From the travelling diaries

                                                               From the travel diaries…

“ So how long would it take to reach there ?”, I asked him . “four hours “, “ if we get a bus on time “, he replied lazily , pushing himself in the seat .

“ And where is this place exactly “ I asked .

College had just reopened after the vacations , and students were still returning from their home . We practically had nothing productive to do and the college was closed for a couple of more days for municipal elections , nothing that we cared about , as long as it was giving us a few more days off college , we could take it .

“ Puthaparti ,  in Andhra Pradesh “, he replied , keeping his eyes closed ,  . “ Andhra Pradesh !! “ , “ are u crazy  ! ! “, I was shocked .

“ Hee Hee “ . I could make out that I had been fooled , by the wicked smile that floated on his face  and realized why none else volunteered for the cause .

Once again I had fallen victim of my habit of listening to half conversations and trusting my friends , blindfolded .

‘Damn’ , ‘ ummm…whatever ‘ I said to myself .

“ okie ! ! “ , I said to him in a less-cared-about tone .

College was closed for a couple of days , and even if would have been open , I didn’t see myself making any contribution to the world of engineering , it would have been he same old and sad stories of lectures and long , hectic and monotonous lab programs .

Andhra Pradesh seemed a petty good deal , it seemed interesting , to say the least .

Though I wasn’t expecting a trip out of the city , I did expect a night out and my bag was prepared for two nights . 

‘ Tooth brush , a couple of clean undergarments , and an extra set of jeans and shirt ‘ I counted my belongings in the bag , and satisfied that all I wanted was there , I burried my chin in my hand , stared outside through the window into nothingness ,  enjoying the overshadowed scenery and the cool breeze as our bus headed to the city bus station  .

The unplanned trip had begun .

Even though it was completely unplanned , but there were a few things we needed , a toothpaste for instance , which both of us didn’t remember to bring .

I have made numerous travels , far and wide , with him , but never do I recall using a toothpaste that he carried , not that he is filthy or doesn’t care brushing his teeth , he is just lazy , or may be ‘too man to care’ for such things .

There were other things that ‘I’ needed , something to munch on the way . We got down at local Food-days mart .

I got a couple of packets of Pringles , a few packets of chocolate cream biscuits , a few  Mars Bars , couple of packets of ‘ cream and onion ‘ Lay’s , a few packets of plum cakes and a few other knick-knacks . The bill rounded off to an amount , which to this date gives him a reason to keep me off from shopping for a trip , but to give an idea , I would like you to know that it was more than all other expenses combined together .

  

We reached the bus station on time , bought our self tickets , and settled ourselves in the bus , I took out a mars bar and started feasting on it , he looked at me , shook his head , let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes , I knew he would doze off in the bus , he always does , while I would have to sit and undergo all the bumps and jerks in the rickety bus , hence , the only possible way to keep myself occupied was to munch on the junk till we reached our destination . I still had to master the act of sleeping on the bus .

The engine started , I brought my eyes , which were following random people on the platform , inside the bus , there were hardly any souls inside .

It was just me , him , the driver and a man who appeared like our HOD with his half bald moon shaped head , from the back .

“ dude, I think we are on the wrong bus “, I said , a little concerned ,“ ummm… let it be   ”, he replied half asleep , ‘ ahh..damn you lazy sloth !! ‘ I cursed .

I walked over to the driver and asked him if the bus was heading to the same place we were , he nodded , “ week day , no crowd saar !! “ , he said in the typical Bangalore auto driver accent , “aahh , ok ! ”. I smiled back and made my way to the seat , I glanced a look on the man , felt relieved , it wasn’t our HOD .

I came back on my seat , opened a packet of Pringles , stared at Jit for a moment who was now completely unaware of the happenings and gazed outside the window , it was still overshadowed , ‘I probably might rain ‘ I said to myself . ,.

I wondered , if he would ever be able to get over his sleep . He practically sleeps everywhere , in the class , in the restraunts waiting for the order , in the queue waiting for his turn , on the dinner table waiting for others to complete their meal , on the bikes , while on a road trip , while watching movies , in the bus , in the auto , all he needs is a support and he ‘ll make a bed for himself , I even remember him dozing off while standing in the bus , I couldn’t help laughing at him that day , he woke up , made an annoyed expression but couldn’t sustain it for long , he fell asleep again , while I laughed all the way back to the college .

He sleeps when he is tired , when he is sick , when he is sad , when he is angry , when he is happy , when the weather is too bad or too good , all the time , the trip was going to be no exception .  

The bus we opted for must have been in its terminal days of service , it was old and rickety , a small bump on the road was enough to shake all the screws and bolts , though the seats and window panes were clean , it could still not make up for the fact , that we had to spend 6 hrs on it , instead of 4 , coz the bus had to be stopped in every half hour for coolant refueling . The driver would run down with a container to fill water from puddles , taps , small tanks and whatever he could find on the way , every time he would stop , I would wake up Jit , get outside the bus , light a cigarette and smoke adding more clouds to the heavily overshadowed sky , the timeless place and the flowing cool breeze had brought us in a different world , it was the beginning of  our wanderlust .

The driver offered us to find seats in some other bus , but we were happy with the timelessness of the place , we wanted to be with the bus on its ‘ last crusade ‘ .

The ‘ old lady ‘ carried us , through the tattered roads overlooking the rich green rice fields . We witnessed the giant bald brown rocks beaming at each other with anger , trees forming canopies , waiting for school children , prepared for the rains .

The stones by the side of the roads which had shaped themselves perfectly , for tired travelers  and the aroma which could make you feel at home .  

We crossed small villages and settlements as the slow bus had started introducing us to new dimensions of time .

To be contd .