Saturday, October 22, 2005
Trip to Trichy - Part 1
I found, albeit late, that I’ve lots of time when I am flying to Seattle every other week. Why I fly is another question? Traveling gives me time for myself and also in real sense keeps me going. The flights I take to Seattle remind me of the trips I took to Trichy from Chennai during my college days. Only that the latter was longer.
Traveling to Trichy was an unique experience. I used go by Rock Fort express and return by KPN bus service. I've very little memory of the train journey, as I slept on almost all of them. Except getting down at Srirangam was a harrowing experience almost every time. The train reaches Srirangam around 4.30 AM, the time I am in my deep sleep on the top berth, oblivious to the arrived destination. I’ve missed getting down few times entailing me to travel back to Srirangam from Trichy junction. My aunt and uncle lived few blocks from Srirangam station and this makes it a big roundtrip to get back to their house. Some other times, I’ve leaped off the moving train almost not being aware of whether I’d be landing on the platform or on the gravel surface between two set of train tracks. Luckily, it had been the former most of the times.
Then I endure walking along the tracks, which I am so used to and miss not being able to do it these days, to the street that awakens slowly to the morning. As my aunt and uncle lived in a apartment complex (called Ondi Kudithanam), which was once a big home with many rooms converted to accommodate many families now, I would not want to disturb them lest waking up the landlords and earn their wrath. Which btw, I’ve done it few times only to remember not repeat it. So, I’d sit on the thinnai of the next house and let my senses bombarded with nearby coffee/tea shop music, wafting idly sambar smell and news pouring out of the radio. I’d still be half asleep, with my body still registering the rocking train motions. I came to know that All India Radio (AIR) broadcasts news in Sanskrit only during my thinnai visits. No one, including the tea shop owner himself, understood the news, but provided the much needed company at the loneliest time of the morning. From listening to the news, it felt like the news reader was running and reading the news at the same time. Such was the panting and the noise that came out of the radio. My uncle would come and rescue me from the morning chill, into his comfortable home for me to return back to proper sleep from my slumber. I cannot forget their hospitality in hosting me for three years of weekends.
After my classes in Trichy, I’d go to Trichy bus stand. It is unlike any other bus stand I’ve ever seen in whole of Tamilnadu. Buses keep coming and going, oblivious to the walking of pedestrians, cycles, scooters and other smaller vehicles in front of them. A small mistake would cause a serious, if not fatal accident, but they all coexisted very well. Like the stars, planets, asteroids and other objects in our space. The food at Trichy bus stand is worth a special mention. There are many so called Bhavans that feed the people on the move near the bus stand. As with other restaurants, there are two distinct areas of in every restaurant air-conditioned and otherwise. As I was making money at that time, I’d choose to sit in the ac area. The unlimited meals was always limited, if you’re to test the limits, though I never was that hungry to venture that far. But I’ve witnessed people eat mountains of rice, with nice crater in the middle for sambar. Such people are kinda scorned upon and never visited by the waiters that serve food. For the sake of courtesy, once in a while, the waiters would drop some rice and sambar on these testing-the-limit’s plates. But otherwise, they would walk past these famished customers, in spite of their antics to get some attention for the next fill. But these customers won’t make it so easy past the pretend strollers. The weak would just fumble and give up, whereas the bold stand up and shout for their fill. Thiscreates dissatisfaction amongst all the customers, as this could only get worse, the manager would typically run to them and try to attend to their needs. The customer will smirk and show to other lesser beings in the restaurant, what we could get if we were to venture his route. It was always interesting to watch this, time and again without getting bored as each situation brings along specific flavors.
I guess I'll write more on this later. There are lots of experiences to share about Trichy.
Traveling to Trichy was an unique experience. I used go by Rock Fort express and return by KPN bus service. I've very little memory of the train journey, as I slept on almost all of them. Except getting down at Srirangam was a harrowing experience almost every time. The train reaches Srirangam around 4.30 AM, the time I am in my deep sleep on the top berth, oblivious to the arrived destination. I’ve missed getting down few times entailing me to travel back to Srirangam from Trichy junction. My aunt and uncle lived few blocks from Srirangam station and this makes it a big roundtrip to get back to their house. Some other times, I’ve leaped off the moving train almost not being aware of whether I’d be landing on the platform or on the gravel surface between two set of train tracks. Luckily, it had been the former most of the times.
Then I endure walking along the tracks, which I am so used to and miss not being able to do it these days, to the street that awakens slowly to the morning. As my aunt and uncle lived in a apartment complex (called Ondi Kudithanam), which was once a big home with many rooms converted to accommodate many families now, I would not want to disturb them lest waking up the landlords and earn their wrath. Which btw, I’ve done it few times only to remember not repeat it. So, I’d sit on the thinnai of the next house and let my senses bombarded with nearby coffee/tea shop music, wafting idly sambar smell and news pouring out of the radio. I’d still be half asleep, with my body still registering the rocking train motions. I came to know that All India Radio (AIR) broadcasts news in Sanskrit only during my thinnai visits. No one, including the tea shop owner himself, understood the news, but provided the much needed company at the loneliest time of the morning. From listening to the news, it felt like the news reader was running and reading the news at the same time. Such was the panting and the noise that came out of the radio. My uncle would come and rescue me from the morning chill, into his comfortable home for me to return back to proper sleep from my slumber. I cannot forget their hospitality in hosting me for three years of weekends.
After my classes in Trichy, I’d go to Trichy bus stand. It is unlike any other bus stand I’ve ever seen in whole of Tamilnadu. Buses keep coming and going, oblivious to the walking of pedestrians, cycles, scooters and other smaller vehicles in front of them. A small mistake would cause a serious, if not fatal accident, but they all coexisted very well. Like the stars, planets, asteroids and other objects in our space. The food at Trichy bus stand is worth a special mention. There are many so called Bhavans that feed the people on the move near the bus stand. As with other restaurants, there are two distinct areas of in every restaurant air-conditioned and otherwise. As I was making money at that time, I’d choose to sit in the ac area. The unlimited meals was always limited, if you’re to test the limits, though I never was that hungry to venture that far. But I’ve witnessed people eat mountains of rice, with nice crater in the middle for sambar. Such people are kinda scorned upon and never visited by the waiters that serve food. For the sake of courtesy, once in a while, the waiters would drop some rice and sambar on these testing-the-limit’s plates. But otherwise, they would walk past these famished customers, in spite of their antics to get some attention for the next fill. But these customers won’t make it so easy past the pretend strollers. The weak would just fumble and give up, whereas the bold stand up and shout for their fill. Thiscreates dissatisfaction amongst all the customers, as this could only get worse, the manager would typically run to them and try to attend to their needs. The customer will smirk and show to other lesser beings in the restaurant, what we could get if we were to venture his route. It was always interesting to watch this, time and again without getting bored as each situation brings along specific flavors.
I guess I'll write more on this later. There are lots of experiences to share about Trichy.
# posted by test @ 11:37 PM 
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