Fun with a Schoolmate, College Mates and in the Air :)

I went on a trip to Bangalore and Goa to meet an old school friend and slightly newer college friends - my last outing outside of Delhi before I fly to LA to commence my MS.. And it was every bit as memorable as I had hoped with even the flights to Bangalore and back to Delhi being wonderful as well :)

It didnt start too well - my flight to Banagalore was delayed by 90 mins and then by another 40 mins as I was on my way there in the metro. The second delay turned out to a blessing in disguise as I needed those 40 mins to get to the airport on time because I had no idea that I would need to take a shuttle from metro station to my airport terminal :p And not just that, the delay allowed me the company of a complete stranger whom I later found was supposed to fly at a flight 2 hrs later than mine. Agar woh flight delay nahi hoti toh itni amazing conversation miss ho jati meri :)

The stranger was a Sardarni about my age and as I found out - extremely aggressive and feisty even more so than my former cab-mate (never thought I could ever say that :p).. We started talking after she saw my book (Agatha Christie's Unfinished Portrait) and asked if I had another. I gave her that one only as I was getting bored anyway :p In less than 5 mins she was also bored and we started talking :p She told of her life experiences - which have been plentiful despite her being an year younger to me..

One incident she told that kind of seemed typical of her was when she, and a friend following her lead, slapped the driver a van full of ruffians at a red light in Delhi. She said that everyone weighted as the light turned green and then red again even as she kept letting it rip, verbally this time :p, at the people in the van. And no one blew their horn - which is amazing for Delhi..

She was going to Bangalore to visit her boyfriend, no no, fiancé as she corrected herself :p - who, I was surprised to learn was eight years elder to her. And this wasn´t the only difference in them - their paring seemed to personify opposites attract - her being brash and him being sedate..

I guess the thing I liked best is when she said she always thought it would be great when she would walk next-to-next with a Turban-clad Sikh - Gave me hope :D Though I think I should take it with a pinch of salt as the boy she is marrying, although a Sikh, is not Turban- clad - Hopes belied :P

After a lot more chatter,  she even guided me to the bus shuttle service, once we landed at Begaluru, that I needed to take to reach my friend - Hoping we meet again on another flight :) The airport reminded me of the one in Chennai..

And that friend is the next fun part of the trip - my schoolmate Sanjay whom I was meeting after 5 years.. Had a great time with him - he had a nice place with a wonderful terrace full of plants and greenery.. I also came to know that Bengaluru had such great weather because of its altitude - all the roads were inclined as well. The traffic was pretty bad though - as bad as rush hour traffic in Delhi :p and that too on a Saturday morning :p Amongst the things I liked abt Begaluru was the wonderful, and much cheaper, non-vegetarian food.. Food really was awesome :D

We ended the day with an hour long gupshup at a park - watching kids enjoy their swings.. In the meantime he got a call from his gf and when he told her that he was sitting in the park with a Jaspreet - I needed to make myself heard and let her know that I was a guy :D

In the night, I bid him goodbye and boarded the bus to Goa - I was joined on the bus by college mate Karan and we had a great time chatting up in the bus before we slept - had a real heart-to-heart over topics not to be discussed in a public domain :p

Green Goa :)

It was a long time before we reached Goa and even longer before we reached our other college friends at the Viva Baga in North Goa.. I had been to Goa last year in the same season as part of office trip so at every step there was a comparison to that :p

Last time the ride across Goa to go to a tourist destination had been enjoying the company of amazing people, whom I am still great friends with despite having left office. This time it was about enjoying the place - which was frankly beautiful with all the monsoon-induced greenery :)

We went to Colva Beach near Madgaon and stopped at several places in between to enjoy the scenery.. The Beach was beautiful - with wonderful white sand and some great shells as well - some of which made their to our hotel room through a couple of my friends´ shorts :P

On the way back we missed a cut and decided to take a ferry and then ride across Old Goa with no street lights to get back to the hotel - that was fun :) Later that night me and two others hit the Baga Beach at 130 in the night - The sound of the waves was just wonderful :)

Next day we went to a really old Church - beautiful place :) And then it rained - powerfully, beautifully and spread greenery all around :)

A Delightful Sight En-route to Aguada

 It made the drive to Aguada Fort simply superb - once we got there we had to get the camera out even though it was raining cats and dogs :P

Aguada Fort

The flight back was equally enjoyable - saw Zabaan Sambhal Ke on in-flight entertainment and captured the sunset on camera from above the clouds :) I had been disappointed to miss out on the sunset at the beach due to clouds but no such problems when you are miles above the earth and can see above the clouds :)

Up in the air

It was a great trip - a kind of farewell India tour that I will remember for a long time.. Just 5 days are left before I fly away to LA but somehow I am feeling like a tourist - maybe that´s because I want to come back in December - and I will :) AM a little scared about my ability to cope after 2 years away from studies and more importantly from my field.. The magnitude of MS hasnt sunk in yet. But till then I will feel happy about the fun I had in Goa and Bengaluru.. and while I was in the air :)