Hi.. This post is about my experiences during my travel to Bangalore (all alone). I had to go to Bangalore - Christ college to write my MICAT
It all started with me boarding the Mysore kaveri express from the Chennai central station on 21st feb at 9.35 pm. It all sounds normal, isnt it? But the fact is that, I was racing against time to catch that train and I could say It was purely God's grace that made me catch that train that day. With my train scheduled to leave by 9.30 pm from Chennai central, I was in Kodambakkam @ 9.13 pm. I boarded an EMU train n got down in Park station by 9.27 pm. With prayers in my lips, I rushed thro the crowd even when few ppl yelled curses at me. I entered the station in a hurry and breathed a sigh of relief when I caught a glimpse of the train, which was all set to leave. I had to sprint to my coach n by the time I got in, the train was up and away.
Luckily, my friend who booked the ticket for me, got me a seat in 3rd AC. Even in the AC coach I was sweating profusely for over 30 min afterwhich I settled in my berth and had a good nights' sleep. The train reached Bangalore @ 4.10 in the morning. With the help of a few chai walas there, I got directions to the bus stop n boarded a bus to my destination - Christ College. One of my friends had told me that the travel from Bangalore station to the college would atleast take 1.30 hrs. But to my disbelief, I reached there in 20 min. I found myself all alone in a bus stop @ 5 am in the morning not knowing what to do since my reporting time @ the college was 8 am. Just 8 hours ago, I was in kodambakkam wanting the time to go as slow as possible n running against time to catch a train and now Im in the heart of the Indian Silicon valley very early in the morning wanting the time to go as fast as possible. What an irony..!! Well, I guess Ill be the rare few who ve seen the silence of Bangalore city ;). U wont believe me, I walked for nearly 2.5 hrs in and around Chrint college n finally when the college gates opened around 7.30 am, I rushed in. Finally I had a place to sit.. :)
MICAT was for 2.5 hrs n it went on just like all other tests I took. the 2.5 hrs went in a flash and once the test was over I was again left with 12 hrs to spend in Bangalore since my return train was only at 11.45 pm. Few of my friends had suggested me to spend some time in Forum, a famous mall in Bangalore. In the morinig itself during my marathon walking, I saw Forum n decided to go there after the test. So I went to Forum around 12 noon and had my lunch there. Forum was a place, I felt was somethin that didn belong to India. I found the people to be aliens from a different nation (though 99% of them were Indians). I guess thats the true reflection of modern India these days. But I must admit, It is one destination U would want to go incase U ve come with a partner unlike me ;). The only good food I had in forum though was the strawberry milkshake.. Yummmmmmyyy...!!
After lunch, I literally window shopped in every shop inside Forum but somehow I was never able to spend time at all by doing nothing. Perhaps the too much of hectic schedule that I enjoyed for the past few months had made me appreciate time so much that I cud not spend time by doin nothing. Finally I stepped into landmark. That was a significant landmark in my stay in Bangalore as i spent nearly 7 hrs there. I just browsed through the cd's and stuff like that and finally reached the books section. I came across a biography on Sachin and without second thoughts reached out to get that book. Whereever U go, being a Sachin fan helps. :)
I cant exactly recollect how much time I sat there reading the biography of Sachin, more so about his father Ramesh Tendulkar, who n his elder son Ajit were instrumental in making the Sachin of today. Before goin to the mall, I had decided to watch some movie in PVR cinemas so that i could spend atleast 3 hrs by that way. Unfortunately when I enquired for tickets around 4pm, it was house full for all shows. In the meantime I also visited BigBaazar there but was totally unconvinced to even stay there for 15 min. Disappointed, I walked back to landmark and continued with the biography. Once I finished with the biography, my focus shifted to the magazines there. I laced thro all magazines from business to car n bikes to technology and even entertainment. I even went to the extent of reading French Dictionary [ I sware I dont kno French ;) ]. Aftr that I again went to the food court to have a falluda. By then it was almost 7 pm. Then I again went on a final window shopping spree, this time only to Nike, Reebok n Adidas showrooms. After all that, I was all set to begin my return journey.
I started back to Bangalore station at about 8.pm and reached there by 8.40 pm. I had my dinner in a small hotel there n began walkin in and around the station. Sooner I realized that I had been to that exact place some 5 yrs bak during my college days. My heart raced back to those memorable days when we were in Bangalore on a college tour. I could recognize the hotel in which we had stayed and all the drama that unfolded in that hotel came to my mind (அது ஒரு அழகிய நிலா காலம்.!! ) I started walking aimlessly towards the places where we had gone thinking of those golden days. Time sure did fly away then. When I returned back to Bangalore Station I was already 5 yrs younger @ heart. I spent the rest of the time thinkin about the college tour and about my previous visit to bangalore - mysore for my Infosys training (2.5 yrs ago). By the time I was back to my current senses, it was almost 11 pm and I was all set to return. The train finally arrived @ 11.45. My compartment was missing n only later did I realize that it would get added in Bangalore. Train started around 12.30 only but I reached Chennai on time (7.20 am).
The trip to Bangalore brought to light a few things within myself. One thing is that I gained a first hand experience of the famed Einstein's theory of Relativity. Time flies in the company of people (need not be a grl as Einstein said :P) but goes at snails pace when we are all alone. I mean, we can all love the company of self, but not for long. God's main purpose for mankind was to have fellowship with one another. Thats a vital lesson I learnt that day. One more thing I realized was how Adam would ve felt in the garden of Eden before God gave him Eve. Every dog would ve had its bitch (meant to describe the female dog only) but Adam was alone eventhou he had company around him. But I can always say that I was not all alone, for My Lord says, "You Will Never Walk Alone". I could always feel his company for without Him I really wouldn't have made it to Bangalore in the first place. Thanks Lord :) :)
