College Trip

First Year — Haridwar & Rishikesh

1. The Trip Plan

A few days after our first terminal exams in the first year, I was sitting in the library one day when my batchmate Arpit asked me,

Arpit: “Would you like to go on a trip?”

I looked at him and asked, “Where are we planning to go?”

Arpit: “Haridwar and Rishikesh. It's a two-day plan.”

I asked again, “So, who's going?”

Arpit: “There are only four or five of us for now.”

Looking at Arpit, I asked, “Then who are these people?”

Arpit: “I'll tell you in a little while. Let everything get finalised first.”

After saying this, Arpit returned to the same table where the others were talking to one another. I sat quietly at my table, watching them.

Arpit and I shared the same room, so I expected that we would discuss everything properly after college. That was why I watched them for a while before turning back to my mobile and opening a video game.

2. Discussion in the PG Room

In the evening, when Arpit returned to our room, I asked him,

Me: “So, what have you decided? And who's going?”

Arpit: “Shikha, Swati, and Vandana are going. They had decided to go on a trip. After that, they asked me, and I asked Rohan. He agreed. Then he asked Pankaj, and he agreed too. So, altogether, there are now nine of us—six boys and three girls. We'll travel from Meerut to Haridwar by train, and then go from Haridwar to Rishikesh the next day.”

I said, “But I don't have the budget for this. And as far as I know, neither do you. So, what now?”

Arpit said, “Don't worry about that. Shikha and Swati both have money. They'll pay for now, and later we'll calculate the expenses and pay them back.”

I said, “Okay, but when are we leaving?”

Arpit explained that Saturday was a half-day at college. So, we would take Saturday off, spend Saturday and Sunday travelling, and return to Meerut on Sunday night.

Haridwar is approximately 150 kilometres from Meerut. The hilly region begins a few kilometres before reaching Haridwar. People who enjoy seeing mountains, rafting, visiting waterfalls, and trekking often visit Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Haridwar is also known as the holy city of God. Every year, millions of people visit during the Kanwar Yatra to collect Gangajal from the Ganges. It is also commonly believed that the water of the Ganges can remain free from bacterial growth for a long time.

3. The Journey Begins

Finally, the day arrived.

Seven of us boarded the train in the coach for which we had tickets. The other two boys were supposed to board at the next station because they had left Meerut the previous day for some work. However, their tickets were also with us.

At the next station, they boarded the train and changed coaches to join us.

Later, Sonu and Deepak told us what had happened to them.

Sonu: “The coach we were in earlier was reserved for passengers with reservations, and we didn't even have tickets for it.”

Shikha: “Then what did you guys do?”

Sonu: “Nothing happened for a while, so we kept sitting there. Then we saw the TT coming towards us, checking everyone's tickets. As soon as we saw him, both of us got up from our seats and rushed into the same washroom.”

Swati: “Then what happened?”

Sonu: “The TT came and kept banging on the door for a while before leaving. Then, when the train stopped at the next station, we came out, hiding our faces. If we had been caught, we would have been fined or might even have ended up in jail for two or three days!”

Hearing their story was quite an experience at the beginning of our trip.

Until we reached Haridwar, we kept playing Antakshari or passing comments on things we saw along the way.

At one point, Sumit said,

Sumit: “Bro, what happened? The wind is blowing, the wind!”

I asked, “What do you mean, the wind has started blowing?”

Sumit: “Bro, even I don't know what it means. The wind is just blowing!”

After saying this, he made a strange noise and started laughing at his own joke.

He often did things like this.

4. Haridwar Railway Station

We reached Haridwar at around 12:30 PM. As soon as we arrived, we headed out to find something to eat.

Sumit told us that he had a friend who lived in Haridwar. Actually, Sumit was from Saharanpur district, which is near Haridwar.

He also told us that he had called his friend the previous night to inform him that we were coming.

Sumit: “Let me call him once.”

We were passing through the crowded streets of Haridwar, with markets on both sides. Just then, Sumit's friend Ajay arrived to meet us.

Ajay began guiding us and asked what kind of food we wanted to eat.

Everyone agreed on the usual North Indian food that we often have for lunch.

Ajay took us from there to a wide, open street where there was a good-looking restaurant.

We all had lunch. After finishing our meal, we decided to head out for sightseeing.

Ajay suggested several places we could visit. Finally, everyone agreed on going to Mansa Devi Temple.

5. Mansa Devi Temple — Our First Trek

Mansa Devi Temple is situated on top of a small hill. A path has been created to reach the temple by cutting through the hillside.

We all decided to walk up to the temple.

And so, our first trek began.

It was February. The sun was shining, but there was hardly any heat in the hilly area. The weather was pleasant for walking uphill.

We all walked our way up and finally reached the temple. After offering our prayers inside, we came outside and started taking photographs.

The view from there was quite beautiful. We could see almost the entire city of Haridwar from above.

After staying there for a while and enjoying the view, we made our way back down.

Then, as we walked through the streets of Haridwar, we visited various small shops along the roadside.

Shikha bought a round cap for herself, while Arpit bought a cap in a different style.

As we continued exploring, evening arrived.

We made plans for dinner, and after eating, we started thinking about where we would stay for the night.

6. Looking for a Place to Stay

Pankaj told us that he knew some people who could help us find a place to stay. It was a little outside Haridwar and would be relatively cheaper.

Pankaj called them to ask for directions and confirm whether accommodation was available.

Ajay said goodbye to all of us and left for his home. He told us that he would meet us in Rishikesh the next day.

Now, all nine of us hired a rickshaw and began heading towards the location Pankaj had given us.

While explaining the route to the rickshaw driver, Pankaj said,

Pankaj: “When you see the banyan tree, stop the rickshaw. The road to the ashram is right next to it.”

It was already night. There were no streetlights on the road outside Haridwar. So, all of us kept looking towards our right, waiting for the banyan tree to appear.

We travelled a few more kilometres, but there was still no sign of the tree.

Finally, we asked Pankaj,

Us: “When is your banyan tree going to appear?”

Pankaj: “It should have been here by now. Let me call them again and ask.”

Pankaj called again and explained that we hadn't seen any tree along the roadside yet, even though we had already travelled quite far.

His acquaintance said that he would check with the owner of the ashram and get back to him.

For the next five minutes, the rickshaw remained parked by the roadside. Then, Pankaj received a call.

He was told that the banyan tree had been cut down. Only a small portion of it remained above the ground, about two and a half to three feet tall.

The Banyan Tree

Hearing this, the rickshaw driver became a little annoyed. He probably wondered what kind of situation he had gotten himself into!

However, without saying much, he made a U-turn and started driving back towards Haridwar, this time a little more slowly.

Now, everyone's eyes were on their left side. The flashlights on our mobile phones were switched on, and we were all looking slightly downwards.

We were searching for the small remaining portion of the tree that had been such an important landmark for us.

Fortunately, we found it on our way back.

And we all breathed a sigh of relief!

The ashram was approximately 400 metres away from there. However, because its lights were not facing the road, it was almost invisible from the roadside.

7. The First Night at the Ashram

Finally, we reached the ashram.

As soon as we arrived, a race began among some of the boys to get to the washroom first.

“Me first! Me first!”

And yes, I was part of that race too. 😅

After a while, everyone had changed their clothes and was lying on their beds when the ashram staff brought us a glass of milk each, along with biscuits, savoury snacks, and other things.

Pankaj explained,

Pankaj: “I had already informed them about dinner for all of us, but they still sent these things for us.”

We had taken three rooms at the ashram. One room was for the girls, and the other two were for the boys.

That way, there were three people in each room.

No discrimination!

8. Truth or Dare

For a while, I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Then, I heard the sound of girls laughing coming from the other boys' room.

The three of us got up and went there. When we arrived, we saw everyone sitting in a circle on the beds, laughing about something.

After we joined them, we decided to play Truth or Dare.

Truth or Dare is a game in which the truth is never actually told, and whenever someone is given a dare, the task gets changed.

At least, that was what I gathered from the two hours I spent watching everyone play.

Anyway, the game continued, and everyone was enjoying themselves in their own way.

I thought something might happen between a boy and a girl—something romantic, perhaps. But then I realised that such things either happen in movies, or people simply don't reveal their intentions openly.

For the time being, I didn't see anything like that during those two hours.

And that was how the first day of our college trip came to an end—with fun on the train, sightseeing in Haridwar, our first trek, the search for the banyan tree, and a night spent with friends at the ashram.