Ladies, Today I am here to take your maximum login time, so please keep your work aside and sit with a hot cuppa to read one of the longest threads in IL! Your encouragement makes me thrive to bring in the best for you gals. Love you all! Well, before you hit on my longest post I will brief you about my tenure in IL. It has been a lovely journey in IL for me, writing snippets, stories, travelogues, participating in polls, blogging in my park and discussing topics on various subjects. I have been extremely lucky to have some good friends who never hit the sack without buzzing me. Our world has grown from exchanging private messages in IL to chatting on net, calling up each other which serve as stress busters!:cheers One of the members has adopted me as her sister and I had tears of joy on that night. Let me extend my thanks to Malathy and Jey for giving me a platform to what I like to do the best and that is ‘writing’.
Here, comes my longest post and my open invitation to all my friends to please walk in merrily! Are you ready for it? Promise me gals; you will not give any feedbacks till I finish the postings. It may take a little longer; your patience is highly appreciated. Let’s go!
Like every collegian even I wanted to rush to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace>Goa</st1lace>, the whispering waves, the fun and frolic was inviting me. <st1lace>Goa</st1lace> is always promoted as the best tourist spot of <st1:country-region><st1lace>India</st1lace></st1:country-region> where one can be at one’s will. The videos playing on television always showed <st1lace>Goa</st1lace> as a place of free spirit. Most of my friends are Catholics who visit their native – <st1lace>Goa</st1lace> at least twice a year. My urge and wish to visiting this tourist place enriched with beaches and pristine sands had many opportunities coming my way. For some strange reasons, my mother never liked me visiting <st1lace>Goa</st1lace>! There was a some hidden fear in her that her daughter would be taken to some god forsaken place and let me not get into the details. In your teens, you care a damn about such thoughts, now that I am matured, I value her illusion. It was not her fear but her affection for her pet daughter that made her not give the ‘green’ signal. My mom and her thoughts were quiet forward of her times, but the mother in her, did not let me hop to <st1lace>Goa</st1lace>! To top it, I too did not want to go to a place of ‘free spirits’ and get in to trouble! I had decided to visit <st1lace>Goa</st1lace> only with friends whom I am very comfortable with and will not stretch a bit too far with the given freedom! I had to wait for long years to get in to a circle of friends who could be well described as chips of the same block. It has been quiet sometime now that we have stuck together when it comes to pack your bags to various tourist destinations. One of my friend has stayed in Goa for a couple of years, when I told him that I have not visited Goa anytime in the past though I had secretly wished I spent most of my holidays there, he was all willing to take us all for a wonderful tour of the state!
2 of us work for the same organization and the rest are scattered in other work zones! It had to be planned meticulously and to escape from the eyes of the Director of the “together missing” act was indeed very scary! He leads the shop-floor and I lead the HR, now you know that we are the arteries of the company and our “missing” could be easily noticed. My dynamic friend went to his cabin and had a hard look at the calendar of the coming month, though it was not favoring tourist visits in Goa, he felt it is a good time to have a feel of the place with his friends. He gave me a tinkle and asked me, what I would prefer train or flight! Why me? I am a bit fussy about many things dearies! I wanted to go by the train which passes through many tunnels! I knew the flight to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace>Goa</st1lace> is just an hour’s journey but to reach the airport I may have leave my home with a margin of 90 to 100 minutes! While to take a train, I need to leave my home with a margin of just 30 to 35 minutes. I opted for the train, wondering why he was asking me all the questions. Post lunch he came to me with a master plan in his head! I have called our friends and have discussed with them, they said the second week of next month would be fine, what do you say! As we both were from the same organization, we had to rack and crack our brains to execute it well. I told him I will get back to him later, My heart beat had started racing as I had started getting the feel, Goa is not very far anymore! I called my dearest friend and asked her about “the monthly call” which we women have to suffer. She told me 2<SUP>nd</SUP> week was fine with her and I also gave it a nod! There is no point in going to a place full of beaches with your “monthly call”. None of us are ace swimmers, count me out when it comes to swim, but I like to jump and play with the waves screaming my lungs out! After a hush-hush feminine confirmation to each other, I gave my nod of the second week of the coming month. I did envy men for a minute! Need I explain why!!
The tickets were available, I had also made sure that there would be no AC Chair Car bookings, I told him to get the Non AC Chair Car Bookings so that whenever the train passes through the tunnel, we can rush to the door and feel the cold water dripping on head from the roof of the tunnel!! My friend came to my cabin with a cute smile on his face, “Done” he confirmed. God, how are we going to manage the leave now, I asked him. It was made sure that one of us would go on leave a bit early to avoid the seed of doubt. Our master planner asked all of us to apply for the leave. The day was full of excitement as lots of adrenaline was rushing down our system! Hey, we will be going to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace>Goa</st1lace>!! The next day my female friend confirmed to me on the phone that her leave is sanctioned for 10 days. The guys had also put in their application and got it sanctioned. Ah! Ha! Were they not pretty fast! Now, it was the turn of Mals, the leave card suddenly looked like a “School Progress Card” to me, all working gals will definitely agree with this statement! I also imagined few red lines on the card indicating “Failure”. ‘Be positive – Mals, Be Positive’ my inner voice gave that much required moral support. There was no fear but a sense of guilt of cheating my boss!! Two of us from the same office, holding senior posts, going missing, like irresponsible college kids was a bit difficult to digest! I also applied for 10 days leave – two for the journey, two for resuming duty a bit later and 6 for jumping on the beaches of <st1lace>Goa</st1lace>! My boss bought my lie without any doubt and sanctioned my leave sealing it with a sentence, “What will I do without you?” The guilt ate my heart and lungs too!
I made a “To-Do” list to be given to my subordinates who will have to get the operations going smoothly. I also kept my boss informed about the confidential files and pending action papers which he may require during Meetings. My dedication towards my work pleased my boss. We decided to meet at Panvel Railway Station.
Another friend decided to pick me up and lo! The first leg of the beautiful journey began. The moment I met him, we exchanged a “Hi Fi” for successfully getting our leaves sanctioned. We were very excited about the journey and our destination. There was lots of noise on the railway station and the crowd was young and buzzing! Most of them were speaking either in Konkani or English! The train Jan Shatabdi Express arrived and we all leaped in to it. I love my window seat and cannot give it to anyone. The seats were quiet comfortable and the train hushed out in 5 minutes flat! Picture of Jan Shatabdi Express
The hard core foodie that I am, my stomach had started rumbling! One of the canteen guys had taken the order from us, I had opted for 2 plates of Kande Pohe (need not worry about oil and other ingredients!) and a hot cuppa! My friends settle for Cutlets. The aroma of freshly made Kande Pohe, Puri Sabzi, Cutlet were captured by my Olfactory nerves. I could not wait to dig my fingers in to the packed Pohe, “2 Kande Pohe” his eyes went rolling, I quickly fixed them straight, “Yes, Yes, give it here”. How can one travel with hunger? I better give my stomach enough work to do, till I reach my destination. Once food arrives, Mals, is busy. I had tough time in pushing the warm Kande Pohe in to my mouth with the breeze cutting pass my face! My friend pulled the window panes till I relish my breakfast and sip my cuppa. Delicious Kande Pohe entered my hungry stomach and hot cuppa sufficed my breakfast dear friends. My friends passed a comment, “Now, our baby will be calm till her stomach gives out another signal for food”. What to do folks? Can’t bear hunger! I had stuffed cotton buds in my ears which I usually do during long distance traveling and also tie a scarf around my head! Janshatabdi was speeding down the tracks and we could hardly see what passed by! A whiff and you are out of the scene. The speed must be nothing less than 120 kmph dear friends. The train was cutting through the winds and I was enjoying the breath taking scenes around! Before entering Roha, I encounter a small tunnel, I love these tunnels my folks, I clapped hands and cheered loudly. When the train passed out of the tunnel, the guys sitting in front of me turned behind! Who cares folks!
The speeding train crosses Kolad, Indapur, Mangaon, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:Street><st1:address>Goregaon Road</st1:address></st1:Street>, Sape Wanane throwing dust in the air! You will see only cut open hills covered with strong steel mesh to protect the incoming and outgoing trains from landslide during heavy rains! After sometime I did see the train steering past Karanjadi Station. A little later, it passed through a long tunnel approx. 4.3 kms long!. It is called as Nathwadi Tunnel. The train was running at a speed of 100 kmph now and the diesel engine was emitting enough smoke to choke your lungs! I did not mind the smell of the diesel, sometimes we need to get in to the bare facts of life! The train halted at Khed and arrived at Chiplun and little later at Sangameshwar. Janshatabdi now takes you to series of tunnels. The few of them which I can recollect is: Ambed Tunnel which is 1.2 kms long Parchuri Tunnel which is 2.73 kms long Ukshi Tunnel which is 872 mtrs (small one!) Karbude Tunnel which is 6.506 Kms loooong!!! When the train passes through Karbude Tunnel it rolls out slowly making us feel may be this is the longest tunnel of Konkan Railway! The rest of the tunnels are crossed at a speed of 110 to 120 kmph. When you pass Bhoka get ready for your next halt Ratnagiri. Here is a video of the train cutting pass Ratnagiri! http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=3NMh1zDVoQY
From Ratnagiri, the train passes through many small stations like Adavli, Vilawade, Vaibhavwadi, Nandgaon and finally arrives at Kanakavali. We passed through Sindhudurg then arrived at Kudal. The terrain after Kudal is flat and the train rattles at an average speed of 120 to 130 kmph. After Kudal, you pass through <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:Street><st1:address>Sawantwadi Road</st1:address></st1:Street> and now you enter <st1lace>Goa</st1lace>! There was a smile on my face and heart too! You cannot afford to miss anything that passes you, it could be a deep bend, a small ravine, lush greenery etc.. Let us thank Konkan Railway for giving us such a delightful journey! You will also marvel at the engineering nuances when the train passes through the tunnels. Hey do you all know that I am going to see the place which I have seen only in movies and magazines. The first halt in <st1lace>Goa</st1lace> was at Pernem then in around 15 to 20 minutes we arrive at Thivim. Picture of Thivim Railway Station.
