So last time I was invited to attend the 33rd convocation at BIT Mesra, because the chief guest was V Narayanan, and I am a science journalist. This time, the same team invited me to the 13th convocation of IIM Kashipur. There was no reason for me to go, but I thought I would have a cool road trip. It was not exactly that, because everything was rushed.
I left at 08:00 hours IST on Saturday, and reached the hotel in Kashipur around 13:30 hours. I slept most of the way, but remember that the roads were well-made, except for one bumpy stretch. I also played a bit of Jurassic Park: Evolution 2 on GeForce Now. The Asus Expertbook Ultra was bright enough to use in the car, with a long enough battery life to sustain cloud gaming at least. Was fun.
Reached the hotel, some Kumaon Palace. God knows what has happened to that place, it was first a house that got turned into a mill that then got turned into a hotel. It has elements from all the phases. Nice, British-looking mansion. The Anna Villa where I was put up is actually booked as a whole for parties, costing about Rs 16K a night. I got a room right at the end, and was sharing it with two people in a neighbouring room, who never came out of their room, but were talking loudly.
It was a very casual setup, because i left the room door open, and the hotel staff were coming and going also. The AC broke down, which was instantly fixed by the time I had lunch. I then took a nap, and then got ready for the convocation. I reached around 15:30 hours IST. We were taken to a room, given an opportunity to interview the medal winners, as well as the chief guest. This was all managed very well, and I was happy that the press interactions were organised before the convocation, which went well into the night. The timing was also suitable because otherwise the heat would have been sweltering.
The convocation carried on, and I bashed out a whole bunch of stories, while talking to a reporter named Shreya. There were drones flying overhead, recording everything. I left the place around 20:00 hours and headed back to the hotel. In the night, I did not eat, but made my driver eat at the hotel, even though he felt that the food would be unsatisfying, and light, compared to the food that he was used to. I went, took a nice luxurious hot water bath (the taps were really confusing, but all hotel taps are), set the fixed AC to 16 degrees, and took a luxurious nap.
I really need to get a better bed at home, because a nice, comfortable bed makes a huge difference in sleep quality.
Anyway, I woke up at 06:45 hours, checked out by 07:00, and left the property by 07:15. The driver felt a little sleepy on the way, because the mosquitoes prevented him from resting properly in the night. I was back in Delhi by 12:00. Shreya went to check out Corbett, and was flying back to Mumbai on Monday, that is today, instead of yesterday. A few others went to check out local attractions, including Hanuman Dham, as they wondered when they would go to Kashipur again (probably never for most). I just took the cab straight back home, not even stopping for breakfast. We did take a cigarette break though. The driver was anxious to get home so drove speedily, between 80 and 100 kmph.
I grabbed a beer, and then headed to work, reaching by around 14:00 hours. Akshit left to meet a Tibetan childhood friend, and the kid just left. Because I had finished my quota of stories the previous day itself, I had the entire day to write a detailed review of the Asus Zenbook S16. The review of the Asus Zenbook S14 and the Asus Expertbook Ultra are pending. I am sad that these devices will go back, and I will not have any fresh silicon to play on. Hopefully, GFN now works well on my office machine lol.
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