The Journey Continues…

If you are following through the previous posts, you will know that we were en route to Nepal for a conference, so far we have reached India-Nepal border. We crossed border on foot only, now after crossing border, we have two options either will get bus direct from border or from Bhairava bus station, it depends on luck. Sometimes buses are ready at border itself and you can get a ticket for it from a red colored counter, if not, you can board local bus to reach Bhairava bus stand and get bus from there. It is suggested to have lunch before boarding bus; also you should board it keeping in mind that it is going to take complete 12 hours to reach Kathmandu. This journey was also a part of the so called “The Journey”. Believe me 12 hours is a long time sitting in bus where seats are so congested that your knee will stick to next chair and if pillar is there near your hair, you may not even be able to get into your chair, depending on your health.

So if you start in morning around 1pm from border, you will reach Kathamandu at the same time i.e. 1am and then you have to rent a hotel room and in night you may not get a proper one. We should check the room and washrooms properly before checking in. 

Same thing happened with us, we had to board the bus at around 1pm and reached at 1 in night and then had to settle in an improper room, because it was raining, we were tired, night time, so I just checked a room, which was too basic and finalized it without giving a second thought, but I should have properly check the room and took a consent from Maag or Pahadi before finalizing the room. It is good to take suggestions from more than one person before finalizing anything, because what I like may not be the best option, but what more than one person likes will be the better option. These are just little things that I learned in this trip.

Our rooms were like, one had fan another not, while another one had light, and first one didn’t. So they were equal in a manner. In night we had tight sleep, since we were hell tired, then too everyone woke up early in morning and got ready to move. Anna showed some quickness and got ready in common washroom.

Fantastic 4

Fantastic 4

Before entering into a different country, we should take a break and formally meet the crew. Starting from South, we had Anna- a Christian boy born and brought up in Kerala. Also studied from Indore, which made him to like it, as of now, he is working in one of biggest IT Company (Wipro) of India. I gave him the name “Anna” because he is like a bro to me and in their language Anna means the same. I must say, he is a good person, sometimes kiddish and foolish too but an understanding one. 

Anna

Traversing upwards we reach Maag- a Marwadi Brahmin whose ancestors belonged to Rajasthan. She is like a mother figure, being the eldest amongst all. She takes care of everyone, understands everyone and a spiritual personality. She is completely into spiritual things and her guruji is Shri shri shri Ravishankar g. I gave her the name because of her attitude only, first distributing food to everyone and then eating, Cmon man, who does this, except an Indian typical mother. In the whole journey, she was too much cautious, only through which she gave us wise decisions. She even became a mediator and removed the air gap when 3 of us had a fight. Interesting thing was she felt suffocated when we were fighting. I give credits to Pahadi for all the fight.

Me

We should talk about me also, since we are in Madhya part of India, but there is a lot I can write about me, since I am writing about myself, Funny isn’t it, still I will keep it crisp. You can always talk to me for detailed info. I do not refer to myself with any other name, but “Kuntal” only. Even my crew members also refer to me as “Kuntal” and nothing else. I am Gujju Vaishnav from Indore, studied there only and as of now working in TCS- IT Company in Chennai. I have an understanding and caring nature. People often say that I am too sensitive, maybe I am. I am a good listener and also a confident speaker. There was a thing which was bugging me from past year, but I think I will get over it slowly slowly. I also tried to break the ice, when Pahadi was angry, but she got angry on me too.

Maag

Let us move towards north and meet the only cute, funny and understanding person of the team. Yes we are talking about Pahadi. Pahadi as the name suggests, born and raised in mountains near rivers, in other words she is from heaven on earth-Jammu. She is about to complete her PHD and then she will be called as Dr. She is studying in Indore from last 9yrs and it has become her second home, 9yrs is really a long time. In such long time, anyone can feel attached to the city, to people and to environment. I respect her for being there for me. She is like sister to me, who knows a lot about me and understand me. She is the one who got angry and then Maag had to jump in to resolve the tense situation between us.

Pahadi

This was all about the crew members, stay tuned to continue “The Journey” in coming posts.

From Chennai to Nepal

INDIA-NEPAL Border

Really we have to call it “The Journey”. Journey for all of us was different; one had to join us just after Rajasthan trip, one had to come from Pune, another from Indore and I from Chennai. Let us talk about my trip, aaaa leave the actual trip, because if I tell you the actual one, you will get confused or mad on me. What I can tell you is I started my journey from Chennai after completing my night shift. I pre-poned my shift from 10-7 to 7-4 so that I can catch the only train (Rajdhani) that starts from Chennai at 6 am. Let me tell you some facts about my train, it connect major cities of India to Rajdhani (Delhi). It is a superfast train having few halts between origin and destination. Obviously it is a costly train having minimum coach as 3^rd ac, best thing about it is it provides you enough food that you don’t have to bother about taking any food items with you, train staff provides some food stuff once in every two hours and even you can request for additional things like salad, if you wish. So don’t carry even a single food item, but eat well in Rajdhani. My ticket was in waiting list a day before, although waiting no. was 2 which had a high probability of getting clear, still I didn’t wanted to take any chances and booked a Tatkal ticket. Therefore I started from Chennai via Rajdhaani –one of the best trains of India, changed my train to meet the rest of the crew. Anna already came to Bhopal station a day before; we had to board the Kushinagar Express. Maag and Pahadi started the same morning from Indore. As soon as I board the train to Gorakhpur, Pahadi shouted Kuntalllll, she seemed to be very happy after founding me. I was also glad to join them. The moment, we joined became awesome, amazing, actually beyond words.  

Route Plan

Now let me introduce you to Kushinagar Express as well, it is a typical train of eastern India, in which sleeper is similar to general and 3^rd ac can be compared with sleeper. I am not criticizing the train, or the crowd, just a suggestion for travelers that they should book at least 3^rd ac ticket if they are thinking to travel in those side trains, especially when you don’t have habit of travelling in such trains. This train led us to Gorakhpur-a major station on the eastern side of India. Major because this is the last station on this side, up to which train is available, after this you have to board a bus or hire a shared cab to reach Indian border last village sanauli. From Sanauli you can either have a cycle rickshaw or walk for 5 minutes to cross the Zero Land- an area between two borders, also known as no man’s land. I advise walking provided you can carry your luggage for about a km. Here Indian border ends and Nepal starts. Tune in to next blog for Nepal, remember Journey is not complete yet.