Picking up the pieces

who wants masinagudi when u can offroad right in the heart of blore. The mazda swayed and rocked as it tried to make its way to the main road. It felt like an eternity..even more so because of ppl trying to brush up on their chalus. and finally we managed to reach one of the (what i believe to be part of a rare set) roads which was tarred the way roads were meant to be tarred.
Distance travelled :- 3kms time :- 15 mins
It can be real surprising what new facts 15 minutes like these can bring forth, even in friends u have known for 4 years. Take Selvin, a shining case in point. He runs around all morning to try and get a digital camera..finally manages one (one which has batteries almost dead). But instead of capturing the momentous beginning of the trip for posterity, he dedicates the first half an hour to the wildlife around Indiranagar and Domlur. I mean birdlife, the kind that blore seems to have lots of...but have to give it to you man...you do know how to spot those rare beauties.
Location :- Domlur Time 11.30
A huge cry goes out as Sanoj,Joju and jose join us...everyone is sporting a grin as big as their faces..especially sanoj who seems to be in particularly high spirits...the reason dawned on the non enlightened souls soon though..Jose seemed to have grown a particularly remorseful beard...viraham???? mmmmm......and Joju as cool as ever...
Things settled down soon ..but before the Kaththi could begin again....Koramanagala.....and then ...FORUM!!!!

The transport committee was again fighting with the driver while the rest of the van was telling Thejus their Forum story...
Time for Aswath, Hari and Bimil...Aswath the family man that he is..straight out of Main hoon na..Sweater and all...Hari and Bimil , well trim as professionals should be...
Well now only the Ladies remained...after another round of dug up roads and traffic and a few juicy bits of gossips later..the ladies made their grand entry...Obviously mad at being made to wait for so long..but no one particular person to shout at..Archana,Divya and Sreedevi made their way to the back...but archana...nope not the back seat...a seat right behind Anil was ur first choice...habits do die hard don't they???
after a long ride around the ring roads anupa joined and so to say..the pieces all fell into place.....

Bangalored....

A normal friday in chennai...the usual FWDs with "Enjoy the Weekend" messages...Work not getting done as well as the TL would have it...(Like it ever does???)..
Save for the fact that Cyclone baaz was fast on our tails. The 3 of us Anil, Thejus and Me had scooted from work by 7 in the evening. It was raining already and Anil as usual had found the perfect excuse to escape from a gathering...One technical problem though. The tickets were with me and i was not going to cancel them. Facing the prospect of losing his 400 bucks and the fear of getting stuck at home - without power and without any way to go out...he hauled his baggage and we were finally off.
The rain was now coming sideways. And by the time we reached Central, we were 3 wet souls, chattering in the howling wind. And then began the never ending wait for the train - 6021, Chennai - Bangalore Express.Departure - 10.50 PM. In keeping with tradition, the train Chugged in at 11.50- a sight to behold. 1400 passengers peering at the driver, who has his head out the window, chewing paan, the look on his face signalling his truimph over this sea of humanity. As it turned out, the driver was just getting started..and he was in no hurry to reach there. K.R.Puram at 9.00 am on saturday - a good 3 hours late.
K.R.P is a very down to earth place to be. The roads are non existent. If it rains slush appears everywhere. Garbage is dumped about.Its only claim to fame being the wonderfully monsterous flyover that Zips tagged people to ITPL. Enthoru elima..absolutely no airs though it is in the Silicon Valley of India. As it turns out, it is not just K.R.P; almost the whole of B'lore is this way. Simple and Humble.
As it turns out, Bangalore had more to offer thrills to offer us...To be particular the B'lore Electricity board and the Mahangara Palike. There was no electricity in that entire area. Our hosts Arun and Elias ( the first of the organising committee to be seen) had gracefully learned to live with this fact. But coming from a boiling chennai, the prospect of a bath in that biting cold in an even colder water was not exactly interesting. Especially for a person like me.
That was the absolute low point of the trip for me. From then on things obviously had to get better, as they couldnt get any worse. and the first signs of improvement came with the breakfast...steaming puttu, spicy kadala curry and an omlette with a lot of chilli and coriander....and with Radi,Selvin,Sanjith, Shabeer,M.P. and T, for company the mood just got a lot merrier.
The time was 10.30 already and we were still at K.R.Puram. But as far as everyone else was concerned we were either in Jeevan Bhima nagar or in Domlur. The attitude being aptly summed up as "ara manikkuru mumbe purapattu, venemengil oru manikkuru mumbe purapedam...."
And at 11.00 that super luxury swaraj mazda finally made its way out of K.R.Puram