Day 6: Civil's Day Out

After yesterday's rain, we were looking forward to a little more precipitation today. That did not happen, such is our destiny, but yes, there was a very thick fog. And that was good enough for us - after all, that spy of a professor couldn't see a thing with his binoculars standing in the middle of dense fog.

But since when has God been so kind to civil engineers? By the time we got to Base Camp, visibility was 100%. And so began yet another day with that stupid PT. This time, the prof asked us to come to him for a viva, which is very strange, since this is supposed to be a project, not a practical (his words). But forget that: he's crazy, after all, according to his own colleagues and subordinates.

Today was a special day, since a majority of students were involved in PT surveying, which means that nobody did anything. Some went to the Chandi Mandir, some to a local dhaba, while some enterprising others set up a picnic spot at Station 1. Oh, what a sight it was! Both UG and PG people, nestled in the lap of nature, sleeping, singing, reading and just chilling out. It seems that whatever seriousness we had before the camp is all but gone now. I myself took the time to relax, drawing a few lines here and there to complete my PT. In case I missed any features, I faked them. After all, PT surveying is all about faking it!

The day was pretty unexceptional, except for viva, which I conveniently skipped. I can;t do it forever though: he will have me soon. However, I can delay it a bit, as some people did by cleverly telling him that they had just reached Station 3 and refused to climb back up! In the end, I spent the entire afternoon at the tea stall, taking out just enough time to fake some elevation readings. And viola - a highly-detailed topographic map is ready!

Fortunately, we can return to modern civilization tomorrow with a GPS-based survey. Truly speaking, this entire camp could have been completed in 2-3 days of we just used GPS or Total Station - that's what real engineers do (and now they just use Google Earth!). Why we wasted out time on 200-year-old surveying techniques is beyond my comprehension, although the lab workers insist that it's because we have outdated people teaching us outdated things. I agree!

There has been a lot of discussion over the marks associated with this camp. Some say it's a part of CE-321 and carries 10 marks; others say it's 20. And the prof himself says that it's a separate two credit course that we never registered for! I say - when everybody has a different story, there is no story at all.