Explorers Fellowship 2017 was one of the best experience so far. After completion of Bachelors, no one can think of a better treat from the college’ side. It left us with lot of memories, cherishing moments and tears. The trip was more special for senior undergraduates because it may be the last time we are spending so much time together. We travelled more than 10 states, 1 union territory, interacted with tons of peoples, knew some valuable possessions all over the India and collected a lot of apprizing memories and experience.
Earlier we were three pals but later one of us backed out due to some eye surgery and hence we have to modify out plans a bit. We started off our journey from Northern east and planned to finish it in Mumbai covering north-eastern and southern India. We stared off from blistering hot Jaipur, experienced the royal legacy of kings and royal Rajasthani families. Next we moved to Delhi to experience the blend of great culture, monuments and love of Delhites. Later we moved to Amritsar to cherish the beauty of Golden temple; pay our tribute to martyrs of Jaliyanwala Bagh and visit the Wagah border. We then moved the northern part of India to experience the god’s own garden and life on the hills. It really felt erstwhile in Shillong and other parts of Meghalaya that we are on a totally different place. The roads, people, food, culture and lifestyle are truly mesmerising in north east India. Next we moved to southern India where our maxim is to understand how our south Indian states and similar and different from each other. We discovered Chennai and Pondicherry to distinguish how metropolitan cities are different from locals in terms of food, culture and lifestyle. Now to give a spiritual touch to our voyage we visited Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari to praise the splendour of Peer of the realm. Next to set the mood to party mode, we finished our trip with Goa and Mumbai. We had a great time at Goa since the monsoon was just started and it was great fun to ride rented bikes in rain. The beaches, Portuguese colonies and clean & clear roads are the charisma of Goa. Mumbai, our current and last destination surprised us with rains, beautiful clear sky and lot of random variations. We are about to visit famous sights in Mumbai and will be covering them in couple of days. It will be hard to say a final good bye but due to economics and upcoming events, we are going to end our trip in three to four days.
Looking back, we will surely miss the time spent together and the days we spent for knowing our country sound. Someone said “You will regret wasting this summer on this fellowship” but now we can surely say that “forget about regret, we had some of the best time of our lifetime and surely want to do this once again.
Thank you, IIT Gandhinagar for providing us such a wonderful break!!
