One of the few memorable incidents that is worth sharing with my friends – the fun loving group. Dated 23rd may 2010.
SCENE – I:
I and karunakar started the journey to attend Chandra Mohan’s marriage by catching a running train, the machilipatnam express at yeswantpur railway station. We discussed for along time on how sharp was the edge of missing….. not the train but our most loving and caring friends’ marriage. We both felt lucky and so planned the return trip well before in the day in order to avoid any last second rush without the slightest knowledge that a movie script is ahead on the same day.
SCENE – II:
The less you talk is the better about the auspicious omen. It was such a well-organised, very mannered and a must attend party. oh! I cannot forget the deliciousness of the kaju-bhendi. For an hour I kept aside satthanna’s rules. I met baby, sunil, gannu, anil, rajesh and cse’s Srikanth from kits,s and jayaram from SGPalya and of course kavya from the newly wed cinema.
SCENE – III:
The insistent part of the trip:
Time: 1pm –
At khammam railway station ticket counter.
As always Ranjit standing in the Q ahead of Rajesh.
“Sir! 4 tickets to BZA and 1 ticket to WGL”
Paid the amount and the inkjet gave back our money in a transformed form.
We looked out. It’s baking hot.
We had drinks to control the temperature to room and maintain the metabolism inside the Bangalore human bodies. Sweating all over, thoda andar ka mamla bhi.
All bengaluru buddies had 2 drinks each but there is a guy to oppose that heat too without a single droplet of sweat. The ‘poco’ is our survivor with lemon juice and butter milk.
“jayaram: I still think butter milk was cooler than lemon juice” property of induction proves this. Returning to platform a debate on the “guess whatz the temperature?” started with varying choices when under the asbestos roof of the platform but the number was a unanimous 47° C when we moved away from the covered part to under the trees.
Time: 2:25pm –
“यात्रिका कृपया ध्यान दे. घडी नंबर ८६४६ हैदराबाद से होव्रह जानेवाली ईस्ट कास्ट एक्सप्रेस थोड़ी ढेर में प्लात्फोर्म नंबर २ पुर आएगी”
We put on our shoes listening to the announcement
Time: 2:45pm –
“यात्रिका कृपया ध्यान दे. घडी नंबर ८६४६ हैदराबाद से होव्रह जानेवाली ईस्ट कास्ट एक्सप्रेस थोड़ी ढेर में प्लात्फोर्म नंबर २ पुर आएगी”
Yes the announcement was the same, not a single word had changed. We techies were just on the line waiting for the gun shoot to start off but many crossed the line. It was an ‘excitemented curiositied suspection’ expression on all our heated faces.
It is a donation from Indian railways to Indians to bring out strangers together for a short period and discuss all worlds’ known and unknown things in all three tenses and here, we not being alien to each other, the discussion was on the lists soon. Now the heat is not sensitized. Trivia went in between. One from Ranjit explaining the LV board on all the last bogies of every train and the height from sea level marked on all the station name written stones from Rajesh. Few software engineering topics, business ideas and why the train is getting delayed.
Time: 3:00pm —
The guy sitting in enquiry became our scapegoat and the answer is the train is just in the sight of the station only and may take not more than 5 or 10mins. Still to explore alternate options we went out of the station and we became scapegoats to an adult who told the benefactor whom he came to pick-up transmitted the info from the nearest idea cellular tower confirming 10minutes is the reach. We rushed back to our temporary reserved seats under the green roof.
Time: 3:25pm –
Ranjit and Rajesh leading the group went to show our query written faces to the enquiry guy but only to hear the one last important news that the train’s engine is failed and the punch line is – just forget and get lost. An altercation with the enquiry person by Jay and Rajesh was a suppression of our confusing state.
“Operation bezawada on its way”
We started moving, rattled mumbling and planning with no choice of re-planning like rapid chess game going on. Ranjit and Rajesh tried to sell the train tickets but in vain, and then returned the tickets at the counter for a loss in which time karunakar and jayaram moving swiftly found an auto and in few minutes we are at the bus-stand to hire a taxi.
Time: 4:00pm –
A taxi guy better to name him a smart taxi driver easily calculated our need to reach BZA and promised to drop all of us in just 2.5hrs in his shiny white ambassador. For this he demanded a ransom. Though the sensex’s peak at least fluctuates, his price quote was rock stable.
Time: 4:15pm –
We moved this side and that, discussed options and finally no other choice to trust the smart guy. Four people in a good looking ambassador.
“Somehow ambassador seems spacious”.
Time: 4:30pm –
Only 2.5hrs left to miss the ksrtc bus to bengaluru. Though the driver promised the possibility to reach with in that time, we realized in no time that car is not promising that.
To add to this or just to give the driver a say all the evening traffic with domestic animals was blocking us at regular intervals.
It was such a vehicle that it takes countable time to pick-up. Chevy’s advertisement tells that it takes just 0-5sec to reach 100kmph and our current transport takes the same time to reach 20kmph and once it reaches 60kmph the engine thinks on all the possibilities to further go ahead or not and takes rest. After many herds passed our way or the other way, the driver told after 5km we will be on a highway and the car will puck-up like anything. We gave a warning that if it doesn’t touch 80kmph there is no way that we can be inside iravat and after 20mins we checked with the guy and to our utter dismay the answer is ”sir! Since last 10mins we are on the highway”. Now the downscaled iravat felt – “looks like no other go, I have to cross the limits today”. It roared high, brought out all its last ‘joule’ value of energy too and passed it on to the innovation of the millennium.
It was touching 80…. it almost touched 80… no it reached 80.
In came the co-pilot with neither valid license nor a steering. He took charge of the rear wheels. Bringing all his known skills and terminology, kept regular deadlines, declared self bonuses to get encouraged and keep the team in live mood and also injected new josh in to the pilot. We could reach half yearly target with no loss and no gain. Everything looked fine only on a white wall projected by Philips lenses but the reality is different. 40km to reach in 30mins. Performances peaked to the point that 3mins and 6km. and finally co-pilot dared to ran in his controlled rare wheels without pilot’s slightest knowledge inside the bus stand. I and karna sat back to settle the bills with the driver and weigh all our luggages and jay and Rajesh went to platform number 36 shouting holdaiiiiiii.
“delicious ganjupindi rajesh” from karuna and ranjit in an air-conditioned bigggg vehicle.
Published on
11/06/2010 08:44