Zindagi mein ek baar.. our 20 day journey across india:-The beginning: 23rd Nov

There were 13 of us. The plans had been made a long time back. A journey to rejuvenate our rebellious spirits, waiting for a release after our final year MBBS, an year which seemed to go on forever and ever. Guided by our seniors who had undertaken similar journeys, we made our plans. We planned the places, the routes, the timing, the hostels and hotels. Most of the queries were made by Vaalan(Mathew) and KRP(Karthik). We did extensive searches on google. Google map as a useful tool has never ceased to amaze me. All of this was done right after our final internal exams, as we awaited the dates for our university exams, the final MBBS exams, the most dreaded exam of the 5 year course. Thoughts of the journey gave us hope, hope that something better awaits, at the end of those days of torture. Anything was better than having to sit in front of those textbooks. And so we planned. But we were confused about the date we should set out on our journey, thanks to our beloved MG university: 'man proposes, MGU disposes'. Because the university hadn't yet declared the theory exam dates and would declare the practical dates only after the theory exams, we had to pick our date carefully. After much debating, we finally chose the 23rd of November as the date to start on what would be one of the best experiences of our short lives. We booked all our train tickets and hotels online from KRP's place. Once that was done, all of us returned to the horror of final MBBS. Days dragged on. Hopelessness and fear found us on most of the days while a part of our minds tried vainly to convince that everything will go on fine. On those days, the trip was the only thing to look forward to. All of us counted the days to November 23rd and so the countdown began. I still remember receiving Hari's message on a day that i lay on my bed, paralyzed by fear and unable to do anything, let alone read anything useful. "75 days", it said. The thought that my agony had an end, made me rise from my bed, and forced myself to somehow read. And so, the days went ahead and the exams, some better than the others, some giving us hope and others despair.. All along, we waited for that day- the 23rd of November.