iit bombay alumni association japan chapter...the trip. but it was one of those days that make a...
TRANSCRIPT
IIT Bombay
It was fall in the land of rising sun and that time of the year when another batch of freshmen from
our beloved institute came over to Japan with eyes full of dream and heart full of curiosity to see the
unseen and explore the unexplored. The EC of IITBAA Japan Chapter got together over several
Skype meetings in spite of the busy daily schedules of most of us here at office and home (to be
noted that it is a sisyphean task on any given day, to get all the EC members together, even on
*The terms “institute” or “insti” has been interchangeably used in the rest of this write-up to refer
IIT Bombay.
Alumni Association
Japan Chapter
Freshmen welcome 2016: event report
“Shall we have it outside Tokyo this time? “
What started off as a casual banter among a
few Executive Committee (EC) members of
the still fledgling Japan Chapter of IITBAA,
actually turned out to be a remarkable event
in the brief history of our chapter.
Considering the average age of the IITB
alumnus living in Japan still in 20’s, most of
us are single, doing our best to rush to office
early in morning in this country of supreme
punctuality, manage work assignments till
evening, speaking Japanese on and off work,
coming home and cooking something that
can be called anything but food (how badly
people here cherish those good old and
carefree insti-days* of flocking to mess after
a long day, and then cursing the Hostel Mess
Secy over the food, after having a stomach-
full of healthy diet), we are indeed growing
up in leaps and bounds!
Skype), to chalk out the outline of another fresher’s welcome event that would potentially stay in
the young minds for years to come. IITBAA Japan Chapter is a small closely-knit happy family,
still in its initial days, yet we have been having freshmen welcome in the month of November
consistently over the last few years, albeit always in Tokyo so far.
“Almost a dozen of freshmen would be moving to Koriyama in October and they have confirmed to
join the event”. Aniket, our alumnus from Koriyama, a quaint pastoral town in Fukushima
prefecture, shared the information that got us all champing at the bit. Nothing could be a better
reason for us to bring the welcome event, traditionally organized at the busy and bustling heart of
the Tokyo metropolis, to a scenic location in the lap of the splendid nature of countryside Japan.
Rahul, our freshman from last year, took the lead, ably guided by the rich experience of president
Raghunandan, and tits and bits from the rest of us in the EC committee. After swaying initially
between a few good options, we finally settled with Chuzenji lake at Nikko, a spectacular
waterbody confined in between lofty mountains all around at a height of 1269 meters above the sea
level. The spot is nearly equidistant from the cities of Tokyo and Koriyama and was hence selected
as it could potentially attract the maximum number of participants owing to its location.
Get, set and go!
Early morning! And that’s just putting it mildly, it was way too early in fact, for people who have
hardly known what a “morning” is, till barely a few years back when they were in the insti (recall
those 8:30 am lectures….and this time it was 6:30. Fancy!). Two rental cars, driven by two of our
alumni, left from Kawasaki city, each carrying 9 alumni from the different corners of Tokyo and
Kawasaki city. The bunch of people who were supposed to join us at Nikko coming from Koriyama
left together by train. And began the road trip, a much awaited one; something that we needed so
badly, to let loose ourselves, and lose ourselves too.
Pic. 1: Leaving behind
the Tokyo metropolis
In some time, we slowly left behind the high rises and the ostentatious architectures of one of the
trendiest metropolis of the world, as our cars took the highways and flyovers that appear intertwined
with each other both in ground and space of downtown Tokyo. Came the countryside, lush green
paddy fields on both sides of the road, the solitary reaper and the light blue sky….horizon to
horizon, unobstructed by any human construction. Just drop down the window pane by a few inches
and you are all set to be blown away by the pristine fresh air.
Nature is all set to charm us with her fall outfit. As we near the destination at Nikko, the roads take
hairpin curves up the mountain and the mountains look drop-dead gorgeous in the seasonal fall
outfit of the red leaved trees. The mountain tops and the bottomless abysses obscured by the teasing
clouds and fogs respectively, leave you guessing their heights and depths. As we take a short
roadside stop, people jump out of the cars irresistibly to set their souls free in the opulent nature all
around.
Pic. 2: On the highway en route to countryside Japan
Pic. 3: Nearing Nikko
Pic. 4: Seasonal red leaves indicating the onset of fall.
Finally we reached. Its one of those reunions where you meet all those souls who were either your
batchmate or acquaintance in the insti, or someone whom you have met in one or the other earlier
get-togethers of the chapter months back! One senses that togetherness that we all live here in
different parts of this island country, away from home, but then we all get busy in the routined
worklife and keep waiting for the next event to bump in to each other again. Time for shakehands
and hugs. Leaving this part to the reader’s imagination what possibly can a bunch of Indians banter
about when they huddle up far away from homeland. We enter a small cozy restaurant near the bus
stop for lunch and began the self-introductions, formally. “How is Tokyo?”, “Are there lot of
Indians around in Koriyama?”, “Abey, all Indians of Koriyama are right here!”, “So, you speak
Japanese?”, “Where do you play cricket yaar?”, “Abey I can’t eat non-veg”, ….random excerpts
from the initial conversations which turned louder and cozier with time. Barely anything was left
that wasn’t talked about, starting from respective supervisors at IIT to the current boss at office!
Pic. 5: Happy family saying ”sushiiii”together
Cruise on the lake
Finally an hour-long cruise on the spectacular Chuzenji lake; yes, goes without saying that we
Indians were in majority on the cruise and then it was all Hindi! Wish there could be words to
express the spell bounding beauty of the lake, the hide and seek that the sun was playing with the
clouds behind the surrounding mountains in the late afternoon, adding a different color to the scene
all together. Goes below few shots which might serve better than words in capturing the
transcendent beauty of nature that was out on display.
Pic. 6 and 7: The many shades of Chuzenji ko
We flocked to the famous Kegon waterfall through which the water of Chuzenji lake drains, soon
after. People dispersed in small sized groups and roamed around freely as the sun bid us adieu for
the day and the dusk created a magical ambience in the surroundings of the lake.
It was a freezing cold evening and we had to hurry to get back to our respective cities, Koriyama
and Tokyo. Seeing off the Koriyama junta at the bus stop, our cars took to road again. As the
wheels started rolling, there was hardly any moment that we kept quiet even after a long tiring day.
A dinner halt at an Indian restaurant on the way and we binged on anything and everything! Finally,
a last group pic of the Tokyo junta!
Life goes on. We came back to Tokyo, got flowing with the daily schedules; has been a month since
the trip. But it was one of those days that make a place permanently somewhere close to heart; such
that when we would look back at the photo album years later, we would get drawn to it instantly.
Not all of us would be around in Tokyo forever, but life is all about the moments spent together and
cherishing them wherever we are.
Pic. 8: All smiles after much cherished Indian dinner
Worded by Prakash Chaki, EE,Class of 2013. Photo courtesy: IITBAA Japan Chapter