Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Pilgrimage


The journey had been planned, though not very meticulously.  A rough route had been decided. Bookings were made just a day before, with no idea whether our cycles were going to be allowed to be taken as luggage or not. Cycles had been serviced; we took spares with us; 
The essential was with us in abundance, motivation.
We reached the Koyambedu Bus Terminus almost an hour before time. We still had to confirm the luggage. The person in charge told us that we would have to talk to the bus driver, and it was his prerogative. We waited. Other travellers flocked our waiting area asking about our cycles, mostly clearing their doubts over whether these were really cycles or motor cycles. The bottles, after all, made them look like fuel tanks on a moped. The bus was delayed, by another half an hour. Our anxiety accrued. Our entire trip depended on this one decision of the driver. What if he just denied?
Finally the bus arrived, and I made it to the drivers cabin even before he could switch off the engine. And before he could say anything, I was already blabbering over my demands, or petitions maybe. The guy was confused. By then, some other bus company people came up and offered me to have our cycles delivered separately in a luggage van. No way, that was too much disconcerting. We were taking no risks, and sending our sweethearts separately was in no way an option. The driver finally spoke, and did not speak something very comforting. He said there was no space in the luggage and that he couldn’t help. What?! We weren’t giving up so easily, luggage space? That could definitely be adjusted.
With my limited lexicon of the tamil language, I somehow managed to persuade the driver to show me the space available. It seemed tight, but could be worked out. He saw the bikes, and the first reaction was: ‘You call this small-u?? No way sir, not possible.’ By then, I had already dismantled my front wheel and had put already begun loading. Ajay was doing the same. When mine was inside, the driver gave similar concerns, how will the second fit? But by then the second was in as well.
Back inside as we reclined back on the chairs, we couldn’t help, but feel overjoyed. 500 bucks for two cycles. The bus started moving.
This is what it looked like after the luggage had been emptied
Finally a much fantasized journey was taking place.

Day One: Ooty to Coimbatore

5 comments:

  1. 500 ka commission diya ya it was part of the ticket? :) Aj kal Lokpal ka zamana hai, dont write stuff like that in public domain. :) Anyway awesome start. Waiting for more stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @spontaneous: More stuff follows your click on the link at the end of the content! read ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had to dismantle the cycle twice again to go frm coimb'tore to B'lore n frm der to Chennai ... but the tyr wobbling got worse ... :P

    ReplyDelete