ILP MEMORIES

As a child, I had always dreamt of sitting idly at the seashore observing the waves passing by, with sun setting in the horizon, in the background. This dream came close to a reality when I got a chance to visit Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala(often known as God's own country) as a part of my ILP(Initial Learning Programme of TCS). The three months stay in Trivandrum had been a roller coaster ride for me and in this blog I will give you a flavour of this short but most memorable phase of my life. The first few days were tough, trying to adjust to the new environment, then the next few days were fun (& quite hectic sometimes) and the last days were emotional, knowing this journey would be over soon.

So let's race back against time to 13th Nov. 2017 that was the day when I reached Trivandrum, along with my father. Our flight landed at Trivandrum airport at around 8.30 PM. We took a cab and went straight to our hotel. After having dinner, we went to sleep since we were tired from the journey.  

The next day, we went out to explore the beauty of the city. I experienced a sense of calmness and peace in the air of Trivandrum. Despite being an urban city, it has a rural touch and one thing which you will notice first is the greenary all around. We were standing at the hotel gate thinking where to proceed when an auto driver standing nearby came to our rescue. After 10 minutes of discussion, he convinced us to visit Poovar backwater. It was a 1 hour drive from the hotel. I was completely mesmerised by the beauty of the place. We took a boat ride through the mangrooves forest, had lunch at one of the floating restaurants and clicked a few pics. The golden sand beach is another major attraction of the place which is distinguishable from other beaches due to the golden colour of the sand. We had a great time and then returned to our hotel late in the evening.

The next day, my father had to leave early in the morning. After seeing him off, I returned to my room and tried to sleep again but couldn't. My mind was occupied with many thoughts and I felt a wave of anxiety crossing my mind. I got up from the bed brushing those thoughts aside. After packing my bags, I checked out of the hotel, booked a cab and reached my accommodation. It was a 3 BHK fully furnished flat. I couldn't have expected better than this. (Well, this is how TCS welcomes its new employees). 

The first day at TCS was a bit hectic with many formalities and induction sessions. Slowly, days passed by and we got accustomed to our training schedule as well as the environment of the city. We got busy with our training modules but at the same time, we didn't miss any opportunity to have fun, especially at weekends. Trivandrum is a beautiful city and I consider myself lucky for getting a chance to visit Kerala (a paradise on Earth). Our first weekend trip was a visit to the Napier Museum & Zoological garden. The museum has a rare collection of artifacts, ornaments, bronze statues and sculptures. Napier Museum also has an art galley named Sree Chitra Art Gallery, which we couldn't visit due to lack of time. There is a Zoological garden adjacent to the Napier Museum which is considered to be one of the oldest zoos in India (established in 1857). The snake and reptile house is a major attraction which contains many rare species of snakes, tortoise etc. The large anaconda inside the glass cubicle can send a chill down one's spine. We enjoyed each and every moment spent there.

My next memorable trip was visit to the Ponmudi hills, located at a distance of 61 km from Trivandrum city. Ponmudi is known for trekking and it has three famous trekking spots. We covered each and every trekking spot and also visited Meenmutty Waterfalls while returning. The view from the top was mesmerizing and such moments can't be described in words. The trek to Meenmutty falls was also exciting and adventurous and we had to walk around 3 km in order to reach there. This trip could not have been memorable without my friends. We cracked jokes, laughed, pulled each other's legs & clicked selfies throughout our journey, without which it would have been really exhausting.

Amongst all this fun and weekend trips, there was academic pressure due to regular assessments and remedials. Some of the weekends were spent in coding, while preparing for our assessments. Another memorable trip was trip to Munnar & Yellapatty. Munnar is a hill station, located at a distance of around 300 km from Trivandrum, and is famous for its tea gardens. The trip was scheduled in the Christmas weekend but the excitement began 15-20 days before the journey. If you visit Kerala, you can't afford to miss this beautiful hill station, often known as the 'Kashmir of South India'. We all were excited for this trip.

Our group consisted of around 100 people and we had booked three buses for this purpose. We started off from Trivandrum on Friday night and reached Munnar by Saturday morning. After refreshments, we boarded the bus again to reach Yellapatty, which is located in the laps of Kanan Devan hills. It was approx 2 hour drive and we reached our destination at around 4.00 PM in the evening. Route 49 team (which had organised our trip) was there to lead us to our camps. After a short trek, we reached the place where our tents were located. The mere thought of staying in these tents among the beautiful hill ranges had made us all excited. Soon, the sky grew darker and there was pitch darkness all over. We went to the bonfire area and sat there forming a circle. We played antakshari, cracked jokes and enjoyed each and every moment spent there. A guitarist playing beautiful songs on his guitar was a cherry on the cake. We were served BBQ chicken in dinner which was tasty as hell. After dinner we returned to our tents and fell into a deep sleep. It was a different experience altogether.

In the morning, we got up at 4.30. The atmosphere was very cold and I didn't feel like stepping out of my tent. Soon, we witnessed the sunrise which was so mesmerizing that the beauty of the scene couldn't be described here. In today's hectic schedule, we miss such beautiful scenes which nature has to offer. I was sitting on a chair, admiring the breathtaking view of the hills when my friends called me for the photo session.

After a long session of clicking photos and selfies, we were served hot breakfast post which we had to pack our bags and leave for trekking. We said goodbye to our tents and left our camps. The trek to the Top Valley (one of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats) was around 8 km. After reaching at the top, I was spellbound by the scenery. It seemed as if the clouds were floating with us. Most of the people were busy clicking selfies but I was just sitting there, admiring the beauty of nature & the mesmerizing view from the top. After taking some rest, we descended to the bus stop, where our buses had been waiting for us. We left the place with beautiful memories and also with a promise to visit this place again. 

After this trip, we made a few short trips like a visit to St. Andrew's beach and Veli lake & Tourist Village. But in the month of Jan, nearly all the weekends were spent in preparing for assessments & remedials. Finally in the last weekend, we made a plan to visit Verkala beach. Verkala is an ideal holiday destination for tourists visiting Kerala in search of a peaceful location. We were a group of nine friends and we reached Verkala by around 4.00 PM in the evening. After searching for hotels we found a reasonable one where we occupied three rooms, kept our bags and went straight to the beach. We took bath in the sea, played with the waves and admired the view all around. When it grew dark, we returned to our rooms. After dinner, we went for a stroll at the beach again. The calmness of the atmosphere was something which we don't get to experience in our day to day hectic schedule. The next morning, we once again visited the beach before leaving and clicked a few group selfies. We departed in the afternoon after having lunch, with a heavy heart. We all knew it was our last weekend trip in Trivandrum.

Soon the release day came which was the last day of our ILP. We clicked selfies, said goodbye to our friends and promised each other to meet soon. The day marked the end of a beautiful journey.

On a lighter note, I have skipped quite a few things and incidents which would not be appropriate to disclose here. :) But anyways, these three months have probably been the best days of my life and this would not have been possible without my friends who were always there with me through thick and thin. Thank you guys for making this journey so memorable and I will cherish these memories throughout my life.