Amazing Scotland...

Scotland.

There are a few places in the world which can match this part of the British Isles in terms of natural beauty. And what better way to experience it than driving along the highways that spread across the Scottish highlands.

We started off one sunny morning from Birmingham taking highway M6 to the north. Driving past Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester and Preston, we stopped mid way at Lake District to take a look at the amazing set of lakes right between the mountains. The view of the Bowness Bay Lake was stupendous even though the weather was a bit overcast.

We then carried on northwards passing Penrith and Carlisle to reach the historic and captivating city of Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Castle is a marvel in itself overlooking the entire city from the mountaintop.

Edinburgh certainly gives a feeling of being in medieval Britain but with the luxuries of the modern era. Still, the city retains its natural attractions with huge lush green parks and lakes.

We set off early next morning for Inverness up north. The journey got even more exciting and a visual delight to the eyes as we drove still higher up the mountains. The sun playing hide and seek with the clouds provided at least half a dozen sightings of lovely rainbows.

Inverness was the starting point of the journey along the long and beautiful but eerie Loch Ness; the great lake famous for the sightings of the imaginary (or maybe real) Loch Ness Monster. Contrary to the character of a lake, the water flows in turbulent waves but looks serene blue from a distance. It was a pity that the ‘Monster’ didn’t feel like giving us an appearance.

We completed our journey for the day driving through the evergreen mountains along the lake while passing the ancient town of Fort Williams and reaching the small coastal town of Oban. It was a lovely sight to see ships coming in and moving out of the docks right across our hotel room window.

The next morning we left Oban for Glasgow driving downhill and along another great lake called Loch Lomond. Glasgow bears the marks of a modern city what with the 2014 Common Wealth Games slated to be hosted there.

The drive back to Birmingham was no less beautiful with lush green farms full of white sheep appearing as small white dots and the occasional mountain cow with their long brown hair and horns.

It was a rather satisfying little journey but anyone who is looking to experience the wonders of the natural world must pay a visit to Scotland.

   

My Lacertilian Adventures...

Summer is here !

Though different people have different preferences for their favorite season, my Mom isn’t particularly fond of summers. That is so, because the scorching heat of the sun drives everyone inside their homes, while the same heat seems to drive lizards out of theirs. During various hours of the day my Mom can be found jumping, screaming and running around at the sight of a lizard while I can be found shooing off lizards of all sizes out of the house for her.

In spite of my repeated attempts Mom refuses to accept my views regarding lizards being sober and harmless creatures. On the contrary, she warns me to have me sent to a mental asylum whenever she notices me trying to train and befriend the lizard which lives below our refrigerator.

My views about lizards, though appearing to be eccentric, are not entirely hypothetical. I found out the usefulness which a lizard can be capable of during my Medical college days.

There used to be a famous annual fair in the city for an entire month or so that used to start in the evening and carried on all through the night. During one of our visits to the fair I found a guy on a pavement, selling fake replicas of animals. I was specially impressed by the replicas of lizards he had. So, finally giving in to my temptation, I bought a fake lizard which looked completely alive until one actually touched it. (which wasn’t something anyone would do if it really looked real ! :P )

I didn’t actually know what to do with it until two days later I saw a probable use. One of my batch mates, who lived in our hostel, was a very naughty fellow. He was short, stout, extremely fair complexioned and a fashion-freak. But he had a huge weakness. Lizards ! The mere mention of the word could make his spine tingle.

Everyday, he used to come up to my room and knock at the door. He used to do that mostly at hours when I was asleep. While I used to groggily open the door, he would quickly hit the electricity switches beside the door, shut the fan, switch on the lights, grin mischievously, and run away laughing.

So, this very day, while I was inspecting the brilliant replica of the fake lizard I had bought, I got an idea. I placed the lizard strategically on the electricity board so that it just spanned the entire row of switches. As expected, the naughty guy came up to my room expecting me to be asleep while I was wide awake waiting for him.

I opened the door a bit more than usual after the knock, and saw his grinning face as he looked at me while hitting the switches. In an instant, he felt something was different. As he looked at the electric board and removed his hand, the strategically placed lizard fell down just as a real lizard would have fallen.

I have heard about how people pale when they are scared. And I never thought a person of such fair complexion could pale any further. But pale he did. And that too in a fraction of milliseconds. I wonder if you can imagine a person trying to swim, kick a football and do a high-jump back-flip all together. But I was treated to witness such a spectacle as he did all that and maybe even more which was beyond my comprehension. And as soon as he returned to the ground, he made a dash for somewhere as far possible as could be from my room. And for the next fifteen minutes or so, the inhabitants of our hostel heard the most spine-chilling shrieks till this guy found a way to make a dash for the open spaces outside the building.

I had become a big fan of my ‘pet lizard’. :-)

A few days later, our small batch of fifteen students was trying to survive a class of evening clinical teaching by a junior resident who seemed to have found the truth about ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ and was bent on imparting the divine knowledge on to us highly uninterested disciples.

I was seated in the second row of chairs while the first row was occupied by most of the girls. The resident was seated opposite to us with just a small table separating us. I thought it a good idea to bring some life into the proceedings when I saw my immediate neighbor borrowing a pen from the girl sitting right in front of me. This caught my attention as I was particularly fond of her. :D

I noticed that she had one of those small purse-like pencil cases in which she used to keep about fifty assorted pens and pencils. As she had handed the entire case to my neighbor to pick out his choice of pen, I quickly reached into my bag for my ‘pet’. I quickly took the case from him, and as he watched on, I strategically placed the fake lizard below a stack of a dozen pens. I zipped it up and told him to return it back to her.

After a few minutes, I asked my neighbor to ask her for a particular colored pen again. And as per my expectations, she decided to find it herself this time. I watched intently as she unzipped the case and dug in to find the desired pen. The only sounds in the room were the incomprehensible blabber of the resident, the ticking of the clock and the heart-beat of my neighbor.

It is strange how sometimes we never learn from experience. Just a couple of days back I had seen a guy freak out as never before, but here I was again, trying something similar in much dangerous circumstances.

And the next moment, there was a loud gasp. I wonder if you have ever heard a gasp. But everyone there did hear it. Which was instantly followed by a colored assortment of pens and pencils flying high up in the air. A couple of them landed on the resident’s head making him shut his mouth and bring an end to the ‘discourse’. While my neighbor got the desired colored pen which actually fell onto his lap.

The resident took off his spectacles and glared at her for an explanation as she tried to catch her breath and told him about a lizard in her pencil-case. The resident merely commented on her brisk reflexes and her ultra-sensitivity towards members of the reptile family and finally announced the dismissal of the class.

As soon as the initial shock subsided, the girl looked back to have my neighbor for an early dinner through her eyes. But he still had the courage to point a shaking finger towards me. The case was immediately settled as she realized that the devil mind behind the adventure was none other than mine, and she turned away and started to collect the contents of her pencil-case.

Though she knew it was a fake lizard, but no one else in the room could find out as I had noticed the lizard falling just beside her chair and which was now safely hidden below my shoe.

Though I never brought this up with her after that, but I take this opportunity here to say a little sorry with a smile. :-)

Ohhh… I just heard Mom scream and call out for me. So I’m off to lizard-shooing business again. Now… where’s the broom gone…….

(Image courtesy : Google Images)

Poisonous Snakes of India

Snakes are one of the most dreaded and feared creatures in the entire Animal Kingdom. Though many religions have depicted snakes to be holy and to be worshipped, but still, most of the human race is obsessed with attaching the tag of fear with anything that is related to snakes.

India, with its vast variety of climates and natural vegetation, is home to more than 200 species of land snakes. It is therefore, obvious that encounters with snakes is very common all around the country. And so, it is all the more essential to know important facts about snakes, contrary to myths that go around demonizing all snakes.

Despite the large no. of snake species, there are only 5 species of venomous (poisonous) snakes in India. They are :

1. The King Cobra
2. The common Cobra
3. The common Krait
4. Russel’s Viper
5. Saw-scaled Viper

The most important thing when finding a snake unexpectedly is to find out whether it is a venomous or non-venomous snake. The following chart makes it easy to ascertain this very fact.


The important points to know about each of these poisonous snakes are as follows:

1. The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)

One is not expected to encounter a King Cobra usually, unless one ventures deep into the dense rain forests, which are the homes to this highly poisonous snake. The King Cobra can be identified by its large size (upto 12-13 feet) and a “^” sign on its neck. It does not bear the usual ‘spectacle’ mark like the common Cobra. It’s venom is neurotoxic (affects the nervous system) as well as slightly cardiotoxic (affects the heart).


2. The Common Cobra (Naja)

One of the most commonly recognized of Indian snakes, the Cobra is easily identified by its hood and a single or double spectacle mark on the hood. Though the hood cannot be seen in a dead Cobra, the snake retracts its hood usually while in motion. It can grow to a length of 2 metres. The common Cobra is a somewhat aggressive snake, having a neurotoxic and slightly hemotoxic (affects the blood) venom.


3. The common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus)

The Krait is probably the most common poisonous snake found across India. Though it is smaller than a cobra in length, it’s body is darker in color ranging from a blue-black to a bluish grey. The most striking mark of identification is the presence of white cross bands throughout its body. It is essentially a nocturnal hunter and is seldom encountered during the day. It has an extremely neurotoxic venom which leads to rapid muscle paralysis. It’s venom is much more toxic than that of a cobra.


4. Russel’s Viper (Daboia russelii)

The Russel’s Viper is another common Indian poisonous snake which is less closely associated with human settlements than cobras or Kraits. It is also a nocturnal hunter ,but ,becomes diurnal during cool days. When threatened, they curve their body in the form of ‘S’ shaped loops and produce a hissing sound louder than any other snake. They can be easily identified by the presence of 3 series of dark brown spots on the back of a yellow, tan, or brown body. The important point in the identification is the presence of a black ring around each of these spots and further intensified by a rim of yellow or white. There are other harmless snakes with similar dark spots on their backs, but they are not circumscribed by a black ring. The Russel’s Viper has a highly hemotoxic venom.

5. Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus)

It is a small snake which may grow up to two and a half feet. It has small, white, diamond-shaped and somewhat square patches along the middle of the back. The head has a distinct white mark, which may sometimes resemble a trident. When disturbed, it coils itself up in the shape of the figure ‘8’. It rubs its body producing a sound like that of sandpaper. Each of its scales is ridged in the middle like a saw, hence its name, the saw-scaled viper. Its venom is highly hemotoxic.

Though the above five are the only poisonous snakes one can find in India, the various sea-snakes are an addition to these poisonous snakes, as all sea snakes are deadly poisonous. But it is rare to encounter a sea snake commonly.

Apart from these, the only other snake which can cause some harm to humans is the Python. But pythons are usually very lazy creatures and not usually big enough to trouble adult humans.

In spite of the presence of such common poisonous snakes around human habitat, still the most commonly found snake in everyday-life is the harmless ‘Rat-snake’. It is a dull colored average sized snake which feeds on rodents as its name suggests. It is commonly mistaken to be poisonous, and hence is killed.

One can find the various remedies for a snake-bite all around. But what is important is to keep a few important tips in mind when encountering a snake.

• Do not panic and run around on seeing a snake. There may be other snakes around too which you might step upon.
• Stay dead still if you are within striking distance of the snake.
• Hold your nerves. Do not disturb or provoke the snake. It will more often than not move away from you itself.
• Do not approach a snake when it is cornered. (For that matter, any animal that is cornered is expected to attack when approached !)
• Using the above features, try to identify whether the snake is poisonous or not. But do not try to handle it by yourself or by any stick or any other object.
• The snake is bound to move to a hiding place. Keep a lookout for his movements if it is entering a house or a room while keeping a safe distance. (So that it can be easily found if and when some wildlife support staff arrives for help.)
• Never try your agility even if the snake looks tired and still. It can attack with the quickest of reactions if you get too close.
• Most importantly, do not kill the snake just because it is a snake. Snakes are living beings too and will not harm you unless you disturb them.

Picture Credits: Google Images

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Elopement...

Ok. So, I’m back !

Back after a rather adventurous fortnight of my life. Being somewhat in the thick of things, I couldn’t really get time to post about my exciting life lately.

Ok. So as you must be knowing by now that I got involved into helping my friend elope and marry. It being the usual ‘inter-religion’ case, things weren’t easy at all. So, desperate measures were required.

But rather than the usual ‘elope and marry’ thing, it became a sort of ‘marry and elope’ scenario. Well, if you are failing to grasp the plot, I’ll just elaborate it for you.

As mentioned in my last post ‘Right or Wrong...’, I was on my way to get my friend married to the girl of his choice. Though both their families were well informed of their choice, neither was ready to accept it. (Isn’t it ironical that people who carry on an affair behind their parents’ back are always considered the obedient son/daughter by them. But if they are honest enough to confess their choice, they at once become the spoilt and disobedient child…)

So, they eventually got married. It was decided after the ceremony was over that neither would inform their family and they would keep it a hush-hush affair till their parents see some sense and they could manage to persuade their parents to accept their choice in due course of time.

But as usual, there are always people around who cannot do without getting some ‘excitement’ into other people’s lives. And it so happened that within the very first week, both the families got the news of their lives. (Well, surely not everyone does get the ‘news’ of their child getting married…)

As almost always happens in such cases, the scenario regarding the girl’s family is usually the more delicate one. And it just sounded like a co-incidence to me when their arose an emergency of sorts in the girl’s home which resulted in her arriving in some panic.

If I have not mentioned it earlier, I should tell you that the girl is from my own city living not more than five minute’s drive from my house. (And her dad’s office is just two houses down my own street…!)

So, I received the couple when they arrived at the station. I dropped the girl some distance from her house to avoid her being seen by someone which could result in some unpleasant consequences. We (my friend and I) were driving to my home when she called to inform that there really was no emergency. It was a trick to call her home and look into matters (which I was sure wasn’t going to be something pleasant…)

While my friend continued to try to get to talk to her on the phone (there appeared to be quite a commotion on the other end between her and her mom as I could hear), I decided that certain drastic measures were needed to be taken in the situation. We had already entered the street to her house when I heard her mom shouting into a phone for her dad to return home immediately. Which meant, he had no clue about the proceedings by then. But the return of her dad would make sure that things would get highly complicated. I had already heard about the shortness of her dad’s temper before.

So, I quickly and strategically parked my car into a by-lane very near to her house while my friend suggested her to come out of the house as quickly as she could. Now, when I say suggested, it was more of a mix of panic and desperation. But it surely was effective.

We were rapidly losing precious time, as it wouldn’t be much more than a matter of five minutes before her dad would be driving in, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Well, we didn’t get to see if actually he did so because before long, she could ‘escape’ out and made her way towards us. I was ready with the door open and she had hardly got inside, when I told her to lie down on the back seat.

And we drove off….

I still wonder about the number of seconds by which we gave her dad the slip. But yes, I had to drive around town (with her still lying on the back-seat) into clever short cuts and by-lanes to avoid barging into her dad or someone even remotely known.

I have always believed that the best place for any criminal to hide after committing a crime is the police station. That is the last place where anyone would go searching. And so, I got them to my home, knowing that her dad’s office was barely a few steps away. But as I said, he would never come searching for her anywhere near his own office. Though I had to use a back-lane to get to my own house, but that was worth it.

We waited until it was dark and then I got them bundled onto a bus headed out of town to escape being pulled up by any acquaintance. So it became a case of ‘marry and elope’…

It has been many days since, and they have returned and resumed their work. The families, though still sulking, are somewhat recovering from the shock. But we all are positive that they will manage to please their families in due course of time.

As for me, I’m rather satisfied to have been of help in preventing at least two lives getting spoilt for good.

And also that I got sufficient practice at driving off with a girl in the back of my car… I don’t know yet if I’ll require that for myself too.

But, who knows… :p

An Indian journey !

The last two days have kept me busy with some relatives who were visiting. Spent most of the part of the day in organizing their departure. And later experienced the usual 'efficiency' of the Indian Railways... I have always wondered how efficient can a whole system get regarding arrival delays. Our railways has maintained its efficiency in many aspects. So to say, the train arrival delays, the incorrect info from the enquiry department regarding those delays, etc. I mean to say, such efficiency really wakes you up from a probable lazy and relaxed Sunday which you have planned all week. Which reminds me of a day when I earned the experiences of traveling in India the hard way. I'm talking of December 2008 when me and my friend Yogendra traveled to Kolkata to attend the wedding of our friend Abhijeet. The journey we had was once in a lifetime type of things. Maybe that's everyday stuff for other people. But it worked me up to such an extent, that I had to share it with my friends through email as soon as I returned. Or, rather, as soon as I was in a condition to write. But all the same, it was a journey to remember. So, I'll just share with you the email account of that experience.... _____________________________________________________

Yogendra and I joined their family from Kanpur to Howrah and our return tickets were booked for Tuesday (9th) by 'Rajdhani Express'. But Yogendra had to attend an important family wedding here on 8th so we decided to return on 7th. No tickets were available on the 7th to Kanpur. However, we got two 'Tatkal' ones in one 'Chambal Express' which left Howrah at 5:40 pm. The only problem being that this train would take us only till Allahabad before turning to Gwalior. So, we planned to catch some train in the morning from Allahabad. (which didn't seem possible, looking at the sort of train we had) But at Howrah station, while I was busy buying something to eat, one jolly Bengali uncle briefed me about the reputation of this train as follows....... "Chombol Exhpress to bohut aachhchhaa haai. Homesha on time hota hoi. Baaki to phir kismot hoi. Lekin homara kismot ka dekho to aachhchhaa hoi... !!"

And I left him with his 32-denture smile on what you could actually term as high on confidence. Things didn’t start off that great as both of us bought almost the same eatables without knowing what the other had already bought. But in about the first hour or so, we felt relieved looking at the speed of the train. It seemed as if the driver had some wedding to attend that very night too.... He probably was giving the throttle, all he had got. But we had nothing to complain. The train was reaching before time at all stations. We consumed about half of the two sets of food, partly because we were feeling dead sleepy due to the sleepless last night in the wedding and partly because it wouldn't look smart to leave it untouched. And soon I was... zzzzzzzzzz..... I can't remember clearly what actually woke me up. It could have been some discussion about the state of Indian Railways between Yogendra and someone who sounded like an aged Bengali uncle on the lower birth. I checked the watch which showed 9:15 am. The train should have been in Allahabad at 7:20 am. From the upper birth, I could see the side of a platform (which must have been a platform, as one of those irritating tea vendors, after probably deciding that he was the sort of person who was made to wake me up, started yelling the best he could into our window... !) I should have mentioned before, that we were in the 'sleeper' coach and not in AC, but I don't think that would be necessary now as you must have already made out.

So, on descending, I was greeted with the news that was to frame the events for the day. A goods train was ahead ours in the same direction when suddenly something must have got into the driver, telling him that THIS WAS THE DAY... !! So, he managed to take his train onto the track where another goods train was parked in peace. To make it simple, some of the coaches jumped over each other onto the standing train. And when they were done with that, they fell onto the adjoining track, pulling apart the rails. And to make the matters a bit more complicated, they took along with them, the overhead power cables. This happened a bit before Mirzapur station which wouldn't have been much of a problem had we reached Mirzapur. But the crux of the matter was, we hadn't. To round it all up,.... pretty thick.... !! We jumped out onto the platform. When I say jumped, I mean jumped as this was one of those stations you pass by, usually, when on some train. I guess they had just cleared some land to lay the tracks and elevated the rest to serve as the platform. Complete with mud, stones, grass and all. But you would be mistaken if you didn't consider it as a proper station. 'Pahara' as it was written on the small building had its own station master right on duty in his black coat, a tie which I can swear had a knot (irrespective of what others said), a white (maybe off-white) pair of pyjamas and slippers. As we got down again, we saw a Sardarji and his family coming down from the AC coach with their bag and baggage. He was on his phone, telling someone to send a car to Mirzapur. It was only after some bystander suggested to him that cars run on any roads, and the car could be brought even there to ‘Pahara’ that he got the idea and changed his orders. And then they began climbing the foot-over-bridge (yes, this station actually had a foot-over-bridge) to get to the other side. We joined the small crowd gathered near the engine of our train where the driver, smoking his 'bidi', was answering the queries in a unbelievably relaxed way. That was when I felt sure that this was going to be SOME DAY... !! Well, in a few minutes, a diesel engine came out of nowhere and took its position at the back end of the train. We got up inside. It started pushing the train forwards. And we saw the Sardar family who had just got off the bridge on the other platform ran back up, thinking that the train was moving. But the diesel engine then pulled the train back on the side loop on the far side of the other platform. The Sardars were in the center of the bridge. They must have thought of jumping right down as a good option. But even if they did, they didn't take it. By now, the few shops outside the station had begun to send in their supplies at some renewed costs. It was the one day when I felt happy listening to a tea vendor selling tea at Rs. 6 for a small cup. At last my hatred for tea had come to some use. Guavas were at Rs. 15 a couple.

Then we got the news that the train would be taken back to a station to be diverted to Banaras (Varanasi) to reach Allahabad. And before soon, it actually started moving. But as we reached 'Dugmugpur', another of those stations about 4-5 kms back, it stopped. And when it got above 40 minutes, we again jumped down, only to find the diesel engine detached and going back towards 'Pahara' on another track.

The driver of our engine was still there. And we could make out that he wouldn't be for long as he had to give in his application for leave on Eid at Allahabad which was now no more a possibility. He looked so irritated, I wouldn't be too wrong if he was thinking about running his train full speed forward no matter what. He actually could have, but for the lack of power in the electric cables, he couldn't. And then we came to know that our train would be taken to Mughal Sarai to be diverted to Allahabad. That made 2+2.5+2.5 = 7 hours to Allahabad, which wasn't the best option if we wanted to board 'Sangam Express' to Kanpur which departed at 6 pm, as it was already 12 noon. So, we picked the luggage (which wasn’t very light considering the suits and winter wear we had with us) and jumped off onto the tracks. And we hadn’t gone far when I saw the same Bengali uncle sitting on a broken tree trunk. He was probably mulling over the fact that his ‘kismot’ had finally ran out on him. So, we trotted along the village road. If you could actually call that a road. After sometime, we got to a proper road. Supposedly the highway to Mirzapur, as the milestone said. We waited, and waited, and waited, etc. And then, to our great relief, along came an auto. But relief wasn’t a word made for days like these. This auto could have been like those we have in Delhi. Or like the tempos we have in Kanpur. It was neither. But surely inspired from the two. And after we squeezed ourselves among the fourteen and a half occupants of that vehicle, it was an adventure ride. The trip was more or less un-eventful passing through countless villages, picking up more passengers on the route, and an odd heated dialogue as one old man got down to buy some jalebis while the others paid the fare. And also the way we managed past the massive 'Mela' in between which takes place one day each year. Of course, this was THE DAY. And we reached Mirazapur bus station. I haven't seen many bus stations which are that huge. I don't think that it was the fact that there were only two buses in that bus station that made it look huge. I have seen many which have no buses at all, but I never called them huge. But that's not what's of importance. Of the two buses which stood side by side, one looked impressive. That was one of those 'Deluxe' ones that are known to be very efficient. But then I paid a bit more attention to the details. And then I saw its door. It was an absolutely normal looking door. But the only problem was, if it was anything moving across the frame of that door, it had to be outwards. There seemed no way possible in which you could try to push in any thing inside through that. In the present circumstances, that is. This fact did help us to think about trying the other bus. Well, if you would call it a bus, you wouldn't be too wrong. It was a bus alright. But one of those half-sized ones, which, if you happen to see on a normal day, you would feel pity for its passengers and maybe even pray for them. But,...., as I have warned before, this wasn't a normal day.

As we got seated, we asked one uncleji behind us about the time it would take to reach Allahabad. (it is 88 kms from Mirzapur as we had seen on a sign) And he confidently answered it to be somewhere between 2-3 hours if we moved non-stop. And no sooner than he had spoken those words, his wife interrupted what would have been more information from him. She looked at him as if he had cheated someone and she was feeling the burden of the guilt and corrected him by telling that the time would be about 5 hours. We joked between ourselves about Auntiji's calculations and imagined it would be quicker if we went on foot if her info was to be believed. But soon we got to know that husbands don't always have the correct info. And also what was actually meant by the word 'non-stop'. The driver of our bus made it to appear as if this was the picnic trip he had been planning all his life. He looked back and talked more than he looked forward while driving. We stopped thrice on demands from the conductor because of some passengers being unsatisfied with the fare. Well, I stopped counting after three, partly because sleep was conquering me and partly because I couldn't make out anything that was in progress around the far end of the bus, because of the number of people stuffing the passage. But yes, he once stopped for a dose of tobacco, once for an extended snack and once because maybe he just felt like that was the best thing to please himself. We had boarded the bus at 12:55 and it was 17:20 when we got down at some place in Allahabad as suggested by another informative bloke as being the ideal spot to catch an auto for the station. But the catch in it was, all the autos that passed were brimming with passengers leaving no place for us to occupy. And then we saw a rickshaw as a last hope.... I think there should be a law regarding the standardization of the make and design of rickshaws throughout India. Maybe the rickshaws in Allahabad are not meant to be used for travel. We didn't know. But the truth was, we had got on. So, it was too late. I think the lone bright point in the day was when we found the train still standing at the station. We quickly got our tickets and got into a coach already brimming with occupants who were either 'staff' or some close acquaintance of the station master. I'm skipping the bit about the hooligans who got in at some station and also a couple of drunk policemen. I don't want to risk my night's sleep remembering those. The train strangely pulled into platform no. 1 at Kanpur, so that it was easy to get an auto to home. I say easy if you can manage to get them a bit near your side of the deal. But at last we got one. No matter we had to walk out of the premises. But we got one. But did we forget something ??? Well yes, I forgot the one message for the world which I have always had in my mind, which goes as.... "Never get anywhere even close to the 'Allahabad crossing' when it’s the time for all the ‘Rajdhani Express’ trains to pass.... " So we waited, and waited, and waited, etc. Well, I have always been fond of watching moving trains. But this was different. But I kept myself busy for that hour or so by counting the number of coaches on each passing train. Just the type of thing that would keep a child busy. But it does work. So, I watched 'Ranchi', 'Sealdah', 'Kolkata', and 'Patna Rajdhani' trains pass by in that very order. I was on the count of 7 of the coaches of 'Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani', when I was interrupted. It was the driver of the auto we had boarded, who was talking in a peculiar tone on his cell phone. Well, I’m not one to be disturbed by the talks of an auto-driver on his phone. But what actually made me lose my count was the announcement from this very bloke that we had to de-board. He conveyed to us, in no uncertain terms, that it wouldn’t be possible for him to go on further. Which quickly led me to analyze that we were an auto short. Though it didn’t require much of an analysis, but the day’s proceedings had left us in such a condition, that we automatically analyzed every new situation that would stare us in the face. Maybe the guy’s friends had managed to get together and planned to have a great time which he couldn’t afford to miss. Or maybe, his wife had called to tell him that she had finally decided to leave him for good to be with the taxi driver. I couldn’t exactly say. For, I didn’t know the man or about his life. But whatever it was, it meant that we were on foot once again. I guess even our bad luck had run out on us. Maybe God had some mercy on us finally and we found another auto which we boarded. Mom was quick to bombard me with her never ending questions when I entered home. But I had only one answer for all of them. I just smiled.