We usually meet a lot of interesting people while traveling.. is what a lot of people have to say..
I wud rather say… we do meet interesting people… and more interesting are their ways…. (or shud I say WEIRD.. !!!! )
Like somebody who once goes off to sleep does not climb down from the upper birth till his / her destination comes... (Time span... 12 hours to 48 hours... anything..!!)
OR
Somebody who keeps on yapping non stop (bout anything under da sun…)
OR
Somebody who likes to keep praising themselves and their family members…..
AND
Da best category are the smokers… man they wud pay 20 rupees for a normal cigarette which usually costs 4 rupees m.r.p and then go into the toilets and have a puff...
(Not to mention the 500 rupees which they wud have to shell out incase the ticket checker or the Railway police catch them..!!!!
But the worst punishment these guys get is when their "MAACHIS "or LIGHTER is taken away…..!! One must hear the swear words and the curses that come out once this particular scene happens…. MONEY DOES NOT MATTER TO THEM….)
(To think of it they also contribute to the really "WONDERFUL "smell that is already present in the toilets of THE PRESTIGIOUS INDIAN RAILWAY TRAINS….!!! )
Also worth mention is the "HEALTHY ", "HYGENIC "and "TASTY "food that is served on our trains…. Mama Mia...
Think even kuccha rice and paani waala dal tastes million times better than the meal that is served in aluminum foils….
Think was having rubber for chappati, uncooked rice and dal which had probably gallons of water….
The Scope of the trip was…
Pune – Mysore – Bangalore – Kharagpur – Jamshedpur – Ranchi – Benaras – Allhabad – Lucknow – Nashik – Pune.. (Can also be called the Golden Quadrilateral trip…)
Da journey from pune to Mysore began on the16th night...
(According to da railway timetable it wud read…
Time of Departure: 1.05 a.m Date of Departure: 17th September 2008. )
My co-passengers for the journey were:
A wealthy marwari businessman from Mumbai... (Out for meeting clients in MYSORE...)
Another BRAINY (typically SOUTHY) upcoming businessman (based out of Mumbai but studying in Mysore...)
A Zonal manager of a big Pharma company (again typically SOUTHY but an avid traveler)
A techie fresher working in M.R Premji's empire... (Got a lot of GYAAN from this guy as to how people cud hack into out credit and debit cards accounts…)
A sweet auntyji ( who was visiting her " MAIKA " for probably the nth time but still very excited as if she's goin there for the first time.. !! Not to mention the amount of luggage she was carrying… 7 bags and suitcases….!! )
First thought she was running away from home… but then when she made all of us eat the wonderful parathas her daughter in law packed my opinion changed…!!!! J
Mysore was wonderful.. Up market, cosmopolitan, trendy yet conservative and traditional….
People were dam nice and helpful… Cud visit the famous Mysore Palace and the Chamundi hills.. (at night… !! )
Must mention that the view of Mysore city from the chamundi hills at night is like heaven….
Looks like a huge field wid lights lit up all over the place……
Also the food at this particular restaurant called Shreedevi (no connection to the beautiful actress.. WONLY da names are similar... ) Authentic Andhra style food served on "KELA Ka PATTA "makes anybody go crazy…. YUMM.. !!!!
That was all bout Mysore… Next scene of action was Ranchi…
Traveled to b'lore to get my train on Friday eve (11.30 p.m).
Reached Ranchi on sunday eve...
Took 42 hours to reach here from down south….. No sleep..... No bath (yuk yuk yuk!!!) Really tiring... To top it all my connecting train from Cuttack to Ranchi got cancelled.. (This train is always cancelled and still my ticket agent gave me a confirmed ticket!!!) Luckily my train from b'lore reached cuttack half an hour early.. that's why cud actually enquire and get onto the same train back... thanks to that... had to travel all da way to Kharagpur ( known for its longest platform in da world ).. Then took a connecting train to jamshedpur...... and finally reached Ranchi in a rickety Jharkand state transport bus.. (The only means of transport...!!!)
Took 5 hours for a distance of WONLY 140 kilometers...!!!! So imagine da state of da National Hiway 33 which connects Jamshedpur to Ranchi... (And these guys here call it "MEGA HIGWAY...!!!!) What will these guys call da mumbai poona expressway then..... (Probably SPACEWAY...!) First time in life.. Switched off da lite and went off to sleep at 8.30 pm.... and got up only at 8.30 am monday mornin.... gosh da bus journey gave me a real BOUDY MASSAGE..... !!! (Was just hoping that this does not hurt my already "HEALED "leg...! )
Ranchi (now known better as Mr. Dhoni's hometown...!) was fun as far as "PET POOJA "is concerned...
There is a shop called Punjab Sweet House... (Must visit this shop if and when u travel to Ranchi.. )
And as the name goes... All kinds of chaats and Choole Bhature are what u get here... At wonderfully cheap rates…….. (NO No No ... I am not advertising for this shop.. Was impressed by the tasty food and the really economical rates…)
Next on da mission was Benaras… also given high importance for the presence of the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir
Stay in Benaras was a couple of hours only…
But the journey from Benaras to Allhabad is worth a mention….
Travel distance: 120 kilometers... Travel Time: da same 5 hours….. !!!!
Also the bus was U.P state transport bus … a 3 by 2 seating arrangement with minimum luxury facility... Man was a disaster… was so very tired that just wanted to crash…..
(Into anything available... even the foothpath Chalta tha….!!) J
Allhabad was I wud say "EATING PARADISE " and the 26th of September cud be labeled as Eating day….. in my callender…
Started the day wid having choole bhature and piping hot jalebi (off a thela on the road side.. but very clean and hygienic.. ) for b'fast…
By 2.30 pm had gulped down hot hot samosa's (priced at a meager 1rupee 50 paisa WONLY..!!), similary hot Poori Kachoori… and equally yummy Gulab Jamun….. (As big as an averaged sized persons palm.. and fully made out of khooya… So that it just melts onto the tounge….!! Again priced at a meager 5 buks….. !! )
Bad luck that cud not find the famous KHULLAD walla Lassi……
Then came the time to board the train to Lucknow…..
On day way to Lucknow… at a particular station named unnapur or something.. (Don't quite remember the name…), had piping hot aloo vadas.. (With equally tasty chutney...!) J
Dinner time was in Lucknow… (And do u think me wud miss the speciality of Lucknow…?)
The Famous "DUM BIRYANI "…..? Never...... Not possible….
Went to this place called Royal café... (Well known for its status and food... especially Biryani...)
Had superb, awesome, fantabulous Dum biryani... (The hotel guys broke the MATKA containing the biryani in front of us and served it steaming hot…!!)
After consuming biryani, was not quite full so had paani puri and then came the time to satisfy my sweet tooth….
So had Eemarti (again directly "FROM THE FRYING PAN TO MY PLATE " ) topped with RABRI…
The food saga continued with "Kulfi ke saath Seewaiyaan... " And finally ended with a BENARSI PAAN… (In Lucknow…!!!)
My V.P says... ("Yaar Ninnd… Aaj Kutte Ki Tarha Khaye Hai.. !! " )
My travel ended as we left for Pune from lucknow…..
Back home really tired after traveling probably for 130 hours by rail and road combined……
Reckon this is quite a " SHORT " description that i have penned down....
So think wud sign off...
Keep DA Faith...!!!
