“Let’s just go somewhere for god’s sake!” yelled Loki passionately while seven of us were yapping in room 201 of the notorious B-block. All of us had just returned from a bland and uneventful winter vacation, and classes were starting today (first week of January). The moment Loki yelled with passion, the feeling was mutual and spread through all of us—like a domino effect.

Someone shouted, “Let’s go to Pondicherry!” This is the closest getaway from our university and we always wanted to go to Pondi, but 2 years in and we never went there. At this point we’ve already been to most of South India—Coorg, Munnar, Alleppey, Kanyakumari and many more—but never to Pondi, which is literally a 4-hour drive.

Everyone was pumped except the usual pessimist and naysayer in every group, Mr. Wire Reddy. “We were just back from home and you want to go to Pondi on the same day we’re back? You guys are nuts!” said Wire Reddy angrily, giving us all sorts of reasons why it’s impossible to leave today. “I’m not coming,” he said and just left the room. Knowing him, I thought he’s gonna fold at the end. But looking back, his concerns were totally valid. How are 11 of us gonna get our leaves approved in 2 hours? How are we getting to Pondi? There were bois already in classes—who’s gonna convince them? All these puzzles had to be solved, but being young, dumb and delusional helps, right?

Dinesh Tendulkar immediately started calling bois asking them to assemble at 201 ASAP. At VIT, getting your leaves approved is a long process that needs your parents’ approval, but we didn’t have time for that. We literally had to figure out something within 2 hours because parents get notified if we don’t mark attendance at the end of the day. So we made a few calls, pulled some strings with the hostel warden and somehow got our leaves approved. (You gotta do what you gotta do, right?)

Ho ho, the biggest roadblock was gone!

Now we started packing all the bois’ bags. We had 4 rooms side by side and we were running all over the place. Meanwhile, the bois who went to classes started coming back. The first one I noticed was Mr. Problem—he looked puzzled, not knowing what’s happening as we were running around doing errands. I whispered, “We’re leaving to Pondi, just pack whatever you want.” Dude started asking questions and I was like, “Just pack your bags, man!”

Meanwhile, Mr. Thota dropped a reality check: there’s no direct public transport to Pondi. We’d have to go via Chennai first, then to Pondi, and the train was leaving in just 1.5 hours. Plus, 3 of the bois were still stuck in classes.

And then—plot twist!—Mr. Wire Reddy, watching everything come together and feeling the FOMO, called his father for permission and signed up for the trip. (Told you he was gonna fold!)

Time to head to the station, but Mr. Lol Sai was nowhere to be found. He kept saying “I’m coming, I’m coming,” but someone spotted him casually eating an egg puff. Frustrated, someone called him with an ultimatum: “Run fast and get to the block in 10 minutes like your life depends on it”.

We saw him walking back casually, completely clueless that we were about to leave for Pondi. The second he realized what was going down, his face turned bright red with panic and he started resisting. But it was too late—we’d already packed his stuff and sorted his leaves. With that panicked face and no options left, he reluctantly got into the taxi heading for the railway station.

Okay, we boarded the train heading to Chennai, but now how were we gonna reach Pondi? Public transport from Chennai to Pondi is abundant, but it’s not fun—the bois demanded a road trip. Problem was, we’d reach Chennai at 9:00 PM, and who’s going to rent us a car that late at night? (Remember, this is the pre-zoom era when renting a car wasn’t popular.) Again, we hustled—made a few calls, visited some shops, and finally after a few hours, around 11:00 PM, we found someone who was ready to rent their Innova. Me and Mr. Wire went to pick up the car, and finally it was 12:00 AM before we started heading to Pondi with a rented Innova and a bike.

A road trip with the bois is pure bliss—our favorite music, endless yapping, everything from gossip to deciding what’s best for India, and laughing our hearts out. So it was going as usual. We stopped for dinner and then headed toward Pondi. While we were yapping, Mr. Tendu from the back of the car shouted, “Stop the car, the tire seems off!” I pulled the car over and got out, and as Tendu guessed, the tire was punctured and flat. We were just 5 minutes away from the legendary Purple Resorts. But here we were with a flat tire. We started looking for the spare tire and toolbox—we found the tire but not the toolbox. The hydraulic jack was missing. It was 3:00 AM and we couldn’t do anything about it, so we were just hanging around waiting for the sun to rise. Meanwhile, cars passing us were evidently afraid seeing a group of young boys hanging around at 3:00 AM. Surely someone called the cops on us because a police vehicle arrived at the location, stopping inches away from our car. The police started questioning us, saying we weren’t supposed to be there. After explaining our situation, the cop seemed cool about it and gave us a few phone numbers we could call after sunrise.

We finally reached Purple Resorts and got to enjoy Pondi properly. Back then, Pondicherry was still a hidden gem—a small town with serene beaches, amazing food, and untouched nature. (We’d end up coming here so many times that I could navigate Pondi without Google Maps.) But here’s the sad reality: when places become mainstream, they lose their soul. Today’s Pondicherry is overcrowded and commercialized. It used to be this perfect little town where you could unwind and find peace. That version of Pondi? It’s gone forever, and that breaks my heart.

Like every great trip, the return journey was the hardest part. We started heading back to Chennai and stopped at this roadside dhaba that served—and I’m not kidding—the best parotta and chicken curry I’ve ever had in my life. Even thinking about it now makes my mouth water. I wish I could go back there someday and have that parotta again, it’s been a while!

We continued our journey toward Chennai, but of course—no trip ends without some drama. About 50 kilometers before reaching the city, our car completely gave up on us. There we were, stranded in some random town at 1:00 AM with a ticking clock: we had to be back at VIT before 9:00 AM for classes. Missing them would mess up our 75% attendance requirement. It was freezing cold, so we parked the dead car and huddled in front of a closed shop. No public transport to VIT, no taxis, no cabs—absolutely nothing available. We sat there patiently until 4:00 AM, when we finally managed to find an Uber driver willing to make the long drive to college. We made it to classes just in time. (Whether we actually stayed awake and paid attention after pulling an all-nighter is a completely different story.)

Most of our days at Vellore were pure chaos, but here’s what made it beautiful: we found peace within that chaos. Instead of pointing fingers we solved problems together. We genuinely enjoyed the process—the hustle, the madness, the unpredictability of it all. Like tuning forks in resonance, our frequencies aligned and generated a stronger and significant sound than the sum of our individual parts.

Vellore days were filled with a lot of crazy stories, the most amazing time of my life that I would like to relive again and again and again. This is a good starter story; more crazy stories will be continued.

I believe everyone deserves this kind of pure joy for an extended period of time at some point in their journey.