Everyday is a journey, but some journeys bring freshness to the heart. The seeing and hearing of marvelous things, the delight of beholding new places, and the meeting of unknown friends are essential ingredients of a special journey.
The special journey I am talking about is my latest trip to Ratnagiri. The memories of this journey are so compelling, that it forced me to cut time out of my busy schedule to reconstruct the exact sequences of events that made this journey possible.
When I came to Mumbai, I never had any concrete plans of visiting Ratnagiri. Then came Saturday and Sunday, Of course on Saturday I had an opportunity to visit Bajaj Auto’s manufacturing plant in Pune but I preferred to go around Mumbai. By evening I was very tired after seeing both beautiful and ugly faces of Mumbai. I was in two minds whether to chill-out on Sunday or go to Ratnagiri. I decided for the latter. My Mallu-driver informed me that getting reservation at the last moment is next to impossible, however my uncle assured me that train is the best bet.
After refreshing myself at the guest house, I took an auto to reach Bandra station. This is my first Mumbai local-train experience, can you imagine. I bought a ticket, which I think is such a waste of time; I approached a policeman for assistance on where to board the train. He instructed me to go to the last platform. There was a huge crowd waiting to pounce, when train whistles past through the station. Imagine it was just a Saturday evening. I stood tentatively; the train came, a bit of valiant effort got me into the train. Mumbai Suburban Railway is a lifeline of Mumbai, providing affordable and reliable transport system for Mumbaikars. However, overcrowding makes it inhuman and often dangerous. During my stay in Mumbai, one day I read in a newspaper that commuters boycotted local trains for not increasing the frequency adequately.
For first timers journey on a local train will be fun-filled with excitement. Not so if you have to commute regularly. I reached Mumbai Central, waited in the long-queue only to be told that reservation chart is closed. Then a commuter advised me to go to Dadar, where private travels run buses to Ratnagiri. I didn’t waste a single minute, caught a local train and got down at Dadar. After 10 minutes walking through the Dadar market, I felt really tired; having skipped lunch in the afternoon wasn’t helping the matters either. But I made a conscious choice, so no matter what it takes reaching Ratnagiri was my top priority. Travel office after travel office answered “Nahi”, when I enquired about buses to Ratnagiri. I am not disheartened. Finally, a ray of hope, one travel agent answered in affirmative, only to be followed by a rider, “aap seedha chelo, ek petrol bunk aayega, udhar hamara bus kadi hi, aap lucky tho seat milega lekin jaldhi jaana padega (excuse me for my broken Hindi),” I walked, I jogged, I hopped and I sprinted for nearly half-a-kilometer. I made it, got into the bus, bought a ticket only to get last seat but no regrets.
I inquired driver when will bus reaches Ratnagiri, he told me by six in the morning. Okay, I can chill forgetting all the hardships I faced. Now its time to sleep, but the real story is ahead.
I forgot to tell you why I am going to Ratnagiri and why the desperation. Of course I am not going to meet any girl friend. My uncle (mother’s younger brother) lives there with his family. He is working as an engineer for a leading Indian company. My uncle came up the hard way, he took-off slowly but his professional rise in last few years was quite spectacular. My uncle’s wife is a teacher in a local school. My two little-mischievous cousins are studying in the same school. And last but not least my granny. Someone very close to my heart always feels her grandson (me) is a hero (though it sounds a bit embarrassment for others. I enjoy that despite denial). After a longtime I am seeing her, so this visit is something special.
I woke up to see the bus stopped; I checked time, its six. Oh god I thought this might be Ratnagiri. Without even asking the driver or fellow passengers I got down the bus. Then I called my uncle only to realize that I got down in a wrong place. How stupid I am, at that moment I felt I am the biggest idiot in the world. But these kind of self-indulging tense moments are nothing new for me. It happened in Mysore, it happened in Mattapalli but nevertheless the ending was always smooth, because I invoked god to get me out of the mess I created and he responded positively.
The place I got down was a small roadside village called Aravalli. With an auto-stand, a few tea-stalls where heavily blanketed men sipping their early morning tea and a stray female dog is bothered by its two playful puppies. The mud-scented village is slowly coming to life with crack of dawn. I intentionally switched off my mobile, as I thought it was one thing that will provide me some peace of mind. As my uncle loses temper quite often, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
One autowallah who observed me being tense, asked me what’s the matter, I told him
the entire story, he told getting Ratnagiri by auto will be unfeasible, as its around 65km and easily cost you more than 500 bucks. But spending 500 bucks seemed reasonable to save my face. At the same time I need to appreciate the honesty of auto-driver, had it would have been in Hyderabad you are sure to be taken for a ride.
Either catching a bus or hitch-hiking were two available options. I tried for half-an-hour, neither bus nor hitch-hiking worked. I was shattered, kicking the dust and cursing myself for the mess I made. The fog is so huge that I couldn’t identify a vehicle unless it’s just 10mts away. Finally, gods heard my plea and a small mini bus stopped in front of me. “Ratnagiri” the shout came, that word brought an immediate relief to my heart. Just got into the bus, took a seat beside window, and switched on my mobile, I could already sense panic bells ringing in my Uncle’s home as my mobile started ringing. But I am happy that I am on right track and in an hour or so I will be in Ratnagiri.
Just for a moment, I kept everything behind me and started enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the nature. The sunrays piercing through dense morning fog, the stunning Sahyadri hills, sprawling Mango orchards (Ratnagiri is famous for Alphonso mangoes), rivers and rivulets and clean-tidy villages, it’s just like a picture postcard. For those with passion for photography, you can’t get a better place than this one. Meanwhile the bus made a halt in a village. I got down and savoured a cup of tea.
Finally, at 8.00 am, I got down at landmark (not really) Vihar Delux hotel in Ratnagiri. Despite a few anxious moments I enjoyed every bit of this journey. If you call life is a journey, then ups and downs, joys and sorrows, failures and success come with you as baggage. This journey surely had a heavy baggage.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, October 12, 2007
My recent Chennai visit
This would be probably my fourth visit to Chennai. I am too small to remember my first visit, the second one is however a memorable one as I did spend one and half month completing my internship in Mount Road Mahavishnu. I barely spent 5 hrs in my third visit, in which 3 hrs I am in an examination centre. The fourth and latest visit though a two-day affair is a pleasant one.
This time I am in Chennai to accompany my friend Narayana, who joined Gemini TV of SunTV group. My friendship with Narayana goes back to my student days at Andhra University and last two years he is my roommate too. This guy is honest, hardworking and well mannered. I'll quote the phrase, which our prime minister is fond off "Friends can be chosen but not neighbours". I get the feeling that I have chosen the right friend.
So, when he asked me to accompany me I couldn't deny his request. Before we started I decided to stay at Divakar's room. Divakar is another right choice I made in my friendship. So after landing in Chennai Central at around 6 a.m. We made straight to Triplicane, where Divakar stays. Once again the notoriety of Chennai autowallahs is evident, as we paid 50 bucks for what might have been a maximum 30 bucks. I guess this Autowallah clan is from the same clone. They are quick to cash on poor traveler and that too the one who can't speak the local lingua.
Finally we got down at Triplicane's Jam Bazaar, which is slowly coming to life after the night break. We stood at Sagar Hotel, waiting to see in which lane would Divakar emerge. Divakar emerged from the lane right in front of us. Divakar is a stocky, on a bit darker side with acceptable Indian height. He is more identical to his mother and his brother I call him anna who is fairer is identical to his father. There is a belief that if a boy resembles his mother he is fortunate and the vice versa. This is true with Divakar, as he done well with his studies and now in his profession too.
This time around Divakar looked dull. As we started walking towards his mansion, he revealed that he his not feeling well since yesterday night. I guessed food would be the obvious culprit, and it was true. Divakar and me are great foodies, we invariably talk about food in our conversations. It doesn't take much time to figure that out by seeing our physical appearance. Since the day before happened to be Vinayaka Chavithi (Lord Vinayaka is another foodie) Divakar had a sumptuous meal at his brother's home. The yummy but stomach spoiler - Aarathi is probably the reason for his sickness. Aarathi is made of rice flour, coconut and jaggery made especially for the occasion of Vinayaka Chavithi. Vinayaka Chavithi in our part of Andhra, i.e. Visakhapatnam is said to be incomplete without this dish.
Within no time we reached Divakar's mansion also called as Rajam Mansion. Don't ever dare to think this 'mansion' in literary sense, its probably Triplicane style of calling bachelor apartments. Divakar's room is small, unkempt and barely enough for two souls to rest. No doubt this is a cheap and best accommodation you get in costly city like Chennai and most of the inmamtes are students and software professionals like my friend Divakar. Divakar had to make a sleep sacrifice, as he generally gets up to have lunch on holidays. Soon to join the discussion on Divakar's penchant for sleeping was his friend Vislesh. It doesn't take too much time for another new friendship to bloom.
Within no time I realised that Vislesh is missing his hometown Hyderabad. Of course Hyderabad has its advantages over Chennai mainly the people, language, weather, and cost of living makes it irresistible. Many do realize that Hyderabad is closing its ranks on the flop side of Chennai.
So, it was decided to have breakfast in Triplicane's renowned Ratna Cafe. I was ordered the Chennai's quintessential Sambar Idly and filter coffee. For an average Hyderabadi the items here are bit costly but on the whole I enjoyed the Sambar idly. Meanwhile one of my friend made an interesting observation on why the Chennai girls are on stubby side. Oops the reason - Sambar Idly.
After wandering in bachelor's paradise we finally ended up at Marina Beach. The beach is empty, might be due to Tsunami warning bells or the hot and humid Chennai afternoon. One thing I like about Hyderabad is its climate. Mostly cool with less humidity. Compared to Hyderabad, I felt Chennai is hot and humid. To my dismay my friend said this is somewhat cooler. Chepauk Stadium, Fort St George and Presidency College looks abutting the beach. When it comes to beach Chennai fares well over Hyderabad, as we are left with overcrowded stinking Hussain Sagar.
Its lunchtime. I must mention about Andhra food. The weakness of Andhras for their native Kodikura, Gongura and Avakaya has resulted in number of Andhra messes throught out India. One enterprising community of Andhra has cashed on this demand by creating makeshift dining halls and serving food to the craving tongues of Andhra at reasonable prices. Some also mixes 'sunnam' with `annam' to see that less eating and more profiting. But that doesn't deter us eating in these messes.
As I said Triplicane is home to a large number of Telugu bachelors, the result - Telugu messes in every nook and corner of Triplicane. Divakar after living here for sometime doesn't want us to mess around with food in Triplicane messes. He took us to a Tenali mess in Royapetah. So we were ordered meals with chicken. The chicken pulusu here is worth mentioning.
After having sumptuous lunch, the next thing a wise person like us would do is to have a slumber. And of course watching a film is the last thing on our list, and we decided to go to Yamagola (the latest one).
As Francis Bacon once said on books, I quote, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." If I replace book to film, even tasting this film is quite a task leave alone swallowing, chewing and digesting.
The day ended with Chennai style biryani for dinner.
This time I am in Chennai to accompany my friend Narayana, who joined Gemini TV of SunTV group. My friendship with Narayana goes back to my student days at Andhra University and last two years he is my roommate too. This guy is honest, hardworking and well mannered. I'll quote the phrase, which our prime minister is fond off "Friends can be chosen but not neighbours". I get the feeling that I have chosen the right friend.
So, when he asked me to accompany me I couldn't deny his request. Before we started I decided to stay at Divakar's room. Divakar is another right choice I made in my friendship. So after landing in Chennai Central at around 6 a.m. We made straight to Triplicane, where Divakar stays. Once again the notoriety of Chennai autowallahs is evident, as we paid 50 bucks for what might have been a maximum 30 bucks. I guess this Autowallah clan is from the same clone. They are quick to cash on poor traveler and that too the one who can't speak the local lingua.
Finally we got down at Triplicane's Jam Bazaar, which is slowly coming to life after the night break. We stood at Sagar Hotel, waiting to see in which lane would Divakar emerge. Divakar emerged from the lane right in front of us. Divakar is a stocky, on a bit darker side with acceptable Indian height. He is more identical to his mother and his brother I call him anna who is fairer is identical to his father. There is a belief that if a boy resembles his mother he is fortunate and the vice versa. This is true with Divakar, as he done well with his studies and now in his profession too.
This time around Divakar looked dull. As we started walking towards his mansion, he revealed that he his not feeling well since yesterday night. I guessed food would be the obvious culprit, and it was true. Divakar and me are great foodies, we invariably talk about food in our conversations. It doesn't take much time to figure that out by seeing our physical appearance. Since the day before happened to be Vinayaka Chavithi (Lord Vinayaka is another foodie) Divakar had a sumptuous meal at his brother's home. The yummy but stomach spoiler - Aarathi is probably the reason for his sickness. Aarathi is made of rice flour, coconut and jaggery made especially for the occasion of Vinayaka Chavithi. Vinayaka Chavithi in our part of Andhra, i.e. Visakhapatnam is said to be incomplete without this dish.
Within no time we reached Divakar's mansion also called as Rajam Mansion. Don't ever dare to think this 'mansion' in literary sense, its probably Triplicane style of calling bachelor apartments. Divakar's room is small, unkempt and barely enough for two souls to rest. No doubt this is a cheap and best accommodation you get in costly city like Chennai and most of the inmamtes are students and software professionals like my friend Divakar. Divakar had to make a sleep sacrifice, as he generally gets up to have lunch on holidays. Soon to join the discussion on Divakar's penchant for sleeping was his friend Vislesh. It doesn't take too much time for another new friendship to bloom.
Within no time I realised that Vislesh is missing his hometown Hyderabad. Of course Hyderabad has its advantages over Chennai mainly the people, language, weather, and cost of living makes it irresistible. Many do realize that Hyderabad is closing its ranks on the flop side of Chennai.
So, it was decided to have breakfast in Triplicane's renowned Ratna Cafe. I was ordered the Chennai's quintessential Sambar Idly and filter coffee. For an average Hyderabadi the items here are bit costly but on the whole I enjoyed the Sambar idly. Meanwhile one of my friend made an interesting observation on why the Chennai girls are on stubby side. Oops the reason - Sambar Idly.
After wandering in bachelor's paradise we finally ended up at Marina Beach. The beach is empty, might be due to Tsunami warning bells or the hot and humid Chennai afternoon. One thing I like about Hyderabad is its climate. Mostly cool with less humidity. Compared to Hyderabad, I felt Chennai is hot and humid. To my dismay my friend said this is somewhat cooler. Chepauk Stadium, Fort St George and Presidency College looks abutting the beach. When it comes to beach Chennai fares well over Hyderabad, as we are left with overcrowded stinking Hussain Sagar.
Its lunchtime. I must mention about Andhra food. The weakness of Andhras for their native Kodikura, Gongura and Avakaya has resulted in number of Andhra messes throught out India. One enterprising community of Andhra has cashed on this demand by creating makeshift dining halls and serving food to the craving tongues of Andhra at reasonable prices. Some also mixes 'sunnam' with `annam' to see that less eating and more profiting. But that doesn't deter us eating in these messes.
As I said Triplicane is home to a large number of Telugu bachelors, the result - Telugu messes in every nook and corner of Triplicane. Divakar after living here for sometime doesn't want us to mess around with food in Triplicane messes. He took us to a Tenali mess in Royapetah. So we were ordered meals with chicken. The chicken pulusu here is worth mentioning.
After having sumptuous lunch, the next thing a wise person like us would do is to have a slumber. And of course watching a film is the last thing on our list, and we decided to go to Yamagola (the latest one).
As Francis Bacon once said on books, I quote, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." If I replace book to film, even tasting this film is quite a task leave alone swallowing, chewing and digesting.
The day ended with Chennai style biryani for dinner.
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