City Lights !!

On November 24, 2017, my friends and I were excited as we were going on a trip to Guwahati to watch the Women,s International Boxing Championship, which was being held there. We were all excited as this was the first time we were to watch a live boxing match and that too at an international event. We were all daydreaming in the bus about the fun we were about to have.

On our way, we crossed a bridge, seeing which I was awestruck and I wondered how such an engineering marvel had been built, such was its majesty. It is the Saraighat Bridge, one of the most famous bridges of Assam.

On reaching Guwahati, we went to the Regional Science Centre in Khanapara, where we saw a lot of science models and were able to add to our knowledge of science significantly. After Khanapara, we went to the army transit camp in Narangi, where we were to stay overnight. I was thrilled at the idea of visiting an army camp and can say that the reality far exceeded my expectations. After reaching the camp, we were allotted our rooms, and we were served lunch. At around 2 p.m., we reached the Sarusajai Indoor Stadium, where the matches were being held. We were dazed to see the bright lights, hear the loud cheers and experience the lively atmosphere. We learnt a lot about boxing and its rules during the match that we witnessed.

We were delighted when India won the first three matches, but felt bad when India lost the last match in the 81 kg. category. After the match, we interacted with some tourists and took pictures with them. We also had our dinner in the stadium itself, as the organisers had arranged a buffet dinner for the spectators and all the people involved in the tournament. After dinner, we went back to the camp. We were tired, but were also very glad and were impatient for the next day.

The next day, we were informed that we would be visiting the zoo; there, we saw many animals and birds and even reptiles of different kinds, and we moved from one enclosure to the other to see as many animals as we could. I was particularly thrilled to see a white tiger in real life. After spending some time in the zoo premises, we went to watch the boxing matches again, and it was a special day as we were given tournament T-shirts and were seated in the VIP box. We were overwhelmed; even the matches looked a whole lot better from up-close. India won all the matches that day, except the last one, just like the previous day. In one match, India won by default as the other boxer from Japan was injured during the match and he forfeited. I was a little let down and wondered why we were unable to win the 81 kg. category, but also felt a deep gratitude towards the boxers, as they gave their best to uphold the honour of our country and made us proud. We had dinner again at the stadium. We all wanted to stay for some more time, but as all good things end, so did our trip; we came back to school that very night.