The clear blue waves crashed onto the sandy shore as we prepared to embark on what was going to be the most difficult yet exciting moment of the entire trip – a 5km kayaking expedition through the waters of Rameshwaram. This is the story of our trip.
The 8th grade’s trip began on the morning of 10th February. After showing up to the airport at 11am, they finally departed from Mumbai at 2pm. After waiting for a very long time for the flight to land, we were disappointed because we realized what was next – a 2 and a half hour bus drive. Despite being tired, we managed to enjoy ourselves through the bus drive, talking with peers, listening to music, and even having disco lights flashing! Traveling to Rameshwaram took the entirety of the first day, but it was going to be worth it later on in the trip.
For the next two days, we split into two different groups – one that went sightseeing, and one that learnt the basics of kayaking. The sightseeing groups saw many different interesting things, the first of which being the edge of Rameshwaram. This also happens to be the closest part of the country to Sri Lanka, only being 30 km away! We went to the top of a lighthouse nearby, and while the island country wasn’t visible, we could still see Sri Lankan waters from where we were. This point was located in Dhanushkhodi, which is also nicknamed the “ghost town”. While we were there, we also managed to spot some dolphins! Throughout the rest of the day, we also visited the Abdul Kalam national memorial, and some mangroves. Mikhail Nathani said that “seeing so much nature was a very different experience” but he also mentioned that “after a day of traveling through the sun with mosquitos all around, it wasn’t as enjoyable of an experience”.
At the same time, the other group was learning about the basics of kayaking. The academy at which we were learning happened to be the place where a few national level kayakers trained and coached. We learned the basics of how to kayak, but also some theory. This varied from the different parts of the kayak, to what to do in certain situations. After the day ended, the two groups changed activities for the next day.
On day 4, we embarked on a long 5 km kayaking journey. This was no easy task, and throughout the journey a few people even dropped out. In fact, people were also feeling slightly unwell and stayed back entirely. At the end of the expedition, despite being away from school, we still had to complete an exam! This was based on the basics of kayaking that we had learnt earlier. If we passed, we would be given a level 1 kayaking certificate!
Once we finished our kayaking, we did 2 different service activities, the first of which being a beach cleanup. Scavenging the beach for different kinds of trash gave everyone a feeling of satisfaction, especially when finding big pieces or amounts of garbage. The next service activity was even more fun – our interaction with the locals. After playing different games like kabaddi with them, we got the opportunity to speak to them and ask some questions about their lives – what their education was like, what their daily routines were like, etc. Some of these people were national champions, so this session turned out to be quite enjoyable!
On the last day of our trip, we were disappointed to leave, but at the same time were excited to come back to our normal lives. After enduring another long and tiring journey (through the help of our peers), we finally arrived in Mumbai, where we were greeted by the parents, who had brought banners, cookies, and heart shaped balloons for Valentine’s day!
