Thirty-Eight point something

Goa was good.
We were 6 of us who were supposed to go. My 2 uncles, 2 aunts, my uncle's daughter and i. (clarifications right at the beginning : My uncle's daughter calls me Anna. So it ends there...)
Let me get to the point(s) straightaway.

/*Chennai
1. 6 tickets were booked in a 3-tier AC train. All 6 tickets were available only in the RAC category.
2. One of my uncles then was called upon to go to Germany on official matters. So 1 ticket cancelled.
3. My other uncle, now the leader of the pack (and the sole sponsor too ;)), now had this brainwave that the remaining 5 tickets might not get confirmed, and with 3 ladies in the group, we better book 2nd class tickets too, just in case.
4. 5 second class tickets booked, in addition to the already existing AC tickets. These newly booked tickets too, were in the Waiting List. Drat.
5. This led my junior aunt(who happens to be the most i-dont-give-a-damn-to-what-i-spend kinds), to egg on my uncle to book 5 tickets to and fro on a Jet airways flight at apex rates of 3K per head or so.
So now we have 5 tickets to and fro on AC train, Sleeper train and Flight.
6. Our AC tickets advanced to RAC numbers 1,2,3,4,5. Bright chances of confirmation, with 3 days to go.
7. So my uncle promptly cancelled the flight tickets the next day.
8. One of our AC tickets got confirmed.
9. My uncle cancelled the sleeper class tickets as well.
10. Now my senior aunt, dealt a divine digression to the whole trip, insisting that we halt at Mantralayam on our way back from Goa.
11. All 5 return tickets from Goa cancelled.
12. Return tickets from Mantralayam booked. 2nd class tickets. Goa to mantralayam could be decided after we reach Goa and explore options there.
13. The sole accompanying uncle now gets some work in Chennai, has to be here early, so HE cancels his return ticket alone, and books a flight ticket for himself for the 24th.
14. Day of journey, we book a Call Taxi, to pick us up from home at 12:30 for a 2 PM train.
15. 12:45 no sign of the taxi. Call him up, CANCEL the taxi booking (no form of transport spared from our cancellation chaos), and rent another cab down to the station.
16. Arrive at station, all tickets stand confirmed. Vaazhve Thavam.

exit Chennai*/

/* Start of Train Journey
17. On train, female company at long last. A voluptuous aunty was all i had for company for a while, until the only vacant seat in the entire compartment, the seat opposite mine, was taken by a 20-ish girl. Wow. Never happened before ever. Hasbi Rabbi Jalallah!
18. Then came her amma. Kezha bolt aunty. Maafi Qalbi Ghairullah!
19. And then came the son. 2 years old. Noor-e Muhammad Sallallah!
20. And then she called her son Kaif... Haq La Illa-ha Illallah.
End of Train Journey*/

--in Goa now--
21. Search begins(!), for transport from Goa to mantralayam.
22. Nothing. NOTHING. WTF is mantralayam, people ask. Zilch.
23. Retrace plans. Look for alternate destinations. Bangalore.
24. Book tickets on a semi-sleeper bus to bangalore for the 24th night.(this was after enquiring flight charges from Goa to Bangalore and chennai).
25. Cancel the Mantralayam - Chennai return train tickets.
26. New brainwave - why not leave by a comfortable AC Volvo bus instead of a non AC semi-sleeper?
27. Book 4 tickets to bangalore on a Volvo Bus.
28. Cancel the other bus ticket.
29. Also meant that we could cancel our hotel room bookings for the 24th. Checking out one day ahead of time.
--exit Goa--

-Goa to Bangalore--
30. Bus journey. Seats numbered 1,2,3,4. First 4 seats on bus. Clear view of Road ahead. Bus going up and down the western ghats. At speeds nearing and crossing 100 kmph.
31. Man sprawled on road, drunk, sleeping in bliss, middle of road. Bus brakes hard. gets my aunts' heads spinning.
32. Senior aunt vomits all over.
33. Plans of stay in Bangalore in jeopardy.
34. We reach Bangalore at 10-ish the next morning. head straight for the railway station.
35. Unreserved tickets to Chennai for a 2 PM train, 3 hours in the bangalore railway station waiting room, and then a rush for the seats that get toweled up even before zeroth hour.
36. Mahesh 'macha kammanaati' balaji has to leave to mysore too, and comes to the station, gets to talk to my uncle's daughter. @%&$#%@.
--exit Bangalore--

--Bangalore to Chennai--
37. Drunken sleepard on train on berth above. Constantly absently shifting positions, almost giving us a 'the sky is falling' feeling. Sick. in more ways than one definitely.
38. Back in Chennai, and living happily ever after...

Soragame endraalum.. adhu nammoora pola varuma.

The Sands of the SeaShoore..

Today evening, I met my friend Paru after some 2 years. The last I saw her was before I left for singapore. And then she left to the US when i was back in India, and finally all the planets found it appropriate to allow me her darshan today evening..

But the blog is about what happened before the meeting. Waiting for her, back to the sun, at besant nagar beach, I was silently typing smses, when a sight so delightfully reminded me of those days gone by..

Four small boys (average age around 10)(and lets call them A,B,C,D), armed with a bat and a tennis ball, dived into the soft sand, and went berserk. With loud cries of the now famous 'lakalakalakalaka', the chubbiest of the guys, say A, forgot the rest of the world and threw the ball as high as he could up into the spotless evening sky. He only looked chubby i guess, coz the ball hardly went some 2 stories high before it was dutifully dropped by a diving wannabe, say C.
Resting the bat for a mo, these kids started playing 'catch-catch' and then one of them (D) inevitably threw the ball to the other group, ball landing way short of the waiting duo(A,B). Angered by the apparent violation and for arrogantly snatching away an unfair point, B picked the ball up and threw it straight back into the sand, and ceremoniously called 'One All !!'. This now piqued the ire of the opponents (C,D), but they were the ahimsa cult i guess, for they repentantly retorted with a 'Ok daa.. Re-throw'.. I couldnt help laughing to myself.. those days... When the game resumed in all fairness, loud laughter followed by a lakalakalakalaka was the highlight, every time someone dropped a sitter. Notable was how C dropped the easiest of catches and then proceeded to vent his frustration on the ball, throwing the ball way beyond the AB team, ball finally hitting a small child who fell on the sand with the force of the impact. Next moment, these 4 guys are at her side, and yelling at C for his carelessness. It simply was oh-so-good.

When ABCD dispersed, still no sign of Paru... I looked around, and there was this small boy, rubber ball in hand, gazing out into the distance, quite obviously waiting for someone. And thanks to all that lakalakalaka-ing, I was so much in the mood.
'nee velaiyaadaliyaa'
'varuvaanga'
'namma aaduvomaa catch-catch'
'mmm'
And jump into the sand i did! Sheer joy for the next 10 mins. And i had an audience too, thanks to my powerful throwing arm which sent the ball quite a way into the sky, even eclipsing the evening sun for a fraction.. A tired ABCD now had someone to 'look up to', and craned their necks and cheered everytime i sent the ball soaring. Thanks to the strong breeze, 'my' kid dropped most of the catches, but the enthu was so nostalgic and sublime..
(As a last-ditch attempt to convince Paru that i was not the same hawai chappal - mukkaal pant - muppadhu rooba shirt Girish that she knew me as back in undergrad, I had worn a decent full sleeved shirt, neatly tucked in to a new newport jeans, belt et al.. )
But now, ball in hand and kid in sight, nothing doing.
Sleeves rolled up, Shirt let loose, pant folded up, forget the rest of the world, and fly...
And when paru eventually shone on the shore and we went to planet yum, she drank some tropical delight-or-whatever drink, while i scanned the entire list to order Assam Tea.. Thanks to Baristas, one of my all time fave drinks that. Yeh jo des hai mera..

Anywhere in the world, anybody(TRS style), the sight of schoolkids running riot on chennai beaches, is yet another definitions of the phrase 'true joy'.
Life is Good...