Journey the the heavens! Or so I thought..

The post below is Vish's(dowggie's) writing. Am just posting his travelogues till his journey ends.

The day finally came, today we make a trip to visit the one of the most elusive yet highly worshipped Hindu gods. They say 'chalo bulawa aaya hai, maata ne bulaya hai' nd even before one can finish this line, someone else will throw a dice specifying, rather forcing the fact that you can not visit her untill she wants! I used to wonder on the latter statement but as I sit in this train, which takes 30 hours to reach, I have more than accepted that its the fact and no one can do anything about it!

Little background on this trip. We visited the temple around 12yrs back in a group of 20 odd relatives from all parts of India. This time again, everyone was suppose to go plus some more. As it turns out, after 3 months of planning, its only ma, pa and me who are traveling and rest all are stuck with some or the other 'unavoidable' reasons. This justifies the loooong train journy cuz it would have been fun had everyone joined in. Not so much fun now! I found out little too late, somewhat like a mouse after biting the cheese placed nicely in the trap!

Coming back to the present day... The alarm went off at 0630 hrs (that's 6 30 in the morning you morons). Took me precisely 10 seconds to get outta my bed - not cuz I wanted to, but cuz I cud sense dad standing within a feet of me! Morning tea wasn't required cuz I was up and about like a watch dog, strange how dad's method of waking me up still works even after finishing school over a decade ago! Moms constant comments didn't phase me as I went about packing my bags while brushing my teeth. Yea, I am multi tasking! Nd Yea, I pack just before I leave! An hour later we were on our way to the station, I dun remember when I stopped replying to dads questions.. Maybe when he asked me why I needed the laptop! If only you knew dad, If only!

So here we were, standing the borivali station at 0810hrs (that's 8 10 am, idiots!) And mom had a sudden attack of realization! I would have have chosen other words, but cmon guys, shez my mum! She said 'kitni bheed haina bombay main.. Dekho saari local trains full hai itni subah bhi'. I know it wasn't anything major and nothing more than just an effort for small talk. But cmon mum - I expected better! Something like taking a flight straight to Jammu or at least till Delhi! Ignoring her comment I asked dad about the total travel time. He looked at mum and said we'll reach tomorrow.. No exact number, no approx time either. The mouse just kept coming close n closer to the trap!

Train arrives and we all take our seats, dad still cribbing bout the laptop and mum checking out everyone in the neighbouring births. Its as if I have tattooed it in my destiny that 'I shall have at least one constantly crying infant and one ridiculously old couple'. Today the old couple turned out to be gujrati's, lets call them Mr. N Mrs Jignesh Shah (FYI I find them the most obnoxious and senseless travelers) and the baby, aka baby monster, belonged to a punjabi family, aka Kapoors (This should be fun!).

The journey begins and with it the hauling of the BM. I think he needed something to drink. How dumb! Whats the point of crying son, just tell dad u want whisky on the rocks, looks the Kapoor Sr starts his drinking session with a morning cup of tequila shot! Jr dude kept crying even after gulping down a gallon of milk and some. I wonder why is it illegal to slap these lil maniacs to shut em up! Cmon wouldn't u beat the hell outta your dog if it kept barking no matter what u tried? I would!

Anyways, once the train catches some momentum, Dad hands me my ticket and asks me to go and get it signed by the TC. Quite surprising! Why? I'll tell you! When three people are traveling, u don't need to individually get the ticket checked. He goes on 'Oh yea, we couldn't get u in the same compartment.. Ur reservation is in the seventh bogey from here. Its in second class' Ladies n gentlemen, That's how u trap a Mouse! So like an obedient kid, after almost half hour of shelling from both sides, I make my way to find my authorized seat! I finally reach the compartment after crossing 5 ac, 1 cooking and one stinking second class bogey. Guess what! Another fucking hauling monster, this time belonging to a joint family of 9 - all Mr and Mrs jignesh shah's! I waited for the TC for bout 45minutes, hungry for food and cigarettes! I thought I looked decent enough to pass as just another passenger but for some reason these idiots kept staring at me! Only comparison that I can think of would be the way everyone looked at Paulomi in roadies! The only difference - This is Hell down under, within, all around me!

Whats worse you ask? Its only 1200hrs - only 4 fucking hours have passed!!!