The pure white sand crunched softly and I could feel it slide slowly from under my feet.

The slowly setting sun sent the shadows crawling to my feet which finally disappeared somewhere and left me alone under the blood red sky. The wind whistled and trees rustled ominously, but my feet kept advancing as I walked almost hypnotized by the beauty of it all. The simple alluring beauty of the dry lands that lay ahead of me, the twigs that crunched under my feet, the weirdly shaped cacti that snagged in my dupatta, the colorful, tiny wild flowers that meekly peeped out of the cracks and crevices in the fields, the massive trees bowing, succumbing to the power of the wind, the unicorn shaped clouds that beckoned, the humble huts that stood its ground in the middle of no where, the tinkling laughter of the kids, clad in their torn langots, their brown skins shining with sweat, as they ran towards me to greet me, and darted back immediately as I tried to talk to them, the villagers who welcomed me into their humble homes and gave me water and spoke a tongue that was beyond my understanding, and yet the heartfelt, warm smiles went a long way.......it was such an experience….an experience in a sleepy little town called chota udaipur somewhere near the border of gujrat and rajasthan.

Our class trip to chhota udaipur was a part of our curriculum where we had to cover the arts and crafts found in that area and document it and make a presentation which is scheduled in the first week of 5^th sem. As skeptical as I was about going to gujrat of all places in this hot weather, the trip was nothing but a pleasant surprise where I actually enjoyed myself and learnt and lot too.

I remember the funniest part of the trip which was even before it actually began. Our train was to leave from bandra terminus at around 10.45 p.m, and it did leave at the right time……but at 5 a.m in the morning the train was till in borivali (no, m not kidding!)

Lol! Most of us were ready to jump off the train and go home at that point of time!

When we finally did reach chhota udaipur, I got to see and experience a LOT of things!

Ancient rooms supposedly hostel rooms which consisted of stinky moth eaten mattresses and walls covered with lizards and love sagas(most of it in gujrati) of the girls who stayed there previously. (shit like, neha loves jagruti with the heart symbol between the names and the arrow right through the heart! >_<)

Bathrooms with no ceilings and home to all kinds of creepy crawlies imaginable.

Taps that dispensed green water.

Toilets a kilometer away from our rooms, which consisted of shitpots that had no visible holes…..ahem…it was clogged to an unbelievable extent with u know what!! (bwwuuuacck! luckily i had a cold!)

Jeeps that accommodated a minimum of 60 passengers in such a way that not an inch of the jeep was seen and when the jeep zoomed passed, it looked like a flock of people just flew past.

Me traveling on jeep rooftops with other classmates! (woohoo!)

Getting iron rod veggies while traveling on the luggage rack on the jeep roof, on bumpy roads! (trust me, not pleasant! Not even funny!)

No faculty!! (yay!)

Hogging on food there like never before in my life.

Booze party in a dry state!!(winks)

Aimless trekking trips to uncharted territories(beautiful ones tho).

Being warmly welcomed by complete strangers to their homes and being offered the local ‘daru’ and lunch.(i'm not even welcomed like that at home!!!)

Joining the tribals in the traditional dance.

Learning only certain statements in the local language which would get us food(mission accomplished!)

Feeling extremely hot but still no sweat(no stinking…phew!)

Waking up everyday at 5 in the morning, without an alarm!!(in case ur a wondering if I’m normal, it was the heat that woke me up!)

Drinking several galleons of water a day(and obviously running to the loos every now and then)

Taking each other's cases.(I mean classmates)

Staying awake late every night watching the moon and the stars as they slowly shift positions in the night sky.

Awesome elaichi tea. (aaahhh...)

Learning about the crafts and arts of the local tribes.

Delicious 'aamras' in a tall glass for just 5 bucks by the town lake.

Seeing the expressions on the villager’s faces when shown their own picture clicked on a digi cam.

Huge rivers,but absolutely no water!(all dried up...only river bed with white sand visible)

Late night 'shayari' sessions.(and laughing our asses off.)

Funny rikshaws!

Trying my hand at pottery and producing absolutely shapeless ‘pots’ but still loving every bit of it.

Singing along with the himesh reshamia songs on top our lungs when it blared from the jeep stereos.

Painting the town red!! (aaashique banaayaaaaaa...aashique banayaaaaaa aaaaa ......tuuunneeeyyy...)

Bellowing to the extent till our voices gave way.

Hot beds! (temperaturewise >_<)

Bonding with people from my own class and getting to know them better(discovering that the guys in my class are actually not that dull!)

Amazingly adorable cows that ambled towards us whenever we had breakfast (yummy dhoklas)

Equally adorable goats that ate leaves out of my hands.(awww...)

Dancing at a local wedding.(tapori ishtyle!)

Spending an entire day at a proper tribal home.(typical homes with cowdung thatched walls and floors and wooden ceilings)

Unknown people smiling and waving back at you as you wave at them .

Extremely helpful and sweet natives of the town.(u wouldn't find such hospitable people here in mumbai!)

Chamaleons scampering everywere! (uggghh...)

Shops selling soft drinks called 'Helly' which looks like a pepsi/coke wannabe!

Water sold in plastic packets that resemble milk packets, worth only 1 rupee! Similar packets containing chhaas, worth 3 bucks!(drools)

Ride back to Mumbai in a sleeper Volvo(the weirdest but most comfortable bus I’ve ever traveled in) the entire trip was an amazing experience, from start to finish!

And now that I’m finally free and back to aamchi mumbai, I can get back to blissfully ignoring the noisy animals at my ‘home’ and enjoy my vacations! (winks)

Slong everyone!