21 Dec 2009
18 Dec 2009
8 Dec 2009
Mobile hotch-potch
This little shop in Tezpur has everything from Vodafone to Airtel to BSNL to Reliance to Indocom, STD, ISD, PCO, payphone, you name it- its here!
Brain drain in the train
We had been dreading the two - day journey from mumbai to Guwahati, but we decided to go by train, coz the flight tickets were expensive. Fortonately, our tickets were confirmed and we settled in, only to find ourselves surrounded by toddlers of all kinds - the cranky ones, the noisy ones, the notorious ones and the ones that refuse to sleep. The minute i put away all the bags, one kid started kicking me with her feet, the other one started chattering away in a language that i didnt understand. The third one kept crying coz she didnt want to sleep- so finally her mum gave up and went off to sleep, leaving the wailing baby for us to quieten. Dad and me spent a lot of time at the door, breathing in fresh oxgen (feel stuffed in AC coaches except for summer). We kept getting down at major stations for a stroll and then wait for the signal to go green, to hop back into the train. The kids provided enuff entertainment throught and when they would get hyper, we would play a movie on the laptop which dad had cleverly decided to carry along, just for fun. Soon we had the whole compartment laughing away while watching the Bollwood movies (we had speakers too!) The crowd just loved it. Soon there was a competiton as somebod else also had a laptop which plaed old hindi songs which were a big boar for the kids.
What was cool was that we were actally using google maps to locate where we were in the evenings (coz you can't see outside the window). My kaka (uncle) was amazed at this sort of technology. Besides, i dont know what it is with people living abroad. The are more desi than us! Why would the be so amazed to see me online in a train? i said simple! i have an internet usb! Apparently it was a shocker for them. Never mind!
We were getting frustrated now, coz the train started off late in the first place, to top it up, it was moving like a shuttle train- stopping at ever station. i couldv'e walked all the way to Guwahati and still reached faster. Never mind again. We were worried coz our driver was supposed to wait for us with his vehicle to receive us at the station. our train was 11 hours late and we reached at 4.00 am in the morning on the third day. We were still thinking we were in the train even after we got off! lolz!
What was cool was that we were actally using google maps to locate where we were in the evenings (coz you can't see outside the window). My kaka (uncle) was amazed at this sort of technology. Besides, i dont know what it is with people living abroad. The are more desi than us! Why would the be so amazed to see me online in a train? i said simple! i have an internet usb! Apparently it was a shocker for them. Never mind!
We were getting frustrated now, coz the train started off late in the first place, to top it up, it was moving like a shuttle train- stopping at ever station. i couldv'e walked all the way to Guwahati and still reached faster. Never mind again. We were worried coz our driver was supposed to wait for us with his vehicle to receive us at the station. our train was 11 hours late and we reached at 4.00 am in the morning on the third day. We were still thinking we were in the train even after we got off! lolz!
Bucketfull of mithai!
Ever seen mithai in buckets? Here's what we saw at Jalpaiguri station. mmmm....
how to go on a holiday
Announce your plans to everybody, so that you are driven to make preps now that half the world knows. (izzat ka sawaal hai!) You'd better go. By the time you think of planning it, its already time to go. So you quickly ask for leave, read up loads of blogs, try to D.I.Y, even when you know its beyond you. You mentally make a list of all the basic ( and fancy) things you will need for your trip. Then the to- do list keeps piling up & you give up & call a tour operator and get the bookings done for the acco and transport. Then we all argue on what to see and where to go. Finally we run out of time, and say,"Let's see when we get there". Then we run- here, there, everywhere- to buy snacks, find the backpacks, buy new shoes/ slippers, a couple of loose tees, toileteries, inform everyone we know, make a mess of the house, and then clean it up again. One of us has to fall sick just before the trip. so a visit to the doc before the trip is a routine. Then we stay up all night transferring stuff from one bag to another coz nothing fits. In between, we also keep losing stuff, find it and lose it again!
Something has to go wrong just before the departure (as a rule). Like for instance, this time, a pipeline burst in Thane just the day before we were scheduled to leave. Central lines were disrupted and almost 20- 30 outstatin trains were cancelled. We didn't know whom to call and what do do, coz our train was for 7.00 am the next morning. We figured that the train would depart at 11.00 am. At 10.00 am, we got to knw that it would depart at 4.50 pm. So we made more phone calls, took a nap, arranged some more stuff in the bags and all that jazz, and guess what, at 4.15, we were running to catch our train! What a shame it would be to miss a train that is late! We reached the station 6 minuted before departure and guess what! No sign of the train. The damn thing finally moved at 6.30pm, only to be late by 11 hours on the way, following the Indian Standard Time!
Something has to go wrong just before the departure (as a rule). Like for instance, this time, a pipeline burst in Thane just the day before we were scheduled to leave. Central lines were disrupted and almost 20- 30 outstatin trains were cancelled. We didn't know whom to call and what do do, coz our train was for 7.00 am the next morning. We figured that the train would depart at 11.00 am. At 10.00 am, we got to knw that it would depart at 4.50 pm. So we made more phone calls, took a nap, arranged some more stuff in the bags and all that jazz, and guess what, at 4.15, we were running to catch our train! What a shame it would be to miss a train that is late! We reached the station 6 minuted before departure and guess what! No sign of the train. The damn thing finally moved at 6.30pm, only to be late by 11 hours on the way, following the Indian Standard Time!
7 Dec 2009
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