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