Kerala Trip : Train Travel : Mumbai to Kerala 1

5th Monday, Jan 2009 : Its morning 9:00 and the cab has arrived to pick us up on time. This time the cab is not the usual black and yellow Fiat Padmini Premiere Pal but a Maruti Esteem Reliance service Cab. So whats' the big deal ? Well, Lets just say you wont end up donating your entire wallet and your body wont be forced to act as the shock/jerk absorber of the car. The cab moved along the Western Expressway and Eastern Expressway and also through some routes that I have seen only in maps. The monotonousness of traffic blocks, greenery void and dirt filled roads and slums and slums sent me into intermediate dozes only to be awakened by bumps and pot-holes. As always we (my parents and myself and my digital alter ego : SBF) reached the LTT or better known as Kurla terminus well before time. Ah! Its always well well before time, on an average 1 hour before the train departs. That's' in total contrast to the tradition of some of my uncles who often race with time and sometimes even with trains to catch them. :-)

We had ticket reservations in the Konkan Railway Netravati Express from LTT, Mumbai to Trichur (Trissur or Trisur) in Kerala. I got cemented to my side berth window seat, with mellowed excitement as it is an AC Coach and the windows are sealed by tinted thick glass. After all, the sound of engine, tracks, trees gushing past, the rumble over bridges makes a journey complete. However Providence had many other things in mind to keep me busy throughout the journey. No journey is worthy without kids in the coach and there were 4 in my case. Kids with their randomness and dynamism will never boredom to creep in or allow your journey to go wasted. There was this Marwari doctor and his wife along with their two kids (boys) occupying seats in the 6 seater section. These school going siblings ensured that their parents had tough time through out the journey! The train hadn't even started that the younger kid started throwing tantrums for each and every item that the vendors were carrying around. The impulse input of the tantrum did not result in any response from his mother or brother for a long time. Slowly the tantrum intensity was increasing but lasted for less time (dt) as response was negligible. Finally, the tolerance limit was breached and his mother delivered the hand of god with so ferocity that we all were startled - startled not at the need of the beating but at the intensity! (I.P.C.-Instrumentation n Process Control surely has driven me desperate in the search of input-response relationship in each and every thing around me).

Finally, the train started moving and the kids were back to doing what they do the best! Both the siblings were busy playing with their wall sticking jelly spiderman toy With peace restored, I decided to continue with my novel and mobile charging coz I forgot to charge it the previous night. My mind was now buzzing with thoughts and ideas as to how I will spend my time in Kerala; how I could evade the usual temple visits and relative house visits and spend the days in leisure. I was busy cleaning and polishing my weapon(camera) as I had grand plans to shoot the scenic and picturesque back-waters and rivers that flow beneath the rails in the northern Kerala. A long 3 years had passed since my last visit to Kerala and surely much had changed since then.

The stations along the route in Maharashtra wore a desolate look reminding me of the stations in the Clint Eastwood Wild West movies. Khed and all passed without much activity (apart from the din created by the two kids). The stations seemed quite different and boring from my previous trip to Goa; maybe the presence of friends made the difference in Goa trip. The continuous in and out of tunnels along with frequent blackouts started wearing me out. Also presence of parents stopped me from spending long time near the coach door. So I simply kept reading the autobiography and analysing the author's perspective and justification for his various acts. Time and Stations whizzed past and my vision started fading as my brain pushed the hibernation mode. .. Next