Pune Trip

One month of complete bed rest and inactivity had done me in. So, when the Pune trip was planned, I kept aside all my other commitments (for which I felt guilty for few minutes) and got geared up. One good thing about this get-together was its maximum attendance barring a few like Ghatotkatch (harish), Bobdya (Jacob) and Mr. Excuse (Jayan :)). The excitement would have been double if they too could have come. Nonetheless, we had a blast. What I didn’t know was this was going to be one of the most adventurous trips of my life. It all started on the second day when we left Whistling Palms in the quest of a Resort….

28-02-09 -Our plan was to find a resort, have fun, stay overnight and return the next day for Mumbai. We left in a maroon Indica and a grey Swift, Mr. Booze (who else?) driving his Indica and fatso (obvious one) with the latter. Fatso decided to follow Boozy (Mr. sounds too respectful) as he had Don (you know who) for company. Don, being the native, was going to lead us the way. Now I don’t know much of the traffic rules or norms, but I certainly know the purpose of a rear-view mirror. We were driving towards a high way bridge and there was a left turn before it. We were supposed to take that turn. Don was confused. He told Boozy something. Boozy looked towards the road on the left and his hands slowly turned the steering towards left. What they failed to see was a Truck behind them which was speeding at ~40km/hr and was not expecting the indica to come on it’s way. The truck zoomed past the Indica with only some inches away from the rear-view mirror…and all this happened in a few seconds. Fatso gave an angry glare, but though Boozy tried to put up a straight face, Don smiled shamelessly. We put the incident behind us and went ahead with our spirits high…….

20 kms down the lane the spirits slowly declined… There was no resort. No petrol in the car. And Don didn’t have any idea where the hell we were. Fatso lost all his patience and blasted at Don. Guys, believe me, someone shouting at Don is a very rare sight and we were proud of ourselves that we didn’t miss such an event!!! :)..

Finally, it was decided that we search for a resort on our way back. Fatso, still in high tempers, played M:I theme and drove at ~90 kms/hr. Other poor souls in the car, including me, prayed for our life. We stopped mid-way and waited for Don & Comp to come. After 2 minutes, I got a call from Baldy (More.. please pronounce it as Moray J). He says “ Aki, come back, we hit someone.”. We drove back fearing the worst….Fortunately, the guy who was hit was still on his feet and having a nice time describing about the accident to the by-passers. He did a nice job. Managed to get a decent crowd in a couple of minutes. We spent around two hours convincing that guy. Finally, he did let us off by making him pay 1000 bucks and a free ride by Don to the nearest garage. (I guess Don enjoyed it very much ! lolzz)..

Apart from these, there were many small moments which made the trip more memorable. Moments like Fatso dozing off in the temple, Liliput (guess who) tricking Guru in the military canteen, praveen getting emotional after my singing, Shah’s swimming sessions, me beating Guru 14-0 in badminton, Boozy’s liquor measurement method, debate between Tarun and Boozy over property rates in Navi Mumbai, the delicious sambhar and aviyil made by Liliput and Don, boozy playing langdi in the building compound……

Such trips and outings make the words “memories” and “happiness” more meaningful…