This past weekend, it was Karur

Yet another weekend after my entry to my new city, Coimbatore! Till now, I haven't stayed (back) here on a single Sunday. And guess what, its not going to be this weekend either!

Before I start, I want to talk about the term "weekend". Here, I get only the Sunday as the off-day, and people say that in the Roman calendar that is followed, Sunday starts the week. So, literally, I don't get weekends off!

Back to the reality, please. So, yet another Sunday dawns... Wait, it hasn't dawned yet. Its 4.45 am. I have to board a 7 am train and I planned to depart from "home" by 5.45 am. Well, 4.45 was too early, I had a series of alarms to follow up every five mins. So, with some confidence and sense of laziness, I snoozed the alarm and went back to sleep. I woke up pretty soon, I thought. But I read the time as 5.30 am!! Gosh! I must get going, and FAST, I said to myself! And with a super fast pace, I was ready in about 25 minutes and left my room by 6 am.

It was another typical cool and windy morning, encapsulated by clouds which refused to rain. I was in the bus stop, and was waiting for a bus. There were some three or four people there, traders I presume, with some packed trade goods with them, ready to board it in a bus, if only the conductor would allow them to..

A little while later, I took a bus to the "Gandhipuram" bus stop and then to the railway station to board the day train to Karur. I had a couple of Vada for a mini breakfast, and bought a newspaper and a bottle of mineral water for the journey. It was about three weeks (barring a weekend in Madras) that I had a newspaper for myself. I love to go through the paper for about half an hour usually, but the habit hit the pause button after moving to CBE. So, I was engrossed in the newspaper, which had interesting articles ranging from one on famous footballers who wore jersey number 10 to one on Dhoni's engagement. Then, subconsciously I noticed that the train had chugged off

In came the tea vendor and I had a cup of tea... The problem was, it was hot (good...but there is a twist) and the cup had a leak! Now you see the problem? I had to drink slowly on one side, and wipe the once-in-a-while droplets falling off the cup onto me or the little table/board too! Ever had been in situation with a leaking cone ice-cream? Well, this was similar to that. A little while later, after my tea activity was over, I had my breakfast (masala dosa) and then got up to dispose the box. Found the dust bin but not the wash basin. So, I had to go across the vestibule to the wash basin in the adjacent compartment, and in the process my head got bumped into the low lying coach's vestibule door. This was episode #243 of "Indians are short"!

Now, the train was picking up good speed. On its way out of the city, I was able to spot my place of residence too! Well, thats like half of what I know about the city! And then, I was either reading the newspaper or gazing out of the window at the greenery! I had just been on the very same route three Sundays ago, so, there weren't very many new things to see, but yes, for any nature lover, the green fields with little hills in the back drop was a nice view!

The train was not very amusing, this time. I usually have amusing people around me during train journeys, but not this time. People were so engrossed sleeping or eating or chatting in low voices amongst themselves. It sure was a lazy Sunday. Within two and a half hours I was in Karur.

I got off my station and called up my friend who said he will be there to pick me up in a short while. Now I was scanning this little station. It had three platforms, calm, less people, and clean! And, since my friend would be here in a while, I thought I would as well check for my return trip ticket. It was available, so I went to the reservation center (also inside the station) to book it. It was atwo minute job - fill the form, hand it over to the person sitting in front of the computer, hand over the fee and get the printed ticket. Its what I was an expert in, having perfected the "art of booking tickets" over the past four years of college life. Now, my experience had to "wait" as the person in front of me was cancelling around 10 tickets and booking a few more... And this guy would keep all the forms to himself, like he owned them! Silly people! My friend had to wait for me now! I felt a bit sorry for making him wait! After five minutes, I got my chance and was done in a jiffy!

So, I stepped into the "metropolitan city" of Karur (my friend's description of the city :-) ). It was a calm, green town. Lots of green pastures, farms, tree plantations - the fresh air was enough to tell a blind man about how green it is! We rode to his home, on his two-wheeler. I met his family and then had a delicious lunch. First home-made delicacy away from home after a long long time! He took me to a tour of his home, and I was reminded of my first home, in Bhilai, where I grew up. And, instantly, I took a liking to the place. It was in a very neat and calm neighbourhood, had a similar floor plan and garden! Nostalgic!

Then we went upstairs to room on the terrace. And watched a movie, "Iruvar". He said I would like the movie. In the past couple of years in college, I came across the movie on the local network, but never played it. the songs were good, but never got the urge to watch it. Now I was watching it, and I knew if he really did say I would like it, then I should watch it! We did, and I liked the movie! I don't want to talk about the movie for my own safety, those who have seen it may agree with it :-P .

Movie done, we were discussing about random topics from hostel issues to people to cricket to movie clips to thoughts on future. And boy, it was just like being back in that hostel in one corner of the campus, where such discussions were like salt and pepper of our life! We were now assisting each other over what we can do in the future et al. A power cut was timely, as the weather was very good and perfect catalyst for more and more talk. And then, we arrived at the topic we both love to discuss - cricket :-) . From Gavaskar to Cheteshwar Pujara, everyone featured in the conversation and many this and that topics of crikets were discussed! And yes, both of us were of the same opinion over the upcoming series - India vs Sri Lanka - "BOOOOOORING" (a little respect, since its test). Really, who wants to watch the same to team compete 30 times every two years!

After loads of chit-chat, the clock was nearing 6 pm, and I had to leave for the railway station. It was 5.50 when we left and five seconds after he had started the bike, I realised I forgot to put back the mobile phone charger in my bag, which I had used there! So, after getting it back from upstairs, we were off (@ 5.55 pm ) and we reached the station at about 6.10 pm I think. It was about drizzling and looked like in Karur, the clouds were hypocritical, as the drizzle became stronger by the minute. So, I thanked my pal for the wonderful day and asked him to get back to his home before the rain started to pour. And we bade each other goodbye, not knowing when we would meet each other next!

This train journey, back to CBE was a short one for me, because I was sleeping through most of it! And when the train arrived in CBE, I took the bus(es) to my neighbourhood, had dinner and then on, it was back to the normal life at Coimbatore... Another week to look ahead for, another Saturday to miss, another few days of training, maybe another weekend out of Coimbatore coming up.

Lets see how it goes
Until next time, Bubbyeee :-)