Too Much For A Day!
It was long and eventful day, it never seemed to end. However, when it really did end, to recollect, we experienced it all, amazements, frustrations, breakdowns, and of course loads of fun.
7:30am, 1st Nov 2004
Sanjaynagar,
Bangalore
Three people eagerly wait in early hours of the day in front of a closed bakery to get away from their chores, to experience something, which they would never do in their mundane life. Little did they know what was in store for them. But, much as expected the cab was late. Impatient, as we were when the cab did finally arrive, all of us did have a word to say to Vishwa, the trip coordinator, but he had many in return. The cab already filled with many more than familiar faces. There was Ranjini, who also had a key role in materializing this trip, there was Asha, the trip idea was from her. Also, was the king HR Pratap, and so was the sleeping beauty Madhukar Jain. Tejaswini was the only new one around. And so we drove on to pick up Satyendar. We were already running late, very late.
And So It Began….
Though not on time, it began (ah!! Who cares we were out there to have some fun). It took a while getting out of the city, while Satya’s and my stomach roared with hunger. We had to wait for it, until we reached a park infested with monkeys. Many seemed to be fascinated by the urge that monkeys had for food, (little did we look at ourselves). The breakfast was light (thanks to Ranjini), but filling enough to get us going. The caffeine addicts wouldn’t move on without their morning dose, so we drove across to Loka Ruchi. After a quick drink, the cab now was speeding amidst the renowned Bangalore-Mysore road traffic. And so it began.
The Road Trip….
It had been more than hour since we started the journey, when boredom seemed to be taking we had someone spring up to say “Let’s play DC!!” Oh Boy we needed some entertainment or what. And quickly the teams we made, the first movie, Asha was to enact. It was Tora, Tora, Tora! At first it almost seemed an impossible one, she never seems like giving up either, she took her time, until to she spilt the word torino to get it. Fair enough, none of us were professional, neither did we intended to play the game that way. And, so the game moved on, there were movies weird and whack!! From the 1970’s to the ones in this century. The Outlaw Josey Wales was one controversial one. The was Johnny English, Schindler’s List, to DMX Bandits. Ah but the Hindi movies are worth mentioning, there was Veer Gatodkach, to ‘Shaitan ki Something Aur Peshach ki Something’ It was fun, splitting the words, while the cab moved on past Mysore.
Not that we were getting bored, but, we didn’t want to play DC for the rest of the journey. So, we decided it was ‘time for a change’. Truth and Dare it was. Argh! What the hell no one knew each other, but that was the point, we wanted to know each other. So, the standard questions began, who is your current crush, all your crushes?? And, as usual, I had list of them, all of them but one was success. It wasn’t seemed to be going anywhere!! Nobody seemed to dare!! Until the brave Mr. Madhukar decided that he was going to dance like Mathondkar (Urmila) in Rangeela. Must say dancing in a speeding truck is never easy, especially when are to twist it that extra bit like Urmila. Impressive he was. That left was with question, “If Madhukar weren’t in SAP, where would be?” If I were to take a guess……. (yeah correct!!!) We were just started, more was yet to come. But question which won a million dollars was when Satyendar chose the ‘truth’ and the rightful path. “Who are all Madhukar Jain’s crushes?” Beautifully phrased. Answers, hmm, interesting ones. Next the brave Arathi chose dare, when she had yell out to cyclist on the road that his headlight was on. God knows which one!
It All Seemed So Perfect…. It Still Was
After the first round of truth or dare, we decided to play Antakshari, all of us were singing (or so it seemed). Suddenly, something grabbed our attention the cab had stopped, and then moved on, but there was a rattling under the floor of the cab, was it axle tearing down? None of us wanted a delay now, we were already running late. We stopped neat a small town for a status check, the mechanic said “It wasn’t a problem really, if the driver had none with moving on” But one thing was clear, he neither had the expertise nor equipment to deal with problem. But, there was another thing that was also clear; we weren’t going to turn around either.
Welcome To Bandipur
Though late, we were finally there, we hopped out of the cab, with all our gear, cameras, sunglasses, most importantly water, no sooner we did that, there was vehicle on its way down the hill pointed out that there were elephants up road. The reactions were mixed, was still game-on for walking, some wanted to get back into the cab. Ah.. what the hell, we had come all the way to one god darn thing, and now we cant do it because elephants were having a walk in their park? What life without little bit risk? Otherwise what is the difference between you and toilet paper?
So, we moved on, the climb was steep, the road was narrow, there was green all around, laid out like a carpet with intricate designs. Even the randomness of these designs seems to follow a pattern. The green was not uniform; it was a little parched in areas luscious in some. All of it, it was waiting, waiting to be explored. Of course, it was much welcome change to the eyes which are always set on a dumb box on table.
The Sun was beating down hard, with a sweat on our brow we carried on, there were far too many things inspiring us to keep us going. There was the STF Chief – Satya who led the way. There was Asha who was narrating here leechy-experience on one of her previous treks. Ranjini was on the parapet. Slowly walked on.
The sine of the inclination seemed to be increasing; all of us felt the pinch, but, there was one who felt it a little more than any of us did. RT. All of us rested to stay her; after while we moved on, and rested, it was all staccato. But, there was one stop which was more memorable than the rest. RT was leaning on the parapet, to get some rest, and then she almost passed out on the edge of that wall. Somebody had to do something, real quick!
There was brave Mr. Satyendar and Ranjini to her rescue. She recuperated pretty soon and we were back on way. Thanks to Vish and STF chief for getting the cab back on time.
The Temple and The King
Finally, there we were on top of a small hill, yet feeling so great. The temple was old, over 700 years, with a lot of history with it. The temple wasn’t crowed but, there were enough people to make the place seem lively. Quick prayers were offered. Photographs were taken. The beauty was scenic to miss out on. It was over 4:30pm and, after the trek we had lunch and decided to move on.
The First Glitch
So, there we were alighting the cab, hoping for a safe return home, thinking of all the fun that we had over the past hours, and the next ones which we are going to have. Kind as we were, we offered to take a couple of people for a free ride to a near by town. And, so with two people more, we started. The man chanted “Govinda, Gooovinda!”. Little did we know, that our plight to follow was “Goo-in-da”!!!
We drove down the hill, moving faster than we climbed up. Meanwhile, the rattling of the axle got worse, to the extent that we had to stop every hundred meters for it to stop. We inched along at a snail’s pace. We were getting a little edgy about the issue, we had no option, because we were in the middle of a bloody jungle! There were a few calls made, arrangements were made in Mysore to get the hitch fixed. We were now headed to Mysore, and everyone had a calculator in their head, about when they would reach home. Unconsciously, all of us had calculated the same answer – “Very Late”. But that meant only one thing, we more time to have fun!!
The Mysore Fiasco
And, when reached Mysore, the cab went to garage, and went to the palace. The palace was lit. It was gorgeous sight, bright and grand there it stood! The closer we drew, the more regal it looked. More photographs were taken. Our luck never seemed to get any better from there, Ranjini said “This is sure is a spectacle”; we walked a few paces; and swoosh; all the lights go off; time-out, turn around. It was 8 o clock, that’s when the palace goes to sleep. But it was yet only dinnertime for us, we walked across a nearby pizza corner. I was pretty shocked to see placard kind of thing outside the pizza corner which said “Please wait to be seated”. The place was bloody devoid a single soul, or so it seemed! And so, we got the food packed, and walked back to the garage. Argh! What the hell, they we weren’t through with whatever the repair was?? It was over 20:30 hrs. All of us were really, really ticked off!!!
We counted our options; we had only one, to wait for the cab! And so we did. So, the cab was ready, all of us got in, moved out of the garage a few meters; and then guess what happens? A flat !!!!!!!$in’ tyre!!! What could we do? What could the driver do? He sure like hell was having a bad day!! He fixed it in sometime while we had our pizza’s on the roadside. And, so we on our way back.
Pratap In Action
All through the day, this man, seemingly so innocuous, pounced upon on us, like a bat set out to get his prey in the night. Looked like the trip started here for him, all of us needed it, someone to pump up our energy levels. There was Mr. Pratap with his perplexing puzzles, which baffled all of us (not the puzzles, but his enthusiasm for it)
It is melodious when the heart sings..
This was one thing I dreaded most; I had Satya, Vishwa breathing down my neck; asking me to sing! Me?? Sing?? Must be a joke!!! I have never sung outside of my bathroom recently!! Now all of them wanted me to sing!! Oh damn!!! I was in big trouble alright! But, by public demand I had to sing- ‘Nothing Else Matters-Metallica’ –that’s what it was!! What happened after I finished singing I wont write about it! Boy, I will remember those couple of minutes for long time in my life!
And, then there was Arathi who sang a whole song, “zara zara..” – it was. There was an subtle intensity in the tone, in the _expression. All of us could feel it. Ranjini came up with a beauty – “Oh re taal mile nadi ke jal mein”, the whole song means so much! Pratap was no less! All of them were great, Asha, Satyendar, Madhukar, Tej!! But I didn’t hear the STF Chief sing at all, probably he was strategizing? But for what? isn’t Veerappan dead?
But, the man who rocked the show, Mr. Vishwa- with Ice Ice Baby!! Yeah baby, he was as chilled as the ice!!
The Puncture Shop And Back Home
We had enough of grime for the day, it was the going to be the next day in an hour! There was no way that we were willing to drive all the way to Bangalore without a spare tyre, especially with the kind of roads! We spent a good part of an hour there, until we finally got going. The drive back home long, I could never sleep while travel, but we could all use some rest. I closed my eyes, just remember, a few hours ago I had just entered into the cab, and asked around “Why the hell were you late?” It seemed so long away now! But, it was just a day. Scenes from the day past me, as we drove along, and there another blessed thing that sudden came across to my mind, “Office”! I was totally pooped, there was no way I could make it to office tomorrow, rather the same day. I did tell someone, don’t be surprised if I don’t turn up tomorrow!
Lucky me was back home by 1:30am; hit the sack!
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/llimp_bizkit/album?.dir=/e646&.src=ph&.tok=phi5cACBzHszYx93
The Next Day
God knows how, I was there at my stop 8:10am, struggling to open my eyes even, and there was the shuttle driving towards me. Hopped in to see many of same faces but in new light. Wasn’t to be! All the ladies were there! And there was me! No Vish, No STF Chief, No Madhukar Jain, No Satyendar.
Few guys from shuttle were curious about the trip, we could only empathize with them, like they missed out on a great adventure (bloody hell, it was an adventure!!!!) and I could do I brag, brag, brag….seemed to have lost the need for sleep.. somewhere !
True there were a few fouled up things in trip; but who care we had a ball of time. But, I seriously wish that first of many more trips to come!
And So It Began….
Though not on time, it began (ah!! Who cares we were out there to have some fun). It took a while getting out of the city, while Satya’s and my stomach roared with hunger. We had to wait for it, until we reached a park infested with monkeys. Many seemed to be fascinated by the urge that monkeys had for food, (little did we look at ourselves). The breakfast was light (thanks to Ranjini), but filling enough to get us going. The caffeine addicts wouldn’t move on without their morning dose, so we drove across to Loka Ruchi. After a quick drink, the cab now was speeding amidst the renowned Bangalore-Mysore road traffic. And so it began.
The Road Trip….
It had been more than hour since we started the journey, when boredom seemed to be taking we had someone spring up to say “Let’s play DC!!” Oh Boy we needed some entertainment or what. And quickly the teams we made, the first movie, Asha was to enact. It was Tora, Tora, Tora! At first it almost seemed an impossible one, she never seems like giving up either, she took her time, until to she spilt the word torino to get it. Fair enough, none of us were professional, neither did we intended to play the game that way. And, so the game moved on, there were movies weird and whack!! From the 1970’s to the ones in this century. The Outlaw Josey Wales was one controversial one. The was Johnny English, Schindler’s List, to DMX Bandits. Ah but the Hindi movies are worth mentioning, there was Veer Gatodkach, to ‘Shaitan ki Something Aur Peshach ki Something’ It was fun, splitting the words, while the cab moved on past Mysore.
Not that we were getting bored, but, we didn’t want to play DC for the rest of the journey. So, we decided it was ‘time for a change’. Truth and Dare it was. Argh! What the hell no one knew each other, but that was the point, we wanted to know each other. So, the standard questions began, who is your current crush, all your crushes?? And, as usual, I had list of them, all of them but one was success. It wasn’t seemed to be going anywhere!! Nobody seemed to dare!! Until the brave Mr. Madhukar decided that he was going to dance like Mathondkar (Urmila) in Rangeela. Must say dancing in a speeding truck is never easy, especially when are to twist it that extra bit like Urmila. Impressive he was. That left was with question, “If Madhukar weren’t in SAP, where would be?” If I were to take a guess……. (yeah correct!!!) We were just started, more was yet to come. But question which won a million dollars was when Satyendar chose the ‘truth’ and the rightful path. “Who are all Madhukar Jain’s crushes?” Beautifully phrased. Answers, hmm, interesting ones. Next the brave Arathi chose dare, when she had yell out to cyclist on the road that his headlight was on. God knows which one!
It All Seemed So Perfect…. It Still Was
After the first round of truth or dare, we decided to play Antakshari, all of us were singing (or so it seemed). Suddenly, something grabbed our attention the cab had stopped, and then moved on, but there was a rattling under the floor of the cab, was it axle tearing down? None of us wanted a delay now, we were already running late. We stopped neat a small town for a status check, the mechanic said “It wasn’t a problem really, if the driver had none with moving on” But one thing was clear, he neither had the expertise nor equipment to deal with problem. But, there was another thing that was also clear; we weren’t going to turn around either.
Welcome To Bandipur
Though late, we were finally there, we hopped out of the cab, with all our gear, cameras, sunglasses, most importantly water, no sooner we did that, there was vehicle on its way down the hill pointed out that there were elephants up road. The reactions were mixed, was still game-on for walking, some wanted to get back into the cab. Ah.. what the hell, we had come all the way to one god darn thing, and now we cant do it because elephants were having a walk in their park? What life without little bit risk? Otherwise what is the difference between you and toilet paper?
So, we moved on, the climb was steep, the road was narrow, there was green all around, laid out like a carpet with intricate designs. Even the randomness of these designs seems to follow a pattern. The green was not uniform; it was a little parched in areas luscious in some. All of it, it was waiting, waiting to be explored. Of course, it was much welcome change to the eyes which are always set on a dumb box on table.
The Sun was beating down hard, with a sweat on our brow we carried on, there were far too many things inspiring us to keep us going. There was the STF Chief – Satya who led the way. There was Asha who was narrating here leechy-experience on one of her previous treks. Ranjini was on the parapet. Slowly walked on.
The sine of the inclination seemed to be increasing; all of us felt the pinch, but, there was one who felt it a little more than any of us did. RT. All of us rested to stay her; after while we moved on, and rested, it was all staccato. But, there was one stop which was more memorable than the rest. RT was leaning on the parapet, to get some rest, and then she almost passed out on the edge of that wall. Somebody had to do something, real quick!
There was brave Mr. Satyendar and Ranjini to her rescue. She recuperated pretty soon and we were back on way. Thanks to Vish and STF chief for getting the cab back on time.
The Temple and The King
Finally, there we were on top of a small hill, yet feeling so great. The temple was old, over 700 years, with a lot of history with it. The temple wasn’t crowed but, there were enough people to make the place seem lively. Quick prayers were offered. Photographs were taken. The beauty was scenic to miss out on. It was over 4:30pm and, after the trek we had lunch and decided to move on.
The First Glitch
So, there we were alighting the cab, hoping for a safe return home, thinking of all the fun that we had over the past hours, and the next ones which we are going to have. Kind as we were, we offered to take a couple of people for a free ride to a near by town. And, so with two people more, we started. The man chanted “Govinda, Gooovinda!”. Little did we know, that our plight to follow was “Goo-in-da”!!!
We drove down the hill, moving faster than we climbed up. Meanwhile, the rattling of the axle got worse, to the extent that we had to stop every hundred meters for it to stop. We inched along at a snail’s pace. We were getting a little edgy about the issue, we had no option, because we were in the middle of a bloody jungle! There were a few calls made, arrangements were made in Mysore to get the hitch fixed. We were now headed to Mysore, and everyone had a calculator in their head, about when they would reach home. Unconsciously, all of us had calculated the same answer – “Very Late”. But that meant only one thing, we more time to have fun!!
The Mysore Fiasco
And, when reached Mysore, the cab went to garage, and went to the palace. The palace was lit. It was gorgeous sight, bright and grand there it stood! The closer we drew, the more regal it looked. More photographs were taken. Our luck never seemed to get any better from there, Ranjini said “This is sure is a spectacle”; we walked a few paces; and swoosh; all the lights go off; time-out, turn around. It was 8 o clock, that’s when the palace goes to sleep. But it was yet only dinnertime for us, we walked across a nearby pizza corner. I was pretty shocked to see placard kind of thing outside the pizza corner which said “Please wait to be seated”. The place was bloody devoid a single soul, or so it seemed! And so, we got the food packed, and walked back to the garage. Argh! What the hell, they we weren’t through with whatever the repair was?? It was over 20:30 hrs. All of us were really, really ticked off!!!
We counted our options; we had only one, to wait for the cab! And so we did. So, the cab was ready, all of us got in, moved out of the garage a few meters; and then guess what happens? A flat !!!!!!!$in’ tyre!!! What could we do? What could the driver do? He sure like hell was having a bad day!! He fixed it in sometime while we had our pizza’s on the roadside. And, so we on our way back.
Pratap In Action
All through the day, this man, seemingly so innocuous, pounced upon on us, like a bat set out to get his prey in the night. Looked like the trip started here for him, all of us needed it, someone to pump up our energy levels. There was Mr. Pratap with his perplexing puzzles, which baffled all of us (not the puzzles, but his enthusiasm for it)
It is melodious when the heart sings..
This was one thing I dreaded most; I had Satya, Vishwa breathing down my neck; asking me to sing! Me?? Sing?? Must be a joke!!! I have never sung outside of my bathroom recently!! Now all of them wanted me to sing!! Oh damn!!! I was in big trouble alright! But, by public demand I had to sing- ‘Nothing Else Matters-Metallica’ –that’s what it was!! What happened after I finished singing I wont write about it! Boy, I will remember those couple of minutes for long time in my life!
And, then there was Arathi who sang a whole song, “zara zara..” – it was. There was an subtle intensity in the tone, in the _expression. All of us could feel it. Ranjini came up with a beauty – “Oh re taal mile nadi ke jal mein”, the whole song means so much! Pratap was no less! All of them were great, Asha, Satyendar, Madhukar, Tej!! But I didn’t hear the STF Chief sing at all, probably he was strategizing? But for what? isn’t Veerappan dead?
But, the man who rocked the show, Mr. Vishwa- with Ice Ice Baby!! Yeah baby, he was as chilled as the ice!!
The Puncture Shop And Back Home
We had enough of grime for the day, it was the going to be the next day in an hour! There was no way that we were willing to drive all the way to Bangalore without a spare tyre, especially with the kind of roads! We spent a good part of an hour there, until we finally got going. The drive back home long, I could never sleep while travel, but we could all use some rest. I closed my eyes, just remember, a few hours ago I had just entered into the cab, and asked around “Why the hell were you late?” It seemed so long away now! But, it was just a day. Scenes from the day past me, as we drove along, and there another blessed thing that sudden came across to my mind, “Office”! I was totally pooped, there was no way I could make it to office tomorrow, rather the same day. I did tell someone, don’t be surprised if I don’t turn up tomorrow!
Lucky me was back home by 1:30am; hit the sack!
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/llimp_bizkit/album?.dir=/e646&.src=ph&.tok=phi5cACBzHszYx93
The Next Day
God knows how, I was there at my stop 8:10am, struggling to open my eyes even, and there was the shuttle driving towards me. Hopped in to see many of same faces but in new light. Wasn’t to be! All the ladies were there! And there was me! No Vish, No STF Chief, No Madhukar Jain, No Satyendar.
Few guys from shuttle were curious about the trip, we could only empathize with them, like they missed out on a great adventure (bloody hell, it was an adventure!!!!) and I could do I brag, brag, brag….seemed to have lost the need for sleep.. somewhere !
True there were a few fouled up things in trip; but who care we had a ball of time. But, I seriously wish that first of many more trips to come!
posted by Vish at 4:08 AM
2 comments
