This time I am not alone. Infact, I will soon be joining the entire family. Renu and I left Bangalore yesterday night for Manmad. And so did Papaji and Mammi from Lucknow. What more, Vaibhav will join us from Mumbai!!

So, a full family gathering at Manmad – a half for us en route Shirdi.

Yesterday, when I looked at the final reservation charts, I was a little confused as to what is PQWL and that too two people were alloted the same seat. Then it turned out that the other person will board at Manmad.

That was 7pm yesterday evening.

And then the compartment where our seats were confirmed, the remainder of it was alloted to a family from Tamil Nadu but now settled in Bangalore.

So, we shifted for “seat exchange”.

That was a live compartment because of family and kids. And this is a real dumb one with people confined to themselves.

Anyway, that’s how the life also is – a journey with lots of twists.

Because of cold and no-pillow head-rest during sleep last night, Renu’s back – neck specifically – is in pain. She just can’t turn her head around right now.

Waiting for Manmad to get down and get some medicines for her.

So, we should reach by 3pm. My parents should arrive by 2pm while Vaibhav by 12-1pm! Hurray!

A journey ends and another begins. That’s the journey of my life for the past 3 years or so. Today, I’m on my way to Ernakulam. Yes, it’s the train once again. Open windows allowing me to have a closer look at the countryside.

The lush green farms. The dense forest-like trees. The hazy clouds. The cool and cold breeze. The wet soil. The सौंधी odour. It’s back to be in self again.

I seem to have found the lost touch.

Tomorrow it will be trainings once again. It will be consulting, product development, biz plan – all the nasty stuff again. But right now, I stop writing.

Let me enjoy the real life!

Good Morning!

We are in train en-route to hometown. Just crossed Secunderabad – where “The train does not halt presently” – but still stopped because of change of engine. And we hope something similar at Jhansi. Let’s see how and what happens.

The next halt is in Nagpur at 5:20pm. And it seems to be in total control of time – at least as of now.

What a journey! Across the countryside. With all windows open – Hey! We’re in the Sleeper Class and not A.C. Gotcha!

The day is over with the training? No really! The action begins now.

There is already a curfew in Shivajinagar because of Hindu-Muslim riots. Don’t really know when these people with learn. As if they don’t have any other work.

There we – Ashish and myself – need to leave for Lucknow tonight. Couldn’t get a ticket in Ktka Express. Got in Sampark Kranti. Have to get down at Jhansi. And the best part is – the train does not stop at Jhansi!

So, there is a lot of action already waiting for me.

My training finished early today, because we were supposed to leave out some of the topics.

And I had to leave for the new airport at Hyderabad for my 8:45pm, errr…. 9:45pm flight. Yes, that’s where the fun is!

There were three options for me:

• Take an auto rickshaw all the way to the airport
• Take a taxi all the way to the airport
• Take an auto / taxi to either the old airport or to a place called Mehdipatnam, and catch the AeroExpress bus to the airport.

When I left my hotel room, I had 9:45pm in my mind. And I thought, let’s have fun! Haven’t done adventure trips for a long time now.

So, finalized on the last option.

Left the room at around 5:30pm. Got into the auto rickshaw and reached Mehdipatnam at, surprisingly, around 6 o’clock.

And I was feeling a little hungry. And also noting that the Air Deccan flight, well – the last option left for me, does not serve dinner. Hey, after all it’s a low cost, no-frills carrier. Getting down from the auto, I enquired about the departure place for the bus. And then, I suddenly saw a host of eatouts attracting me to have something in the snacks.

I fed myself with a plate of chicken noodles, and got a water bottle for the way.

Now put yourself in my shoes and imagine that you start walking down to the bus-stop. You start walking down instead of taking another auto because you find that, firstly, the place is only about 1km away and secondly, the rickshaws are charging an earth. Asking few traffic policemen and local people, you are finally nearing the bus-stop.

As you are about to reach the stop – it’s only 50m left, you see the big, blue AeroExpress starting to move. It won’t help screaming or yelling because there’s a lot of traffic and the driver is well seated in the air conditioned bus.

And whoosh! The bus is gone.

You ask the incharge about the next bus. He tells 7 o’clock. And adds, “It will reach the airport in the next one hour.” You start thinking hard, “Should I take an auto from here now.”

You ask, “How much with the auto charge.”

“They charge Rs 300”, he responds.

And you are stunned!

Added to that, you think, “Oh! No. The flight is at 8:45pm and the bus starts at 7pm.” (Go back to the second paragraph, and you now know the catch.)

What do you do now? You say, “Ok. Let’s wait.”

You open the laptop and start writing this blog entry, waiting for the 7pm bus. You anxiously open the mail to confirm the ticket timings. You have won! It’s 9:45 and not 8:45. You are relieved.

And then the shocker. At 6:58, the incharge tells you that there has been technical fault with the scheduled bus. The next will arrive at 7:30pm. He, out of care and worry, enquires you about the time. You respond, “No problem. My flight is at 9:45pm.”

You connect to the internet and post this entry!