WONDERLA- A journey into the benefits of stupidity and teenage recklessness

We, the undergraduate freshers of 2024, had just survived our brutal first semester in IISc. Almost as soon as our examinations concluded, we went into a frenzy, trying to cram as many enjoyable activities as we could in the limited time we had on campus. While trying to find an ideal candidate, our eyes fell on something…

Wonderla: Embark on a journey of heart-pounding thrills and tranquil retreats at Wonderla Bengaluru, your ultimate weekend getaway just an hour away from the city centre. Experience the exhilarating Recoil Ride, and take a playful plunge into the Wonder Splash. Wonderla is more than an amusement park; it is a sanctuary where unforgettable memories are made.

A random group of 11 students of IISc: OK

However, at the time of our departure, things seemed pretty bleak. The weather was atrocious- a cold, gloomy, cloudy blend of general November chill and an East Coast cyclonic depression. We left an hour and a half later than we had planned- taking a metro from Sandal soap factory to Kengeri with an interchange at Majestic. Our seemingly brilliant plan to take the train to bypass the city traffic and then catch a bus from Kengeri to the amusement park immediately fell apart. We forgot the most fundamental thing about buses: they operate on a fixed schedule and, at abysmally low frequencies, are far away from the city.

By the time we had reached, we missed the last bus, and the next one was scheduled to leave an hour later- effectively eliminating any added benefit we would have gained by bypassing traffic. Yet, to our pleasant surprise, we got taxis to the park at a far lower price than what we would have otherwise had to pay for the bus. Our drivers were even kind enough to stop at a thrift outlet outside the park, which sold synthetic swimwear at highly subsidised rates (Even for a visibly fake Nike t-shirt, Rs. 150 is quite a steal deal)

Our IISc ID cards, for once, came in handy in the form of a 20% discount on our tickets. Our afternoon was devoted to water rides. To our delight, the weather had miraculously cleared up by then, but not soon enough to bring in the throngs of people that usually ruined the experience. Few people are crazy enough to visit the park in such weather, and even fewer are fortunate enough to have the weather clear up for them as soon as they arrive. We were able to finish every water slide (multiple times) in about an hour. The more courageous ones among us encouraged the others onto the scariest of slides, including drop loop (a water slide where you stand on a trapdoor that quite literally opens from under your feet), wavy and vertical fall (two of the steepest slides in the water park) and boomerang- a water slide where you sit on a raft, slide down and the momentum carries you all the way back up to the edge- almost as if you are going to be launched like a projectile! A particular ride- the uphill racers- became a group favourite. Therein, we would sit prostrate on a rubber mat and race each other to the bottom down four parallel slides. It was, quite simply put, addictive. Coupled with the unusual lack of long waiting times, we ended up doing the ride four times.

However, our recklessness was still on an uphill trajectory. When the time came to visit the wave pool, we fought bravely against a frenzied crowd and, with great effort, secured ourselves a spot in the coveted deep end, where the waves are the strongest. Interestingly, just before the waves started, we learned that at least two-thirds of our group could not swim! Logic and reason were on a vacation that day – our actions were governed entirely by our recklessness and an unfounded belief in our invincibility, and we stayed put till the waves stopped. Fortunately, our time in the waves ended up being one of our most memorable experiences in the park.

Finally, we visited the lazy river- an experience that many sceptics in our group believed would be underwhelming. However, when you take eleven adrenaline-filled teenagers in rubber tubes that pass below gargoyles spewing ice-cold water, and you add them together in a lazy river, the mixture spontaneously reacts to give pure FUN! We all tried our best to topple each other and push each other into the ice-cold water falling from the gargoyles, much to the displeasure of the lifeguard.

With this, our time in the water park came to an end. After an inadvisably heavy lunch, we attacked the theme park. Compared to the water rides, the bigger adrenaline junkies of the lot found the land rides relatively tame. However, there was one ride that none of us will forget: it was the Y-Scream—a ride where our seats went in circles around another bigger circle- a ride so thrilling and complicated in its motion that words can barely describe it (see a video if interested). Recoil- a loop roller coaster, came a close second in its thrill. Adding to our discomfort was our heavy lunch, which on multiple occasions, threatened to come out unceremoniously when it entered our bodies. Yet, the ride that we found the most addictive was the relatively milder Equinox—a ride with a circular arrangement of seats suspended from their centre in a pendulum-like fashion. The feeling of weightlessness in this ride was addictive, and we ended up doing this ride three times.

Finally, we ended our day on a lighter, more peaceful note by going up the Sky Tower and Sky Wheel, soaking in the gorgeous sunset vistas of the entire park. We marvelled at the various rides, solar panels, open grass, and pristine lakes that dotted the landscape. The sky transitioned from yellow to golden, eventually burning with a passionate orange hue—almost as though it were on fire. Our hearts content, we came down, ready to go back.

Our experience in Wonderla was truly memorable and is one that we believe every IISc student should have during their stay on campus. We spent the entire return journey thinking about how our madness in ploughing on in such weather conditions (or was it secretly a stroke of genius?) and our complete lack of careful planning was the reason that we had such a great time. However, we strongly advise against this- not everyone will be as fortunate as we were.