Its 7:30 PM and I just reached Railway Station for my 6731 Tuticorin- Mysore Express. oh.. sorry.. its 16731!! Our government has made it that way to avoid confusion it seems, but i felt little uneasiness to remember that single extra digit! I thought I was late for my train but was quite relieved to have the announcement for a little 5 minutes delay! But later that relief turned to pain when the train took 15 long minutes to arrive. I decided that moment - I will take a train only at its starting point! Though I am not 100% sure of Indian Railways, I was more than 50% confident in disclosing that Trains leave at correct time from starting points!!
I know it will be quite cold in winter, but never knew February is still their winter! I was not prepared for the nerve breaking coldness in the midnight travel. I hardly got any sleep these days with some fond memories and cheerful nightmares! One more info is that.. hmm.. Well. We will disclose that in the end!!
The journey was quite horrible with below 15 degrees and without even a bed sheet to cover. I can’t rely on my cotton T-Shirt to guard me from the chill blows thorough the windows and so started walking to generate a bit of heat! A little nap - little walk - little nap and there i am now - Bangalore East!!
Had a very great time travelling from Bangalore East to LB Shastry Nagar. The roads were side-lined with shopping malls but literally empty marking the off peak time! Another reason is that, it was Saturday and most of schools were holidays. If am in my home I too would have been in a very deep sleep that chilled morning!
The corporate guys who fill the city have tamed the priests in temples too. They have made a completely great change in the auspicious days! For any city other than Bangalore, it would have been Tuesdays and Fridays which attracts much crowd at temple. But it’s the weekend at Bangalore! The cultured South Indian girls crowd the temples with their boyfriends and the westernized girls crowd the shopping malls with their boyfriends! It’s better to note that boyfriends remained common! I hardly find any girl without a pair and with parents!
An experience that I would remember for years – got red handed by a traffic cop for not wearing helmet! I never knew that was such a great offense there at Bangalore! The city cares for people safety too!
The traffic inspector started his enquiry,
“ *&%*&^)#*@&^@)%&*(#^$ (in kannada)”
I started, “sorry sir, I know only Tamil and English.”
With a submissive look he added, “Oh.. Tamil ah?”
I looked at him as if he is going to converse in Tamil. Anyway that was an offense and I need to pay a fine and have to reach home. I just apologized and looked at him.
He added, “Do you think this is Tamil Nadu?”
Till then I had a feel that Karnataka police were really good in maintaining the discipline and make public to follow rules and regulations. The inspector took out his blackberry connected with a mini printer to print out my charge sheet.
“Will you pay a spot fine or. . . “, he started and I finished, “yes I will sir!” He looked at me as if he was convinced with my attitude and printed my sheet without the amount in it.
I was much worried to pay the fine but thought I had a good lesson. That time I was interested to read something from that sheet of paper. To my astonishment they are too much focussed in money than maintaining that discipline factor!
1. Over speeding
2. Overtake from the left
3. Not wearing helmet
4. Jumping traffic signal
5. Not responding at police stop
6. Chase and caught
With this list of abuses over me, I understood that “A police is always a police!!”
I had no other choice other than bribing. They shared my fine amount and then left the place. The only difference with the police in Tamil Nadu is the use of Blackberry instead of a charge sheet book!
My return journey was booked online in KSRTC. Why SETC or TNSTC could not bring online booking facility? A question that could be answered only by the state government!
The bus terminus at Shanthi Nagar, Bangalore was much smaller than CMBT, Chennai but a little big than Mattuthavani, Madurai but maintained well than both! I arrived a little early for my 9:30 bus and waited in the icy steel chair from 8 PM. It was the Sunday night and I felt like whole of Bangalore is shifted to various parts of the country! The crowd was lively and modernized! Some of the style factors and fashions I noticed include
1. A leather jacket and a head set in their ears!
2. A laptop bag and a stylish cap or head cover!
3. A canvass shoe without lace!
4. Strictly jean!
For girls, the culture was at its peak making even the western country to follow our girls fashion ideologies. Some of the most attractive ones,
1. Polishing only the toe fingers with nail polish! (
2. Wearing number 7 size slippers for a number 8 foot! ( I found nearly 5 girls with such a fashion!)
3. Chudi were out dated literally with jean and T- Shirts but if you wear chudi, make sure you wear your shawls only at the neck! I am not sure whether it has served its purpose but a stylish outfit!
4. Bangles were out dated and replaced with stoned chains.
5. Wrist watches mostly at right hands!
6. Strictly free hair!
The most common thing – The mobile phones. You are supposed to use only branded and possibly a touch or qwerty phone!
Those were the little things that I noticed and no comments about the extra observation on girls in Bangalore!
One more apology for use of Bangalore instead of Bengaluru!
The KSRTC buses are much faster and I reached Madurai 1 hour before the scheduled time. Those Rajahamsa buses could give more comfort than SETC but can never bet with the comfort offered by 16731!!
Overall - A trip to remember!
One final apology from a guy who is suspended from college for blogging - I suppose I have not hurt anyone’s feelings and if there is someone still hurt – PLEASE FORGIVE ME. BLOGGING is not a Crime guys :(!
