Reunion Trip

Well, one evening at home, talking to a couple of Ranga's school classmates set in motion an idea to have a reunion of their friends and being the first in 34 years, the venue was the place where it all happened - Jamshedpur, then in Bihar and now in Jharkand. It was not just the change geographically but the fact that that all of the classmates had to be hunted down, contacted and brought together. A couple of the classmates volunteered to put together the whole shindig and after much calling and mailing, Ranga told me to book our flight tickets to Kolkata and we decided to drive down from there to Steel City. But several people dissuaded us saying the roads are not good and that we should take the train. Another friend from Mumbai volunteered to book the tickets and I booked us all into the Southern Plaza Hotel at Kolkata and the Ginger Hotel in Jamshedpur. I had a lot of misgivings - I had not got on a train in 17 years! thanks to my bad leg, I am always a little apprehensive about crowds and crowds you can be guaranteed anywhere in India, esp. the metros. So, a little scared about throwing everyone's plans awry because of my problem, I still packed all the woollens expecting it to be brrrrr! cold.

Day 1 - Bangalore - Kolkata 28/12/2010

Left at 4am for the airport for the Kingfisher flight, and were promptly delayed for about 1 1/2 hours thanks to fog both here and in Hyderabad which was an intermediate stop. So, we cooled our heels in the flight and finally landed at Kolkata at noon. Went to two different loos, each one dirtier than the other, with no door latches and tissues everywhere, yuck...worse than a bus stand. Bad start, but luggage arrived with not too much delay, went straight to a pre-paid taxi counter and paid Rs.285/-, got a receipt and after asking, were shown to a place opp the terminal where the platform is about 2' high with no ramp to take your trolley, which itself was running on a prayer...and dragged our suitcases to a derelict yellow Amby which shuddered and rasped its way through some of the seediest slums and finally emerged on to a nice shady lane after an hour or so, which is where our hotel was located. By this time, my mood was as grey as the sky above, but it brightened considerably when I saw our hotel and our room - tiny in terms of space but well appointed, I determined not to mope, esp as Ranga was so looking forward to this trip. Cheered up, had a lovely lunch in a tastefully done up restaurant and crashed out in the afternoon. Met up with Samir, Namita and baby Kovidh and went to Park Street for some dinner and a stroll. Returned late and called it a day. Not as cold as I thought it would be.

Day 2 - Kolkata - Jamshedpur 29/12/2010

Morning slept in, and had a late breakfast of some very unhealthy parathas (unknowingly) and set off for the station. Thankfully, Kolkata also like VT and Chennai has trains parallel parked so hurrah! no climbing up and down, so far so good, my spirits rose! The train was on dot, we got in with all luggage and all of us settled down for some long chatting and chai and contrary to my expectations, I actually enjoyed the trip, balancing the sealed lunch trays Samir picked up at Kolkata station, although I studiously avoided looking at the dirty windows in the AC coach, the smelly curtains and just swiped away the roaches - can someone please tell me, why one of the largest public sector undertakings, the Indian railways cannot maintain their trains? I know all the usual excuses of population blah blah, but also this translates into a huge no. of employees who can be used to clean and maintain the property, can't it? Watched a lovely sunset and reached Jampot by 5.30pm, got into a taxi flatly refusing to get into a rick - they are so high (another vehicle I haven't used in over 2 decades) - makes me sound snobbish, well, can't help it, that's how it is. Reached Ginger in flat 10min, the beauty of small towns, everything is just a hop, skip and jump away! Ginger, expectedly was good and we checked in and I collapsed out of sheer relief - I had not realised how tensed and worried I was. The drive though short showed a fairly well maintained city, clean and neat. Some of Ranga's classmates came over and after a lot of back slapping and talking, we had a simple dinner and retired.

Day 3 - Jamshedpur 30/12/2010

Woke up in the morning and after a stroll down Bistupur road, Jampot's MG Road, so to speak, where Ranga pointed out the various shops and hotels like Kwalitys nd Natraj etc. where he used to come with his parents etc, we reached back for a lovely breakfast served with a lot of smiles. Got ready and hired an Innova (they have a different system unlike Bangalore - they have a flat rate per day plus the cost of petrol consumed at 8kms/litre), and went to Telco Colony which Samir and Ranga were keenly waiting to see, walked up to every place they spent their childhood, the homes they each lived in, though the buildings today seemed a little tired and unkempt, overall the colony is still very well kept. After a couple of hours of this trek through the mists of time, we went to Dimna lake, a beautiful man made lake, but again littered with the debris of human carelessness. Then we joined some of Ranga's friends for lunch at 10th. Mile Resort, which is nestled in a hollow with picturesue Dalma mountains as backdrop, with a riot of beautiful flowers and gardens. Lovely weather, pleasantly cool. Lunch was an unhurried affair amidst a lot of reminiscing and we retuned to Jampot just in time to meet the whole gang at Jubilee Park, which has been modelled after the Mysore KRS. Retired to the hotel and left Ranga to his classmates to have a 'spirited' evening! Relaxed after a long, hot bath and a simple daal-khichdi for dinner. Slept like a baby!

Day 4 - Jamshedpur - 31/12/2010

Got ready around 10 and went to Ranga's 'Little Flower School' in a rick! - yes, managed to somehow get in, as it had a second step, and spent a pleasant morning watching these middle aged men and women, go back in time, happy and chattering like the kids they once were, misty eyed at seeing their school and classrooms, memories of pranks, punishments, laughter, scraped knees and exams rushing in...the entire class sang their school song, felicitated some of the teachers who could make it, played a basketball game and all in all re-lived their childhood. After a decent packed lunch spiced with some reminisces and speeches from some of the classmates, we returned late in the afternoon to the hotel. I had met some very nice people and had proudly seen Ranga grapple with the ghosts of yesteryears when he had to leave Jamshedpur abruptly after his 10th owing to the untimely demise of his parents in a car accident, his emotional journey through time when he got closure and his mind attained a peace he had been seeking for a very long time, a calm as he said a proper good bye to the place of his childhood years and finally laid to rest all his demons. I was supremely happy for him and would do this all over again just for that, however much I may be apprehensive. I loved the way years melted away and people just slipped back to their childhood friendships so easily - the human mind truly is amazing. Evening was the New Year's Eve party where we chilled and enjoyed the comaraderie of old friendships which somehow feels like an old house gown well weathered but very comforting. Brought in the New Year amidst smiles, cheers and a few tears - of joy!

Day 5 - Jamshedpur - Kolkata - Jamshedpur 01/11/2011

The New Year's Day saw us again up early to reach the station for the 8.30am Geetanjali Express, and the porter was sweet enough to take me through a place so that I avoided the overbridge and waited for a train which chugged in 1 1/2 hours late. Many of Ranga's friends were waiting for various trains to different places and all were running late. We were bordering on the desperate when it finally chugged in and we reached Kolkata at 2pm and got thrown out into a sea of humanity, and my spirits sank when I saw the line for the taxi, it seemed to stretch endlessly...but anything is possible in India - a man approached us, spooked us about how it would take us over 2 hours to get to the airport, and bundled us into a taxi after haggling over the price. Again the jouney was made through the seamiest part of Kolkata, through grid locked traffic, expletives being hurled around and barely missing other vehicles and men, we reached the airport at 3pm, only to end up in a shouting match with the driver on the fare. I was in a position where I was ready to slap him, seriously wound up! Got out to find no trolley, managed to snag one broken down one, which had a mind of its own and battled through the maze of people, filthy and ill ventilated, hopelessly floundering airport to check in. Security check is a nightmare and so slow, I am told, people miss their flights because of this. No lunch, the weather was warm, hordes of people breathing down your neck and wailing babies do not make for a stress free time. Harried, hungry and in a murderous mood, desperate for a clean toilet, we finally managed to get some food and boarded the flight - the only saving grace of the day was the flight being on time, (why do they make you climb up and then down to board, pray, please tell me) and crashed out the moment we sat down. Seriously, we woke up only in Bangalore, apparently we dozed through Hyderabad! Walked into our squeaky clean airport, dashed to a toilet, I could've kissed Brunner and Co for giving us BIAL. ! Breezed through luggage pick up, we were gently guided through to a cab, this thoughtfulness after the mindlessness of Kolkata nearly made me cry. We were home in half hour through our clean beautiful city, and slept soundly in our beds, happy to be home.