ched the airport by 1245..so i checked in and boarded the spicjet flight to mumbai...the usual ATC delay made us wait near the runway for 15mins..then in a few minutes time i was up in the sky 35000ft above sea level...had a nice ariel view of the chenni city..cud spot the porur lake vaguely...since mine was a low cost carrier...i had 2 shell out 100 bucks for some "measured" food...had a nice afternoon nap and at around 4pm my flight was approaching the chatrapathi sivaji international airport runway ...as the plane descended i could spot those match box type apartments..and the horribly jam packed slums which lie just outside mumbai airport wall...the weather was pretty fine ..i got down 2 get my luggage and i was in search of a taxi to get to wadala(the place wer my grandma lived)..i was approached by guy who tld that the govt fixed rate for the 16km journey was 950 rupees !!!!i knew he was a tout and hence avoided him...i walked a bit pushing the trolley almost .75km away from the airport...i got into a taxi i the main road...had to shell out 180bucks though the normal fare is just arnd 120..reached wadala in 40mins...relaxed a bit ..my grandma was very happy on seein me...and she offered me some nice yummy fud..which i cudnt resist...i missed my grandpa's presence who had passed a way a year ago..i started scanning the suburban railway time table( my favrt childhood hobby)...started plannin of wat to do the next day...and finally decided to go to panvel ...i walked to the matunga temple and the aasthik samaj...had some nice behl puri and pani puri..and spent the rest of the evening @ home...Day 1:
Dad had come on some office work ..met him...went wid him to Mumbai High court regarding some land documents to be transferred...that was the first time i had been 2 a high court (though i have been 2 a sessions and magistrate court in chennai for some petty traffic offences :)) )..it was a complete mess..very cramped..spent some time der and had lunch outside...in the evening dad had arranged car to go to the famous SiddhiVinayak and Mahalakshmi temples...
Had to pass through several layers of security as these temples come under high risk category..
The day ended with a dinner outside..
Day 2:
My panvel trip plans were spoilt due to my dad's arrival ..so i decided 2 make it this day...i got up late @ arnd 10am ..had fud and left for VT station at around 1230pm...boarded a slow local in the harbour line @ wadala station...it took 20mins 2 reach VT.. i was surprised to see the all new hi tech VT sta
tion..it had electronic boards flashing the stock market tradings of various companies...i went on hunting for a All India Railway timetable..but i was unsuccessful...i got the ticket for panvel..and got into the train...69km jrny with 23stops...the best part of this jrny was the 3kms long bridge over the sea between mankhurd and vashi...took some nice snaps...now i entered the navi mumbai area...all the stations were spic and span something unusual in mumbai suburban rly..i finally reached panvel...got down ..had some batata vad
a..roamed around the main line platforms..walked up and down for a while..took some snaps from amazing angles...purchased a mineral water bottle and boarded a train back to wadala...infact wadala comes in between panvel and VT..but i decided 2 travel the entire stretch..thats why went all the way to VT and took a panvel train...as i was travelling back ...an idea tossed up in my mind..."How about going to Pune tmrv !!!"..I wanted to spend some time wid my grandma but now a pune trip was tempting me....so i went home and revealed my plans to my grandma..she was upset that i wudnt be spending time wid her..somehow i convinced her and went to Dadar station to book a train tkt to pune for early nxt morning..i got the tkt with ease and now i decided to buy a suburban tkt to the nxt station matunga ..and from there i wud walk home..i wanted to purchase the rly timetable badly..which i cudnt get even in chennai..so i decided to enter the express train platform and buy one...i luckily got one..but that luck was soon followed by bad luck ...i thought my suburban ticket entitled me 2 roam on the express platform without a platform ticket..but i was wrong !!!!..i was caught red handed by the TTE...i explained my stance...but he wasnt ready to listen to me...i was issued an EXCESS FARE TICKET(dats the usual railway fine bill) of RS253 (250 for the fine and 3 rupees for the platform ticket !!!!)..i took
the train back to matunga...and frm der i walked back sadly to my grandma's place...it was for the third time in 2 months time that i was getting caught to the police...was making the indian govt (plus some govt servants) richer on evry instance :)...I had delicious fud prepared my grandma and slept early...
Day 3:
The Pune intercity express was @7am...instead of taxi(which wud cost 30bucks) decided 2 walk all the way the way till dadar(20mins walk) as a sort of punishment for having wasted 253 bucks !..but that proved to be a bigger punishment..i got confused with the turnings and took a wrong turn..ended up walkin in the wrong direction...i felt i could still make it on time ..trusting my foot i walked damn fast...luckily i made it on time...the train departed just as i stepped into my compartment...t
he coaches were empty..thanks to the new Mumbai-Pune Expressway...there were very few takers for the train and dats y i got the ticket so easily !!!The train zoomed through the suburbs of mumbai...i started taking pics as usual :)...the western ghats were amazing but after some nice breakfast i slept away..only to wake up @ lonavala...Pune is a place wer i have been bf4 and stayed one complete year(when i was in 2nd std)..so i planned to visit the Bajaj Tempo quarters(dad wrked der for 1yr) and also visit our own house which we have rented...the train was bang on target...arrived exactly on time ...I had some food at Hotel Dreamland opp to the Pune station...went to the bus depot and with gr8 difficulty boarded a bus heading to karve road...i cudnt decipher the marathi numerals on the buses ..so had a tuf time ...after a hour long jrny through the congested roads..i made it to my house...my mom had informed them that i wud be visiting their place..so they served me some snacks and coffee...i had a look at the house..was really impressed by their maintainence...wish they cud help me set my hostel room :)...I quickly left their place hunting for a McDonald's outlet...After 15
mins of searching..i finally found 1...had the usual VegPizza Mcpu
ff and french fries..Left the place to board a bus for akurdi(20kms away)..akurdi was where the bajaj quarters was located...the journey took 1 hr..and i reached the place around 1415..the roads were changed..lots of construction activity ...new subways...things do change in 12yrs time...things change so much that Bajaj Tempo was now Force Motors !!!! i took a pic of the main gate...had nostalgic memories of the time spent there....i walked in slowly inside the quarters...was able to recollect the road leading to my apartment inside...I climbed the terrace of my apartment ..took some nice snaps..i was doing all this silently as though a terrorist had sneaked into the territory and doing suspicious activity...time flew so fast that i realised that it was tim
e for me to get back to mumbai...i slowly walked out o
f the quarters..got a bit senti...walked and luckily got a govt bus (ASIAD service) to mumbai...now i was to experience world class travel experience in the new EXPRESSWAY...i must say that this is easily the best road in India..the blore-mysore and delhi-agra highways might come a distant second !!!the bus zoomed through the expressway...everything abt that road was world class..the overbridges...lanes..medians...tunnels...width..I convinced the driver that i am interested in photography and persuaded him to allow me 2 sit in the front seat adjacent to the driver in order to take pics while on the move....took some nice shots...i travelled 180kms in 2hrs(a big feat on indian roads)..i was in my grandma's place sharp at 6pm !!..I was dead tired..and decided to crash...Nxt day i had booked tkts(booked the tkts in chennai itself) for Goa...1 day trip 2 goa!!!!Day 4:
I had to wake up @4am bcos my train was at 0530...this time i dint want to believe my foot..decided to take a taxi to dadar...was bit difficult to get one in the morning ...i reached the station wid ease and boarded the Dadar-Madgaon Janshatabdi...I loved the livery of the coaches..was different from other trains...i was very excited about this trip..as it was for the 1st time i was 2 take the Konkan railway route...i planned 2 shoot pics of the mountains throughout the journey...but since i had got up @4..i quickly fell asleep
...only to get up at around 0930...i lost 4hrs of sightseeing !!!!!!! was feelind damn bad...but luckily i hadnt missed much..the realy beauty of konkan was to follow thereafter..junta got down at Chiplun station and the train was literally empty after chiplun...the train was to reach Madgaon only at 4pm(normally its 2pm but Konkan rly follows a differnt timetable in the monsoons..due to increased speed rest
rictions in the monsoons..and i was travelling durin the monsoons!!!)..the terrain was so tough ..that i wonder how the built the railway tracks in such difficult conditions...interesting there were some nets laid over the rocks nearby the rocks to prevent the boulders from rolling on to the tracks..konkan railway also uses a pilot engine which travels 5mins ahead of the train as a safety measure to ensure that the track is free of any obstructions due to boulders...another interesting thing on konkan railway is ..it was printed 750kms on my ticket but actual distance is oly around 525kms...thats bcos the cost is calculated based on distance..since konkan railway need 2 recover the money spent on the tuf terrain faster...they charge for 40% extra distance..so that 750 on my ticket wanst the actual but the charageable distance !! ok enough of railway funda..now back to travel :)....it was bit sunny as i reached Ratnagiri(the hometown of the underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim)....the train halted for more than 20mins der...
post ratnagiri ..the scenary was simply stupendous..nice waterfalls...bridges...green carpet trees and grass all over..it was also raining heavily...i was keen in taking more and more snaps...and did so risking the camera and my life by peeping out of the train...The train whizzed past a few small stations and arrived @Madgaon 10mins late...the station was strikingly clean and well maintained...i moved out and took a public bike(something unheard !!!)..since i carried no luggage except for my backpack...i sat in the pillon of a bike which had a driver !!!!i took this as it was the cheapest among the available modes of transport..i had planned to visit the Colva Beach..11kms from Madgaon station...I reached the beach in 15mins breathing fresh air....I got one and a half hours to spend as my return train to mumbai was only at 1840...i took nice snaps...could spot a lot of holiday couples...was feeling lonely ;)...i di
ssolved my feelings in the water and played wid the waves for a while....then i decided to have some coffe at Cafe coffee day..dint want to risk wid the food outside bcos Goa has a reputation for non veg stuff...everything smells fishy over der (pun intended) :)) !!!!!!! I took a bus back to the station....As i had been outing for a week...dint have time to chk out orkut and mail...so spent half an hour in the modern cybercafe located inside Madgaon station...My train back 2 mumbai was half an hour late(it was coming from mangalore)...i boarded the train...had some substandard rice in the pantry...and slept peacefully...Day 5:
I reached the destination Lokmanya Tilak Terminus(Kurla) ...from there i had to cross a bridge to board a local to wadala...i reached home @ 8am...had some nice breakfast...spent some time reading newspaper....meanwhile my school friend Sudharshan bhatija(now in IIT Bombay pursuing Engg Physics) had called me and we decided to meet up at Andheri McDonald...so i took a local to Andheri from Wadala...We met for an hour and the time was 4pm..My uncle's house was in Andheri ..and hence i decided to go there for overnight stay...I met my cousin who was preparing for JEE..gave him some tips(only bcos he asked me!!!)...spent the evening chit chatting with uncle and aunt...had some really delicious food and slept off
Day 6:
Got up only @11am ..it was like a day wasted in mumbai..dint do much...had planned to go to surat for 1 day to meet my friends in NIT Surat...had my train at night 2220 from mumbai central...it was a passenger train ..i purposefully booked a passenger train bcos i din want to end up reaching surat at some awkward time of 3am....dis one reached only @ 6am...My uncle dint want me to go on yet another trip and hence he asked me 2 saty back and guss Surat....but the traveller in me prevented from paying heed to his request...I decided to go ahead with the Surat plan..but it got late ...i knew i couldnt reach Central...so i decided to board the train in borivali(the train arrived @ 2330 in borivali)..my uncle dropped me @ andheri station and after an anxious wait in the suburban tkt counter i could get into the borivali local only @ 2300hrs
..its a 20min jrny normally from andheri to borivali...unfortunately my local got caught in some signal and i reached borivali @ 2328 !!!..i immdtly got down crossed over to the mainline and just as i entered the platform..the passenger arrived!!!! thank god i was on time....it was horibly crowded..and reservation meant no meaning ....i pushed myself into the coach and boarded the train...i found my berth and i fell asleep immdtly...Had kept an alarm @5..as this train was headed for ahmedabad..so if i snooze...i wud be landing in ahmedabad !!!!!
Day 7:
Luckily i got up on time and got down at Surat station...was hunting for a share auto..but since it was 6am..i cudnt find one...but to my surprise i got an auto to NIT surat for 40bucks(approx 10kms)...something our auto guys in chennai must learn!!!...i reached the main gate in 20mins...form there i called my friend and to gimme directions to reach his hostel...was a nice green campus with lots of security protection...but the campus was a bit small...i finally reached his hostel...we talked to each other for sometime...brushed my teeth..went to the mess
for breakfast...then we took bath and left to meet two other guys in an other hostel..it 
was a nice time meeting the old classmates...we were walking around the campus having an arbit discussion ...we planned to hav lunch outside..so we walked to the main road and caught an auto...after some 20mins of raomin he finally took us to the McDonald in some posh shopping area...i ordered the usual Mcpuff and french fries...ppl in surat seemed to be obscenely rich...we took snaps along with the Ronald McDonald( McD Mascot)..we shared a few comic scripts from films and later headed back to the hostel...my train to mumbai was at 1555..so had to rush back to the station...i transfered the pics taken in th cellfone onto a pen drive and made a move 2 the station..the autowallah did a nice job of rushing me 2 the station...i quickly boarded the Surat -bandra terminus express...was a nice four and a half hour journey...i did a bit of rail fnning...took videos of the Rajdhani zoomin past us in the opp direction(relative speed of over 220kmph !!!!)..reached bandra (a mumbai suburb) at 2030....i took a local to wadala..and reached home at 2100hrs approx...was dead tired...had fud and crashed !!!Day 8:
It was time for me 2 leave...grandma was angry with me for having planned a 8 day trip to mumbai and literally not spending even a single day with her...but my wishes of vis
iting various places was fulfilled..My flight was at 1130...i took a taxi and reached the airport...the Mumbai airport after its privatisation looks cool and amazing...i had to go through the security checks...boarded the spicejet flight...as expected there was a half an hour delay....Off i went into the sky...a huge city appeared so small in my eyes...slowly mumbai disappeared...and one and a half hours later chennai started appearing...i cud spot the porur lake once again...as i touched down the runway...my 8 day trip came to an end....it was time for me to get ready for the biggest trip ever..the four and a half month trip to my institute in PILANI !!!!!! :)))))
