"We'll make the arrangements on Monday" - those were the last words of my guide on Friday. He was referring to my probable trip to Chennai for a couple of days. Those words were enuff for me to enthusiastically leave for hostel by 1 pm itself. Much of the weekend passed with me dreaming of how to surprise my folks back home with a sudden entry.
Yesterday night i was into bed early. Afterall i dint want to repeat the same old mistake again. (The mistake - Waking up by 11.30 am and calling off the day as it would be too hot to travel to and from Gurgaon). Monday morning and everything was falling in place - Got up by 7.45 and i was in the Adchini bus stop by 8.30. the usual waiting time to get a cab is 10-15 mins. Travel time - 30 mins. and then meet the guide. "Hey, what if he asks me to travel today itself" ? Wud be great na ..
Thinking of all the above, i was still waiting for the cab and it was 9.15 now. Not a single cab has stopped. All those Call-center cabs driving with those tight-ly clad hotties just whizzed past us. Worse, not a single bus to Gurgaon today as well. the crowd was getting bigger now. Now a brainwave struck me .. What if i go further along the route and take a bus from Mehrauli. -- ( Adichini to meharauli - time -- 5 mins and mehrauli to gurgaon 25 mins .(atleast am getting closer to Gurgaon ... He he ))
I was greeted by a huge crowd at the Mehrauli Bus station. that was when i came to know that there was something wrong in the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. the gujjars had by then set fire to 2 buses, accompanied by lots of stone pelting and stuff. another 45 minutes waiting there .. No bus. No cab. the Laptop bag seemed to grow heavier by the second.
Managers need to make decisions. thus i made a decision - go back to hostel, take a friends' bike and then whiz to Gurgaon. Scretly chukling at the evergrowing crowd at the bus-stop i took an auto back to hostel. only to find no bikes were available ..
11.00 am and am back to square one - adichini bus top .. if only i had stayed there itself i might have got a cab (which wud have reached gurgaon, taking all the diversions). surprisingly there arrived a cab, summoning all my strength i was able to get a seat. poor driver fella, he was blissfully unaware of all the arson and he proceeded in the same Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. he prbly was a lazy driver, when asked to take diversion, he bluffed the police and got back to the ill-fated road. the road was literally empty, there had to be something fishy.
we then reached ayanagar, which was 2 kms from Gurgaon. Wat a sight that was ! 2 buses burning away to glory. the car was stopped right there. Police said no vehicles can go beyond this point. But people can go by foot .. 2 kms by foot @ 12 noon in 40+ degrees .. All for an OC trip to chennai :(( !!!
halfway through the walk, i met them !! those 20-odd mis-creants who had set fire to the buses. the last time i have seen such huge ppl was when i saw WWF wrestling. All of them wer literally shouting choiciest of the auspcious words in the hindi dictionary on the 15-odd passrs-by (walkers - including me ) .. thank god i dint know Hindi .. wasnt it scary ? it was .. All for an OC trip to chennai :(( !!!
Finally reached office @ 12.30 - a good 4 hrs since i started from hostel (the usual time wud have been one hr from delhi to gurgaon).. Beaming with self-confidence that i have braved all odds to reach office, i walked straight to my guide's cabin. He wasnt there.. his neighbour told me "ur guide is on a leave today" .. Those were the words !!!!!
all for an OC trip to chennai !
Sriram
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