The Bombay Diary - Day Zero

24th January: It’s D-day. Nothing was exceptional about the way it started. Grey skies dominated the gloomy morning. After yesterday’s adventures I was not inclined towards another busy day, but the world does not revolve to our whims and fancies. The first thing that greeted me in office was a Very High priority message.

Nevertheless, by evening I was in a comparatively jovial mood for the trip. SS dropped the first bombshell: “Can we leave late? I need to finish my PF document.” For a moment I was speechless and then, the unmentionable expletives followed. He finally relented when I assured him that I could connect to the SAP network from anywhere using my laptop.

We had to take the office shuttle to the railway station. As I stood beside it, I heard someone mention: “This shuttle is very lively, man. They play dumb charades, antakshari and what else…I took this shuttle to Majestic yesterday.” There were around twenty people in the shuttle. Fifteen of them already had something plugged into their ears. The rest were already asleep. People have weird ways of defining “lively”.

“By 6:30, you would get to the station”, said someone in the shuttle. I was a little skeptic about that. No sooner we left the office, than I realized why they were so confident. I wondered how I manage to survive driving my car in Bangalore, with such shuttle drivers around. By 7:00 we reached the station.

“We’re going to rock this trip”, declared Sumeet
“Yeah, I’m gonna be a veggie”, I retorted back.

The train left on time. We seem to have good company for the trip. Our fellow passengers are three first year engineering students from Surat.

People are on the verge of retiring for the night, but there’s still some night life left in the train. Old people are chatting, a baby keeps crying in another, and youngsters as usual, cannot find sleep after their examination. I have already lost count of how many times that veiled lady in the red saree has walked to and fro in the compartment aisle. Outside, the moon is just rising. It seems fiery with a yellow aura around it, covering the waters of the Yelahanka lake with a metallic sheet of light.

At 9:50 p.m, I am perhaps the only one awake in this coach. We have just passed Makalidurga. The train chugs along the countryside. The huge mountain hugs the track on the other side of the train, while the vast plain stretches out before my eyes. In the moonlight, it feels as if a white mist hangs over the plain. I keep looking on at the vast lake as its waters shimmer in the silvery light of the moon.

Quote of the day: “Many a time in life, we come across many things, which would not make any sense and have no meaning. We should just accept them as true and not question their existence. One such case is that in the material master, the strategy group should be defined as ‘10’ and the availability check as ‘02’.” – myself, while teaching Nagashri.

Pic of the Day:

Yun toh main dikhlaata nahin...
Teri parwaah kartaa hoon main maa...