The alarm went off at 3 AM but Lekha had pain on her left knee, we decided to drop the idea of going to the Jagannath temple. Accordingly, Lokhi and Rana were told about our changed plans and to conduct a puja in Lekha's name, on our behalf. We had got up at a half past 6, gone through our chores and were ready well in time. It was during breakfast that the others told us about the sun being obscure at sunrise in the morning!
We cast off at a half past 9 towards Chilka. The journey was over two hours and after freshening up at the Yatri Nivas at Satapada, we boarded ten each in small motor boats. The boat was catamaran-like with a small canopy atop that kept the fierce sun away from us. Boarding in and out of them was an exercise by itself and our helmsman, Dilip, took us to two unscheduled stops to help the vendors make a fast buck on us by selling their small eats and drinks and even pearls!
The over two hours of boating were uneventful but gave us ample time to interact with each other and understand us better. We had a nice lunch, based on local cuisine, at the clean Yatri Nivas (I suppose this is the Oriya version of the KTDC's Motel Araams!). The return journey was spent mostly on snooze and we were at Hotel Empires by a quarter to 5. Piping hot tea with small eats were provided at the hotel and we'd about two hours to get ready and be down at the spacious lawns for the valedictory function and dinner.
The evening was a sentimental journey. Rana had conducted an interesting quiz competition, though the questions above our heads due to:-
(a) The questions weren't audible and what was written on the slides was not readable.
(b) And of course the questions were tough to answer.
Bid farewell to each and everyone, to the extent feasible, and everyone seemed to be wanting to come to Guruvayur. Let's see as to how many would come by. Many people had a lot of nice things to say about Lekha being present for the get together despite her discomfort.
Tailpiece.
Three days of fun with course mates and wow, am already looking forward to the next GTG at Amritsar in the first week of Nov '20!
We cast off at a half past 9 towards Chilka. The journey was over two hours and after freshening up at the Yatri Nivas at Satapada, we boarded ten each in small motor boats. The boat was catamaran-like with a small canopy atop that kept the fierce sun away from us. Boarding in and out of them was an exercise by itself and our helmsman, Dilip, took us to two unscheduled stops to help the vendors make a fast buck on us by selling their small eats and drinks and even pearls!
The over two hours of boating were uneventful but gave us ample time to interact with each other and understand us better. We had a nice lunch, based on local cuisine, at the clean Yatri Nivas (I suppose this is the Oriya version of the KTDC's Motel Araams!). The return journey was spent mostly on snooze and we were at Hotel Empires by a quarter to 5. Piping hot tea with small eats were provided at the hotel and we'd about two hours to get ready and be down at the spacious lawns for the valedictory function and dinner.
The evening was a sentimental journey. Rana had conducted an interesting quiz competition, though the questions above our heads due to:-
(a) The questions weren't audible and what was written on the slides was not readable.
(b) And of course the questions were tough to answer.
Bid farewell to each and everyone, to the extent feasible, and everyone seemed to be wanting to come to Guruvayur. Let's see as to how many would come by. Many people had a lot of nice things to say about Lekha being present for the get together despite her discomfort.
Tailpiece.
Three days of fun with course mates and wow, am already looking forward to the next GTG at Amritsar in the first week of Nov '20!
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