Okay! So, it all began with my cell phone getting discharged in the night without giving prior notice! Like any typical Twenty someone, I have complete dependency on my cell to get up, remember birthdays, get alerted about important to-do-things, and getting tracked down by family and friends. My SAMSUNG X650 also has been the first solid asset purchased from my own income! Hence no matter how much ever my friends hated it, this little thing had a special place in my life! However that day I forgot to feed electricity to the pale hungry gadget and it must have fainted somewhere in deep morning hours. It was a beckoning Saturday morning after a frenzied work week and I must have been dreaming about Aamir riding majestically on his brown horse with his hands up in the air (ref: RDB trailers!). I had then* reserved the Saturday morning slot for Aamir Khan dreams. My indulgent siesta was interrupted by noisy thumps on the door at 5 AM. It suddenly dawned on me that I was supposed to be up at least an hour back and ready to leave by now!
“Oh Sh*t…!” the words slipped down my mouth instead of my daily good morning greeting to the Gods. (Is it this sacrilege gesture that cursed my day ahead?)
I almost fell from my bed and rushed to answer the door in zombie…
“Damn this lock…” I muttered as I struggled to unlock the door to the He-who-must-not-be-named banging! Enemy at the gate!
[Note: I will not be disclosing the name of the villain of this story for legal reasons, so will be referring to him as He-who-must-not-be-named.
Since he is the villain, its needless to say that I am the hero of this story [;), Also, the name of my friend has been changed!]
“ I have been knocking since like 15 minutes! Where the hell were u and why the hell are you not ready” he was obviously angry!
“Oh Sh*t…!” Again, as I just realized that I was facing him in my night pajamas!
“ I …I dunno..I didn’t get up…I was sleeping…I had set the alarm…but it didn’t ring…God! WHERE’S MY PHONE!!!”
“God knows where is it…me and Ankita have been trying frantically to reach you since an hour but you are unreachable as if already lost in jungle”
“Its discharged...” I found it under my pillow only and dead as a rock. ”…that explains it”…I blabbered meekly.
“Damn that thing now. Our train leaves in 20 minutes from Shivajinagar and you’ve got 5 minutes to get ready and come with me, Lady!“ He commanded!
“…SO u better move…I dunno how people can be so irresponsible…hope you’ve at least packed your sack”…he kept on going!
“Hey! I didn’t ask you to come and pick me up did I?…I could have come on my own alright?” His last taunt hit me and I realized he was there uninvited and had not breached any promise to be ready at 5 AM sharp. So I need not obey his orders!
“Oh I see! First you should learn to get up on your own…anyways I don’t have time to fight with you and spoil my day…just get ready and lets get the hell outta here okay?”
“You know what? I changed my plans! I ain’t coming for the trek. So Goodbye please and a have great day ahead!”
“I see! So you’re not coming! Lovely! And what about Ankita? She sent me all the way here to pick you up and she is waiting for us at the station already” He was right this time! What about her?
“I will talk to her and explain…its none of your business” I snapped back.
“Let me get some things straight here Miss Joshi! I am here after a lot of struggle and I am not leaving without you. So you have eaten up 2 minutes to get ready now so GO!”
Don’t know why but I hurried inside without further arguments. Actually if it were not for Ankita, I would have sure dumped the idea of this trek. She was my best friend and wanted to go for her first trek and needed me with her. I kept all my rage and ego aside and unbelievably got ready in the remaining 3 minutes! We made our auto-rickshaw walla floor it literally fast as an ambulance…
Remember Kareena misses her train in ‘Jab We Met’? You would if you had seen me running for that train at Shivajinagar station…Despite our jack rabbit run, the train off passed us in front of our eyes, with our entire trek gang loaded into it.
Something that was feared had happened! Our train was missed, Ankita was sent with bunch of strangers, the next train was after 2 hours and it was the two of us left on the entire platform. The same two of us who cannot keep quiet for more than two minutes, cannot agree on even a thing and cannot be in each other’s company without fighting tooth and nail!
Awkwardly we stood on the platform for couple of minutes. My heart started pounding anticipating the fury of my fellow co-traveler… I suddenly felt guilty for him and my friend.
“I am sorry… I am sorry … I am sorry…” I murmured genuinely to him as I wanted to put the his anger off before it comes on me. Nothing else works like saying ‘sorry’ in such a situation. Miraculously without further blame-games he asked me if I was okay to try taking the state transport bus route to the village Ambivali(Ouch that name hurts…read further to know why!) we had to reach. Hastily I consented and there began our pilgrimage. I don’t even remember what route we traced. I decided to keep myself out of the decision making to avoid any further conflicts and decided to just follow the commandments!
He inquired at the ST Stand and we boarded the “laal dabba” ST from Shivajinagar. Got off somewhere and got into another one. Then got off somewhere again and traversed the next bumpy stretch in a noisy TamTam. Tamtam dropped us in some sidy village where we felt we were hungry. Gorged down the cold (and perhaps stale) Wada-pav’s with water from the dusty but packed mineral water bottle sold at the only makeshift kiosk nearby. Further to reach to “Ambivali (Ouch again!) we also hired an expensive private auto-rickshaw. Our trekking gang had already reached the base for the Fort Peth, our climbing target, on schedule and waiting for us at the public school there. They were tracking and in touch with us via his cell-phone
During this phase-wise journey myself and “the-he-who-must-not-be-named” chose our words carefully and avoided any typical highly inflammable topics since we both were already frustrated due to all the phenomena since morning. Slowly as time passed, the good weather and the beauty of surroundings perhaps calmed us both down and we could even smile at each other. Truly it was a day perfect for a trek. Not very rainy but moist air. Not sunny but high visibility. Cool breezes carrying fragrances of fresh foliage, all landscapes going green!! Monsoon splendor of Sahyadri’s dissolved our morning turmoil gradually and we both were now all set to join the gang and hit the slope…
I wish it were this simple though! Read further for the kahani mein twist!
Step-by-step and vehicle-after-vehicle we managed to make a victorious entry in the petty village. Locating the only public school wasn’t even a task.
“Here we are!” We told ourselves and pat our backs…My guilt now was melting…Phew!
“We made it…we’re at the public school! Where’re you guys? Why can’t we see you” He asked the lead of the gang over cell
“We’re very much at the public school yaar…waiting for you guys for the last 2 hours…we don’t see you either?”
Initially I thought they’re kidding. However, there were no traces of any trekker in the premises. After 5 minutes of heated discussion, the face of he-who-must-not-be-named turned sore again!
“Uh Oh!...Surprise?” I asked him in a lighter tone.
“Yea…Surprise! And a BIG one damn it ^$%^$&%^&%^”
The fact was that ….we had reached an altogether separate Ambivali village which was far far away from where our friends were parked! It was already 2 PM.
We were on our toes since 5 AM in the morning, had to stand each other since then, trudged a long and painful way hungry, thirsty, frenzied, had spent much more than expected, and… the trek stands missed! Wow!
Don’t even ask about the reaction of the rest of the clan. They enjoyed their hearty laughs ROFL LOL all of them.
‘Ankita must be fuming…I am so so dead’…I thought…
We both didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. In purest form of humiliation, we waited on the main road where some kind hearted bus could stop.
Quiet, tired, sleepy. It was over. Excitement, and anger both! We exchanged empty smiles and headed our way back home. Quite a fruitless effort looks like it, right?
I could be wrong but I think me and the-he-who-must-not-be-named had become friends from foes, and me and Ankita had gotten closer due the pains we took more or less for her! Not too bad!
Laugh at the thing, tease us for that…but that trek is noted distinctly in my diary…especially since it was missed! ;)
~ me
