Finally the 19th morning had arrived & I would be leaving Bombay after long & tiring year of hard studies. The morning started peacefully, but one event led to another & as usual we were in a hurry to catch the train.As I entered the Rajdhani a sense of calmness & excitement suppressed the sadness of leaving Bombay, home & the mess --- life behind. I realised a trip without parents indeed has its advantages & bullying my cousins 8 years younger did feature pretty high on the list.
The attendant on the train treated us really well & who wouldn’t ?? After my father & my uncle who are almost identical twins giving them instructions at two different stations 20 kms apart must have really confused him.
As the train left the chaotic city of Bombay, we (three of us) settled down onto a single berth, the journey continued with us checking out the famous station Ratlam. A few hours of sleep later the train was rolling to a halt at Hazrat Nizamuddin station. My uncle & cousin were there at the station, thus started an exciting vacation.
Once at home; cricket in the living room, Pokemon etc took over. We went for a swim in the evening. But to my surprise, there was not even one hot girl in the 50mtr pool. It is easier even in Virar !!
A day later we left for Jilling, one of the hills in Uttarakhand. We were taking the train of trains, with stories more fascinating than the Ekta Kappor serials………. The Ranikhet Express from Old Delhi Stn to Kathgodam.
But a smart delhiite had beat me to the balcony seat of a drama which had a script fit for a C grade Bollywood movie !! As the train left & the passengers settled down a police man, a woman & another man entered the scene. What seemed to be molestation turned out to be the in train entertainment for the blessed few of us. The story with its twists & turns reached a stage where the ‘other man’ started manhandling the police man. The police man was accused of been with another woman while on duty. After hundreds of phone calls to their children & superiors the police couple convinced the star & policeman on board Mr M.K.Yadav was the real husband. Threats & blows followed, but peace & silence finally was regained at Muradabad Station where 15 policemen arrested the other man.
Thus we reached Katgodam station, took the waiting taxi, the trek up Jilling had all of us panting & puffing, especially my aunt, who felt her heart skip 3 beats to be precise while we were climbing up.
At first Jilling felt nothing out of the ordinary, but as soon as we relaxed a bit & walked around, it seemed to be just the place to go to beat the Delhi heat. The days to follow were normally welcomed by nice breakfast, hours of cricket, numerous treks to catch a glimpse of beautiful birds that had made Jilling their home.
Daya a.k.a Jogi liked playing cricket & bowled some fabulous spells & hence the name Jogi (Joginder Sharma of T20 fame), which he also found a liking. 
While coming back as we easily came down the tracks which had taken us hours to climb, I realised that I had really enjoyed the hours of birding. I distinctly remember the moment where me & my cousin spotted a Leopard………. But unfortunately till date is denied by the rest of the gang.The journey back to Delhi was nothing out of the ordinary & we reached Delhi to surprisingly cool weather. Hail storms had cooled down the temperature almost 20 degrees below the normal heat. Looked like the weather gods also liked us out here. I also felt much better knowing that those idiots (friends) who kept warning me about the Delhi heat had a much harsher climate in Bombay.
One of the highlights of the trip other than than the ultra cheap shopping at Sarojini Nagar was the hail storm I experienced. Small round balls of ice, falling beautifully on the plants nearby reminded of the ‘dots’ ice cream in Bombay. One day I also went to Akshardham, to fulfil my promise to dad & daadi.
Another of our unchilled but exciting days was when we decided to go on an Old Delhi darshan. We took the tube from Central Secretariat to Chowri Bazaar. We had some amazingly prepared Kulfis, one of which was stuffed into a ripe mango by removing the seed. We then had our dinner which was mouth watering but rather cheap at Parathewale gali. A night visit to the Red Fort followed, which included ‘un spectacle sow et luiere’ about its history.
Our wandering in delhi included turns to Dilli Haat & Nirula’s & not to forget the Nataraj Dahi Bhalle walla who happened to be quite a let down considering the hype surrounding it. That was probably the only day in Delhi were the centre of gravity of my body had changed to my stomach.Then we went to suni maasi’s place, who to my surprise let the Red Bull flow. The Lasagna she had made, reminded me of my favourite at Little Italy. Chilling out in her place was a lot of fun, which was more than I ever thought would ever be.
As we readied for our departure on Tuesday, we saw the news flash, that all trains going through Rajasthan has been cancelled. Ours was not an exception, I am sure it was mainly due to the prayers by the 6th passenger who was going to be travelling stuck between us 5 cousins !!
Chaos followed as flight tickets had to be booked. We tried one of the new dot coms. Yatra. Well after of trying to book & Rs 20,800/- being debited from my aunts account all we got was one of the craziest apologies……….. it is annoying, but it happens. Never use Yatra.com again. Finally everything got sorted out thanx to makemytrip.com.
As I reflect I realise this was more enjoyable than any vacation I' ve ever had & I would love to do it again.
Must Do’s
Momos at every corner
Chuski........ Bombay Gola
Golgappe…… The poorer Paani Puri
Walking through IIT……… amazing peacocks
Stand in the rain & try catching the hail with your open mouth
This one for you Aks..... & thanx for writing !!
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