It was a perfect get-away from home, work and worries… a 3-4 day off from all the worldly headaches and a trip with frends to some distant place was all that was needed to relax and rejuvenate.
We headed to Pune for a training on one of the products required for our projects. Accomodations were arranged, tickets were booked, luggage were packed and we were all set (four of us.. myself, N, S and SH). Our onward journey started on the Saturday evening from Bangalore. Ahead of us was an 18hr train travel in a 3-tier AC … which we thought wud be the most boring part. But it turned out to be the most fun filled part of the whole package. I don remember the last time when I had been out on a train journey with frends.. yeah I traveled bt Chennai and blore evey weekend when I worked for CTS Chennai. But it was alwys an overnite travel. So here I was with 3 of my project mates on a Saturday evening chatting, eating, teasing, playing cards (Badam Satta, Bluff and a new game called ‘Phat’ :))… none of us were in the mood to sleep. we stayed awake till pretty late and slept only after we got several warnings from the co-commuters ;). The next day it was a lazy (Sunday) morning… and the first thing that was on our mind was to meet SH’s mom and bro who wud meet us at Gulabarga station with some nice food preparted for our lunch… the train wud stop there for 10min and it was fun to meet, greet and grab all that they had got for us.
It was almost 4pm when we reached Pune station. S’s sister had come to escort us to the place where we had our acc booked. my second stint of Pune was ok, thot it was more impressive on my first visit. Anyway… the weather was good.. unlike blore which is pretty damp for quite sometime now. All four of us were pretty tired with the journey.. we got settled in our rooms and then had a nice dinner and dozed off, for we had make at our training center the next morning at nine. We did make there but atleast 30 min late, thanks to the taxi driver who came late to pick us up. First day at the training was pretty decent with theory sessions being covered during the pre-noon and pracs during the post lunch. but the sessions which were supposed to complete by 4pm… got dragged till 6pm. we were pretty exhausted … Day1 at the training was over. That evening S’s sister took us for a small roam inside Pune. We saw MG Rd and visited a couple of stalls .. and did some shopping. Then we were taken to the best eat outs in Pune. “Durvankur” … the place where u can find the maharastrian food at its best. Well, I don’t remember what all I ate that day but yes we all ate soo much that we cudn get up from our seats. we sat for a few more minutes at the table and then started back to out service apartments, which was quite out of the city. the clocked ticked well over 9pm as we hired two auto rickshaws. well this was how our day ended.... some amazing never eaten before maharastrian delicacy. Slept to the core that nite only to be woken up by S the nxt morning.
Day2, 9am and we found ourselves sipping coffee in the corridors of the training centre. Still pretty lazy.. but one good thing happnd on day2 was we started with the practical sessions which was unfinished on the prevs day. The learning went on till 6 again and we did quite a lot of work on day2. The satisfying part was we cud see some outputs. Well, it was evening and we had to cover the Fergueshen College Road before. “The” place where the Pune youth wud hangout. Most of the famous restaurant, cafes, coffee bars are located on this long stretch. We all had a walk thru the streets .. took a few snaps (which includes the one posted on this blog). The best of the lot. S’s sister took this snap and she moved even before my digi cam flashed and took the pic. Hence u can see the feet all of us :D. truly a fantastic, unforgettable evening. That nite S’s sister had cooked some amazing veggie stuff for our dinner. Ate nicely and gave a gift we had purchased for her. Infact we couldn have asked for more… we got some superb company for the two days we spent in Pune. She provided great comfort level as she kept us engaged and never did we feel that we were outsiders. Tremendous energy levels. Well, Tuesday night was all over as we slept early as we had to catch our trains the next day arnd 12 noon. We obvsly wantd to stay for one more day in the city as we dint see any places as such. But we consoled ourselves that there is always a next time.
We boarded the train at the Pune station at exact noon and started towards Bangalore. We were blessed with some well cooked food for lunch. We had an all day of journey ahead of us…. this time it was a two-tier AC so it was only 4 of us in the compartment. it was pretty comfortable. another 18hr travel and we started doing what we were good doing at.. having fun !! listened to music, chatted, played a lot of improvised versions of the games…. laughed to the core. Seriously it wud hv been a pretty boring journey if we had to travel single. The company was good, and we all had a brilliant time. Ate all the junkies like ice cream, bhel puri, tomato soups, etc and kept ourselves engaged till nite. No doubt we were sort of exhausted traveling all day. so we decided to sleep early. And it was my mom’s phone call that woke me up in the morning. She gave me the news that my sister in law gave birth to a baby girl in mysore. Sweet was the news… there cud hav been no better way to complete our unforgettable journey. N, S, SH n myself .. for all of us it was a nice break and happy time together for 4 wonderful days.
We all certainly wud hav opted to stay back in pune given a choice, but then we wud hav never looked forward of visiting Pune again. Now we do!! The memories of this visit wud certainly live in our hearts…. so that we cherish them forever.
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