Okie, so I am at home. And I am nearing the end of the vacation time. I am really enjoying my stay at home and all that. So, in between the holidays I go for this marriage of one of my college friends, Shabna’s.
I am sitting in the bus with my friends, aana and minusa. In between the regular enquiries, the topic of me not blogging comes from nowhere. i went onboard. I was like; I have been writing and posting a lot these days, why have you guys not been reading them. This question is baseless!!! I was on a complaining mood, you guys don’t read what I wrote and you expect me to write more…..?
Minusa is a smart gal, she had her statistics right. She went on to quote my last blog and even the time frame that I wrote it too. I was no doubt, numbed!
But then, I was wondering they had put a strong point. I have not blogged for quite some time. The excuse that there is dearth of topics is untrue to a big extent too. I understand. Aana came up with the suggestion, that maybe I can write about the marriage. I nodded. I was just thinking…..
The marriage got over, so did the thought of writing something too. This happened a week before okay!
I am seriously getting to know myself. I knew that when I had the urge I would write. If I am not, this isn’t just the time. That’s it. And look how true it was.
After this Himalayan blunder of mine which I am gonna tell all you guys, I just couldn’t wait to start writing about it. My dad came up to me and said, are you writing about that stupidity? He was surprised, but you see, I realize that I am genuine, goddamn genuine in this business.
Let me be a bit of philosophical here, nothing is a big deal in this big world. I feel, what you need to do is just be genuine. Love what you are doing. That’s it. And you become the boss. The happy boss!
That is exactly what I am doing now, I am being genuine and at the same time I am making myself happy. I am actually smiling when I am writing this, ha-ha:)
Let’s get back to the “blunder”.
A lil bit of history, for all those who donot know.
It is sandy’s engagement coming up. By d by, sandy (Sandhya), she is my bestest friend. So, I want to attend her engagement. Very simple! Nothing complicated in all this. So I start with the planning. I call her up, asking when exactly all this is happening so that I can book tickets. It’s when I get into the funda of booking the tickets that I realize that the place where she stays, Kanhangad, which she is sooo very proud of, is nowhere near to my place. More than a seven hour journey by train; Shit!
irctc.co.in : There I go
ERN-KZE: Jan3rd I get tickets. Wondering what all these are? They are just station codes, no worry needed. It’s again, no big deal.
Now that I have reached, KZE (Kanhangad), I have to come back too. That’s where the entire problem starts.
As always, Jan4th, Sunday it is. Reopening after New Year and all that; yeh tho hona hi tha, that’s the feeling I got. I donot have tickets back. Bad, bad cheetah!!
I scan through all the trains available. Its like, everything is worse out there, you just need to figure out which is the bad one. In midst of the Waitlist (WL) 174’s and 200’s, I find solace in a 41’st and then the hope begins!
I hope, hope and keep on hoping until Dec29th. That’s when I thought, bahut hoping ho
In between, I call sandy up to say some harsh words. I say, if don’t get return tickets madam, I am sorry, I might not come!
Now, I felt bad. I wanted to go.
As Paulo Coelho says in Alchemist, if you really want something, the entire universe conspires with you to get that. I dint want the entire universe to waste its time here, but I just wanted irctc and Citibank to be kind enough with me. And ya, also my TataIndicom dialer! Yet again, not a big demand, is it?
This tatkal booking is kind off a challenging job. When you have a good broadband connection and all, it’s not a big deal. But, as great people say, the whole life is struggle of have and have-nots’, right. So when you donot have a fast connection and whole lot of experience with this tatkal thing, you tend to be apprehensive. So, was I, considering my past failed experiences too.
I was determined to make it this time. This might seem to be a preparation for Olympics or so, but it is worth it. That will be my first tatkal booking myself and forget the happiness because of that; I will get to be with sandy, on her engagement. That was the big thing!
I ask amma to remind me about it before 8.00(time when booking starts!). She does that. And the wait for 8.00AM begins.
I had learnt a lesson from my previous failed experience with tatkal that the starting and the destination stations should not be the one which you actually be boarding and alighting, but the start and end of the train itself. Good that I knew that.
I was looking for a seat in EKM express. I give the date of jan4th and stations as PUNE and ERS. But I don’t see the needed train. I am wondering, wondering and then I realize that it starts from pune on jan3rd. Oh, Radhee, you are great.
I give jan3rd, and there you find it. I go for tatkal booking as time is up, but its already WL7. No…no….
I search for other trains!
I somehow manage to get the START-STOP of Malabar express and carry on with the jan3rd date and details. After a hell load of server problems and gateway problems (obvious one! Nothing works the first time principle applied...), I book the ticket.
Yahoooooooo……I was ecstatic. Really, I was!
But then, I see the route and understand that Mangalore (where Malabar exp starts from) is not far from KZE. It doesn’t take one day to reach KZE. I should have booked the ticket on jan4th itself in this case. I felt like killing myself. What a big blunder.
Then comes dad’s statement, you cannot cancel tatkal tickets. GONE….I was shattered.
411 bucks, gone with the wind. A moment of ecstasy and the next moment look where I was……
So I keep aside my blunder and see whether I can get a ticket on jan4th. This is where the point lies. I was not expecting the ticket to be there. I had lost hope both about the ticket, making it to sandy’s engagement and myself! What foolishness did I do? I was left with nothing; moreover I lost 411 bucks too. And I cannot cancel the stupid ticket even! I thought. But as easy as a bee, I get all the sites, the gateway gets cleared and I book a tatkal ticket for Malabar for jan4th. Again, yahoo….but not that great a yahoo:(
I simply try to see whether I can cancel the other ticket. I was so very happy that I could. I couldn’t believe my eyes, that I was actually able to cancel it. Then came the jatka, the amount reimbursed is Rs65/-. Hmmmm:(
This is the story of my blunder. I was disappointed. But, I am happy that I am making it to sandy’s engagement. I wanted to pen this down so that even she can read this and laugh. Also, at the same time realize that I took some pains to make it there!
No pain, no gain…..goes the adage right, very true.
I also learnt a couple of lessons right away.
1. As my good friend piggy says, don’t expect Radhee, don’t expect. It’s when you expect and don’t get that you get disappointed. No expectation, total happiness...but, I wonder how can I not expect to get that 411 as such back. His policy that money comes, money goes is a fact, but it’s so human to expect and I am human, am I not? I am!
2. Don’t get too excited about things. Stay calm. I was so very excited about getting that jan3rd (stupid) ticket, only to realize that was the wrong one! Just because you have great energy doesn’t mean, you should show it always!
It’s all about showing it at the right time, rather:)
Anyways, I enjoyed writing this, haha:)
