Everything should have gone like clockwork.
It was my twelfth trip to Trichy in fifteen months. I reached the station 40 minutes ahead of time and found the train waiting on Platform No. 1.
Phew! No need to rush, lugging a heavy suitcase behind me. I was relieved. I looked around the compartment. It was relatively new. I settled down and waited for my friend M.
Twenty minutes later, M still hadn’t arrived. How typical of her to be late!
There were just ten minutes left for the train to leave. The coach was surprisingly empty. There was still no sign of M. I tried calling her on her mobile phone but it was switched off.
Five minutes left. I looked out frantically to my left and right. Where was M? And why was her phone still switched off?
One minute left. Surely this couldn’t be happening to me. I couldn’t handle the sessions alone. Why was M being so irresponsible?
“Ma’am, what is your seat number?” A smartly-dressed young man had just walked in carrying a bright red suitcase.
---
Stupid, stupid me! Why did I get on to the train without checking my seat number? Why didn’t I suspect something when my compartment was empty like no train to Trichy had ever been?
M had boarded the right train after all. Her phone was working all right too. It was I who had been trying her old number. Poor M had tried calling me a dozen times but my line had been continuously engaged.
---
Gah! I hate buses. You can’t sit comfortably, nor can you sleep. It’s so cold you constantly want to use the toilet. Don’t even try wrapping yourself up in the blanket they supply. It stinks! They are never on time. There’s always an unwatchable movie droning on till late into the night. The person sitting next to you snores louder than Kumbhakarna. And don’t even get me started on the babies and their tantrums!
And yes, the bus that I travel in always breaks down. Always.
---
I finally reach Trichy. School begins at 8.30am. The time now is 8.15am.
---
Thank god for M. I had completely forgotten to book a hotel room for us. She managed to get us a room in the only decent hotel in town. I dropped off my suitcase in the hotel and rushed to school. Yes, without even brushing my teeth. I didn't have time to even think of breakfast.
---
The first session went off well. Halfway into my second session, I began to feel a low rumbling in my stomach. By the fourth session, the rumbling had grown to a grumbling. The chai lady walked up to me in the sixth session and said, “Sorry Akka , I was looking for you during the tea break, but couldn’t find you.” Talk about rubbing salt on your wound. Or should I say chai? In the eighth session, my stomach was doing more talking than I was. I felt faint. In the ninth session, a boy in the first row said, “ Akka , I can hear a strange sound. Where is it coming from?” I was saved by the bell!
---
After wolfing down a full plate of chicken biriyani at a nearby restaurant, we walked back to our hotel hoping to digest the heavy lunch. The moment we entered the lobby, the man at the desk shouted out, “Madam, I hope you remember that you have to vacate tonight.” I looked questioningly at M. She nodded meekly to the man and dragged me to our room.
“Shilpa, I forgot to tell you this morning. I could get the hotel only for today. All the rooms are reserved from tomorrow. I tried calling all the other hotels in town but they are all full. It’s the wedding season here, apparently.” M blurted out in one breath.
Two more days in Trichy with no hotel to stay in? Not knowing what else to do, we slept.
---
We woke up late in the evening, checked the time and let out a loud shriek. We had one hour to figure out the hotel conundrum.
---
Five minutes to 9’o clock. We had walked in and out of 13 hotels. All had the same answer for us, “Sorry ma’am. No rooms available.”
We walked back to our hotel. We were at our wits end. Perhaps we could spend the night in the waiting room at the railway station, M said. I nodded sadly. That seemed to be our only option.
---
As we walked into the hotel, the man at the desk smiled at us. “Madam, where have you been? I was looking for you all evening. The other reservation got cancelled at the last minute. I hear the bride ran away with another fellow. Seems like it’s your lucky day!” he said.
I hurried to support M as she almost fainted in relief.
---
The next two days went like clockwork. On the third evening, we packed our bags and headed to the station.
“I hope you have our tickets,” I said to M.
“Weren’t you supposed to book them?” she asked.
So much for clockwork precision!
