Travel Travails....

For all the obsesed junta (of whom i know there are none ) who have been wondering why i have'nt posted for a few days,well i've been on a trip (the details of which will be inflicted on you via this post) to bombay an shirdi. not exactly a trip in th true sense, meaning that when i say i'v been on a trip i don't mean i'v been thr for a week. it was more of a whistlestop 3 days in n around aamchi mumbai. the first day was more of a sober day with pilgrimage on the agenda. Shirdi was where we went and finally fulfilled my mom's wish to get me to at least one temple in these hols.. Early nxt morning, we left for mumbai on an empty stomach, in spite of various complaints frm my growling stoamch. (as it turned out we did'nt have anything to eat till 7 that evening )..Reaching dadar station after standing for four hours in an impossibly crowded and impossibly late train (hail indian railways) we almost fell into the car and had ourselves driven to vasai (bad decision ,probably should have taken a train) anyway after hellos and th like (and some dinner..thank god fr that) we were on our way again to another suburbb of mumbai, dombivili which was in the exact opposite direction in which we had come...adding to all th mess was the patehtic roads in bombay and of course the monsoon which had decided that it was exactly the right time to unleash it's full fury on hapless bombay. during that drive it seemed like bombay was just one giant pothole and the rain was having his way with it.. there were potholes every 50 metres which made any travelling at speeds of over 40k dangerous. To add to my frustration were all the toll booths which seemed like they were taking money to keep the roads in that bad a condition. damn the bmc (and this from a delhiite!)...anyways after nearly getting lost thrice and a few near breakdowns we finally made it to my aunt's place. Next morning we woke up to the sounds of torrential downpour and the news channels reminding an already slowing down city of the horrors of a year ago. Our flight was in th evening and anxiously we began plotting our way out of the pool we were in....two hours later, after tracelling in all possible means of public transport, including autos taxis and the famed local trains of bombay and soaked to the bone, we wheeled our luggage into a jampacked airport. It turned out that most of the flights were being delayed because of the rain, and people were at the end of their tethers...finally after four hours of exploring every nook and cranny of the terminal and being ticked off by security for ogling, we finally took off in air deccan flight DN657 to delhi. As it happened i was sitting next to an emergency exit by the wings and had an extra special chat with the air hostesses who were visibly shaken. Why? because someone had tried to wrench off the exit on the earlier flight nad caused all sorts of mayhem at the airport. A few things i learned from this experience: 1.Never trust the Indian railways, inspite of all the profit it's been making, passenger comfort seems to be the last thing on it's mind. 2.When in Mumbau travel for as far as possible using the local train network. It connects all the suburbs and is much better than a taxi ride on the hell holes that are mumbai's roads. 3.The best way to spend time at alrge airport is to ogle, at eveything and everyone. it's kind of satisfying when a beutiful lady suddenly realises that uv been staring at her, decides she likes it, and smiles at you(mind you that only happens one in a million times. you might get ticked off. But hey, what's life without a few risks?) 4.As far as possible avoid snacking at the airport cafeteria which (in bombay at least) is ridiculously overpriced and a thimble full of coffee is all you need be ripped off. (That cafeteria owner must have out his kids through college on the money he eanrde that single day) 5.Air deccan is certainly a no frills airline, but DO NOT make the mistake of eating on the flight. Believe me,I know. Two slice of bread with hardly visible mayonaise in between cost me 40 bucks!!Damn!