Chapter
02
As
the alarm started to ring, Vishnu woke up and realized that he slept through
the alarm. He rushed towards the bathroom with his towel and dress. After about
15 minutes in the shower, he made it back to his room. Lucky for him was that
his hostel provided two bathrooms in a room so, he didn't have to worry about
the others who were sharing his room. This bathroom was always assigned for his
use while the other bathroom was attached inside the other room where the three
other roommates stayed. Packing up his travel bag with two pairs of clothes and
a dry towel which was always kept to use while traveling, soap and his
toothbrush was all in Vishnu's travel bag. Slowly he moved out of his room with
his bag and locked the doors behind him. As he made his way down the stairs, he
kept thinking if anything was left out or not. He went towards the small chai
shop which was near his hostel to get smoke and tea. While he was drinking tea
and talking to the shop owner who was a Tamilian and also was of the same age of
Vishnu, Vishnu's mobile started ringing. He realized that it was a call from Daniel,
who has just woken up and was asking about what was Vishnu currently up to.
Vishnu replied that he will be reaching Daniel's room in another half an hour
and then they both disconnected the call. After drinking his tea and paying for
it, Vishnu bid a bye to the shop owner and started walking towards Daniel's
place.
After
about 30 minutes, Vishnu made it to Daniel's room. Daniel stayed in a clean and
peaceful place as compared to Vishnu's one. On either side of the street, it
was filled with trees and a cool breeze always blew through. The area was a
residential society where some wealthy families - both local and people from
other states lived. Vishnu always wanted to stay in such a place but somehow,
he always ends up on the other side. Climbing up the stair of Daniel's hostel,
the breeze still blew against Vishnu's face making him feel happy. As he
reached the second floor, Vishnu found out that Daniel's room was locked. Also,
Vishnu heard splashing of water to the floor from the bathroom. So, Vishnu
thought that he would wait till Daniel got out from his shower. Vishnu pulled
out his phone, plugged in and started hearing to the music. After about 10
minutes, Daniel got out of the bathroom and unlocked the door. Finding Vishnu's
bag in front of the door, Daniel realized that Vishnu has already reached. Daniel
called Vishnu in and started dressing up. While Daniel wore his casual clothes,
he asked Vishnu why was he dressed up all early as they were only planning to
leave by 6 or 7 pm. As a reply to this question, Vishnu said that he need not
go back later to get his luggage as it was a tiring task and now that he
has everything, they could go together to the bus stand. So, Daniel sat there
by his bed and started browsing through social media, Vishnu browsed through a
book called "Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill" from Daniel’s
collection of books which was kept at one corner of the bed.
It
was noon and Daniel was feeling hungry as he didn't have any breakfast. Even
Vishnu felt the same as all that he had was a cup of tea for his breakfast. So,
Daniel opened up his food app in his mobile and browsed through the deals that
were available for him. The thing is that both Vishnu and Daniel didn't have
any money as they spent it on travel and all other purposes. Whatever amount
they had was necessary not to be spent as they will be traveling for the whole
weekend. So, ordering food was out of their option. Then, Daniel and Vishnu
thought that they will go out and have their lunch from the small restaurant
where they could get meals for just 50 rupees. As they started walking up the
street, they came by this place called "Silver spoon". A pale-yellow
big-name board with green letters imprinted and a leaf symbol which was drawn
next to the text. It was a restaurant but looked pricey. But Vishnu and Daniel
thought that they would just give a try. So slowly they moved into the
restaurant. As they entered the restaurant, the interiors looked very small and
there were like 3 long tables situated in the front. These tables were
surrounded by steel chairs and the wash area was at the far end of the hall. So
they moved on and after washing their hands, they sat down by the table which
was right beneath the ceiling fan. The table had a normal table cloth with red
and white crossed line designs and a glass layer was kept on top. There was a
salt shaker, pepper shaker and a jug filled with water kept on top of all the
tables. Suddenly a person dressed up in a plain blue shirt and black pants came
out from the kitchen and handed over the menu card to Vishnu. After having a
glance, Vishnu handed over the menu card to Daniel. Brushed through the menu
card and then Daniel looked up at Vishnu. They knew that they didn't have
enough money as all the items that were listed in the food menu were way over
their budget. Slowly they saw the hotel owner made his way towards them. then, Daniel
said, "Macha Biriyani is not there" with a sad frown on his face. Understanding
what was Daniel up to, Vishnu joined him in the act. Surprised, Vishnu replied
"What! Biriyani is not there ah? I didn't show up here to eat the
same thing that I could eat at my hostel. Let's leave!" "Fine",
said Daniel and they slowly moved out of the restaurant. For a moment, they
walked with no expressions shown in their face. Suddenly Vishnu burst out to
laughter about what they had done. Walking for five minutes up the street, they
both reached the biriyani place. They made their way into the shop and took
their favorite spot. As usual, they ordered two plates of biriyani and a plate
of kebab which they agreed to share. As they started feasting on their lunch,
Vishnu opened up his mobile and showed the details of hotels that were available
in Pondicherry but was costly. Vishnu again suggested the plan of finding some
cheap place after reaching Pondicherry. But Daniel still stood by his decision
of booking someplace in advance. Vishnu didn't speak any word and continued
finishing his lunch. After having their lunch and paying for it, they both
moved back to Daniel's room. As usual, they both were back on to what they were
doing before. Vishnu thought of reading the book but hesitated because he
didn't like to stop it in between and also, he didn't want to borrow the book
from Daniel.
Time
was five in the evening and Vishnu found out that Daniel was taking a nap.
Vishnu woke up Daniel and asked him to get dressed so that they could leave by
six as planned. Daniel looked on his mobile for time and slowly moved towards
the bathroom to get dressed up. In another 30 minutes, Daniel was also ready
and looked at Vishnu who was making sure for one last time that everything was
packed properly. That's when Daniel asked him, "Bro, why are we carrying
two bags?" Vishnu was a bit confused by hearing this and thought about why
was that a problem. Daniel continued, "Anyway we don't have much luggage
to carry. So, you could actually shift your things into mine." Vishnu
really didn't want to do it at first but when Daniel started to insist him,
Vishnu agreed. In another fifteen minutes, they have packed their bags and were
ready for the journey. Daniel locked his room and carried the bag for Vishnu.
Vishnu stood a little bit confused because Daniel usually doesn't do that. But
Vishnu didn't mind that and slowly they both started walking to the tea shop
near Daniel's place. The place was small, which provided hot beverages along
with snacks and small provisions for the household like washing powder, cooking
products like spices, leaves, bread and masalas. That whole residential area
depended on this small shop as it was easier for them to get all of the small
things. The shop was run by a family who hailed from Kerala. They were there
for a long time and whenever Vishnu visited Daniel's place, he used to always
go to this shop and the relationship was built fast. So as soon as the shop
owner saw Vishnu and Daniel with travel bags, he soon asked about where they
were heading to. Vishnu told about their little journey while having his hot
beverage and a smoke. In time, Daniel called up an online taxi to the bus stop.
Paying up for the beverages and smokes, Vishnu and Daniel entered the taxi and
their travel to the bus stop began. While they were in the taxi, Daniel tried
calling Jacob a lot, but either he disconnected the call or he never attended
the call. Daniel told about this to Vishnu and Vishnu also started trying to call
Jacob. But Jacob didn't pick any calls. Soon the taxi made it to the bus
station and Vishnu and Daniel took their luggage and walked towards the station
master. There, they showed the ticket and the station master replied that the
bus would be arriving in another half an hour and asked them to wait near the
office. So Vishnu and Daniel did as they were instructed and Daniel continued to contact
Jacob. Vishnu messaged Jacob but there was no response from him. Vishnu and Daniel
looked at each other and worried about where Jacob was and didn't want to
travel without him. There were many buses stopped in the station and the crowd
moved in and out of the different buses. After about 15 minutes, Vishnu
received a phone call. The realized that it was from Jacob. They both took a
huge sigh and Vishnu attended the call.
"Bro,
I'm on my way. Don't leave without me" shouted Jacob from the other side
of the call. Vishnu couldn't take it and said that "Talk slowly, where are
you?" "Bro, I had a bad hangover and I slept off. But I'm on my way
now and will be reaching the station in another 10 minutes." By saying
this, Jacob disconnected the call and Vishnu and Daniel had a small smile on
their face. Time was 08.15 at night and a big Volvo bus made it's way into the
station. The vehicle was huge with "K.S.R.T.C" letters written in
bold white colors on the top of the front window frame. On both sides of the
bus, "Airavat" in violet bold italic letters were written. The body
of the bus reflected the white light from the station and made it look like a
huge spaceship. The bus moved past Vishnu and Daniel and stopped a few
steps away from them. Vishnu texted Jacob about the current status and received
a reply suddenly. Slowly a big crowd started to cover the bus entrance. The bus
driver and the conductor, dressed in white, came out of the bus, informing the travelers
that the check-in would only be starting by 09.30 and also said that the bus
won't be stopping anywhere for dinner so they asked the travelers to have their
dinner before the journey began. Slowly the crowd started moving out as the bus
driver and the conductor made their way to the station master's office. Jacob
didn't make it yet and Vishnu and Daniel moved to the entrance of the bus
station. At about 08.50 pm Jacob reached near the entrance and rushed inside
the station. He was in a hurry, that he didn't see Vishnu and Daniel
standing in front of the station. Then, Daniel received a call from Jacob
asking about the where were they standing. To which Daniel replied that all of
the hurries were made up and the bus would only be leaving in another thirty
minutes. Moving towards the old position, Daniel saw a frustrated Jacob but
didn't speak a word when they reached near. Vishnu told Jacob about what the
bus driver told and asked if they wanted to have anything before, they leave. Daniel
told the trio that it would be better if they got some snacks rather than
having something heavy during travel. All three of them agreed to that and
started moving towards the small stalls that were present inside the station. Daniel
got some Lays and a Pepsi while Jacob got a packet of smokes and Vishnu moved
towards the vegetable vendors who were standing next to these stalls. He got
three lemons and got it covered. Seeing this, Daniel and Jacob wondered about
why Vishnu got this and asked him about that. Vishnu replied lemons would help
if anyone got any travel sickness and since they were not having any dinner,
the chances are high. Making sure that they got everything they wanted, the
trio moved back to the bus where they saw the check-in was about to start
and there was that same crowd that they have seen before. The conductor went
inside the bus and brought back a small paperboard which had the details of the
passengers who were traveling. Every passenger was supposed to show their
ticket and a government ID Card. The trio waited till everyone made it inside
the bus and boarded at last. This helped them to find their seats easy. Their
seat was at the middle area where Daniel and Jacob took the window seats while
Vishnu took the aisle seat. The seats were really comfortable and the conductor
started to give a small bottle of water to every passenger as a part of
hospitality. There were two columns of seats which had two seats on both the
column. Jacob and Vishnu sat together while Daniel sat alone who was later
accompanied by an old man. Slowly by 09.55 pm, the bus driver got in and the
bus started to move. Suddenly Vishnu stood up and from his bag which was kept
on the luggage area above their head, he took out his headphones and sat down
on his seat. He plugged in and brushed through the music library, while a
pop-up notification came. It was a message from Daniel in the group that they
created for this travel. It said "And It began..." Replying with a
smiley emoticon, brought a smile in the trio's faces. And Vishnu selected the
shuffle option and closed his eyes. The bus moved slowly from Bangalore to
Pondicherry.
To
be continued...
