..."we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl"...

... in the midst of so many things happening and with 'extra' laziness of mine ... thanks to summer... i forgot that i was supposed to write my travelogue... now i am not sure how many people wud still be interested in reading it... but then... a promise made is a debt unpaid...

... how many times u woke up in the morning and realised that it was not ur alarm clock ... or neighbour's dog... or ur mobile phone ... or a bad dream ... or doorbell... or ur mom/dad/brother/sister/husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/kaamwaali or any other person with whom u share ur living space with, asked you to getup? ... and not only that... u wake up and everything is quiet... u try to listen hard... and there is nothing... not even those arseholes trying to reverse their cars from parking with blaring musical tones... it's just soft sunshine and cool breeze of early morning... that is how i found myself on that fateful Saturday morning...


... my reservations were in place and i was supposed to catch the Shatabdi for a journey of mild two hundred kilometers... my previous experiences with train journeys are 'awesome' ... i have found that it makes more sense to travel by train if u have a companion/family with u... and i am not weighing the time vs money factor... it is about the quality time spend in the comfort/convenience ... depending upon the class of ur coach of course... maybe i have this soft corner for the railroads because some of my memories of 'distant lands' are courtesy of this mode of travel...

... but this morning was different... i dragged myself from the bed and moved to the living room... my dad and grandma were chatting ... mom was in the kitchen making some of the most exquisite wholesome delicious 'aaloo-pyaaz ke parathe'...

"kitne baje ki train hai?" my grandma asked

"shaam ki hai... lekin mein soch raha hoon ki aap bhi chalo mere saath... gaadi mein chalte hain... papa bhi"... i suggested to go by the car instead...

"ab to tumhe ticket cancel karaani padegi na?" ... she queried... i read the thoughts in her mind... she was interested... dad was simply smiling... i knew he wanted to go as well...

"abhi ho jaaegi cancel"... i rushed towards my desktop... and cancelled the e-tickets... "cancel kara di ticket... ab dono tayaar ho jaao..." i told them...

"cancel bhi ho gayi itni jaldi??" ... she is 'still' awed by the technology...

"lekin itni door baithe baithe..." she still couldn't decide... my dad decide to wash the car... he is very passionate about his Nano!... i was to join him... and i told mom to persuade grandma in the meanwhile...


... everything was set ... two bags ... three people... one pilot... one co-pilot ... one passenger ... no cabin-crew... and one car... oops! i mean ... Nano... my sister had left early in the morning and she had no clue about this plan... and i told mom not to tell her till she returns in evening... and there it was ... one hot summer afternoon in Dilli... and we were on a road trip ... my first ever 'long drive' operation... and everything u read/heard about the safety concerns of Nano were to be tested... and i was literally on a hot seat... thank God they have AC in place...