Travel Diaries Part I

2014 was an interesting years full of ups and downs for me. With 4 weddings, a trip to Puerto Rico and the icing on the cake, a trip to Boston by my parents and best friend as well as meeting  the new love of my life, my tiny new Ela, 2014 was truly filled with new life lessons and  experiences that I will carry through my life.

And in order to make sure that 2015 was not going to be left behind, I kick started this year in a truly festive form, by travelling to Ratnagiri for my best friend’s destination beach cum hometown wedding.

If you have ever been to the Konkan strip that embraces the western part of Maharashtra, typically driving to Goa from Mumbai, these lush green ghats are as nerve wracking as they are mesmerizing. Driving down these ghats, is one of the most scenic routes to take to Goa from Mumbai. But personally I’m a train girl, I love travelling by trains ( I can sleep without feeling guilty). And so when the opportunity to go down that road again ( I mean train again) I decided to take the train to  

Ratnagiri.

6.00 am Dadar station:  And so I set out bright eyed and bushy tailed (and slightly sleep deprived) on the morning 1^st January to attend Kimi’s wedding, by Mandovi express at Dadar station.  (The same Mandovi express that when it had started 10 years ago had been a sense of such intense joy and pride for all of us Goans living in Maharashtra…partly because now dad wouldn’t be dragging us out on the roads at 5.30 in the morning to start driving to Goa. We could leave at night and we would be there in Goa in the morning! So exciting!! I remember waking up on those mornings or as a kid counting down to go Goa!! Hugging myself with the anticipation of a lazy vacation, the mangoes and the beaches..oh that golden sand. …well cut to 2015…and I thought I have grown (hopefully) and don’t hug myself anymore..but I think deep inside Konkan kanya/ Mandovi express still incite that gleeful excitement in me).

7.20  am:  Cut to Dadar station. The mood here is always of organized chaos. It doesn’t matter that today is the 1^st of Jan at 6.30 am , and half the people here haven’t slept all night. A long distance train stopping at Dadar for two minutes brings out a certain sense of organization in every family- Dad goes in first , kids then go in ( always get out of the doorway), then the bags (usually 7-8 mid sized cloth bags, always the incessant number of bags per person taking full advantage of the fact that we are not flying and the amount of luggage we bring is upto our discretion, it has probably not occurred to anybody, that at some point it might just be easier to bring the big suitcase with wheels), mamma bear passes all the bags in and then climbs in herself ( usually pushed in by the next family with a similar travel transfer hierarchy. As the train pulls in, I feel a similar kind of anticipation, never mind the fact that I have one bag and I’m travelling alone, as I climb into the train, I reflexively turn around to catch the next lot of bags to be thrown at me, then I realize that I’m not part of a gang here, turn around to find my seat.

8.15 am : after elbowing my way into the train, I have found my pre assigned seat. Its next to the window, and contrary to my hope, not the one with the two seats by the side ( I have already quoted ,in my head, Kareena Kapoor from ‘Jab we met’ about the side seats, and have also patiently waited for a Shahid Kapoor to show up in my compartment, no luck on both accounts, as our berths fill up, I realize my travel companions  are going to be two middle aged ladies going back home to Goa after a vacation in Mumbai ( I already know they will be spending some time figuring out my marriage status and if my life’s choices has interfered in my ability to find myself a suitable mate), there is a young petite mother of a set of twin girls around the same age as Atharv, and a skinny German woman in her fifties who I guess ( and she confirms later) has brought in the new year smoking a powder cocktail. Discreetly under my sunglasses I spend a minute gauging my travel companions in a Hercule Poirot-esque sizing up.

12.15 pm: Shortly after my sizing up, I retire to the top bunk to take a nap. In the past four hours, Kimya has called to make sure I have not overslept on my New years eve slumber and have actually caught my train and my mom has called  three times- once to check that I didn’t lose myself between my dad dropping me off at the door of the train compartment , and me finding my seat, she calls once more to make sure I don’t eat the  greasy food that the pantry guys are selling in the train ( one of the worst side effects of living in the US long term is the slow inability of my intestines to faithfully digest the delicious road side food at home) and another to make sure I keep a watch on my lone bag underneath the berths and that I don’t tell any of my co passengers I’m on my way to a wedding. I vehemently nod yes to my mother on the phone, these are things I have already made a mental note of, I am as absent minded as they come, and if this doesn’t go well, it will be brought up on all occasions as one of my embarrassing tales as many others often do.

1.15 pm: I was supposed to reach by now, but we are still at Chiplun and  Ratnagiri is still an hour away. I come down to the base berth. The twins are in a fabulous mood, entertaining the middle aged aunties (MAA). The MAA’s have taken over one child, I see, putting this kid to bed, feeding it slices of bread and butter the mother has faithfully brought along. The twins have also resorted to called the German lady   “ Hippie Ajee” who now reads a book on yoga. She is reading the book with such dedication; I suspect she might be doing mind yoga.

2.30 pm: we have hardly moved in the last hour and looks like I might still be 45 minutes away from Ratnagiri, I anxiously tap my feet and hope I was young enough to throw adorable tantrums like these twins can. They have already regaled us with their singing and dance performances from their school functions and now are not getting angst to go home. So am I. I also find out all the women are from Goa and the familiar Konkani conversation in the compartment makes me feel at home. I ponder secretly how the small state of Goa could have so many different dialects, such that each train station has its own form.  This is also one of the few times I appreciate the beauty of the lush greenery around me, Now all I really need is the smell of the rain on the soil and I would be purring cat.

3:15 pm: Finally after making 1500 pit stops, I have finally landed in Ratnagiri, amid the green mountains and the smell of the sea on the other side, I can truly appreciate the beauty of the Indian diversity in a single span of vision and contently look forward to the weekend stretched out before me.

More later..