Of Fridays and travel

I travel home from Bangalore almost every weekend. Work gets over around 4.30 and my train to Mysore is at 6.15. Plenty of time, one would think. But not when i work in Whitefield and need to travel as far as Majestic to board the train. And i can't just say leaving early for the day and escape from the office early every friday.

So every friday evening turns out to be a running race of sorts. Run from the office to catch the 335E to Majestic. Then run from the bus stand to the station and then all the way till the first or second compartment in the front to get to my seat.

In case i am taking the 335E, i need to leave early, since it takes a roundabout route and goes through all the office areas in Whitefield and then through the choked Old airport road. So i decided to take an alternate route one weekend. Took a bus from tin factory bound to Majestic. And what road would he end up taking? The old madras road- Ulsoor route. Metro work+ Offices along the route= big traffic jams. Result- I could not catch the train that weekend.

So for the past couple of weeks, i have been coming back by office cab to my place and taking an auto from there to Majestic. Worked out fine till now. The auto guy is pre-warned that the train is at 6.15 and that he needs to rush. Costs me around 90 bucks but they make sure i am there on time.

Last weekend, the auto driver, a frail looking ajja assured me that he could make it to the station with plenty of time to spare. I looked no further and jumped into the auto. As my luck(good or bad?) would have it, there was a big jam near the cantonment road and at the same time the auto's gear wire got cut! Without any other option, i paid the guy, got out and navigated through the jam to find another auto. I just said railway station, like i normally do and sat down. It did not occur to me that i should have said main station, coz the auto fellow started going towards cantonment station. When i said Bangalore station, he refused to go there and asked me to get down. I gave him a bad look but that was all i could do! Another search for an auto ensued and luckily i found one. The guy went zzuii-zzuii and cut across traffic and went through all kinds of short cuts. I kept my eyes shut and kept praying because he was actually driving horribly rashly and i did not want to stop him. He made sure that i reached the station right on time. From there, i ran like i was running for my life. And caught the train successfully.

Every weekend is the same story. I get lectured by the auto people to leave half an hour earlier to escape the weekend traffic. (If only my manager understood that!) And pray on the way every time that i should be able to catch the train. And when i find the train , still on platform 6 when i climb out of the subway, i say a silent thank you to god and rush towards my compartment. All of this effort is worth the smile on my Dad's face when he is in his spot at the Mysore station to pick me up and the joy in my mom's voice when i call her and tell her that i have reached and would be home for dinner in a few minutes. Any outsider seeing this should think i have been gone for ages! ;)