Friday, October 13, 2006

13th October: Leg 2 Day 10 : Ahmedabad

Sunny with Mr Terence...


Our bikes parked in the NID campus


Meeting students at the campus...

National institute of design, NID, Ahmedabad. I had heard a lot about this place from Sunny in the past and somewhat knew that it is the best design institute in the country and being there today made me realize why it is! And it was an honor for the three of us (Sunny, Ashish and me) to be there and do a presentation. We arrived at the campus at three and Vaibhav of NID showed us around the whole campus. Bearing in mind the different disciplines, the dedication of students plus the support from the institute and the work put up for different companies/industries, there is no doubt why NID is THE place to be for nascent designers. The design goes down to showing its presence in every nook and corner of the campus, like the little places where students relax and catch up on, to even the design of roofs of certain rooms, where even a slight whisper can be heard in the other end of the room! Then you do have the prototyping centers where the actual model comes out in a matter of hours and not to forget BMW canteen, ‘behind middle workshop canteen’ where students chill and catch up on talks and all. Yes, the place was full of design maniacs, like we are – biking maniacs. These guys and gals are totally into designing and for the average dude, would seem to be nuts. But we ourselves being nuts about biking do understand their dedication and love for designing.
Surprisingly, many students, both guys and gals did know about the trip and xbhp! Initially when we reached the campus, we didn’t expect too many to turn up for the presentation due at 4PM, but fortunately had a turn around of around 50-60 people which really uplifted our spirits. This was mainly due to the work of seniors like Mohnit and Vaibhav, who made sure the word passed around and it did work out! We started with the slideshow and couple of videos, followed by Sunny telling about the whole trip, the motive, and how it was made possible. This was followed by an interactive Q&A round, which took out our secrets and made the fair sex realize that only Ashish was the eligible bachelor! Plus questions like, “Do you follow a special diet to keep in shape”, which sent everyone into a laughing mode, more so when Sunny replied that we don’t any “30+ capsules” or any such stuff, but the normal food and ofcourse Red Bull energy drinks, of which we have lot and lot of cans! We were also asked how our families and offices reacted about the ride and we did answer truthfully including me who mentioned the case with Bike India. Everyone actually seemed to be genuinely involved in the presentation. The GIR it seems wont be a disappointment for us at all from any and every possible angle. What’s more, even after the presentation, lot of youngsters did come forward and interacted with us, talking about the machines, our ride and the experiences. Moments like these really make you understand that the Gen-X in India really do care about such rides and wish to see India the way we are. In short, Gen-X isn’t careless or ignorant about their country and would love to see on two-wheels if given a chance.
After that, we left the main campus and went to a small shop outside the hostel area where Sunny wanted to share some pictures with a visiting faculty from Australia who teaches Photography at NID. At the shop, a couple of others guys too joined along on their pumped up Yamaha RDs and so did a guy, who also had a neat looking Contessa! Things got hot once Nitin started popping wheelies and later I joined him on Nisarg’s Karizma to pop a couple of good ones. Not to forget, the last time I popped a Karizma was like more than four months back! Anyways, Vaibhav invited us to his hostel room where we spent a while seeing his freelancing work for a cool hangout place in Ahmedabad, and his coffee table book on Royal Enfield, plus sharing other stuff. The hostel was a co-ed one (!!) and had a cool atmosphere of its own, which to an extent, reflects that India is maturing out of age and such things actually help a lot in their own way, like bringing out the best from the students. It was time to leave as we had to catch up on blogging and the usual uploading of pictures, but not before we had to negotiate through masses of humanity and vehicles on Ahmedabad’s messed up roads. No doubt the worst city in terms of traffic sense that I have come across till date. It was back to the comfort of our hotel and we relished ourselves on finger licking Mughlai food. Tomorrow, Ashish and me head to the little Rann of Kachchh to do some desert riding while Sunny will be off to Vadodra at his relatives place for the night.
Listening to “Nothing’s gonna stop us now” on the Ipod, I am beginning to feel lonely now and missing my loved ones. I know I still have over 50 days to go before I will be able to go back in the comfort of my home and meet the girl who matters the most to me. Yes, we do remain connected through mobile phones and laptops but…. Signing off with an advice – Cherish the moments you spend with your loved ones, you never know when you have to go away for periods as long as these…

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