Journey of Joy and Frustration

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.