A Long Ride To Essel World

I was holding my nerves and was trying to stay as calm as possible. The countdown began in electronic voice.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

And within few seconds I was at 150+ feet height from the ground, up in the sky with my heart beating fast and eyes staring at the bright shining Sun in front of me.

Exactly a week ago I was falling asleep to wake up at 3.30am in the morning. The reason was a yearly trip of our company. The Essel World was the decided destination and it seemed to me adventurous. It is recognized as India’s Largest Amusement and Water Park as well as Asia’s Largest Theme Water Park. Well, I could claim to have height phobia, as I had never like to be at high places. I would not look below even when I would be standing at third floor of building. You could imagine how badly I used to scare by height. Well, I now fear less to heights after taking the rides at Essel World.

So, after making my mind, I had convinced my mate Uday to join us on a trip and we namely Sachin G, Sachin B, Yogesh and I had already taken a decision to go. The total count was around 60 including the mates from neighbor departments. We all were suppose to gather at 5am in the morning and as predicted, we started the journey at 6am which was disappointing. Nevertheless, we traveled smoothly and reached the destination around 11am. The Sun was burning hard and we all were sweating. Moreover, I had a sweatshirt on, how intelligent I am, no? 😀 Come on it was winter going on here and it was the only excuse I can make for that stupidity. So, where I was ..

We all had reached to the destination and could see the giant entry gate of the Park. We were suppose to enter as a group so they had provided us the hand bands with text “Group” written on it. It was made up of paper having shiny sky blue color. I kind of liked it. We also had our lunch scheduled at the same place itself. The process took time of an hour and we finally entered into the park. We were provided the colorful maps for our guidance of routes and rides. It was a large-sized map and I hardly understood it at first. Well, I hardly understood it till the time we left the park but I liked the map very much.

The moment we entered, all guys hung up and began to click capture the moments into their cameras. It’s today’s style of making memories, isn’t it? I was interested too and participated. The photo shoot took few minutes and now we all were discussing the routes and rides. All of a sudden, we parted and had the number of small groups. I was moving ahead with mates from my Department and it was the start of adventure (to only me I guess). :/

All guys seemed to have some plans about which rides they would try first and where they would move next. On contrary, we five were totally confused and had no plans. The only thought I had in mind was to have fun and enjoy as much as possible. We tried to figure out rides on the map but did not succeed hence we put it back in the pocket. We decided to take whatever ride we would come across and feel like going for it.

The first ride we took was “Crazy Cups”. It was nice and simple. The cups make you rotate in circular motion spinning around itself at high-speed. We knew it was simple ride we had started off with but we had fun.

We moved ahead and decided to go for Monster Ride. It had Octopus like structure. The seats were tied to eight hands capable of moving at high-speed up and down. We all took part. I along with Sachin G went first and to our surprise it came out to be thrilling. We were moving up and down, rotating in 360 degrees and spinning around ourselves with high-speed all at the same time. We experienced  a great thrill. It moved in three different patterns. It was fun overall, Sachin and I was yelling loud while riding. He seemed more shocked than mine with ride’s capabilities. He was staggering at the end of ride. He was out of sleep since last night. Yogesh and Uday also rode on Monster Ride.

The Sun was burning and we were damn thirsty. We drank some water and moved to next ride named Rainbow. The ride looked scary but was not. We did that with ease and with no fear.

The next ride we decided to take was Enterprise. It was scary and categorized under Adult Rides. We witness the ride demo and a girl omitting after taking the ride. Yogesh and Uday felt the fear and stepped back. They quit at the first place. Sachin G and I had made mind to go for it. We were frightened but still excited. We lined up in the queue and waited for our turn. The pattern of rotation was scary. We both were calm until we mounted on the seats. The ride was awesome. I felt the real adventure; it rotated us perpendicularly with extreme speed. I could see the sun over the head while going up and feel the little fear of falling down while going down with great speed. We were going round and round and this time I was staggering too along with Sachin G after taking the ride. We asked Yogesh and Uday to go for it but they did not.

It was ticking to 1:45pm when we reached for the lunch. It was a huge covered place. The fans were moving at high-speed yet were unable to make us cool. We saw that some of the mates had already started to eat. We too did not wait for other mates to come as we were hungry by now. We ate to full of our stomach. We were tired and had no desire to go out in the sun and enjoy remaining rides. While eating, Sachin B told us about roller coaster ride named Hoola Loop. It was worthless to leave the place without riding on Hoola Loop Ride.

We came out after having lunch and settled under the shelter of big green trees. The environment there was cool and peaceful. We rested there for half an hour. It helped us in getting charged again and we went on to ride again. Later, we took rides like Hoola Loop, Zipper Dipper and Sr. Dodgem. Other mates also joined us in couple of rides. We all were enjoying our time. The Sun was on its way to disappear. We moved ahead to our next adventure. It was the scariest one named as Shot n Drop.

The ride was simple, you stay seated and it takes you up in the sky at the height of 190 feet with extreme speed. Sachin G and I were keen until we reached the place. We watched few guys taking the ride first and after watching them ride, we all got scared. The speed at which it was moving up and down was lightning fast. We knew it would be less scary while going up but what about coming down in the direction of great gravity? Not to surprise, Yogesh decided to quit. Uday too followed his decision. However, we insisted and made them come along with us saying they won’t get this chance again. And we all did it. We experienced the fear of falling down in the direction of gravity. Due to this ride, I could witness an amazing and beautiful view of the whole land from the sky. I could see the Sun shining in front of my eyes.

We already had decided to leave the place before it gets dark just to ensure that we get back home in time i.e. before midnight 12. We were tired and still wandering in the park. We all were sweating, thanks to the hot and humid atmosphere. The only ride we were planning to have was Aqua Drive. The ride that was seeking attention of all. We moved to the place and were fortunate to ride straight away. The water level through which the ride was supposed to pass by seemed pretty normal. We sat with excitement on the seats.. It took us to certain height with very ordinary speed and then it gained the speed while going down towards the stable water. We were steady and relaxed as if we knew it was not going to make us that wet. But, to our surprise, the ride took us through the water and halt over there to make sure that we get completely wet. The excessive amount of water falls on us and we got completely wet. Getting wet to that extent was not expected at all but it was great fun too. We enjoyed our last ride with laughter and happiness. We then stood quiet for a while. I could see the satisfaction and happiness of visiting the place on my friend’s faces. We were smiling, looking at each other and we were just feeling happy to be there, together. We could not captured the moments into camera but we captured the memories in our hearts which will stay there forever. It was one of the best days for me this year and I was glad for just being there.

I’m just kidding, seriously 😉

Sachin, Sacrificing sleep was understandable but sacrificing morning tea wasn’t a good decision, no? Yogesh, I know you would have gone to trip even when I would not and you did not rode on Hoola Loop because you did not feel like to ride and not because you were afraid of its speed. I still have doubt over your honesty. Uday, I hope you now have come to know that how important a wallet is in our life. It is damn important friend. The world is more beautiful without specs, isn’t it Sachin? Oh yeah, but better you put specs back on your eyes soon.

Stolen moments

Early morning ride and a broken spect story, an accurate throw straight into the penguin’s mouth, a water bottle worth of Rs. 30 to thirsty souls, a cup of hot coffee along with expensive Samosa, midway photo shoot, one girl Antakshari army, Ram Pam Pam, Tara Ram Pam Pam, Tara Ram Pam Pam a valid song in Antakshari, Blue Group Bands, a helping voice from out while playing Sr. Dodgem, Tasteless noodles, Tasty Gulab Jamoons, peaceful rest under a green shelter of trees, disturbed camera settings, wet money and a wet sweat shirt, self recorded song played on mobile, late night return ride to home

Unsaid words

Thanks to Aditya, Kalpesh and all guys who set the tone up and thanks to all girls who set the environment for unstoppable Antakshari. Without you, the bus ride would not have become fun. Thanks to Sachin G, Sachin B, Yogesh and Uday for making my day worth beautiful and memorable. Thanks Shweta for offering water while we were thirsty, generosity appreciated. Tazmin, just to let you know that you had sung that song very well, just keep it up. Sachin B, we could have great fun too if you would have spent little more time with us. We enjoyed a lot, anyways. Sachin P, Vijendra, Harshad and Suhas, we did miss you on that day. And lastly, thanks to Govind Dada and Vasu who arranged and managed this successful trip very well throughout the day.

P.S. – It was one of the best day of my life. 🙂