Dashing Dandeli….!! – Part 1

Hmmm….I think its quite a while since I’ve written a blog. The last one was the stupendous saturday….which I think you might’ve enjoyed reading. That one was the story of just ONE day…but this one is FOUR long days! Well, carry on…

“Yes….no…..yes….no…..yes!!!” And finally, our dream to explore and capture the serene Western Ghats came true with the exceptional agreement of my two cousins (as always) – Blacky (former Artgod/Nura) and Joky (former Eldest cousin) (please…don’t pronounce it as ‘jockey’…I mean, dont use the ‘aw’ sound). After Himavadgopalaswamy, we decided to go somewhere else known for adventure like Savandurga but I wasn’t able to make it since I’d agreed for the ‘ridiculously famous’ Golden Temple – Vellore. Well, I think the trip was worth if not for the Golden temple atleast for the Dhanvantri temple. Okay…..let’s get back to the topic. Where was I? Ah…yeah. The duo consented and now it was turn of my cousin sis ‘Trippy’ (former ND/creative sis/Kusaa) to execute plans. She and her mom were joining us on the trip and Joky booked the tickets up and down. Place? Yes….it is Dandeli! Mode of transport was obviously a train, since it was only 5 people. “Book Rani Chennamma” said I, since Rani Chennamma was supposedly a famous train from Bangalore to Kolhapur, and on the way was Alnavar – the nearest station to Dandeli. As luck would have it, or rather crazy Indians would have it, the tickets were sold in a jiffy and we had to put our heads down. Never mind, there’s always another door to heaven we thought and certainly the Garib Nawaz express came to our rescue. Now, it was our turn to hit back at the people and we got the tickets booked. The train commenced from Yeshwanthpur and travelled till Ajmer…but our destination was Londa which was the 2nd nearest station to Dandeli.

“Packing aacha?” (Is your packing over?) was the transparent question that would be asked everytime I go to Trippy’s house for which the answer would be, “Sooo early?”. Time passed by and finally the d-day arrived – Jan 14th. I had bunked college for ‘packing’ clothes which was just a matter of a few minutes. But still…..bunking is great fun (as you’ve gathered from my previous post). The train was to depart at 5.45 p.m. Toothpaste, soap, jacket, 3+1 pairs of clothes, binoculars…what else? “En shaalu edthkund po…romba kulur irkurdhu” (carry my shawl…it’ll be extremely cold) said my paati (grandma). Had I not obeyed her words, then I would’ve frozen there (literally)! Oops…looks like one kitbag isn’t enough. Whats the backpack for? Take it! I put the binoculars and a pair of shoes in that. Also, a magnetic game set (noughts & crosses, snake & ladder, ludo etc) was kept so that we could relax/play in the train if the question of boredom arose.

Oh…..time’s up. Me, Blacky, Trippy and mom – ready. Where’s Joky? Still in office! Duh…really don’t know what these software guys are upto. They work, work and work day and night. Nevertheless they get paid less. When the clock ticket 2.30, Joky said he would arrive in an hour or so. But that wasn’t the case…..about 1 1/2 hour elapsed and still he wasn’t there! Finally..at about 4.30 or so, he stepped in…..like dead beat (so exhausted). Hurry up…there’s no time for packing, so, get your wheels going! Joky, Blacky and I bid farewell to everyone at home and headed for Yeshwanthpur Railway Station. There, was Trippy and her retinue (mom and dad). Luckily, the train was at the first platform (from the back gate)…we rushed to our seats and arranged the luggage. Uff….it was still 5.10 pm; 35 minutes to go.

Now the weirdest session began……making a call to all our relatives and informing that we’re in the train, safe. This session compensated with the 35 minutes; but the train left a little late…around 5.55 p.m. What to do now? Talk, talk and talk! Infact, it was just showing off that we were at loose end. Till about 7.30 pm, we discussed about all topics under the sun! Blacky’s parents had called. So, we spoke to them for a while and I told that the paratha box which Blacky’s mom had sent was indeed ‘safe’, to which, a bomb of laughter exploded.Ah…now it’s time for dinner. So early? Yeah….you can’t expect to have dinner at 9 o clock in the train. Okay…as I’d already mentioned, the dinner was nothing more than a few parathas with a small box of  ’melkote puliyogare gojju’. Trippy said she didn’t want dinner as she had ‘motion sickness’ (sickness caused when you’re moving a vehicle) and that if she had something, she feared she’d puke. All right…..a total of 12 parathas…so, two each – me, Joky, Blacky and Trippy’s mom. To cope with shortage, Joky and Trippy’s mom gobbled extra two. The feeling of eating paratha with yummy puliyogare gojju in a TRAIN was definitely exciting for me…..to show off or rather to tempt others! But Indians aren’t like that…they’re in for any competition. Our co-passengers, a family of 3, were kind enough to offer us some kadlepuri. Hey….wait. Where to keep the empty box? We kept it in a cover under our seat and certainly this was the turning point of the trip (I’ll tell the incident in my next blog). Time elapsed….now came the burning question.

Where to sleep? I hadn’t slept in the upper berth……till then. Joky grabbed the left upper berth and Trippy’s mom did the same with the side lower. The family caught hold of right lower and right middle berths (the child was around 3 yrs…so, obviously it didn’t need a berth). The left ones were left middle, right upper and left lower berths. These can be arranged in 3P3 ways…(remember Permutations? Sorry, I’m weak in math! ). Trippy didn’t want the lower berth….I was okay with either upper or middle. I took a hard line; Trippy and I came to blows for the upper & middle ones. Within a moment Blacky jumped on the middle berth, thus intensifying our fight. “This is inequitable…I haven’t slept in the upper berth at all in my life. So I wanna try it” said I, to which, Trippy retorted “You can sleep anytime you go by a train. But, you fail to look at the problems of sleeping in the lower berth. It’s disgusting”. Making no other comments, I climbed upto the upper one and slept there. Trippy, in disgust, had no other way of enticing me and stood like a stone. I told Trippy that I’d give the upper berth by looking at her in a sympathized manner (I mean, I’d give it in a sense of mocking at her). Trippy, a dignified girl, didn’t want to give way and asked me to retain my position. Hmmm…what was interesting here is that Blacky, who was sitting pretty, enjoyed our fight and poured ghee to the fire.

Uff…..teething troubles! What? Yeah…those ugly tiny insects – the moths! There’s no doubt that I hate flying insects! Everyday I find millions of them in my house and each time I see them I feel like snapping ‘em! A moth was wandering in our cabin, near the tubelight on the ceiling. We couldn’t shoo it away since it’s obvious that insects are fond of light. The only remedy was to switch off the light which was however, not momentarily possible since our co-passengers were having dinner. I was totally disgusted and was rather in a trance; I wanted to sleep in the upper berth since I hadn’t done it in my life even though I felt like getting down because of the moth. Trippy and her retinue laughed at me and asked me not to make a mountain out of a molehill. Finally, I kept my fingers crossed and covered the bedsheet over my head.

The clock ticked 11. It was at this time that, Thanthi (my own sis) made a phone call to Joky’s mobile. She was in US (and is still there) and was certainly missing all these memorable moments…um, we thought if she returned from US by this time, we could ask her to join us but unfortunately……as I’ve already told you, these techies are most pitiable people on earth. She was given an extension of 3 months to complete her stupid work (I think it’s nothing more than stupid)…..Wokay, what to do? Aur aur kashta aurige. The talking session lasted for 20 minutes. Just then, Dharmavaram station arrived and the friends of our co-passengers (the family which I’ve mentioned) boarded.

Che….now started the trouble. The family in our cabin went to the next cabin where their friends were residing and started screaming happily. Duh…a hell lot of noise! That made us stay awake till 12. Never mind….after all, it’s a train. You’ve to be ready for anything. So, they kept the ball rolling and we apparently were half asleep – half awake. Ohh….its 2 a.m! And they’re still making noise….I felt like going and shouting at them, until a person from their adjacent cabin came and did my job. Abba…sadhya! The noise was over and I sighed thinking about relief. Alas! Now it’s even more worse! Joky, who was asleep in the left upper berth, opposite to me, started to………………what? Can’t guess? It’s a foregone conclusion…..what’ll you do if you’re deep asleep? Dream? Naaaah……it’s snore! But it wasn’t only me who was complaining, one of our co-passenger also was in the same boat as I. Keeping our fingers crossed, and most importantly closing our ears we were ready for forty winks.

The clock ticked 6 a.m and I woke up, doing Surya Namaskara (from a train!)…looking at the sun through the window! To my surprise, there, was Trippy…already awake. I thought maybe it was because she had the habit of getting up earlier, but, that wasn’t the case. She said she didn’t sleep half the while. Then, I realized what a mistake I’d committed. I spoke to her apologetically and broke the ice. Seri….no more ‘sentimental’ scenes! Now it’s time for brushing the teeth. Everyone went till the sink, brushed their teeth and also did the most important thing (what? it’s just irrigation! Can’t guess? duh….leave it!)

Blacky, having a glimpse at the scenery outside, started his usual speech saying the scenery had come in his dream….to which, we all had cold shoulders. The station was Dharwad and the time 7.30. There was still an hour to go. But there was one more shock waiting for us. Trippy’s mom had printed the schedule of the train and carried it with her. Alnavar wasn’t in it. But, the train stopped at Alnavar around 8.15. Our eyes expanded and we thought if we could get down there itself since it was nearer, but, we couldn’t since there were only a couple of minutes left. Wokay…let’s wait till Londa arrives. And it did, 15 minutes late. The train reached Londa at 8.45 and we kept our backpacks ready. “Mine 2, Joky’s 1, Blacky’s 1, Trippy and her mom’s 3…totally 7 bags…done” said I and we hurried to get down since the stopping time was hardly a minute. We searched for our driver, who was to take us to the resort. (The rest of the trip will be published in my next 2 blogs. Keep waiting!)

Advertisement