PNR Status: Waiting List #1 - Travelogue P2

What’s your plan? - Travelogue (Nagpur to Bangalore) dt. 28^th Sept 2013 

Part Two

-Still in the Train-

Soon after my lunch, I headed to the next coach to find the conductor. He sat in one of the compartments chatting with another fellow mates. He wrote me a bill for the ticket, and I finally got a sigh of relief for the onward journey. I had a pretty relaxing nap post all the exhaustive undertakings. The family guy is watching me write this article and we hit off a conversation. He appreciated my writing, and I hope you are too! ;) The guy is a travel agent in Nagpur and takes frequent trips with his family to places. My kinda guy! After a brief chat, and writing the previous article, I revisited my Eurotrip photos, which made me all nostalgic! I showed them the pictures and told stories about my trip. In return, I got a pretty good dinner offered by them! *bingo* I had the most tasty Curd-Rice ever for dinner and some parathas. The train was 50mins late but it had covered almost half hour of the time. My friend, Rohan was meeting me at the Secundrabad station and we planned for dinner. Also I had to look out for the next available bus to Bangalore, my final destination. It was again a gamble I was playing, but worth the experience. It was getting chilly inside so I moved to the door to get some natural air, spent some time talking to the fellow guy there. The station soon arrived and I waved the family to head on to the next madness of the trip!

-In Between-

 The station, Secundrabad brought in a lot of memories from my childhood, I’ve never been there, but my grandpa used to be a TTE at this very station route. I got a picture of the train station while I was out looking for my friend, and I must say it’s a beautiful place! One of the best train stations I’ve seen. Soon I met him and we headed first to secure a ticket for my journey ahead from there. Luckily, the booking kiosk was on the other side of the road. We inquired about the bus and it was ready to leave from the nearby stop. I shelled out another 900 bucks for the ticket and we went ahead to look for an autorickshaw till the desired place. Chatting in the available time we had, we shared a lot of things on the way.

Now, one of the famous places of Hyderabad, the Paradise Circle was my bus pick up point. This place is known for its world famous Biryani.  I quickly dialed my friend in Bangalore, where I was planning to stay, if he was interested in having some of the world famous food item, he replied in positive (who was I kidding anyway!) We rushed in the take away section and got us some yummy biryani! We chatted more and walked hurried towards the bus stop. Finally I got to the bus waiting for its passenger to arrive.

-The Bus-

As soon as I got inside, it felt like deserted land. There were hardly any people in the bus! I got in my assigned seat and settled myself with all the mess around. There was a movie going on, Once upon a time in Mumbai Dobara. It was a sequel to a pretty good movie and I was happy they weren’t showing some stupid movie, else my travel would have been ruined. Soon my co-passenger arrived and we head off with a chat. The bus halted in a while for refreshments and I got a pack of juice as my dinner. Opening up the little box given by mum, I found some sweet bread in it and viola, my dinner was done !

 ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

-Destination-

Okay I slept in there. It’s already morning. The bus halted pretty far from where I wanted to go and I had no option but to get down. My fellow passenger was getting off on the same stop so we head out to find a conveyance till out destinations. After struggling with the luggage and some mouthing with the autowallahs, we found a nice cool cab, which offered us a ride at dirt cheap rate. Without another thought, I got in zoom we went ahead. The driver was pretty fast and helped me reach the specific address in just 20mins! I got off, waved the new acquaintance and waited by the side of the road till my friend, Aditya arrived.

There! I complete my first travelogue. Good night I’m tired. Hope you did enjoy it J Share the love in the comments below! Caio!

PNR Status: Waiting List #1 - Travelogue

What’s your plan? - Travelogue (Nagpur to Bangalore) dt. 28^th Sept 2013

This is my first try at writing a travelogue while traveling, just to give you a note of caution. I am reminding of the very same day last year, when I boarded my first international flight to Paris for my conference trip. It was a moment of sheer uncertainty I did not have the visa awarded and I was not sure about going for the conference trip. The same feeling was repeated today when I was all set to get on a train to Bangalore. My ticket status was held up at #1 waiting list and I went to the station with all hopes to return back, same as I did the very same day last year.  That’s pure uncertainty!

-Railway Station- 

Now waiting for the train to arrive at the station, I stood motionless with my dad, who came to see me off at the station. We have absolutely no thought of how we were going to get the ticket. Soon the train arrived and we headed to the ticket collector with hopes of getting an unclaimed seat. After a few talks, he agreed to give me a seat in the AC tier 2 coach if I paid the ticket difference, good isn’t it? But it wasn’t meant to be that easy! I had booked my ticket online and as per the regulations of the website, if the ticket doesn’t get confirmed, its stands cancelled and you get the refund amount. The worst part of the story was my friggin’ ticket couldn’t cross the W/L #1 status! Now the TT told me to get a general ticket from the booking window so he can give me an upgrade over that in the train. These words resulted me in sprinting to the booking office like a military trainee with a few kgs of weight on my back.

-The Booking Counter- 

I forced myself between the crowds standing at the window and demanded for a ticket. The lady asked me for Rs. 1210 and I juggled between my bag, wallet and pocket to get out all the cash I had, simultaneously talking to dad about the train’s status. Again, this wasn’t supposed to be a simple task! The lady bluntly refused the cash I gave her as I didn’t have the Rs. 10 in change, and told me to head to another counter. By the time I reached the next counter, my father called telling the train had left, giving up, I walked back to the platform to carry the luggage out and look for more options. Painting a picture? Good. Don’t pity me yet.

-In Between- 

There are three ways for man to travel from one point to another – Air, Land, Sea. The third stands cancelled in my case. The first, highly expensive, but I did consider it for a while. On land, I had more two options – Bus and Train. Now I spent some time at the station looking for trains which I could take for Bangalore. One option I’ve preferred is going via Hyderabad, and halting there for a day, which is a highly exhausting option. After deciding that train wasn’t an option, we left to get a bus ticket booked. At the travel agent’s office, he helped explore us various options as I had to reach on Monday (today is Saturday and Bangalore is 1400kms away) Even considering to travel by State Transport Bus was not a viable option since the timing was a big issue. By the time I inquired about the same, the guy pulled up a few leads and told me that one of the trains to Hyderabad, was 50 mins late and I could catch it.

-Back to the Rly St-

We headed to the booking counter again and I got a general ticket costing Rs. 165 for Hyderabad. Dad and me, headed to the platform where the next train, Patna-Secundrabad Express was about to arrive. We quenched our thirst with a chilled bottle of water and satisfied the tummy with a complementary (paid) biscuit packet. That was the moment we felt a bit relaxed! After about 20 mins the train arrived and we again got into search for the TTE. Since the train is a day train, it has few people traveling in it. The guy told that there are a few seats available and asked to me to sit in B4-18. Happy and heaving a sigh of relief both of us headed in the air conditioned coach and let out blood settle down.

-The Train-

A cool and newly furnished coach was abode for the next few hours and unexpectedly clean. I waved dad good bye and got myself a plate of food. I was so bloody hungry! Soon the train picked up speed and I did the same with my food. Satisfying the wanting stomach, I am spending time chatting with fellow passengers, a family, and enjoying the view though the glass.

 *Part Two coming soon!*

 

The Romantic Wreck

Sailing through many a mile,
I find no place to stretch,
enduring this world for a while,
the heart has a name to etch.

Your still seem to be my side,
the touch in my hands, on my lip,
that moment has frozen inside,
your look made my heartbeat dip.

I fell deeper in the unknown,
flying amidst the crowds, swept,
that beauty got my senses blown,
love, was the emotion now I felt.

Lost my mind, dreaming the day,
blurred vision, no path felt steady,
If love's a tragedy, as they say,
darling, you're my remedy!

~ Mr. Khan.

Photo Credits: AFOPhotography

Nebula!

She hits you like a maelstrom,
the whirling view entices the senses,
paralyzed by the vista embedded in her eyes,
like a nebula, vivid; so stellar!

Enclosed like a pearl in the oyster,
yet it feels deep as an abyss,
pulled back and gravitated by the vignette,
remains no vestige of the lost senses.

Gyrating in the grisly moment of silent clamour,
gauging the pantheist scope of the predicament,
exalted in the lyric of the heavenly fantasy,
the soul drifts in the cadence of emotion.

The heart swells, in pathos, to let out a cry,
to delve in the abstract so metamorphic,
every blink, every streak, and the cosmos,
this metaphor stands to be vindicated.
 

Photo Credits: Rapunzel