Now that Amit has set the ball rolling with an account of the ghostly experiences at the Higher Ed NSM in Goa, let me also contribute my bit. Alas! All the spirits I saw, heard and experienced were the firmly earthbound ones. The trip started (for most of us) early on a Sunday morning at the Nizamuddin station. Amazing that all of us made it on time. Even more amazing that we made it in one piece to the resort Cidade-de-Goa, considering that the journey took 26 hours and we had a hectic week of preparations and winding-up before we started. Most amazing that Ashish (Alexander) went with us instead of missing the train as expected! There were the usual energetic antaaksharis and card games to keep us occupied (our co-passengers looked really happy to see us getting off at Madgaon). Some of us had brought along books which did not leave our bags. There was a down side though. Our windows were blocked by the Airtel advertisements and we could barely see anything of the lovely countryside we passed through. To add to my misery we ended up watching a bleak and disturbing movie on the Kurdish people, set just before the war on Iraq, called Turtles Can Fly. Others were wiser and stuck to Bollywood blockbusters. Well, we reached the resort, tired, hungry and on the verge of collapse when we spied the beach and magically our spirits revived. A private beach leading up to the beautiful sea—here was luxury indeed! The general presentations took up half of the next morning—Pearson India had achieved its targets for 2008 and was all geared up for 2009. There was a sense of achievement and pride among all present in the conference hall. After lunch, we got divided into several teams for the rest of the presentations, B&E, HSS, PTG and ESM. The highlight was of course ‘Kaun Banega Salespati’, a game show conducted by the ESM team (No Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan here, but I am told a hit nevertheless!). Then, after two days of staying at the beach till wee hours into the morning and getting up at 6 a.m. the same day, the presentations were finally over and it was time to hit the dance floor. Oh! Before I forget, the awards for special achievements were presented to the truly deserving candidates. Everyone got up from their seats to applaud Tapan Saha for receiving the President’s award. Also, the editorial for the first time got its share of awards. To put a proper end to our trip, we went on a beach-hopping spree on the last day which ended with a lovely cruise on the Mandovi River. There were many brave and intrepid souls who went para-sailing and rode water scooters. I will leave them to tell their own tales. The staff at the resort was wonderful and gets kudos for putting up with our exuberant lot. That’s about all for now.
Someone suggested a photo-blog with appropriate captions. Seems a good idea. Interested, anyone?
Anindita
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