Day of Adventures

Click... click... click... I could see flashes when I woke up on 16th Morning. Mervin had just come out of the bathroom after a cold shower and Sujesh and Sumesh were clicking pics of him clad in a towel. I was the last one to enter the bathroom – as this plan gave me more time than others to be bedridden. Which are the famous songs that the beggars in the local trains sing usually was the thought that ran in my mind. I completed all my activities in the bathroom with the same thought in my mind. As I completed my activities, a bulb glowed beside my forehead.

“Mere yaadonme, Mere Khwabonme roz aate ho tum, iss tarah bhala meri jaan mujhe kyu sataate ho tum” I began in the dickey with a tone worse than “Deka he peli baar”. I was successful in irritating everyone in the cab. “Abey phate dhol ki tarah bajna band kar” Sindhu yelled at me. But her sweet voice could explain me that she was enjoying it. But this fun couldn’t last longer. The Ghats of Coorg re-instantiated the traveling sickness in me and I began vomiting – empty stomach. The sour and bitter fluids in my stomach were flowing out through my mouth.

I had to then shift my base from dickey to the drivers’ side seat. Accompanying me again was Umesh. But this time, he was in the window and I was besides the driver. “How long is the way to Bangalore, uncle?” I asked the driver. His irritation was clear on his face. It was obvious of him to be irritated for what one expects if one is being asked the same question after every half an hour.

I wanted to arrive at Bangalore before 3pm to meet Sindhu Namithesh and Sindhu Ramakrishnan (my Accenture Training Friends) before I return to Pune.

On the way back to Bangalore, we halted at the banks of a river for some rafting experience. It would have been stupid of us to have missed that experience because there was no clue if we could have such activities again. Though I was running short of time, I agreed to go rafting. “Adi wants to do everything irrespective of the time available”, I could read this statement on the face of Nilesh who had been coordinating with both the Sindhu about our meeting.

With the floating jackets, helmets and paddles we sat in the raft. We were two teams – the left one with Umesh, Pinky, Nilesh, Sindhu and Me and right one with Sujesh, Mervin, Sumesh and Vanita. Behind Vanita was the trainer who guided us in rowing the raft. Splash and we began the raft. “Row Forward”, “Row backward”, “Stop”, “Get Down”; the trainer kept instructing us about the method of rowing we must follow in the rapids.

“You can jump out of the raft in the water” said the trainer as the raft arrived in the safest place with no rocks around. Sujesh sprang inside the water. Seeing him standing vertically with the support of the rope around the raft, I thought may be the river bed isn’t too deep. Even I jumped in. It was now that I realized that Sujesh could be vertical in the river dues to the up thrust of the water, the floating jacket and his swimming talent. “Bachao... Bachao” I enjoyed asking for help. After sometime even Vanita, Mervin and Umesh jumped into water. It was real fun to have the drowning experience while knowing we are safe. The trainer showed us the technique to pull the drowning person into the raft. As we rowed forward, we saw fish eating birds, wild dogs and peahens. The experience was amazing.

“How long is the way to Bangalore, uncle?” I asked the driver uncle once we all began back for Bangalore after river rafting. By now, even he knew that I had some one very special to meet at Bangalore. Nilesh kept coordinating with Sindhu Namithesh and Sindhu Ramakrishnan postponing the time of our meet. From 3pm, we postponed the meet to 4, then to 5.

“How long is the way to Bangalore, uncle?” I kept asking him again and again. I was concentrating on two needles. The one that showed the hour hand of the clock and the one that showed the speed of the vehicle. On the Bangalore-Mysore highway we were crossing the speed of 180kmph, yet I was not satisfied. The clock was ticking too fast. I was still asking uncle to drive faster. After river rafting, this was another adventure that we were going through – traveling at a speed of more than 180kmph.

Time now was past 4.45pm when we were welcomed by the irritating Bangalore traffic. It took us more than an hour to reach Banashankari. Refreshed at Sindhu Nair’s place, me and Nilesh started for BTM at 6.15 and reached there at 6.50 due to the traffic on the Sunday evening. Obviously, the mercury of Sindhu Namithesh and Sindhu Ramakrishnan who were waiting for us from 3pm had risen to the level of sky.

“Friends are here to understand you”, Sindhu Ramakrishnan said in a soothing voice as she noticed the feeling of guilt on my face. I should have reached a little early to have some time to be spent with her but now there was no point in crying over the spoilt milk. I had spoilt her mood and her evening.

Wasting no time, we began looking for an auto to Bangalore City Railway Station. After a long wait, we got into one. Over the travel towards the station, we were discussing about our New Year party we had at The Unwind Island during the beginning of 2009 and about the days that are never going to come back. We were discussing about why we had only 24 hours in a day during these three days. We were discussing about how far we are from each other and how farther are we going to be.

When we arrived at the Railway Station, we purchased some extra platform tickets for Nilesh, Sindhu Namithesh, Umesh, Mervin, Sindhu Nair, etc who were expected to arrive at the Railway Station anytime to see off all the non-Bangalore residents. I saw that my coach S9 is 11th coach and Sumesh’s coach S3 is 5th coach. I, along with Sindhu Ramakrishnan stood near 5th coach and asked everyone to join us there.

At about 7.50pm, everyone had arrived. I forgot to see which direction I am standing. Instead of standing at the 5th coach from the engine, I was at the 5th coach from the end – which was S9 – my own coach. When Sindhu Namithesh told me it’s my coach, I went inside and kept my luggage at a seat besides the door and stood near the door. The minute hand of the clock was advancing. The time now was 7.55pm.

“Please someone stop this clock from ticking any further.” I said. I didn’t want the clock to reach 8.10pm – the scheduled departure. I wanted to spend some more time with each one of my friends. All three Sindhus, Vanita, Pinky, Nilesh, Mervin, Sumesh, Sujesh, Umesh… I wanted to spend some more time with each one of them.

I was feeling uncomfortable. There was a pressure that was building beneath my throat. Yes, the tears had already been formed in my eyes and they were waiting to flow out. But I was trying to control them. May be I had grown up now to stop myself from crying before others. But the comfort level for me was zero.

As clock ticked 8.10pm, my smile reduced from 4inches to 2inches. It’s now that the train will carry me towards Pune. But with every minute delayed by the motorman in starting the train, my joy was coming back. I have had 5 minutes extra to spend with my friends. The extra minutes then increased to 10, then 15 and finally 20. I hugged my friends, they consoled me. “We will meet soon Adi” they said to me.

Time now was 8.30pm. The motorman blew the horn. The train began.