Alright, I had planned and booked for this trip couple of months back, as soon as I came back from my trip home. Vijay was scheduled to get married on the 24th of August and I had planned to meet up with some frenz b4 tht... with much difficulty I could get 5 days off work from the 21st to the 25th of August. So the plan was to fly out from London on 20th night and reach Bangalore on the 21st, take the overnight bus to Coimbatore, spend a day n half in Karunya and reach Karur (where Vijay was getting married) on the Sunday evening to attend his engagement. Be there for his wedding on the 24th and take a train to Bangalore the same night and take a return flight to London on the 25th.
n abt the grp... obviously Vijay cudnt have joined us in Karunya.... so it was left to myself, Santhosh, Jack n Angel, Burr n Doma and Xavier (alias KAKA).... Doma was expecting, which was a real gud news and she wasnt keepin well, which was a really discouraging news; hence Burr had to back off.... KAKA, well wht can u say abt this guy, his plans are just as rigid as the sand on the sea shore... in the end he backed up as well.... so it was myself, Santhosh and Jack n his Jill, I have replaced Jack n Angel with Jack n Jill..... guess it sounds cool and rhyming..... dad said in the end that he will also join....
So, here I was, really excited to go to India on the 20th, left office early, got freshened up and took the cab to Heathrow, I was travelling with Kingfisher, I had paid some extra money to get myself upgraded to business class and I was looking forward for the experience. Well, I checked in and spent some time in the business class lounge, it was well located; I could see the planes landing one by one. The lounge wasnt as gr8 as the BA one, it was just OK. Anyways, I boarded the flight and we took off.... I said Bye bye to London, I get really excited when I go to India and feel really horrible when I come back to london; dont ask me y i m livin in london stil...!!!! prob its just cos of money....
Anyways, the starter which happened to be a soup was horrible, I didnt like it at all.... the air hostesses were ok, just cos u were in business class, they will come n ask u every 10 mins whether u want anythin.... but none beautiful enuf for me to flatter... so i wasnt flirting as well... the main course was from chutney mary which happens to be one of the posh (read expensive as well) indian reaturant from london, food was good, but not gud enuf to satisfy my tongue (thank God I never spend money in this restaurant in london)..... I was havin a severe headache and thanks to the flat bed was looking forward for a good night sleep... i slept continuously for abt 6 hrs which rarely happens to me in a flight (thanks to the business class)... n after sometime I landed in Bangalore.....
The new Bangalore is in some remote area of Bangalore... the immigration and baggage collection was very very quick (thanks to B class again)... n took a Meru cab to Santhosh's home, after my exp with Meru in Mumbai, I just trust Meru blind-foldedly... The driver by name Prasanna was very nice, he didnt knew hindi well,, but he knew Tamil, hence it was manageable for me... he helped me with all the intelligent and stupid questions i had... i liked him and probably thts y i booked him for my return journey as well...
Anyways, we reached Santhosh's home, Santhosh had ordered for lunch which was delivered to the neighbour's place... I had a look at it and immediately my mouth started watering... either Santhosh knows my taste (which I think he doesnt) or he likes Andhra food.... as soon as i saw tht the food is from Andra restaurant, i was like a hungry wolf, with my tongue hanging out... Santhosh had ordered for Chicken Biryani and Prawn Chilly... after refreshing, I had my lunch.... n trust me my tongue, my stomach, my heart, my mind and even my soul was satisfied after having such delicious food... i took a small nap and santhosh returned from office in the eve, it was nice metin him after ages and crackin some jokes n after some gud for nothing chat, we decided that we will go n meet Ashu n Mudita before our bus to Coimbatore...
I met Ashu at Forum, Bangalore... he was still the same old guy with his witty talks... i must admit tht i miss his company big time.... He introduced me to Mudita, myself n Mudita had chatted in orkut b4, btu never met personally... She seemed quite an intelligent and composed person (ppl like myself and Ashu or for tht matter any of my Bombay frenz, need such intelligent partners)... She was into her 8th month and was relaxing at home reading novels... I envied her tht she is relaxin at home, i didnt envy the child bearin part tho...... Ashu was till teh same, which is somethin i liked in him... he was the same mufat (non stop sense n nonsense talks)... we had a gud dinner at KFC, he dropped us to the bus stop... we were discussing various things like future plans, business, etc etc... finally it was time to part ways... i think partin ways is one of the most painful things... nyways we were looking fwd for times when we cud work n live together as frenz... hope tht dream come to life soon....
Anyways we had a gud journey and myself and Santhosh reached Coimbatore the next day... I had booked an innova so that commuting is not a problem, picked up dad and met Jack n Angel... it was the first time I was meeting Angel as well personally... she also seemed to be a nice person with a smiling face in the first look... n then we headed towards Karunya... well on our way, I could recollect the memories of the place, the cbe railways staion, the town hall bus stop, the road tht led to the hills, the shop from where we used to purchase grapes, alandurai, iruttupallam.... also it started rainin on the way, n i told Jack tht boss we are just gonna go n sleep off in karunya in this weather (thts something we did very well in Karunya during rainy season or rather any season)... n finally we entered karunya, the cloud covered moutain tops, waterfalls here n there in the mountains, the lush green forests, the slight drizzle... it was absolutely fantastic.... nothin better cud better describe karunya in a better way... n BTW on 21st Aug we had finished 9 yrs of joining karunya... so all in all it was a beautiful day n experience... brusly joined us at the guest house... it was nice meetin him after ages... n then the usual suspect sathosh was caught and his prestige ripped off.... for every damn thing he was caught startin from his long sleepin hrs, his once a week bathin habbits and once a month brushin habbits... poor guy was caught for everythin... finally we got ready and went to the new audi built next the guest house... it was huuuuuuuuggggggeeeeeeeeee....... some work was goin on there and finally Jack got down to his art of catchin crabs... he caught couple of crab babies as well... it was a job well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
Post lunch we went to the college, n guess wht on the way we met RK Sir, Sam Paul Sir, Smart Sir as well.... as all mech students, staff also have the craefree attitude.... Smart commented abt my grown up tummy and RK was askin which yr did we pass out.... it was quite tragic to know tht Dabur (David Rathnaraju) is no more in Karunya... i was actually looking fwd to meet him.... we met suthagar sir as well... since santhosh had a doubt in laser ;), tht made the visit even more important... but suthagar sir very politely turned down his request..... but guided us towards the terrace of the computer science (which happens to be the tallest building in Karunya I guess).. so we went there and did some amazing photography....
We met Maniarasan sir as well... his funny way of sayin things made me laught... we took some photographs in the thermal lab as well.... n then the fun n excitin part... we went to all the classes we sat in and sathosh tried to b a professor... we sat and slept in our old places n took pictures... we met Seelan anna and a few lab attendants (without whom we couldnt have passed our labs) as well... Brusly showed us his work as well... we saw Burr's shut down desalination plant as well.... we had our evenin snacks at Karunya canteen (which is a real gud one unlike we had in our times)... n then we went to Bethesda...
Bethesda... this is the place where I used to come everyday very sincerily when I was in college, only during the days when sem exams used to happen... this is one of those things which ppl like me usually do... every sem exam i used to think tht i will study well from next sem... next sem on i will come to bethesda everyday... n things like tht u know... i must admit for a few months i was having a feeling of hollowness inside me.... i knew tht god was with me all the time, but i never felt his presence; i knew tht i was spiritual, but never went to church or prayer consistently; i believed in God but never knelt down b4 him... n in a way tht hollowness was kinda killin me... n my visit to bethesda kinda watered my spiritual plants...
we went out for a stroll after the bethesda visit and my stomach wanted Kalaaaan..... i still dont know wht this thing is made of.... but it used to be my hot favourite in college days... it used to b 5 rs a plate then... so we all went out to have kalaaan... dad also joined with some common frenz n relatives n i had kalaaaan with a big smile on my face..... prices have doubled now... its served for 10 rs now... jack said tht it was not tht good.... but to me who doesnt know the actual taste of kalaan, it was heaven...
n i was looking fwd to something else as well tht evenin.... goin to burr's restaurant in karunya... i remember when we were in college n we used to go out to have dinner, burr always used to mumble abt the taste, hygiene, etc. so i was expecting some kind of standard in the food that is served in this restaurant.... n tht was the first time i was goin to his restaurant... from outside it seemed to be small considerin some other restaurants that have come up in karunya now, but who cares, as long as the fud is gud, i dont mind eating even in the roadside.... Ebenezer anna who happens to be Burr's business partner, placed the order.... i remember eating barotha, chicken 65, chicken curry, salna, omlette n fried rice.... in short a king's meal..... n i must admit tht the food was simply fabulous.... the standards tht burr used to speak of is maintained n i absolutely fell in love with the food..... it was just yummy.... i remember when i was very young, whenever we went to alangulam, dad used to take me to the small shops next to the bus stand for the barotha, salna n chicken... i had not eaten tht kind of food for about 20 yrs now.... but i could remember the texture of the barotha and the yummyness of the food.... i could find the same taste in the food at Burr's place... it was simply too good..... my heart n soul were satisfied.....
next day dad went early to attend a marriage in Trichur of a family friend's daughter.... n i went to the sunday morning worship with jack n jill to the emmanuel audi... the audi is abt double the size it used to be durin our days... n i sat in the bac with lot of empty chairs in the front.... but to my surprise all them filled up in the next 15 mins...
nyways, here i was, attending the karunya worship, after 5 yrs.... a dryin plant which was watered a day ago, needed some nourishment.... i was just thinking tht its been long tht i have felt the presence of God, I remember the wonderful spiritual life i used to have in karunya n i was hopin tht i could enjoy the presence of God today... the praise n worship session started and it was very dry, i was disappointed, i was thinking tht God has actually left me.... but as time passed, i started feelin better... n tell u frankly i experienced the same things... it feels so gud when you can feel the presence of God... when u know tht hez around.... n my spiritual plants were actualy nourished tht day..... i was a satisfied soul..... i was overjoyed with the exp... i actually wanted to testify, but never got a chance and there was no session for testimony... nyways i was very very happy...
then the painful time started... we had to leave karunya shortly.... the experiences were shortlived... i wanted to spend some more time in karunya... but practicality said tht the roots have been nourished, now u have to water them when u land in drought like situations... we packed up and jill took us to her akka's place... then santhosh had invited us to his home for lunch... aunty had prepared some wonderful mutton biryani n chicken curry..... it was agin fabulous food... it was so nice for aunty to prepare so much of food for good for nothing ppl like me.... i loved the food... santhosh's family is a very spiritual close knit family... specially his dad seems to be a rock solid idealitic person.... but we very know how Santhosh is....
then we were off to karur.... where our big man is getting married... did too much of gossipin on the way... jill must have thought wht kinda moron is he!!!!! n thts y prob she thought tht its better to sit in the last seat... nyhow we reached karur and checked into our hotel... met jackson, jefferson, livingston, selvakumar (dumil mama), burr and kaka..... poor santhosh had to face a physical assault... but i hadnt met the big man yet... n i frisked into his room.... n there he was sitting in a huge sofas with some babies (dont ask me whose babies were they)... with too many lights flashin on him, video shoots goin on and bla bla... as soon as he saw me, he came up and have me a huge hug.... man it was really nice meeting vijay after ages...
then we went for his engagement, i didnt expecttht much of crowd for his engagement... saw his better half, had some gud food... burr left after tht, would have loved if we would have git some more time to chat with each other....... so did brusly, santhosh n the whole gang... then, went to vijay's room n spoke to him for sometime, it had been long since i had sat next to him and spoken to him..... tried to do some freak out plannin to go for a nite ride with frenz n Joice (Vijay's better half), but it didnt work out..... retired for the day after tht...
the wedding day came and i was all excited to see vijay to be a married man.... it was nice wedding,... tho the pastor was blaberring something in tamil which i couldnt understand... i was just happy watchin vijay n Joice together.... it s gr8 feelin to step into a new stage in life... or see a loved one enter a new stage.... again some gud food was waitin for us.... must admit tht Joice's family members had worked well for lunch, specially her bro (guessed it from his face cut which was similar to Joice's) who was running and asking every guest whether they wanted something more.... i think it was extremely high standards of hospitality....
n then we headed towards the difficult part of the complete trip... to part ways.... vijay left with joice n their families.... jack who discovered tht his train is at a much earlier time than wht he thought of, packed up.... went to drop jack n jill at the station.... it was again a difficult parting... came back to the hotel and had dinner with dad... n were discussing some general issues.... n again went off to the station... my train arrived and i had to say bye to dad.... n this was the most difficult part... its not easy for me to say ye to mum n dad.... however i fight with them, when it comes to separation, i always wish tht it wud have been gud if i didnt have to go.... but thts life... finally i said bye... n the train left.. i saw dad till he disappeared... (similar to the time when dad left me for the first time in college)...
nyways, i reached bangalore next morning and prasanna was waitin for me... i refreshed myself at santhosh's place and left for the airport.... the journey bac was gud but i was occupied with my thoughts abt the trip.....
in short it was a wonderful trip to catch up with long time frenz, meet mudita, jill n joice... a trip which made me seriously think; is it worth it to stay away from frenz n life for the sake of money!!!!!
