Here I go again after a long time... I forgot this one too.
I was going back home for sem holidays from trichy. I had to come to chennai (tambaram) from there I had to catch another bus to kalpakkam which is some one and a half hours away. I reached tambaram around 3:30 am, very sleepy. The breeze was cold and I was swaying with the breeze in my sleep, what a sight early in the morning it would have been. Some buses came and went, i was sleeping patiently for a bus to ferry me to kalpakkam. At last one came. I got into the almost empty bus. I looked around for a nice cosy seat to sleep when i realised that the interior of this bus was not characteristic of kalpakkam buses. I thought "May be its a new bus"
The bus picks up speed and the wind is gushing in with all it's force. The bus conductor comes to me and says "Ticket Ticket"
I say 1 Kalpakkam and hand out a 50 ruppee note. The conductor promptly returns some 45 odd ruppees and a ticket. Iam surprised, usually it used to cost me Rs. 16. Then I console myself saying its a new route and that too a short cut.
So with my wonderful thoughts I sleep blissfully. Somewhere in the middle I wake up to see outside. It was really breathtaking for two reasons. One, It was the most wonderful sight, with those mountains and the sun rising in the background, mellow fields, misty air..it was one of the locales straight from Mani Rathnam's movie. Secondly, Where the hell was I??
Then again the saintly person in me consoled me saying "Remember its a new route the ticket costed you only 3.50 rupees". I settled to enjoy the scenery and again dozzed after a while. When I get up I see people all running out of the bus. Iam alarmed have they found a bomb in the bus, definitely the act of terrorists who want me killed. I was so engrossed in my thoughts when the conductor addresses me "Get down ma! Karappakam has come" I ask "excuse me ! but i want to go to kalpakkam"
He calls the driver and then they explain that the bus was for karapakkam and not kalpakkam. That explains the fare, the scenery and the bus interiors. Dumbstruck I refused to move. The kind hearted conductor told me that the bus would leave again for tambaram in another 15 minutes and that they would drop me free of cost! I had to get down at a junction called Singaperumal Kovil and then catch a bus to Kalpakkam. I learnt it the hard way out that sleep can distort words like the karapakkam becoming kalpakkam. I reached home at 10am instead of 6am. It was an adventure of a kind...
I was going back home for sem holidays from trichy. I had to come to chennai (tambaram) from there I had to catch another bus to kalpakkam which is some one and a half hours away. I reached tambaram around 3:30 am, very sleepy. The breeze was cold and I was swaying with the breeze in my sleep, what a sight early in the morning it would have been. Some buses came and went, i was sleeping patiently for a bus to ferry me to kalpakkam. At last one came. I got into the almost empty bus. I looked around for a nice cosy seat to sleep when i realised that the interior of this bus was not characteristic of kalpakkam buses. I thought "May be its a new bus"
The bus picks up speed and the wind is gushing in with all it's force. The bus conductor comes to me and says "Ticket Ticket"
I say 1 Kalpakkam and hand out a 50 ruppee note. The conductor promptly returns some 45 odd ruppees and a ticket. Iam surprised, usually it used to cost me Rs. 16. Then I console myself saying its a new route and that too a short cut.
So with my wonderful thoughts I sleep blissfully. Somewhere in the middle I wake up to see outside. It was really breathtaking for two reasons. One, It was the most wonderful sight, with those mountains and the sun rising in the background, mellow fields, misty air..it was one of the locales straight from Mani Rathnam's movie. Secondly, Where the hell was I??
Then again the saintly person in me consoled me saying "Remember its a new route the ticket costed you only 3.50 rupees". I settled to enjoy the scenery and again dozzed after a while. When I get up I see people all running out of the bus. Iam alarmed have they found a bomb in the bus, definitely the act of terrorists who want me killed. I was so engrossed in my thoughts when the conductor addresses me "Get down ma! Karappakam has come" I ask "excuse me ! but i want to go to kalpakkam"
He calls the driver and then they explain that the bus was for karapakkam and not kalpakkam. That explains the fare, the scenery and the bus interiors. Dumbstruck I refused to move. The kind hearted conductor told me that the bus would leave again for tambaram in another 15 minutes and that they would drop me free of cost! I had to get down at a junction called Singaperumal Kovil and then catch a bus to Kalpakkam. I learnt it the hard way out that sleep can distort words like the karapakkam becoming kalpakkam. I reached home at 10am instead of 6am. It was an adventure of a kind...
