tea n snacks with them. Then we decide to go for a stroll, but we met a few friends form IIC at the hostel lawn: pushkar, ashish, priyanka, amrit, who had just returned for their jaipur trip. They shared their experiences with us n I was hoping to have more fun than them, after all I had waited so anxiously for over an year since my last industrial trip, for this day. But at the back of my mind there always loomed a fear that this time as well the trip would be called off for some reason n all my hope would go for a toss. I tried to somehow overcome the fear n concentrate on whatever I was doing.

At 7 in the evening, the very crucial India-Sri Lanka match started. We watched it for some time, was a tight situation. At around 8:30 went for dinner in the mess. The dinner was followed by a stroll down the campus – me, amit, kawal, amrit, pushkar. Shortly we were joined by arunabha, day scholars who like me planned to stay at the hostel. we walked towards the girls’ hostel (as a part of the plan to which I was a meek spectator). Though unlikely, met a 2 girls form MA Psychology but the plan did not proceed as planed as one of my friend manas, the scapegoat for the plan was yet to reach the hostel. Chatted for sometime n then proceeded to FMS lawns for the next round of chat. the walk till FMS lawn was characterized by a statement by amitji “UDSC main mehnat toh sirf maali hi karte hain”. The chat at FMS lawns was dominated by “what ” n “pardon” by kawal. Had a real good time laughing. While returning back we were joined by manas. The walk was followed by some more cricket. Then we proceeded to amit’s room. After some time one of my friends came in, boiling with anger on a mail that had been sent on the group. The entire atmosphere changed jokes to heated discussions. A reply for the mail was written. Then by 2 I went to sleep. I was happy that at least no message about the cancellation of the trip had come till now. As we had to wake by 5 n just 3 hours were left, I decide to sleep in amit’s room on a chair coz if I slept properly the probability of I getting up on time wud be low n that was something I could not afford.

24 March 2007

Woke up at 5 n got ready for the trip. reached the bus just in time 5:59 AM for the departure time of 6 AM. By 6:15 we 38 students prayed n left for our journey. Everyone was feeling sleepy till we halted at Grand Cheetal for breakfast. Had dosa n tea that was the most economical yet filling combination I cud find. Post breakfast, we had some pics n once in the bus it was time for fun. As in the previous trip the onus was on me to conduct some fun game which wud involve all the students. We decide to randomly pic up students n ask them to sign a song. Some were ready to sing while others had to be pestered hard. I took the responsibility to ensure that everyone was made to sing. Most of the students this time round preferred serious n slow songs as compared to last year’s trip which had a mix of all kinds of songs. Some of the slow song became bit difficult to digest as their length kept on increasing. It was a good feeling, people knew that they did not have a great voice but still they participated n enjoyed. I sang the song ‘aye kaasha ke hum hosh main ab’ from the movie kabhi haan kabhi naa. That was followed by a round of ‘farmaishi karyakram’ or just request. We were also entertained by the songs played by the bus drive viz – ia m thirsty give me water & ek aankh maroon toh ladka pat jaye or something like that

At around 1 we reached Havell’s, Haridwar. The best part of it was that we were to call gaurav as ‘gaurav sir’ our faculty coordinator n OB teacher. We were shown the CFL n Fan plants. It was a well organized by the company officials as they meticulously showed us all the processes involved. One of the over-enthusiastic officials kept on asking questions n kept us at our toes. The visit was followed by a sumptuous meal at Havell’s followed by a Q&A session. By 4 we left the plant n started our journey towards mussorie.

The journey towards mussourie was spent part sleeping, part leg pulling (my favourite target being Neha Sharma for her threatening / witty replies n the issue of red n yellow card to me when I cracked some joke on her) n part playing dumb charades. Jr. KP (Kamalpreet) was really good at it n I was supposed to b among the good form my team. Jr KP’s trump card Dr. Kotnis ki amar kahani, was guessed right away by me n that left people admiring my dumb charade playing skills, something very strange for my juniors who though I was a very serious n studious type of person. My batch mates had seen or at least heard about this fun loving side of mine coz of last year’s trip. As we were about to reach mussorie, people started feeling mountain sickness. Gaurav, divya raheja, sachin, aruanabha anu were badly affected, amit n sachin had started feeling uneasy. For me it was the usual blocked ears. We reached Gandhi chowk in mussorie at about 9. form there on we had to walk for some 20 min with our luggage to reach our hotel- hotel green castle. Dinner was served by 10. we had our dinner which was followed by a walk. On returning we n some friends decided to retire to our beds. Some others had planned for a short drinking binge and conversation. i shared room with manas n abhishek. we watched cricket match aus v/s SA for sometime n then I slept by 1 o clock.

25 March 2007

Woke up at 8:30 for breakfast at 9:30. the fantastic 4 (anshu, neha, shruti n shveta.) n some other students had already gone for a ‘genuine’ morning walk. I also had offered my consent to accompany them on the morning walk but all their efforts to wake me up in the morning went in vane. we all were free to go on our own for site seeing that day. I n amit went for a walk down the mall road had to buy some memorabilia for my sister unlike last time when I had returned empty handed. Did some window shopping n zeroed on a stole as a present to my sister. Also brought some aam papad n imli ke laddu for my sister. Some of us decided to go on the other side of mall road for exploring it we had heard about a skating ring n I was determined to go there as a part of ‘adventure sports during the trip’. amit purchase sun shade form a shop for 45 bucks. They looked good on him. Half way towards the mall road we received a call that some students had decided to hire taxi n go for site seeing. Me, amit n some other deiced to opt for it as it was our first trip to mussuorie. Rest decided to continue the exploration. After some time we were joined by the explorers as well as there was nothing much in mall road worth our attention.

Our next stop was kepmty taxi stand. There the group of approx 25 students got divided into 2 groups – one for kempty falls n the other for dhanaulti n sarkanda devi temple. I being conservative n economical opted for kempty fall (Rs. 102 / head) moreover kempty was a more traditional site for mussorie n I cud discuss about it back home as my sister had been here earlier. But I must confess that the other trip seemed to be more exciting with 1.5 hours of drive n 1 hour of arduous trek another catch was that they wud reach back late in the evening, all tired for the dj n campfire .11 of us left for kempty. I was to sit in a van with 4 other girls. As usual the girls kept on chattering throughout the drive n the boys in the other van were buzy sharing jokes. We reached kempty falls by 2.30 n were supposed to be back at the taxi by 4. we took a ropeway to the waterfalls. It was the first time I sat in a ropeway. At the falls it was mostly photo session in different poses n at different places. On n off we wud enjoy seeing couples getting pics clicked. The photo session was followed by a round of maggi for lunch. Also a vedio made by sharad on hi n72 was a hit with KP’s whats n pardons.

By 4 we left kempty n reached mall road by 5.30. we had some snacks n started a walk back to the hotel. On the way I bought a stole for my sister, under the expert guidance of the girlz accompanying us. The stole for 75 bucks seemed to be a good bargain. When we reached the hotel some of us continued our walk while others retired to rest n recharge themselves for the dj which was to start at 7. I was among those who decided to keep walking. I purchased a small wooden jewellery box for my cousin. We reached back the hotel by 6.30. sadly manas had not left the room keys at the reception so had to spend some time with anu, divya n jaya. By 7.15 we went down excitedly for the dj with whatever strength (physical n number wise) was present. To our horror we found that the dj had just 1 cd with him n most of the time he left the console with entire song to be played. We decided not to spend much time at the djn wait for our friends for dinner n the subsequent bonfire. As per our estimates the sarkanda devi temple group cud not have reached the hotel back before 9 but to our surprise, they made it by 8.15. they rested for some time n came down for the dj. We dropped the bombshell on them about the no. of cds he had n the length of the songs n we all bursted out into laughter.

We all had a sumptuous dinner n gathered in the place en-marked for the bonfire. The fire was lit n we sat in a circle around it. Ashish had planed for a game of tambola. We decide in favour of first having few rounds of dumb charades n songs before moving on to tambola. In dumb charades made a mistake in gave the same movie ‘Dr. Kotnis ki amar kahani’ to neha sharma, it slipped out of my mind that Jr KP was in neha’s team. The disgusted expression on neha’s face n the action of doctor were sufficient for him to guess the movie. I was made to enact the movie provoked which sharad somehow managed to guess. Dumb charades was followed by song session. Meanwhile some students had left to play ‘dark room’ in which u have to identify the people in the dark by feeling their hair, clothes n other accessories. some others had decided in favour of a walk down the mall road n we cud hear their hearty laughs. In the song session I again took some initiative in coordinating n ensuring that all were made to sing. Cannot recollect which song I sang but for sure it was a slow number. The songs were followed by a game of tambola. We cud not reach on a consensus about the price of each ticket & accordingly the prize money. Meanwhile a small skirmish broke between gaurav n Jr. KP on a matter which seemed trivial to many of us, but hey must have had their reasons for the arguments. Then we carried on with the game of tambola which went on peacefully. Manas was drawing the numbers. dont remember now who the final winner was but sdaurabh pant had missed out on a number so was late to claim the full house. After the tambola we had a few rounds of desultory talk. Then some of us retired for sleep while some continued with the talks n some went to keep their spirits high. By now it was close to 2 in the morning. I retired to bed. We were asked to be ready to vacate our rooms by 11 in the morning.

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26 March 2007

It was the last day of the trip. The sad feeling of ‘end of enjoyment’ had started to sink in by the time I woke up at 8.30, freshened up n got ready breakfast. Meanwhile one of my friends had puked in our bathroom due to high spirits. Went for breakfast by 10. at the table was invited by the fantastic 4 to join them. Had some casual rounds of leg pulling at breakfast n reviewed their game of ‘dark room’ trying to understand the nuances of the game form them. Neha n anshu was elaborating on shveta’s performance in the game, how she was trying to doge the seeker by pretending as ‘chipi‘ (shilpi) n how hopeless players sachin n arpit were.they also elaborated on their other exploits about pulling others legs. Breakfast was followed by another round of pics in the balcony n packing our bags for our journey towards sahesra dhara n haridwar as it was the holy period of navratra and the students felt that a religious pit stop toh banta hai’. Befor leaving, I ensued to get a pic clicked with my famous backpack,fully loaded. We got the food packed for lunch. We could leave only by 12, a full 1 hour late form schedule.

Some of us took a rickshaw till Gandhi chowk while other walked down to the place. Then began the hunt for the bus. We did not know exactly where the bus was parked n kept on walking, trying to with others on cell phones. Somehow we all made it to the buses.

We started our journey but had to stop after some time coz of deteriorating condition of some of the students due to mountain sickness. Amitji was not spared this time. There were some other victims as well. We had to take a break for sometime. This also made us to delete sahasra dhara from the itinerary so the next stop was har ki pauri at haridwar. We resumed our journey. I settled in for a game of bluff with the terrific 3 -himani, richa, divya; shilpi, menu n arpit. Came 4^th in the game. Arpit n himani started with tutoring the uninitiated about how to play 3-2-5 & tote but I cud not control the temptation to join dumb charades being played at the back. We reached haridwar by 4.30 had our lunch in the bus n went for the holy dip in the river ganga. I decided not to take a dip n decide to hold the belongings of those who had gone for the dip. Some took proper dip in the river while some others went just knee deep in the water. We got back to the bus n resumed the journey by 6.30.

In the bus we had another round of dumb charades. Contributions by the ‘sleeping partners’ arunabha n divya raheja was just awesome – don knw how they both managed to guess such difficult movies like astitva while paying just half the attention. Memorable among the movies was ‘ghatothkuch’ given by manas, who expected me to do the obvious actions. but I had a plan, I first enacted ghat (less) n then tried to portray bheem from mahabahratha, ghatothkuch’s father. Jr KP came to my rescue n guessed bheem n subsequently ghatothkuch. This was followed by dumb charades for movie songs. Meanwhile the students in the front of the bus had started singing songs at a sufficiently high volume. By the time we finished song dumb charades, we also started with songs, singing all songs from the movies n some even sequentially (thanks to manas). It all started to sound like a mess with the students in the front n back singing different song at the top of their voices. I felt bad that was not he way things shud have moved. Worse I cud not even see any apparent reason for such an act. But cud not do much about it. Songs were followed by dance performances by the boys on ‘chavanna’ songs. That was a great fun. Most of us did dance, remarkable among the performances being that of abhishek, arunabha, sharad n manas. I scrapped through with my usual limited repository of PT like dance steps without much objection. Just before reaching the eating joint Reliance A1, the fantastic 4 invited me for chat n complainth at ‘maza nahin aa raha’ which culminated in spontaneous dance performance by me n neha on the Punjabi song ‘dil chori sadda ho gaya‘ by Hans raj hans. by the time the next performance was due, we had reached A1 in muzzaffarnagar. We had our dinner there at around 9.30 . I had stufferd parantha for dinner.

Post dinner, continuing from where me n neha had left, it was time for couple performances. I had thought in my mind of involving all the students in the game so I again took the initiative to coordinate the game. My throat had started to give up by now but still I continued. I started on with the students at eh back who wud surely have performed. Shveta thought that I was not bale to involve all the students & kept on requesting me to try n involve all the students. I told her that I had the same intention n once the game started rolling all wud automatically get involved. My strategy worked. We had many fun filled performance. Some of the couple which I remember r – arunabha n neha (kajra mohabbat wala - for neha had applied kajra that evening) , gaurav n nidhi, anu n amit, sachin n nitasha, saurab n vartika, kawal n himani, richa n manas, sharad n shveta, nitin n jaya, nitin n archana, Nishal n divya bhasin, Nishal n shruti, Jr KP n shilpi, Abhishek n menu. Don’t remember the songs I danced on. Anshu appreciated the way I conducted the event, especially my acting skill when I was to invite couples as I was largely picking couples as suggested by the students but I never let anyone knw who suggested their name as called out the name much after I received the suggestions. Also motivating people like shilpy menu, archana, nitin sharad took a lot of time n effort. with the end of the couple dance round, we all went to rest, counting the moments back to campus as the trip was near its end. Reached campus at around 1.30 after dropping himain n neha at vikas marg. We all appreciated the organizers for the way the trip was organized n started to walk back to campus as I had decide to stay back at hostel for nidhi had to cancel the plans of going back home.

Overall it was a great trip, enjoyed a lot, though missed adventure sport n cud not find may occasions to pull people’s legs especially neha sharma – missed her red yellow n green warning cards [;)]