Nagothane

Nagothane

On the 6th and 7th January we were going for our fist ever class trip in our life. And we were in the seventh grade. And this was also going to be our last class trip as a class because next year we were going to be shuffled. So I made the most of it.

In the morning we all piled our suitcases in the bus and assembled in the class for roll call. As soon as that was over we clamoured into the bus and made our way to a place called Nagothane to see a reliance factory. It was a completely developed Reliance area and that is the only reason why we didn’t go anywhere else because our school thought that there would be a problem with ‘security’. We literally have an army of security and I didn’t know what they were thinking. It was a long 4 hour bus drive to the place and we were ruling the backseat. We were playing cards and even played a game called Mafia with 20 people! We had to keep our bags with us and some people had gotten huge suitcases.

We finally reached our hotel. It was pretty good and it was called Umang. We were divided into groups of 3 who would stay in a room. I got the best pick- My two friends Aakash and Arhan. We went to our room to stash our bags and get changed.

We then went for a quick lunch after which we left for the sculpture park.

The sculpture park at Nagothane was a symposium. Rock carvers from all around the world came to this function and carved stones according to their wish. The rocks were specially imported from Mahabalipurram. They were good but I thought the composition and the setting of the park was very good. It was green and calm.

After that we walked to a nearby greenhouse. The guide explained to us that the plants were grown for export. They had some natural greenhouses and some climate controlled greenhouses. The natural were airy and open but the climate controlled ones were hot and humid and claustrophobic.

After visiting these places, the fun began. Since this area was a township there was school and a huge football field. It was HUGE(#Donaldbhai)! We played football 7A vs. 7B and that resulted in a tie. It was loads of un and I actually shot some awesome moments of the game with my friends camera. Professional sport cameraman Raghav Agrawal at your service.

We went back to the hotel and had the time to our selves. We had about an hour and a half so my friends played a multiplayer game on their phones and since I didn’t carry my phone I looked. At 7:30 we had to go to the terrace garden for a night of performances. Both classes had to perform something and I was involved in 3 things. First my flute group and I performed a 4 minute piece after which the crowd went wild. We then performed an improv skit on what it’s like to be inside our Hindi teacher Rajesh sir’s class. After that two other friends and I performed another skit called the ‘double cheese pan pizza curse’ which is about a guy who called a pizza place (Nomahinos) ordering a pizza. The cashier keeps on asking him to buy the double cheese pan pizza and lists reasons. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. Other people did stuff and then we had dinner. We went back to our rooms and did stuff.

That night I didn’t sleep. We were just talking and laughing so much I thought a teacher would here us. Plus my friend kept the A/C on at 16 degrees. And the fan on full speed. And guarded the remote with his life. So that sums up my night.

In the morning we went for breakfast and got shouted by the teachers. Nothing new. We then went to an orchard where we saw loads of different plants and other stuff.

On the way back we saw the actual refinery and learning centre but were not allowed to go inside. There was a red hose pipe that ran for miles and miles till the eye could see. That contained pressurized water. They used it for emergencies. It was so pressurized because they would need to reach to the top floor if needed. We also learnt that as a government rule, it you set up a factory you need to have at least 30% of your area green. Reliance went out of its way and made 70% of its area green. They employed 300 people. Only some work in the main factory as most of it is automatic. They actually have those many people tending to the flora. They also never wasted any water. They reused it for all processes- watering plants, cleaning, processing etc. Now i have some new respect for this place.

After this circuit it was almost time to leave. We quickly packed our bags and then went for an early lunch. After lunch we packed ourselves in the bus and left the place.

It was a good experience and i learned a lot. I really hope companies take this place as an example. It was so green and developed. If other countries were like this and grew so many trees and plants, then this could actually help a lot in saving our planet from self-imposed annihilation.