5,6,7 September, 1997 (Fri,Sat,Sun)
True to RECTian tradition, the decision to go to Madras was made at the eleventh hour. So there was no question of getting a train ticket even for return, forget about the onward journey. (I checked it out Tuesday morning and found wait-lists closed!) Bus tickets in private travels were at the premium too (one Travels asked me Rs.200/- as diesel prices had gone up!) and I ended up reserving the 35th seat in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (formerly JJTC and RGTC) a couple of days before the trip.
The evening of 4th Sep found me in the office, well past 6 PM, chatting with Yogesh for a record 20 minutes over phone. A bus ride to Majestic and dinner of Masala dosa later, I boarded my bus. The seat, though in the last row, was surprisingly good, and so was the ride. ( I might have slept off due to tiredness as well! ) The bus which left Bangalore at 9 PM, reached Parrys at 6 AM - a 9 hour ride for 350 km! That was good by me because being unfamiliar with the city, I wouldn't have wanted to reach at 4 AM either.
5th Sep
I knew my cousin Raji's place relative to Hotel Adyar Park, but reaching that meant taking a bus from Parrys. I ended up taking a bus which went to Mylapore and had the presence of mind to get down at Alwarpet. A 15 min walk brought me home safe and sound.
Raji's son, Ramesh is a II B.Tech (Aerospace) student in IITM and I joined her husband Ananthan to pick him up from there. (They own a Maruti) I'd a nice ride through the beautiful campus, though the deers didn't find my presence interesting enough to show themselves. I had a look at the placement news in the Jamuna Hostel where Ramesh is.
Having had trouble getting a ticket to Madras, I didn't want an encore performance on the return leg. So after lunch, I set off with Ramesh and his friend Anand to T.Nagar, where all Travels have their offices. We went in and out of around 15 Travels with no luck, other than the offer of a cabin seat in one, and an a/c seat in another!
We decided to make a last-ditch effort at Parrys. We were lucky to find one "Cauvery Travels" from where I got the unlucky (!) seat No.13. Having settled that problem, we decided to take a ride in the Metro Rail. We boarded the train at Park Town and alighted at Mambalam. We then took a walk down the famous Ranganatha Street, saw among other shops, Saravana Stores, which packs all things under the earth, and then returned.
My dad's aunt was in Raji's place to invite us for a marriage of a relative. I was noncommital. Come evening, we decided to visit an aunt of mine in Thiruvanmiyur. Since Raji and Ananthan wanted to come, we went by their car. We spent half an hour trying to find the place, and finally managed it. We also saw a Ganesh Chathurthi procession in a local temple. Since this aunt was celebrating the festival that day, it meant getting all sorts of sweet items, including the famous "kozhakattai", (boiled rice paste stuffed with a mixture of jaggery and coconut) the favourite of Lord Ganesa.
After being in Bangalore, I found the Madras weather unbearably hot and the humidity produced streams of sweat. But the bus service is as good as ever and the rates still the same. (But a steep hike has been announced effective from 8th Sep)
6th Sep
Having got precise directions from my cousin Murugan on the whereabouts of his house by phone, the previous night, I caught a 41D to Anna Nagar at 8 AM. (For the non-Madrasis, Anna Nagar and Alwarpet are almost at two opposite ends of the city) I'd no problems finding my aunt's place. My cousin took me in his bike to another uncle's place in Anna Nagar and after lunch (which included Ganesa's favourite delicacies as this aunt was celebrating the festival this day!) to a third uncle's place in Korattur, where my grandmother was also staying.
That concluded a visit of all my close Madras relatives, and I made some excuses and boarded a bus to Mandaveli and walked 15 min to Suresh's place in Mylapore. Ramesh had invited me to the OAT (Open Air Theatre) of IIT, as they were screening "Rangeela". I chose to meet our class guys instead (I know I know, you are asking, how I could miss that movie! A sacrifice maan! for the sake of our class guys!)
En route, I'd a chat with a guy who'd done M.Sc. Comp Sci in some Tanjore college. He was finishing some Mainframe course and was trying to catch a plane to US.
I'd rung up Suresh that morning. (I was familiar with the place, having visiting his place during my previous visit two and a half years back) Johny was also there. We spent an hour or two chatting about various things, and then decided to take a walk to Marina Beach (the time then was 8.15 PM)
Sipping a cone icecream, we began the walk, which culminated in our getting our feet wet with the sea water at 9 PM. We returned, and had food, courtesy Suresh's mom. The time was close to 10 PM and I rang up my cousin to tell I'll not be returning that day. The next logical course of action, as far as me and Johny were concerned was a movie. But that plan backfired when I saw the title : "Ulakam chuttum valiban" - an old MGR-starrer. (No offence to MGR fans)
We compensated for this by chatting until midnight, when I moved over to Johny's place nearby, to sleep. Many and varied were the topics of discussion. Johny had had other plans for the night (you can mail me to find out what!) but in deference to my visit, shelved them!
7th Sep
I woke up around 7 AM, and caught an auto back to my place. This time I couldn't escape from the trip to attend the marriage for which we had been invited two day's back. Ramesh also returned. Off we went by the car to W. Mambalam where kalyana mandapams abound.
We (myself and Ramesh) were object-oriented and at the first opportune moment, attended to the business aspect of the visit, needless to say, lunch. It was not a big success and we "had" to finish a 1 litre bottle of Fanta (Rs.18/ special offer, bottle to be returned) after going back, to make up for it!
The guests weren't "interesting" enough (you know what my tastes are!) and soon we were back home. Myself and Ramesh smashed a double Maggi packet in the afternoon. Since my bus was at 10 PM from Central, I thought I could make it to Deepa's place in Parrys which is nearby. I rang her up and ascertained the exact location.
We had an early dinner. Ramesh left for IIT, while I caught a bus bound for "pari munai" (as it's written in Tamil!) I made the 10 minute walk to Deepa's place and delayed her dinner till 9.10 PM when I bid leave.
I found two RECTians planning to board (having got no other tickets) the cabin seats of the bus which I'd booked for B'lore. (Sahas : Verifone and Itty : IBM GS). The ride was uneventful and as the night turned to day, the Madras warmth turned to the B'lore chill (compounded by overnight rains!)
My adventures weren't over yet as an auto driver left us an "indecent" distance from our homes, and we had to hotfoot it out!