Making new friends, learning to work together, time management, loving what you are doing, compromising, adjusting… These were all a part of the International Award for Young People (IAYP) Trip
organised by PSBB School for the tenth standard students.
This year, the tenth graders were taken to Hospet and Hampi, to see and learn from history. The students left Chennai on Sep.18, right after their quarterly exams with a lot of enthusiasm.
After almost 16 hours of travel by a chair car, then a sleeper train and a bus, we checked in our comfortable hotel rooms by 6 am on the 19th.
Pattadakal, Badami and Aihole were the tourist spots we visited on Saturday owing to the fact that we couldn’t cycle after a long and tiring train journey.
All set for an adventurous Sunday, we were split into six groups of 14 and given some money, which would take care of the expenses of the group for public transport and other fees that we had to pay in the course of the next two days.
From our hotel, which was in Kamalapur, Hospet, we were asked to hire public transport to reach Hampi bazaar, 4 kms away. There started the most enjoyable part of our lovely trip – the cycling! The teams rented cycles and inwardly vowed to stay and the help the other members even though the members were a mixture of students from all other divisions.
After taking instructions and directions from our IAYP coordinators, Mr. Nath and Mrs. Nina, we set off to explore the ruins of Hampi.
On the first day of our cycling, we visited a number of temples, now monuments – Krishna Temple, Channa Ganesha Temple, Uraga Narasimha, were a few we saw, drinking tender coconuts on the way, to keep ourselves cool from the summer heat.
At the end of the day, we had cycled about 7kms, from the hotel and back. The next day was even more demanding; we cycled 9 kms, over uneven roads, with puddles all over due to the rains the night before, all to visit the famous Vittal Temple.
The next part of the trip is considered to be the most enjoyable, most memorable, part of the trip where we literally carried our cycles over rocks and stone, passing the Tungabhadra river on our way, helping each other for 2 kms, all to take a short-cut to Hampi Bazaar where we had to return our hired cycles. The teams had fun as the money given earlier could now be spent on all the teammates, for eatables and drinks. We once again had to hire public transport and travel back to our hotel rooms. This was extremely fun, where we had to adjust and 15 of us had to squeeze in one share auto, as all the money we had, had been already spent.
After refreshing ourselves at the hotel, and having a sumptuous dinner, we all slipped into our rooms, where we chatted and played together. The next day, and the last day of this wonderful trip was all about visiting the Tungabhadra Dam, and also visiting the Anjanadri Hills, where Lord Hanuman is said to have been born; climbing almost 600 steps, with monkeys at your side, waiting for a chance to take away our cameras and eatables too.
At 8:30 pm we boarded the Bangalore Express and reached Bangalore at 6:00am the following day. We had two hours to refresh ourselves at the station, until we boarded the Chennai Express to come back to the loving arms of our parents, and the city itself.
Memories of the trip passed our minds, as we said our goodbyes to the four teachers who had accompanied us, and our dear friends; but we couldn’t crib and cry that we were parting and that the trip had gotten over; we had to move on and face the last four days of our remaining holidays, with tons of holiday homework left at our desks, waiting to be completed!
Saniya joined the Team YOCee as Student Reporter for the year 2007 – 08. She continues to report for YOCee since then.
Saniya is a student of Padma Seshadri Bal Bhavan, Nungambakkam branch. She has a concern for the world around her. Protection of environment and making young people aware of the benefits of green and pollution-free environment is her mission. She writes on her blog – http://aspireblog.wordpress.com/