A Journey to South : Part 2

Read Part 1: Click Here

Part 2:  'JOURNEY AND FUN'

We three newbie were on and ready to go. The cabin crew have a tough job, must say. No doubt they are paid well. They do everything, from enacting safety guidelines through hand gestures to carrying food every now and then, collecting unwashed plates to calling out for passengers at airport. Not quite fancy as I thought. Bus Conductors of HRTC have more privileged life than that. I had allowed  mom to sit on the window seat, I saw she was curious and happy, I didn't want to ruin it. Initial excitement had settled, as plane soared high up.But, my mum still hadn't gotten over the beautiful clouds and scenes from high up. Dad got magazines to read. Noticing people is the best thing even in the air. Some slept, some busy with laptops, some were busy annoying the air hostesses, but nobody moved, stuck to their seats. This air journey didn't turn out as exciting as I thought. The only point of excitement was "I was in air". :P.

 I had to do something. I gained all my courage to push the 'call light'. I didn't know what I wanted, I just did it out of boredom. One of the flight attendant approached me, I still had nothing in my mind. She was the most beautiful out of them, tall and slim. "What would you like to have? Sir". I was dumbfound for few seconds, as I quickly recovered "uh Water! Can I have a glass of water".She smiled "Sure, Sir!". My parents stared at me like I had committed the most vicious crime in the world. We exchanged few uncomfortable smiles. My mom inquired "How did she come to us?". The good and bad things about Indian Parents, they want to know everything about everything. I pointed to the light above. She pressed it out of excitement, as I immediately pressed it off. "Not now. It's when you want something". Father joined in and they both started pressing and asking for food, drinks and virtually anything and there was no stopping them. They were enjoying it, leaving me embarrassed and hiding. In private airlines, they serve food at very high costs. The costs were so high that first time I had to ask "Water? Is it for free? :P" She smiled and nodded, "Yes". All the jokes about airplane journey turned out to be true. Indigo Pilots just don't shut the fuck up; They inform you about every single detail "We are above the 'pink city' Jaipur. We are at 10,000 feet travelling at such speeds and bla bla" enough to qualify them as RJs. Soon, the night feel. Mumbai was near. The pilot and co-pilot made announcement of landing and locking our saftey belts. I was excited "Mumbai! A Dream City!" , I have a personal affection for the busy and fast cities. I kept peeking out to get a glimpse of Mumbai. Millions of glittering lights dazzled my eyes. I don't remember calling a city more beautiful than Bilaspur, but Mumbai came close. We landed at about 8 PM. Everyone ignored "Yatri apni sthan par bane rahe" and got out in haste. The "Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport" looked bewitching, although I had not seen many to even compare.
The next flight to Bangalore was at 3 AM. More than 6 hours in Mumbai, I was on cloud 9.For all I ever wanted in life, this was it, but the downside was we had luggage with us. We enquired a local about the nearest place we'd go. "Juhu was near" he said. I was jumping 'up and down' elated in joy. The sea, the beach waited me. Mumbai is more lively than any city in India. The autovala proudly proclaimed "Bumbai Sota nahi hai bhaiya". He showed me all the big star's house pointing his finger out of auto "Ye Amitabh Ji ka" Ye "Nana ka hai" " ye Anupam Kher ka". I was surprised how he was not starstruck and I was. The next thing I remember was lying on that serene beach with perennial wind blowing on my face. Dad vanished for a smoke, must have been a new experience for him, 'Smoking on Beach'. Mom's eyes were on the food stalls and trying the Bombay cuisine. Ice creams were delicious there, Vada Pav and Bhell added to the relish. We bumped into a couple who came for a late night walk. The guy was a stuntsman in "Film City". My ear went up as I enquired him about the city. I still remember his parting words "Bhaiya! Bombay kisi ko bhukkha nahi sone deta". Strangers always make the journey more eventful and exciting.
I wanted to stay there forever but we had to move back to airport at about 12. We spent time checking all the shops, every part of airport. Securities were tight with the Independence Day approaching. I wanted to call up my bestie "Ishan" who stays in Chandigarh. I knew he'd be startled as I'd catch him off guard, "Kahan hai be?" He asked. I responded "Mumbai". His pitch went up "Kahan pahunch gya hai be tu?". We chatted for about 2-5 minutes as I went out of balance. He never keeps balance, so I knew he'd not call back. We boarded our next flight to Bangalore, by this time we were acting pro. The good thing about Air India, they give "free food". A short flight of 45 minutes and free food, what more you can ask for?. I hadn't finished eating, and we were already landing.  Banglore looked much less crowded than Mumbai from up there. All the fuzz about landing and take off is all false, you don't even realise it as I ate rest while landing. The second South Indian I ever met in life after my school principal was "Airport Cab Driver". The funny thing about South Indians is not that they can't speak Hindi, you don't get their English too with pronunciation all over the place. M is 'Em' , A is "Aey" N is "En" for them. Even with English, you feel handicapped there. Atul Mamu's house was 2-3 hour drive from airport. I fell asleep as the sleepless journey had taken the toll on me. "Ranka Apartment, M.G Road" was hard to find, it took 3-4 wrong turns untill driver finally located it. My two cousins "Vasu(12) and Bhumik (9)" were exited to see us or maybe some North Indian faces. Oh damn, they missed North so much. The most amazing thing about Banglore is its weather, the temperature there always remains between 20-28.
The train to Thanjavur, "Mayiladuthurai Express" was at 7.30 PM. South Indian names can drive you crazy, this was only first of the lot. My cousins taught me "Kannada gotila. Hindi No Madi." It means "I don't know Kannada, I know Hindi." 2 years in south had turned them into South Indians, or maybe children learn fast. Vasu's accent had changed while Bhumik hated South, he wanted to go back to North. 'Mayiladuthurai Express' Bangalore-Trichy arrived little late. A train mainly for pilgrimage, Thanjavur was much more than I thought, a temple city and a rice bowl. It has some of the oldest temples in India. Train journey pleases you more than any other journey, ask me, who recently had the taste of Air.

Read : Part 3 | Part 4

A Journey to South

Part 1: 'THE PHONE CALL'

Read : Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

It was somewhere around July 25, 2014. I had got admission in B.Tech at JUIT, not Satisfied, but relieved that finally I'd got into a college after a weary and ho-hum period of counselling and entrances. I was drained and sinking, my whole life seemed to have stopped. 3 months of nothing but drama and events that you don't want in your life. You have nowhere to go but wait till your parents pack your bags and send you away. Nothing can get more horrifying than this. Yes, I am dramatizing things a bit but yeah it was a hard period.

I remember doing all the packing the night before. The next morning, my whole family - my mom, dad, sister and I started on our way to JUIT. As usual we were late, that's like our family tradition. In our journey from Bilaspur to Wakhnaghat, I was thinking a lot, about my days in Bilaspur, how 14 years of school life flew and passed unnoticed. It was a mental drill to get ready for things to come. Suddenly, dad stopped the car and when inquired, he wanted some repairs in car much to our disgust as we were already late. I got some more time to spend with my mom. Oh yes, I am a mama's boy. I don't remember any moment when she's not got emotional while talking to me. But there are always two sides to a woman, one is an emotional weak side and other is brave as a lion. The way she has handled two maniacs like me and my father is truly an act of bravery. We three sat on somewhere on side of road with freezing cold water flowing all along it. As I was enjoying the frosty water with my feet immersed in, I received a call. It was a long number, an STD code followed by landline number.  'Hi' A mellow voice was on phone, informed "Deepansh Gupta. You have been selected in IICPT, Thanjavur under B.tech Food Processing&Technology programme". I had mixed emotions, I had taken the decision to go to JUIT, after a lot of cogitation and dubiety. Finally, when I decided and on my way there, I get another thing to mull upon. As soon as, I told my parents about it, they were brimming with happiness and excitement. Now, they had already manifested my career and my Job. Why were they so excited? My father never wanted me to go to JUIT and this young prospect of IICPT was beguiling. My mother usually gets excited at everything, So this wasn't something new. From JUIT, Hostel to B.tech, every topic shifted to South India. Father kept on lauding the South Indians for knowledge and discipline. Infact, It is true but my situation was miserable. I was again caught in b/w a situation. But, like any other middle class family, they didn't risk it and kept following path to Wakhna leaving me in a thought.' I cursed that call, why it had to come now only.' I was livid with them and cursed every filthy shit I knew on them' on the other hand I was genuinely thinking too.

The counselling for IICPT was scheduled on 4th August, 2014. I left that thought as soon as I entered JUIT and hostel. I was busy adjusting to new surroundings and attending Orientation Programme which went on for 3 days followed by 4 holidays. Knowing my parents, I knew they'd be pondering over the thought of IICPT. They called me. My mom said " Beta, counselling to attend kar lete hain". " nahi pasand aya to vapis aa jayenge". I agreed. There were two reasons for my agreement. First, whatever I saw in JUIT, I was not happy with it. Second, I was also seeing an actual prospect in "IICPT" "a government college" "Indian Institute" "South India" all hovered in my mind. I got up early next morning to make my way to Chandigarh Airport. We all barring my sister ( doing B.tech in Shimla ) decided to meet at the airport. I reached airport before them. For a small townee, airport is a 'big' thing. It was burning and humid in Chandigarh, I sat on the benches outside for few moments untill I was forced by my natural instinct to get up and walk around and do some crazy stuff. I  checked out all the hot girls there. I abused every single Businessman and Tycoons there calling ' Salle! Smjhte kya hai apne aap ko' as they came in their SUVs, drivers carrying luggage. I was enjoying it. After 2 hours of wait and fun, they came. I looked at them, two diminutive figures approaching me, carrying big bags. Once you get into college, seeing your parents is always a pretty sight. My eyes glittered with happiness, I got a bit emotional but hid it well. I hugged them and we planned our travel to Banglore where my Maternal Uncle lived. He works at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.. We had to pay huge sum for tickets as we had no booking. We got connecting flights as it fitted budget, Chandigarh-Mumbai ( Indigo )  and Mumbai-Banglore ( AIR India ). For first timers on airport, we did quite well and didn't get into any sort of trouble.Interestingly, my father has a habit of vanishing from the scene when the final moments come, curse his smoking. He managed to do this again, I was livid, mom too. The good thing is he always appears just in time, much to our relief. We got onto our flight. Every child from middle class dreams of travelling in an airplane. I'd say somewhere I thought of it too but dreams are much more exciting than reality. I was not the only first timer there, they both too were. Thank god!, we dressed better than we usually do while travelling.

Read : Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4