Class VIII

DAY - I: We arrived at the school early in the morning at around 5:30 a.m. it was very cold but we all were very excited at the thought of leaving for camp. Soon we boarded the busses and our parents were sent away. The bus journey was one of the most happening parts of the camp. We left the school at 6:00 a. m. and although we were very sleepy we requested the bus driver to switch on the music but unfortunately our bus did not have a music system. To awaken ourselves we decided to play antakshari. It was great fun as no team seemed to exist but everyone was singing and dancing. It was barely seven in the morning that everybody pulled out their tuck and started munching the goodies we had brought. At around ten in the morning we reached at Cheetal Grand for breakfast and for communing with nature. We met the class sixes too.

The journey took us about eight hours and thus we reached Shivpuri at around two in the afternoon. Our camp was located at the opposite side of the river thus we could only cross it by raft through a rapid called ‘Returned To Sender’, It took us around one and a half hours for everyone to reach the camp. It took us yet another half-hour for our baggage to arrive. We ate lunch and the rest of the day was free. At around seven we were assigned our tents. We were not happy with the arrangement and thus arose The Revolt of Class 8. Soon the teachers agreed with us and gave us our choice of tents. By ten we were exhausted and hence retreated to our tents.

DAY - II: We were forced to wake up at around seven in the morning as the breakfast was to be served at eight. At 10 we rafted to the other side and boarded our buses. The buses then took us to the Malakundi Bridge from where we set off on a four km. tiring trek as it was up hill. It took us forty-five minutes to reach a village where we were allowed to quench our thirst. Then we traveled a km back to where our rafts were to meet us. When we arrived there we splashed around in the water till the time the rafts arrived we were given the security precautions that were quite intriguing. We were then allotted our rafts and we sat off to witness the following rapids… The Three Blind Mice, Black Money, Money Maker, Crossfire, Body Surfing, Return to Sender etc.

All in all we rafted over seven exciting rapids. Many of us jumped into the calm waters and two of us bodysurfed in the Body Surfing rapid. The water was freezing cold and we were too numb to raft after jumping into the water. We rafted till our camp and there we rushed to change our soaking wet clothes. We then jumped into the trampoline, which was grrrreat fun and nearly as big as a room. We then sat around the bonfire and sung songs. We ate amazing food for dinner but were still eager to have a mid-night feast. The sky was very clear and we witnessed many shooting stars while stargazing.

DAY III: We woke up late. The teachers decided to keep all the activities of the day optional. In the morning we were told that a deer has come near the toilets while Monis was in the toilet. Saurabh who had been standing outside got scared and also went into the toilet. Some of us went for an early morning trek, which consisted of only nine people. The next activity was kayaking which most of us did. Tiya’s kayak was the first one to topple into the freezing water followed by Nandu’s. Kayaking was great fun and everyone enjoyed it. We had fights and we all pushed Ms Chauhan into the water. By the end of it we all were drenched. At 2:30 we had lunch. Around 4-5 kids did not want to go while the rest trooped to the rafts at around 4:00. We rafted from the camp further down the river while witnessing the next four rapids. These rapids were massive and very dangerous but yet it was loads of fun. These rapids were Roller Coaster, T-Off, Golf Course and Club House. We then trekked to the buses at about 6. It took a lot of time for us to reach our camp, as the tide was very high. At 9 we had dinner and by twelve we all were asleep as the day was tiring and we had to wake up early the next day to start off for the return journey.

DAY IV: We started our journey back at eleven o clock soon we had a series of punctures followed by many upset stomachs which bought a lot of time. At Haridwar we got stuck in a major traffic jam as it was GUR PURAB that day. We ate the lunches packed for us in the buses after which we had sugar cane for dessert, which Mr. Pandey got us. Keeping these obstacles in mind we arrived at the school at 11 p.m. where our parents were worried and anxious about us.