So the story begins.. The tale of 2 great friends taking off to one of the fun places ever. Excitement in the air on a Sunday morning. As usual I had gone all night without a small nap, we went for tea in the morning at central perk, Arun was hungry.. we decided to get some idlis.. Karthik called and he joined us at the hotel. We had some nice idlis and left to Ajji angadi/nilgiris/pati kadai for some chai. It was fun talking random stuff about Barney Stinson/Neil Patrick Harris or Joey Tribbiani/Matt Le Blank or Monica Geller/Courtney Cox or say Rachel Green/Jennifer Aniston.. We cleared out after around half past 8.. Karthik had some exam to get to. Arun and I came home, I got packed and we left to Arun’s, office etc to get all the supplies for the trip. We were actually heading for Arun’s cousin’s wedding at Kuppam (his native). After we had everything ready… left to drop off Arun’s bike for service, and then off to board a train.. before which we went to Komala’s for breakfast. Amazing dosas and vadas. Filled us out completely.
We were at the Railway station at noon.. around half an hour early, we bought the ticket and came out for some fresh air. (Went in for a pee session) and then waited for the train. There you go, the photographer in Arun Kumar Kannan was in biz.., he started clicking pics right from the station.
Soon the train arrived and we had to find a place to tag along (tag along as in squish ourselves). It was the worst journey on the train for me ever. One had to savor the scent those people wore. It was MIND BLASTING in the words of Boopendra Peters. Hell of a journey it was. 3hrs from then we reached Kuppam via Bangarpet. Was a great feeling to be seated on the steps which people normally use to get in & out of the train. Arun was again clicking pics. We were talking all kind of nonsense. Here’s a question for all of ya..
RAL : WHY DO THEY CALL IT TRAIN?
ARUN: MACHI, I DON’T KNOW MAYBE.. BECAUSE IT IS A TRAIN :D WHY DO THEY CALL IT AEROPLANE ?
Somebody explain..
Anyways, we got off the train and then left to get ourselves some beverage, tender coconut etc. After which we took a Share Auto rickshaw (share- 5 bucks*10 people).. he dropped us at ( ) for my amazement.. there were short Papaya trees all over the place (looked like a cross between a normal papaya tree and a bonsai of the same) we walked through the fieds.. picture a humongous place used only for agriculture and also add trees and houses 5kms from each other.. yes you got it right.. that’s exactly how kuppam looked. Real exciting place if you’re going there for the first time. Its amazing to find out how hard our farmers work. The irrigation facilities have to improve on a large scale though. Beautiful place I must insist on saying. All 4 sides covered by plots for agriculture as mentioned above. So we walked through the fields to finally find the house we were meant to go to. Speakers set up and ready to sound pollute. We walked in, met his relatives.. Yenna Arun, yeppadi keedhu? :D a piece of how they spoke, just kidding !
It was a sunny day, not so warm as opposed to Bangalore but Arun says it was and the breeze only negated some. Green everywhere and that was the explanation. Skeddadle his mom said, we had to take a dip in the nearby stream (Karthik – yes buddy there was water :D ) we went for a swim and got back. Lunch was ready, rice grown in the field.. It was really good, had a great lunch and went out. When we got back it was NALANGU time. The bride was ready.. all her relatives had to apply wet turmeric powder on her hands and legs, after which she would leave to her mother’s and then it was NALANGU time for the groom, the same would repeat but he’d stay put. I was playing with the kids around there. They are really sharp and quick on their toes, must say.. reminded me of my childhood. Arun was busy shooting the ceremony. It was late by the time we were done with the festivities and got ourselves some dinner and ran around to find ourselves a decent place to rest (our asses). I didn’t have a decent sleep for over 40hrs. I had to rest somewhere and quick cause I was getting real cranky. Arun n I took some sheets and laid down on the terrace. I fell asleep soon as I laid down. Arun’s mom later tucked me in (really sweet). Arun was however tortured all night, he had to cover another ceremony throughout until the break of dawn. I woke up at 6 AM and looked around only to find no one. I was shocked. Got up, rolled up the sheets and went downstairs.. Everybody were getting ready for the wedding, Arun was asleep. Met his dad, who had asked him to sleep for a while since he didn’t get any sleep all night). I went out to brush up and get myself ready. The groom and the gang left to the nearest temple, walking through the fields I thought to myself “how simple is the life these people live, marriage is this simple” the groom was ready and soon was the bride on the other side. They were sat together and the rituals began. A lot of things happened which I couldn’t figure out, it was over in an hour.. The tying of the knot was over so quick I didn’t even realize it was a wedding. I ran out to get some breakfast. Arun had to stand there shooting. He later got some food and then we went for a swim at a pond led by kids. It was real fun trying to catch some fish. Inspired lines from Taro of Mind Your Language.. I seem to remember a scene from this sitcom :
Jeremy Brown : So Taro, what did you do this weekend?
Taro : I wento fishingo Sir.
Jeremy : Did you catch anything?
Taro : Yes sir, I caughto COLD !
Hahaha.. anyway I think this should’ve come from Arun, since he did catch cold. One of the other few problems he dealt with . We went back to get some lunch, we got in time to see the fun games between the bride and the groom.. had a fun shooting session then. We napped for a while. Got up had some more food, napped again.. Looked like all I did there was eat and nap all the time (sorry about that bro ) . I’m being genuine about it u should know. I’d look like the great khali in no time if i stayed there. Anyway Arun’s sisters left to Bangalore early, we had to leave and catch up with them.. Arun had the keys to their place and we were still in Kuppam. We had to rush. We bid good-byes to everybody.. To have those kids run behind us for a distance to say bye was really emotional. I didn’t wanna go from there but situation demanded we get back. Got some beverages for the train and left. Arun and I talked until the train arrived,
WHY DO THEY CALL IT TRAIN?
I DON’T KNOW..
WHY DO THEY CALL IT AEROPLANE?
AERO means air, plane means the shape of the aircraft.. that’s why..
Anyway I asked you first, go ahead answer me..
Eh poda ! lets get some nuts..
Haan good idea !! EXCUSE ME… (there was laughter in my head)
It continued until the train arrived.. Jam packed again, no space for one leg let alone the whole. We got into the AC compartment which was jammed until the connector, till the very end. It was a horrendous Journey again. We thought about getting down at Bangarpet to board another train, but we changed our minds to stay put cause his sisters would be waiting and also he had to visit the doctor. He was in a bad bad shape . Anyway the train stopped at Baiyappanahalli which was unscheduled. There was something wrong with the train, we decided to get down and take an auto riskshaw home. We got home and I tell ya one thing HOME SWEET HOME [say what may, its never as good as the one, home]
Over all, a great trip.. wonderful time admiring nature, imagining the shapes of clouds for something.. At one point Arun thought, it was a reflection of a different world.. I couldn’t stop him from thinking but I did stop him from talking about it.. Could you think any less ?!!
Thanks bro, it was one of the best trips I’ve been on in the recent past..
