Saturday, March 12, 2011

Coimbatore Diaries: Arrival

So, the hallowed day of March the 12th, 2011 finally arrived and almost saw me getting drunk in the bar... I mean, just before midnight I managed to yank myself free of temptations and come back to my room for a nice good small sleep of three and some change hours before I was to set course for Coimbatore... The place where my stay might range from a few days to a month, depending on how i perform in a stupid test I have to take in a couple of days. But we will cross the bridge once we reach it.

So, at the predesignated, though unholy, time of 5 am, yours truly was all decked up and ready with his bags packed, waiting for the vehicle to take him to the IGI airport. The vehicle promptly arrived at 5:10, and what a sight it was.. It could put the best limos of Las Vegas to shame- a vintage 80's model Mahindra classic jeep, whose sound could make a whooping cough appear positively calming and soothing to the ears.

Anyways, we set course. I asked the driver if he knew the way, and he said he was sure of the way. Being a naturally trusting (!) person, I shut my big mouth up so as not to offend the hallowed driver any more. All went smooth till we reached about a third of the way, except for the fact that I was running around half an hour behind time because it was against the dignity of the venerable vehicle to move at more than 40 kmph. Then we had the first adventure of the day. The clutch cable of the vehicle (shame be on me to call it a mere vehicle) broke. Luckily we were in fourth gear, and God willing we could have made it to the airport maintaining 40 kmph hopefully in time to catch the flight, albeit a la DDLJ train.

God, as it would be seen, was not willing. The driver, more confident of his knowledge of the Delhi road maze than Arjuna would have been of crossing one layer of the Chakra Vyuha, confessed to me that he was lost. And as luck would have it, our v. vehicle also stopped in the middle of some complicated aerobatic maneuver the driver was trying to perform. A million prayer and incantations to the 84 crore odd Gods and Goddesses later, the v. vehicle decided to start again but only in the second gear this time. Now was time for some desperate measures. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and told the driver to stop the v. vehicle at the next red light. The driver looked at me with more horror than you would look at your neighbours if you all of a sudden realise that you were in the august company of Jack the Ripper, Mary Antoniette, Adolf Hitler and George W Bush (sorry Mr Blair, you still have some way to go to reach there). I had to spell it out for him that I knew it involved stopping the v. vehicle again. Reluctantly, he agreed and did as I asked.

Finally I got hold of a cab of some BPO who agreed to take me to the airport, only after telling him that my best friend was from the same place as him in Bihar, and also greasing his palms with a laughing Gandhi printed on one side of a cracking Rs 1000 bill (btw that taxi fare from this place to the airport was Rs200, but there was no taxi around, of course).

Usain Bolt would have been proud of the dashes (and dots) i made to catch the flight, but catch it I finally did. The rest of the journey was uneventful, or so I thought when I reached the sweltering heat of Coimbatore airport. Got a cab easily enough and reached the place I was supposed to stay. Now, being one of the more senior guys around, they had (have!) given me the furthest room from the hub center of the activities. Normally, I would rather like than dislike the distance, but to complicate the issue the distance is more vertical than horizontal, and in a further twist in the tale the lift was out of order. So, I had to lug up all my 35 kg plus of luggage up some 6 flights of stairs, and then drag it the horizontal distance too!!

Finally, I reached my room, hoping to have a refreshing cup of tea before I took a bath and settled down. This brought a smile to my lips as I had brought along one of my souvenirs from USA, a coffee mug from Chicago, for this very purpose. But as I opened the bag, I saw the mug was in four different pieces of different shapes and sizes...

And it is not yet nine hours since I left the cosy comfort of my room!!! If the rest of the time is gonna be a fraction as eventful, I am in for one hell of a time... But that as they say is not history, so it will be posted here as and when it happens...

Thanks, if anyone reads this, for a listening ear...

4 comments:

Rain Girl said...

Oh crap! Poor you :*

Hugs. Never mind, I am sure (quite like the hallowed driver) that things will improve from now on...

but 35 kgs?? 6 flights?? shall I book a spa massage for you?

wildflower said...

:P I should have wished you Happy Journey!

The Sage said...

@ rain girl
:)

The Sage said...

@ flo
yes you should have :|