when i met kanhaiya!

3 long weekends in a row... almost seemed too good to be true... yeah?

first... folks were coming into town.. fair.. enough... they had to see things around here!

second... she was gonna come down... visit her sis n me.. perfect.. 3 days of partying...

n last... i was going to goa... taking 1 day extra chutti...

it was a 5 day goa trip planned... i'd already told him also... i'll take my first holiday... in this new job.. how cud he have said NO anyway... the tickets were booked... fairly cheap as well! all was going as per planned! then as usual... SHE happened! much too familiar.. isn't this? i think SO!

so... we were supposed to be in Goa... the same.. weekend.. she with her friends... me with mine.. and we'd all chill or something.. but that'd be too simple... too ideal.. or just not something that happens in MY LIFE!

so she switched her goa & b'lore weekends... typical? almost...

which meant i had a 3 DAY WEEKEND with NO PLAN... ALONE in BANGALORE! boy that weekend wasn't my favoritE! course.. the one i wrote about... b4 this post.. clearly found a way to 1-up & more that weekend... it also meant... that i was in GOA the exact time she was here...

so.. then... i had a backup bus-tickt ready... for the night.. then as the day came closer... work.. continued to pile-on.. even the boss said.. "boy... save some money... take the bus tonight instead of the afternoon flight"

and then it strted... @ 10 that night.. .the bus journey to goa... supposed to be there in 12 hrs straight! so... the bus had a flat-tired @ 8 am.. something.. which i slept thru... @ about 10:30.. we stopped at kamat's... supposedly... for b'fast break... n were about to start again.. then we hear the news.. .that there's floods a few kms ahead.. and we can't go nowhere! the bus guys.. took us to the nearby train station... only to find... the train hadn't come... all day & the next one was scheduled for 11PM that night... clearly an option ruled out... @ 11AM...

so we all.. came back to kamat's.. .and were joined by half-a-dozen buses more... for the 1st couple of hours.. i just cooled my heels in the bus... i mean y bother going n struggling if there are already 10 odd young couples dying to do it anyway.... then suddenly by 1:30 i wondered if i'd be the only one left behind herE!!

that's when i got introduced to Kanhaiya... my 50 yr old...neighbour on the bus that ONCE was... so... then... v all talked n stood arnd.. n so on.. then some adventurous lot... got 3-4 cars on hire.. .found an alternate route.. n left with their girls... after-all safety of the women was more imp they said! suddenly 'twas me.. Kanhaiya.. n a few other random ppl left...

Me n Kanhaiya decided... it was the right time to strt hitch-hiking... so both of us.. took out our bags... n strted walking in the rain.. with Goa abt 200 kms away.. .n a flooded road in btwn.. we were clearly being hopeful :)

so after about 25 failed attempts.. we finally hitchiked a ride in an ancient truck.. which also dropped us.. only after going 3 kms ahead.. cos the road was blocked... @ this junction.. we bonded with a cop.. for abt 20 mins.. who really wondered what was such pressing business in Goa.. that v'd brave torrential rains... and take off... walking!

anyway.. so it turns out... the road was blocked... cos the army was trying out some "sea bird operation" and dug up or something... ironically... that was the name of my bus svc as well!

anyway.. seeing our urge to carry on .. the cop recommended.. we take a bus to a de-tour town.. abt 5 hrs away.. n then take a bus / train from there.. since v'd be sufficiently away from the flood zone! n coz this road surely wasn't opening tonight! so v set-off in an ST bus.. n 5 hrs later.. reached this new town... to figure out.. there was no bus goin till after 10 pm.. .the train was @11.. n a cab would come around 10 pm also.. so with 2 hrs to kill min.. me n kanhaiya.. figured... let's go grab some dinner n drinks! if i haven't mentioned this yet... all of this... was happening on 2nd oct... a dry day... but what's the pt of being in an Indian-small-town if you can't break the rules... so we got 2 quarters of RC for ourselves :) n then a good dinner... n then retired... into the General compartment of our train to goa!

only to realize... the adventure was for from over! so apparently.. half of our train went to goa.. n the other half to delhi.. from a stn 2 hrs away... needless to say... v were in the wrong half! also... the general.. dabba meant.. v had the distinction of travelling with insects... spiders... n friendly neighbourhood cockroaches! anywho... somehow... sitting up.. those 2 hrs... passed... v got off @ launda.. jn... got into the ac-3-tier... n bribed the TC to give us some berths to sleep on... after some haggling when he finally relented.. the man says! "i've been on this route for 17 yrs! for the first time in my service here... today... the second AC has gone FULL!"

Like he taught us yesterday... what do we want to give you as take-aways from this one?

- Kanhaiya our man... had a GREAT spirit @ 50! n really helped us get to goa... even if only for 36 hrs.. after travelling for 36 hrs!

- at the under-belly of the well-oiled, smooth, swanky India that shines... lies the real-india.. which can very easily surface.. at the slightest of problems that may occur.. no real calamity needed... so really... our progress is only skin-deep!

at best one can hope... they don't have to come face-to-face with the reality of how BITTERLY India shines... at the seams... too often :)