Our 1st trip home

Got up at the crack of dawn or maybe even before that. Going home has an excitement all by itself. Had packed up late into last night, but there were still a few things to stuff into our respective strolleys. Achieved this with some difficulty & we were off .... dragging our strolleys to the bus stop at 6 in the morning.

Caught the Vayu Vajra as planned with our usual choice of seats, Shanu clearly stumped by the huge luggage racks on the Volvo. Hero Honda's adverts hyping up the Commonwealth Games baton relay were all over FM but Shanu was more taken up with the Nokia E63 being operated by the guy seated in front of us.

Reached the airport well in time & got my choice of seats, but no window for me this time cause Shanu was all keyed up for her 1st flight. Minor confusion at the security check & I was concerned about how Shanu would fare, but she got through coolly enough. Spent some time browsing through BIAL's retail section .... the only thing impressive, apart from the jacked up prices, was the smell wafting out from the CookieMan store.

For a change SG529 was dot on time .... & we were taken by surprise. Takeoff was smooth & Shanu was all agog about how fast the Boeing had risen after takeoff. Come to think of it, I was too! The usual ear-popping & nausea accompanied the landing at Kolkata.

Petrol prices had been raised 2 days ago & the Kolkatan taxi unions were doing what they do best ... striking. Had to shell out a hefty 600 bucks to get us to the train station .... would have cost me ~200 normally. This is the 2nd time I've been ripped off in Kolkata because of a strike/agitation. Bloody communists .... they have caused irreparable damage to this city & it's work culture over the course of their uninterrupted reign during the last >30 years. It's evident the moment you step off the plane & into the humid air of NSC Bose 'International'. From the terminal building to the state of the taxis to the litter on the streets to the dilapitated state of the buildings .... it screams of the prevailing lackadaisical attitude & babu culture prevalent in this city. What a comedown it is from spiffy Bangalore!

As is evident from my rant above, my attitude towards the East is undergoing massive flux. Anyway, was foresighted enough to have booked tix on 2 trains out of Howrah ... one can't take chances when there's a lady accompanying you. The railways have stopped running trains on the KGP-TATA stretch at night ever since the Maoists derailed the Jnaneshwari a few days back. The administration chooses to play safe instead of crushing challenges to state authority with an iron hand .... frustrating stuff!

Was thankful once the HWH-RNC intercity moved out of the station leaving behind the mass of humanity on the platforms .... things were really starting to bug me now. But the journey brought some relief. For starters, the driver kept up a fantastic pace as we zoomed past CCU's burbs. World Cup fever was in the air & one could see huge Argentinian & Brazilian (no others) flags hung vertically from the tallest buildings in several villages flashing past.

Reached KGP on time. The train was maintaining an impressive pace. Half an hour later, near the WB-JH border, the train slowed down to a crawl & blew a long blast from the horns. Looking out the right side of the compartment, one could see that we were passing the site of the Jnaneshwari wreck. There were 2 smashed locos by the side of the track with clothes strewn around near the drivers's cabin of the one in front. The locos were probably pulling the goods train that had smashed into the derailed Jnaneshwari, several of whose mangled passenger coaches were visible. Not a pleasant sight.

Reached JSR without further ado. Jolly had arrived 2 days back & was at the station. It was good to see them .... I think it's the 1st time I've come home in the middle of the year just for the heck of it. Should be doing this more often.

Next day was Sunday, & all of us trooped off to the church. Beldih seems so quaint in comparison to Bethel A.G. And Cyril Peters' sermon had the small town charm of it's own. The message of increasing women's empowerment in today's society & the consequent breakdown in the social & familial structure struck a chord inside me somewhere, even though we've all been conditioned to think that it's the best thing that could have happened for women since ages. Went off to the graveyard to visit Mom's grave .... it all seems so strange now, the spot is not even recognizable from the time the burial took place.

Next up was a visit to our favorite dosa vendor behind the ol' school. But he wasn't there. Dad says he's shut shop & gone off somewhere since long. With Swami's son having packed up & left for TN after his father's demise & Jaichand appearing to have thrown in the towel, the only vestige of the great Northern Town dosa is the stuff served up by Chhotu, Jaichand's erstwhile helper, who runs his own thela now. Dad says it isn't half as good. If Jaichand doesn't return soon, it would mean the end of a favorite childhood snack for hundreds, if not thousands of peaople. Sad. It was off to Anand next, but I never liked the dosas there.

Monday was spent playing with Chhotu who's lost almost all vision, thanks to cataract. Vini & Papa came over for dinner. Went off to B.S. City on Tuesday & returned on Wednesday with Shanu following on Thursday. It's a smaller city than I had imagined & pretty sleepy, especially with the electricity remainig on the blink for a majority of the time I was there.

Come Friday, it was time to board the TATA-YPR. Got space opposite an elderly Bengali couple who turned out to be pretty interesting timepass. The Uncle somehow brought up the topic of women's lib & had remarkably similar views to last Sunday's church sermon! I somehow don't recollect too much from this journey.

Reached BLR Sunday morning. Got off at K. R. Puram in the hope of saving on auto fare, but got ripped off nonetheless. It had been a nice trip home.

Home ...

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

Our 1st trip home. Looking forward to it.

YPR - TATA

Early morning. The 21st of December, 2009. The YPR-HWH is scheduled to arrive at KGP at 4:05 AM. Having slept till noon during the day, I keep tossing and turning on the upper berth till about 12:30 AM. I have a nagging suspicion that the train is running late. My connector to JSR, the Purushottam arrives at KGP at 4:40 AM. It will be touch and go.

Awake at around 2:30 AM. Am down & ready by 3:30 AM. There's 1 guy at the door of the 3rd AC already. The usual conjecturing about the platform number takes place. We pause for some time near the huge Loco Shed on the outskirts of KGP station. The air is nippy .... the I-am-near-home feeling arises .... I've spent the last 38 hours inside the stuffy compartment.

Finally we pull in. I step down on the platform .... it's exactly 4:05 AM! We are on platform 3 .... start walking toward the shaded part .... it's a relief I won't have to lug the unbelievably heavy VIP all the way to the waiting room like I had to in 2007 & 2008. Reach a tea shop & ask the vendor where the Purushottam comes in. He replies it comes in right on this platform. Cool. Ask him for a cup. It's good to hear Eastern Indian Hindi after a long time.

The announcements for various trains are on. No mention of my train. As I finish the tea, the YPR-HWH begins moving out. Even as it picks up speed, the voice over the PA system announces my train number .... it's on time & coming in within 10 minutes .... super!

I move over to the platform's edge & peer into the direction I think it will be coming in from. Obviously it should be the direction in which the YPR-HWH just went since, JSR is the other way. And suddenly, it's in .... coming in from the JSR side! I'm confused .... is this the other train, coming from Delhi? Anyway, let's check the reservation chart .... which turns out does not have my name on it. Hop on to the coach anyway.

# 55, a side lower is my reserved berth. And it's empty. Good. The caretaker appears .... I confirm with him .... yes, this train does go on to JSR. Sit down, make myself comfortable & pull out the Walkman. Daddy calls & confirms my position. And then the train lurches backward .... going back in the direction it entered the station .... no wonder the halt here is for 25 minutes .... the engine was changing ends.

All is well as we pick up speed. It's close to 5 in the morning but it's inky black outside. I let it sink in .... my last rail journey as a bachelor .... Belinda Carlisle sings 'Circle In The Sand' on the earphones. Time passes quickly. The train shoots past stations draped in darkness with the exception of the lone signalman holding up the signal lamp with it's blinking green LEDs.

And then I spy it, around an hour after the train left KGP, dawn is breaking over the horizon. I seem to be the only one awake on the train. And then it keeps on getting brighter. We cross the state border, Chakulia passes, Ghatshila too, it's overbridge clearly visible now. Govindpur appears, I pack up the Walkman. The journey home is always the sweetest. Stand at the door ..... the electric loco shed appears & soon we have halted at platform 3. JSR, good ol's JSR.

So everything worked out according to plan. The departure, the journey, the connection & the arrival. Daddy is there looking tired. We take the overbridge, Daddy pays 10 bucks to the coolie who asks for 20. I pay him off & sit in the car. I've come home for something big .... let's start it off on a good note.

The route home is dusty as usual. On arrival, Ratan uncle is on the driveway with Chhotu. Am meeting him after around 20 years. And Y Fi greets me inside. Her affection is real & touching .... unlike a lot of others in the family. I am home.

Trip report

This trip was interesting for more reasons than one. Some observations ....

- my 1st ever instance of ticketless travel .... on a superfast .... & neither the TT nor passenger turned up!

- my love for 'home' remains undiminished

- Vinnie's transformed into this amazing, inspiring woman ... I'm very impressed

- there are still places where you get the chills after sundown .... the dread near that isolated level-crossing was something I hadn't felt in a long time

- the telecom revolution has penetrated right down to the smallest of towns

- highways in JH are horrible

- the Innova is a very capable vehicle .... loved the responsive engine and pickup

- I'm not flying SpiceJet again

- got very good deals on the prepaid taxi to & from the Kolkata airport ... a nice change from usually getting ripped off

- my 1st Hummer sighting

- my 1st Tata Nano-on-the-road sighting

The 26th of May, 2009 & the journey home

Around 2:55 pm - a call from dad, he has never sounded this anxious, almost on the verge of breaking down. Mummy is really sick. I ask him to calm down and try to reassure him, but deep down there's a bad feeling.

I spend the next few minutes in a daze .... there's a briefing about an IIS related problem with Satish's website going on. My mind is elsewhere. Briefing over, Rajalakshmi & Rajani ask me to join them for some snacks & juice.

4 pm - Just as we are about to place the order, a call from dad .... I expect an update .... instead he informs that mom is no more. He asks me to come home and hangs up. I'm dumbfounded. Look out at the sunny afternoon outside the cafeteria windows. And then the brain takes over.

Head down straight to Pavan's place since I need a credit card. He's not there. Head to my place ..... Pavan is joking around with Mani & Manoj. Grab his hand & ask him to follow me outside .... he does.

'My mom expired .... I need an air ticket to Kolkata' ..... Pavan looks even more dumbstruck than I should be at this moment. In a moment he whips out his cellphone & is on the line to an agent friend of his speaking in Kannada. My mind is racing ahead ..... what after I land in Kolkata late in the night? Where do I go, should I book the rail tickets from here? In 5 minutes, he has it in place, the ticket will be in my mail. The flight is for 7:30 pm .... you'll have to rush, he says.

I go back to my place, open irctc & search for connections from Kolkata ..... damned site is too slow & pages won't load. Guru comes over & sees what the 2 of us are upto, oblivious of anything. I decide to junk the thought of booking the rail ticket. Call up Sid, ask him to arrange for a cab to the airport .... he promises he'll get it done. Head over to the printer to get a copy of the air ticket .... the blasted printer is out of paper. Decide to get it from some cyber cafe and leave. Pavan drops me home. The N73 shows 4 battery bars remaining .... I estimate it should be good enough to last till next morning.

Get into the Sify cyber cafe .... locked, shutters down. Rush to the other one near the temple ..... 'no power since morning sir .... UPS bhi kaam nahi kar raha hai' .... I'm well & truly in a spot. Without power I can't charge the phone/get a printout of the ticket/get cash from the ATM. It's 5:15 pm now.

Joy bhaiya calls up from Hyderabad .... asks if i need help in Kolkata .... I tell him I'll manage. He asks for Jolly's number which I SMS. Which is when I notice that the battery bars have dropped to just 1! The memory effect on the Nokia battery has manifested itself at the worst moment possible. Without the phone, I won't be able to contact the cab driver who'll be calling up shortly.

At this moment, I'm standing outside the gate of #77, looking around helplessly ..... when the water pump hums to life & the LEDs on it light up. The power is back .... thank you Jesus!

Rush upstairs, put the phone on charge & bundle a few clothes into the bag. The cab driver calls up .... as usual he has landed up near the 'traffic' police station in place of the parent police station which has been given to him as the landmark. But he soon has the place sorted & lands up in time for the departure. I tell him to wait while I get the ticket printout & cash. I'm back by 6, just in time to avoid the rush hour. There's no charger on the Meru Renault Logan & I switch off the phone to conserve whatever little is left since I'll be needing it for use in Kolkata.

The driver makes good time. Sid calls up on his phone via the cab company's call center after finding my phone switched off. I tell him I'm ok & will manage to catch the flight on time. The driver gets ripped off at a petrol station on the way after falling for the double-attendant-sale-promotion-diversionary-tactic-while-meter-is-not-reset-to-zero trick. It's amazing how a cab driver fell for it .... I tell him so, & he seems to have realized it belatedly. Anyway, he pushes 140 along the airport expressway past the Hebbal flyover & we reach well in time. He apologizes for the speeds after having spotted me eyeing the speedometer .... I tell him it's not a problem. It's my 1st time at the Devanahalli airport.

Jetlite is the carrier I'm booked on .... and the flight is 1 hour late. I'll be landing in Kolkata sometime around midnight. Inside the airport I try to fight the urge to buy something edible after looking at the high prices ..... but succumb eventually for a chicken sandwich. The one and only charging point available for personal chargers has been taken over by a gora using it to operate his laptop. 2 guys sitting next to me are talking in Bengali .... one of them smells of gutkha .... how I hate that smell. Call up Vini didi .... enquire about dad, ask her to take care of him, I'm so thankful they all are there with him.

Get on the flight. It reaches Kolkata at 11:45 pm. The typical Calcutta humidity greets one on the tarmac. 3 domestic flights - ours, an Air India & a SpiceJet have landed within minutes of each other. I hope to catch a taxi & reach Howrah by 12:30 am. But my hopes are dashed.

Cyclone Aila had visited Kolkata 2 days ago .... a lot of rain ensued & there were areas of the city where there was still no electricity or water supply. So the residents of those did what they do best in Kolkata .... took to the streets in protest, blocking the main thoroughfares. As a result, there's a mile long queue at the pre-paid taxi counter. I am probably in the 120th position. Each person will take at least 2-3 minutes to process .... and so here I am - hungry, feeling sleepy, tired, having lost my mom, not knowing what I'll do once I reach Howrah & a 2 hour standing wait to look forward to.

The line moves forward very slowly. News comes in that taxi drivers are asking extra for taking diversions. My turn comes at around 1:30 am. My taxi driver is as usual back in the stand & not where he should be to pick me up. He asks for a 100 bucks extra straightaway. I agree .... just get me to the darn station already. We travel fast on Kolkata's bumpy roads inside the rickety Ambassador. The door on my right feels like it's gonna fall off. On the way, there's a long stretch of main road brightly lit by Halogen lamps. I notice a long line of ladies of the night, along with their fat madams & some pimps as well. I wonder how they can do business so openly, which is when I notice the white uniformed Kolkata police standing at a rounabout barely meters away .... it's all 'legal' then.

Howrah station looks quiet at 2 in the morning. A few laborers are working away unloading a large consignment. I look around & notice some counters. Head there, and ask for the reservation counters .... the helpful clerk points me in the direction of the main entrance some distance away. I enter & find all the counters empty bar two. I ask for the 1st train to JSR. He tells me there's an EMU local leaving at 2:30. I ask for the ticket. It costs Rs. 32 .... for a distance of around 300 kms. I paid Rs. 650 for the cab to Bangalore airport, a distance of 30 kms. A confused villager from Bihar asks me for the way to reach Darbhanga, I plead helplessness.

Reach platform 11. Wash my face, buy a packet of biscuits & wolf them down hungrily. The EMU's lights appear in the distance as it moves into the station. I jump into the first rake that stops near where I'm standing on the platform. No one sits next to me, or opposite me. There's a few tribal guys in the seats next to mine. They promptly spread out their gamchhas & go to sleep. The train leaves 5 minutes late. It picks up speed rapidly. A cool breeze starts blowing. I put my feet up, place the backpack on my lap & try to catch a bit of shut eye.

The EMU stops at every station - small or big. But it's just for a minute. And it accelerates rather quickly. Still, I'm worried about the >10k cash on me & the 3500/- Casio G-Shock I'm wearing. The train clatters on in the darkness. 3, 3:30, 4, 4:30. I awake. The train has remained stationery for an inordinately long time. We're not even at a station .... it's some place in the countryside between Kolkata and Kharagpur. From somewhere far away, waft in strains of music .... some kind of live late night concert ..... we're definitely in the eastern part of the country. I suppose it's some Bengali song .... but it sounds familiar, I listen more closely .... hell, it's somebody singing Daler Mehndi's Ho Jayegi Balle Balle! At 4 in the morning! In rural Bengal! I smile to myself ..... my 1st smile in a long time.

We move on. Dawn breaks. I spot signs of the cyclone's aftermath still fresh .... uprooted trees, water in the fields, but nothing too destructive. The train stops near a pukur .... I follow a duck as it walks into the pond & proceeds to swim across to the other end leaving ever expanding ripples in it's wake. A calming sight.

The crowds begin to swell. We move into KGP at around 5:30 am. It turns out to be a long halt. I'm running out of patience and beginning to feel irritated. There are no vacant seats as the train leaves KGP. Soon the sun is beating down in full force. There are huge crowds at every station. Everyone seems to like the EMU. Just when you think the rake can't take in any more, even more manage to adjust themselves inside. Very soon, every inch of vacant floor space is occupied, even between the benches. People get in with all sorts of cargo, some even have ingeniously devised hooks which they hang on the strong window bars holding earthen pots meant for sale in the city. I feel like Shah Rukh Khan in the train in Swades.

The heat rises ... thankfully I have the window seat. Every new station ratchets up my irritation level one notch higher. There are stops I didn't even know existed .... even though I've traversed this route so many times ..... that's a local train for you. Sometimes I wonder whether we are even heading to JSR or somewhere else. Finally we cross the border into JH. And an hour later we are at Tatanagar. It has taken around 6 hours for a journey I usually cover in 4. A huge crowd rushes out. An autowallah on the overbridge probably senses my foul mood & asks for 60 bucks for the trip home. I agree, relieved at not having to haggle for the fare. 60 is the accepted rate.

Reach home, give him a 100 note. He doesn't have change .... I'm at the end of my tether, ask him how much he has, he shows me three 10 rupee notes. I say lao with a hand signal & open the gates to enter the house. Sanatan comes out. I'm meeting him for the 1st time. Gives me the keys. Dad's not in. The house is eerily quiet.

There's a stack of chairs in the verandah. Dad has been busy organising. Chhotu runs out as I open the locks on the grill. I go in & put the phone on charge. There's no network .... & the landline isn't working. Raju bhaiya drops in like a god send. Use his phone to call dad & inform him that I've arrived. He can't believe I'm here already. Neither can I. It's now 9:30 am. I've been on the road since 4:30 yesterday afternoon.

.... those falls

Back in 2006, Sid, Prav & me headed off on a snap weekend trip to Goa. On the way there, somewhere in the Western Ghats we crossed this waterfall. Didn't have a camera then, but I've finally found this pic (on skyscrapercity) which is just about perfect.

We travelled in August, the monsoons were in full flow & the falls were twice as thick as in the picture. The water rushes down on the left of the train & you immediately run right to see it disappearing underneath the train & down into a deep gorge ...... it's awesome.

One for the memories.

Bus Flix

15 hour journeys to & from Pune allowed me to take in 3 flicks -

God Tussi Great Ho

What can one say about a shameless lift of Bruce Almighty? Salman sleepwalks as usual. Priyanka is pretty.

Bachna Ae Haseeno

I was expecting another Yash Raj Punjabi style DDLJ rehash. But it's actually quite watchable. The girls turn in commendable performances, while Ranbir comes across as someone with a lot of potential for the future. He's not there yet, but definitely on his way. The songs have been shot superbly.

Bhoothnath

A watchable comedy. The kid has acted well. SRK's guest role is well executed & Juhi is her usual effervescent self.

Trip home

Honey Bhaiya & family turned out to be a revelation. No high-strung bull like the rest of the family, at least not on this trip. And Rhythm & Rhea are the cutest nieces.

Jamshedpur is changing. But Jaychand's dosa, Lakhi's egg rolls & Daddy's cakes taste the same. And the Basant Talkies soda still retails at Rs. 2 a glass!

Mom has major health issues.

Life is set to see a lot of changes in a hurry.

Independence Day Week trip home

15th August this year was a Wednesday, something which was a big factor in helping me get the entire week from 13th to the 17th off from work.

Was flying for the first time ever. SpiceJet flight SG528, 9:50 a.m. BLR-CCU via HYD.

Reached the airport way before time (as usual), but don't regret it (never do), 'cause it helped me get the window seats near the emergency exits (as advised by Arnab). Boarding Pass obtained soon enough, spent time waiting for Security Check by alternating between the info display screen & the Kingfisher girls ....


The pic above was cadged from some aviation portal, by the way. Make no mistake, Mallya has gone in for some of the best girls in the business for his airline. I hear they are hired as 'models' in their contracts so that the company can keep an eye on their weight & figure & stuff. So much of effort for people like me, heh heh.

Anyway, back to the topic. Security Check was smooth & quick, CISF is doing a very good job at the airports. Talking of airports, HAL airport, Bangalore is a bit too small for the city it caters to. BLR deserves better, & will be getting a new airport next year.

SpiceJet flies the new Boeing 737-800 with winglets.


It's a smart looking bird.

Took some pics once inside. Guess what was common in the pics I took at BLR & HYD on the way home & at HYD on the way back?




All of 'em show fuel tankers topping up planes, that's what!

Did a lot of plane spotting .... the ubiquitous Airbus & Boeing passenger jets, Paramount's Embraers, some freighters, many ATRs, IAF fighters (probably the Tejas at BLR, although I'm not too sure), IAF Mi-17s & to top it all, this big bird at HYD, an AN-124 belonging to Volga-Dnepr.


Reached CCU a bit late, the pilots having recovered time well after the 40 minute delay at HYD. The landing could have been better though. CCU airport immediately casts a better first impression than the one at BLR.

Got on a pre-paid taxi for Howrah. It was okay as long as we were on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, but then we got into Manicktala & Posta & they left me depressed. These areas definitely need urgent makeovers, what with their decaying buildings, crowded streets, potholed roads & atrocious traffic.

One question though, how come one can still see so many Ambassadors on Kolkata roads?


Reached Howrah well in time (again) for the Steel. They've now got CCTV cameras in the waiting areas near platforms 13 & 14. Thought of taking some videos of those things in action, but then thought otherwise.

The Steel departed bang on time. It's always been one of my favourite trains & it was good to see the railways keeping standards up. Reached JSR on time. Homecoming is always the best journey.

It was not a good time of the year to visit home though. The monsoon was at it's strongest, barely letting up for an hour or two before coming down in full force again.


It's a tribute to JUSCO that there were no traffic jams or water logging anywhere. The roads were suffering though.

Some major changes are happening in my sleepy home town. A huge Reliance Fresh outlet is coming up near the house & the locals seemed eager for it to open. Huge (by small town standards, that is) 6-10 story buildings with glass facades are replacing the old brick & chajja structures along the main roads. I hear there's a new resort on the NH-33 which is also home to Adidas' second largest factory seconds store in the country! Besides, construction of the city's first 4 screen multiplex has reportedly started near Rivers' Meet. Spotted Tata-Sky & Dish TV dishes on a lot of roof tops. And what's more, Air Deccan is starting connecting flights between the city & Kolkata from the 27th of this month. Super.

Chhotu was looking good which was great since he came so close to the end a few months ago.


The days passed as fast as holidays are wont to & it was time to return to BLR soon. One good thing about taking a flight is that it cuts down on the heaviness one feels inside while going away from home. Oh, & I managed to get the window seat near the emergency exit this time as well, with both seats beside me empty during the journey. Super ample legroom & elbowroom on a low cost airline, anyone?

Some good things happened during this trip, namely India's test series victory over England & the 60th anniversary of the country's Independence ....


.... check out this year's display at the Red Fort for the PM's address. Sweet!