My Travelogue

It all started when I got admitted into NIT,Trichy back in 2003. Being mom's kid I found it very difficult to settle myself in hostel. Even my choice of this college was heavily influenced by the fact that it was just 3.5 hours away from my sweet home. Remiss in my studies or any event in college I fled to home every weekend. I improved as the years passed by slowly reducing the frequency of home trips and somehow managed to complete my course successfully. I got a job too, guess what, I was posted in Bangalore which is around 11 hours from my home. But since I got matured enough over the past four years it wasn't so unusual or weird for me as it was in college. But the indisputable truth is,nobody will regret to be in Bangalore,green dense foliage everywhere treating your eyes, a quaint and charming place indeed!!!

Unfortunately there is only one train that covering the entire stretch, Bangalore till Tuticorin. Getting a ticket in this train is like watching first day,first show of a Rajnikanth movie. You have to plan three months in advance and book it accordingly(Thanks to railway department for increasing the advance reservation period to three months!! ). Typically the process of booking ticket in this train has the following steps.

1. Set a remainder where ever possible to remind you that u have to book a ticket that day for a particular date that is exactly three months away from the current date.
2. Make a strategy with your friends. Ultimately everyone should be trying simultaneously so that atleast one will make it.
3. I would suggest everyone to book in office as the bandwidth is better over there. I always do that. But the catch is , you have to go as early as 8 AM (Don't worry..Hard work definitely pays off)
3. If it is a festive season then you have to ask your parents also to join the team. As these online systems cannot be trusted they should serve as an alternate arrangement. You must be highly vigilant and dexterous, constantly getting in touch with everyone in your team through IM or mobile.
4. Don't underestimate any of your competitors. After all, they are birds of same feathers.
5. After all your efforts, if you lucky enough you will get "the precious", a ticket to travel to your home town !!!

My choice of train travel is only due to the comfortability factor in it. But there is a powerful force working against me towards spoiling that comfort. I will explain it in my next post .