The journey...

The day came when we were leaving for Kanha. I had planned to carry food for lunch as well as for dinner. Got up the usual time as we slept late packing our bags. Got up and headed straight to kitchen. That very moment I had no thoughts about the trip, absolutely no idea. I had planned to make neer dosas and pulao. These 2 items rarely betray me. I quickly prepared the food. We were getting late for the train and still some packing was left. We quickly put everything in our bags and left. After leaving home, while going towards the railway station I realized we forgot chutney for the dosa. I was continuously thinking whether we carried everything for the trip, but still no thought about the trip. We were so late for the train that we decided to board the train from a different station. Thank God, we got the train. Throughout the trip we kept talking about something which was not related to the trip. We had planned to take Garib Rath to Jabalpur, from there we would take a cab to Kanha National Park. The journey was good, just that it was too cold in the train because of the AC. That’s what I don’t like about the Air-conditioners! It should be obvious that the AC is working, it should have the room temperature, or it should have a pleasant temperature. Its as if they want to show-off that they have an AC. Never mind I have decided, I would never sleep on the upper berth if I am travelling in an AC train. Problem solved. The train was supposed to reach by 6 AM. So I estimated it will reach at around 7AM. Thinking I had still so much time to sleep, I was tossing and turning because of the cold temperature. I got down, took the middle berth and went off to sleep. I had not even slept peacefully and the train stopped. And then an attendant came and woke us, informing the last station has come. And we should better hurry before we make it to the yard. We got down and the welcome was chilly. That’s what you say when the temperature is below 5 degree Celsius.

Welcome to Jabalpur!

The cab driver was late, and with each passing minute, I was wondering why was he not appearing. It was very cold, and we were not prepared for the weather. Only a normal sweater and a shawl. The car came after half an hour and I jumped in and as usual I went off to sleep. Still no expectations about the trip.