Mein Kahan Hoon???

August 5th 20011, it was one of those routine fridays when I had the least of intentions to work and was looking forward for the weekend. Work started off slow and lousy like everyother week day and some time

around mid day Murphy's Law came into effect!

Just when I was looking forward to leave office on time and get started with the weekend we came to know of a screw up that had to be rectified the same day. The Math told us that it would take us an entire day to clear it and that we will need to come in to work on saturday. Though I did not have any plans for the weekend, the thought of having to work on saturday was terrifying. We decided not to come in to work on saturday, instead stay back friday night however long it takes and finish off the work.

This means I will miss my friday evening routine, What is mr friday routine? I go back home and catch up with my best friends. (I have 3 best friends - Russel, Leeni & Amith and my life revolves around them). Its still better than not being able to catch up with them the whole of saturday. Leeni & I work at the same place, I walked up to her desk and told her that I may end up working on saturday. She also recommended that I stick to plan B and finish off the work by stretching on friday night. She said she has made some plans for Saturday late in the morning for the 4 of us and did not want me to come to work.

Without wasting any further time, I got back to work with the team. As we progressed through the evening, we started to see light at the end of the tunnel as the system speed dramatically improved post business hours. In the next few minutes that light turned out to be an approaching train - the servers crashed.

While we waited for the systems to come back up we were aimlessly wandering around in the world wide web trying to find the developers of the application that just crashed. At regular intervals I was in touch with my

best friends giving them an update on whats going on and sharing my frustration over the application's performance.

At around 12 midnight Leeni called me up and said they are going to sleep, but Amith will stay awake. She told me to wake them up what ever time I return and that we will drive down to Maddur. All four of us love long drives and when we don't get an opportunity to go on a weekend getaway at regular intervals, we drive down to Maddur or BIA (Bangalore International Airport) sit in coffee day for sometime and drive back. These drives have always been fun.

Though the systems came back, the system speed was way too frustrating for us to tolerate. At around 3AM we gave up and decided to call it a day. The guys from my team said they will come in later in the day on saturday and complete the workload.

Too tired and lazy to ride back home, I called Amith. He came over to pick me up, once we reached home we woke Russel & Leeni up and we all decided to meet up in about 30 mins. Leeni just told me that there is a surprise for all of us and that we need to wear shoes as there is some trecking involved. Without asking any further questionns, I went up to my apartment, took a shower, got ready and came down to Russel's place.

Leeni has been talking about to going on a trek to Skandagiri for quite sometime, and I was starting to think that is where she was taking us. We left home at around 4 AM, headed towards Maddur or Skamdagiri or God knows where else. Since I hadn't had any sleep I dozzed off on the way and when I woke up after a short nap we were still on the road and hey the route we were on didn't look familiar. I was almost certain that the plan was for us to go to Skandagiri for an early morning trek to see the sunrise. Thanks to me we now won't be able to see the sunrise as we were already late. I asked Russel if that is where we are going and he said he is not sure either as Leeni has not mentioned much about where we are headed but has just been giving directions. I now started pestering Leeni asking if it was Skandagiri and finally she fell prey for my nagging and confirmed Skandagiti is where we are headed. She also thanked me for spoiling the fun with my spoiler alert.

A few minutes post day break Russel pulled over and stopped by a Petrol Station to fill fuel and there was a coffee day just besides the petrol station. After filling fuel we parked the car and got into coffee day for some snacks and coffee. I asked Leeni if she got her camera and she said she forgot. It would have been nice if she'd got her camera because from what I've heard the view from the top (skandagiri) is amazing. But then I remembered that Amith had just bought a new Samsung Galaxy S2 which had an amazing 8 megapixed HD camera so I thought we are still ok.

                            

As we completed our pit stop and got back on the highway Russel said, "I still have no clue where we are going and I'm sure Leeni and Vimal have planned this together." Still convincecd that we are headed to Skandagiri, I was looking forward for the trek. We continued to drive and drive and drive.... I was looking all around and for some strange reason I cannot see any indications of any hilly area in the vicinity. I started getting suspicious about where we are headed and went back the drawing board again - in my mind.

I launched Google Maps on my phone to find out where we are and in which direction we are headed. BSNL mobile has a great reputation of not being available and or of giving some wierd errors messages on connectivity when you need it the most and they lived up to their reputation this time as well. Still as confused as I was when we left home, I told my friends, "I'm starting to think that you guys are taking me on a long trip. I don't have any clothes to change so it will be nice if you guys can stop at the next town so that I can buy some clothes for myself." As no one seemed to take my comment seriously we resorted back to our normal long drive conversations.

We continued to drive and drive and drive..... Suddenly out of the blue, Leeni pulled out her camera and handed it over to me, she said "Here. Take." This was the same camera that she said she had forgotten to bring along. It was at that moment, I started to freak out. I said, "Oh freak. Leeni you said you forgot to bring the camera a while ago and now you are pulling it out of nowhere. I won't be surprised if you guys are taking me on a weekend trip. And I wont be surprised if all your bags are packed and kept in the boot and I am the only one with out any clothes to change for the entire trip." No one said anything in return but just had a smirk on their faces.

I got off my seat, turned over to the boot and I saw some quilts lying there (these were the quilts Russel has been telling he needs to drop at the drycleaner). As I moved the Quilts to one side I saw three bags!!!!

"OH FREAK. OH FREAK. WHAT IS HAPPENING? OH FREAK. Where are we going? Where are you guys taking me? FREAK" as I was freaking out Russel, Leeni and Amith were laughing their guts out (of course even I was laughing). As the laughter in the car slowly reduced, Amith and Leeni handed over some print outs to me in which there were some route maps! I could see Mangalore, Sakleshpur, etc in these maps and finally I realised that these guys have booked a homestay in Sakleshpur for the Friendship Day weekend and have been planning this surprise trip for me for more than a week!

The night before we left, Lenni had gone up to my apartment, told my parents about the plan, packed my stuff and put it in the car. She'd done such a good job with packing my stuff that I never fell short of anything. The surprise was way too good and I just couldn't stop smiling and laughing, in fact we all were smiling and laughing all the way to Sakleshpur and the whole trip turned out to be that way. I can't remember when was the last time I laughed and smiled so much.

The home stay these guys had booked was amazing and the place where went to turned out to be an excellent weekend getaway spot. Similar to the other trips we have been on, we took the Safari 4x4 on an offroading spree, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, took pictures, ate good food, relaxed, played games, pulled each others legs, got drenched in the rain, parked the safari in the middle of a stream & washed it, had a camp fire, almost got stuck in a spookey place & got back, laughed like crazy, celebrated and had loads & loads of fun. I don't think we would've had so much fun even as kids. What an amazing trip it turned out to be and this is the best vacation I have ever been on so far. Kudos to my dear firends for pulling this off! I can't stop smiling everytime I think of this trip :-) :-) :-)

Like I always say, I have been blessed with these three great friends and the best phase of my life so far has been and is the time I've been with these guys. I never have to tell them how I felt or what I wanted, they know it without me having to say it and they will ensure I get what I want without me having to ask for it.

If I could borrow Peter Parker's words from the first Spiderman movie and change it a bit, it would go like.

"Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: With great friends comes great things in life. This is my gift, my blessing. Who am I? I'm Russel, Leeni & Amith's best friend."

Note: If you are not so familiar with the above mentioned words from the Spiderman movie, here is the original version.

Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man.

(Note: The images & Photos in the first half of this article have been randomly picked from the internet.)

God's Own Country

Last month I'd been to Wayanad, Kerala on a short vacation. Calling Kerala 'God's Own Country' is an understatement.

Technically this is my fourth visit to Kerala and this is the first time I actually got to see the real Kerala. First time was when I was a kid, I'd been to Malampuzha with my family. Second time I almost made it the border with some friends and the guy who was supposed to arrange accomodation screwed up so ended up going to Mudumalai instead. In the third attempt I stayed in a hotel in the middle of a town and eat in the hotel's restraunt and came back (Thanks to a great ass who was in my team who supposedly knew every nook and corner in Wayanad).

Finally on my fourth visit to Kerala, I was able to experience the REAL KERALA. We found an amazing home stay accomodation (luxurious at the same time affordable and had a great host Mr. Saji Chaco - http://www.tropicalforrest.in/) and drove down for the weekend. The home stay was situated on top of a small hill in the outskirts of this small town called Lakkidi. When we got closer to the town we called the host and asked him for directions, he said "Keep coming straight, when you find mist on the road, just stop and give me a call. I'll come there and take you to the homestay. That's one of the weirdest landmarks I've heard of (besides 'you'll see a cow eating grass, take a left after that') but you know with that landmark you can never miss that place. We witnessed mist only in that area over the next two days we spent there. Amazing!

We took up an entire villa (build in accordance with the authentic Kerala architectural style), the villa and the locality was so good that we didn't want to go out anywhere. When you drive down to Kerala from either Karnataka or Tamil Nadu, you can feel the difference the moment you cross the border and enter God's Own Country! When you drive down, you'll see dry masses of lands, one or two trees here and there, horrible roads, garbage dumps, etc and then as you enter Kerala all of that will change!

You'll know you've entered Kerala,

• The moment everthing around you turns completely green.
• The roads get narrower but better than anyother road you would have driven on.
• When you feel the cold breeze.
• When you hear birds chirping.
• When you hear leaves brusing against each other due to the wind.
• If you see football posters or flags of countries that play football.
• Small tea stalls that also serve beef and toddy.
• Men with lungi's.
• = / > 15 people in a jeep.

Wayanad is filled with stunningly beautiful landscapes, some nice places to visit, great roads to drive on and amazing food. Talking about the food, you should try out the traditional beef fry, if you ever get a chance to stop by in a small road side hotel that serves Kerala - go for it and most of all you have to have to try the buttermilk from a roadside shop. I don't know how they manage to make everything so delicious but you must never miss these things when you are in Kerala. Don't plan on visitng 100 places during your vacation but a select few and enjoy the drive and the mesmerising beauty of God's Own Country!


Some of the places I'll personally recommend: Banasura Sagar Dam, Edakkal Caves, Chembara Peak, Kuruva Island and Soochippara Waterfall. Especially the drive us the coffe estates to Chembara Peak is amazing! Here are some of the pictures of God's Own Country from my recent visit. I'll leave the rest for you to experience when you go there.....

Below are the pictures taken during our drive up to Chembara Peak.

And the Legendary Jeep rides of Kerala....

All in all you'll thoroughly enjoy Kerala if you stay and roam around in the right places. You'll only wish it wasn't as humid as it was else you'll not have any complaints.

Kabbe Holidays

A great holiday destination in Coorg, this place boasts of world class accomodation at really affordable cost, amazing food and most of all great hospitality that always makes you feel at home. Kabbe Holidays is the place to be if you need a perfet holiday. Dilip & Vidhya, the people who run this place are real sweet hearts and they always make you feel as part of their family.


When I first heard of this place I was told that they treat you like a king, I thought that is just for the sake of marketing, like other holiday desitnations advertise, but after vistng this place is when I realised how true that statement was. I have been to this place thrice between 2007 & 2009 (those are the only times we made it to Kabbe Holidays, if you count the number of times we've attempted but did not get booking is probably > 10) and everytime I go there it feels like going back home.

All the friends I have taken to Kabbe Holidays so far have gone back for another vacation sooner or later and they always have great things to say about this place and of course Dilip & Vidhya. Some of my friends even call me the Columbus of Kabbe Holidays coz I found the place first amongst all of us.

One thing you must never miss when you go there is to walk up the hill with Dilip, the view is fantastic and you can actually see Kerala while your foot is firmly rested in Karnataka. Probably you can also go up his cofee estate by evening and wakdown after sunset. There are a couple of places where Dilip can take you for some adventure sports. If you are into adventure sports you can try kayaking, rock climbing, raffling, paint balling, quadra bike, etc.

It is highly recomended that you ask Vidya to prepare the traditional pork fry and the dessert that is made with bread (not sure what its called but one thing for sure is that you can't stop eating it once you start). If it aint raining you can have a good time at the campfire, Vidya now has a new game that she plays in camp fires called "Jab We Met." I woulnd't want to reveal much details about this game here, you should get there and see it for yourself. I've always wondered how Vidhya manages to come up with so many different varieties of food, some of the things I've eaten / drank in Kabbe Holidays are things that you don't find anywhere else.

Everytime we plan for a trip with friends or everytime a good friend is asking for suggestions on a holiday spot the first place we think of is Kabbe Holidays. Not just because of the great place it is, but also because of the great bonding we share with Dilip & Vidya.

If you are looking for a peaceful, fun filled vacation Kabe Holidays is the place to be. But be sure you book the place well in advance so that you are not disappointed (I'd suggest for Christmas and New Year's you'll need to make a booking atleast a year in advance). Here are some of the pictures from my memorable trips to this place, alternatively you can know more details about this place in their website http://www.kabbeholidays.com/

The peak you see is actually half way to the hill top.

Dilip's coffee estate

One of the places where you can involve is some adventure sports

Below are some of the feebacks we wrote on the vistor's book whenever we had been there (There are more of the first impression comments and I haven't updated all the comments we put up in our consecutive visits).

3rd & 4th November 2006 (I came here with my team):

We took the wrong route and had a tiring and long journey. The best thing was none of had a clue about how this place is. We all were kind of getting skeptical as to how the place is going to be. When we reached here the very first interaction we had with Mr & Mrs Dilip was great. We felt like home after seeing the place. Then the food best of its kind, the way the food was served was also great / personalised service. The places we vsted around this place were the best, especially the treking part gave us an experience of a lifetime. This was one of the best refreshing vacations we've had. The only thing that bothered me was the leeches. In a nutshell this place is the "best of the best."


April 2007 (This was when I got my best friends to Kabe Holidays)

This is my second visit to Kabbe Holidays, the previous visit was in November 2006. This time it was much better (greater) that the previous visit because we stayed here for two days. Dilip is a star, he took us to his estate and let us walk back in the dark which was the most adventrous trek I've done in life. The next day Dlip took us to Kayaking and pushed me into the water inspte of me being extremely 'hydrophobic.' I don't know if that expeience was exciting but it was refreshing for sure. We then had a great time at the campfire with some antakshari, some toddy and lots of fun.

The food was exceptionally good and I'm gonna miss this food when I go back. The way the two new cottages were built is remarkable and I don't have words to express the hospitality of Dilip, Vidya & Dev. Now I feel that I'm a part of Dilip's family. What made me very happy was that I brought my best friends here for the frirst time and all of them really loved and enjoyed it to a great extent. I'm looking forward for many more excitng, enjoyable and adventrous trip back to Kabbe Holidays. I want to et my family here once and 'm sure they will love it. I call myself as 'Columbus' among my friends circle beause I discovered this wonderful place!

April 2007 (This is what Leeni wrote on their book)

Its a given this place is beautful, heaven on earth, but what has made our stay memorable were the wonderful people. Vidya is a sweetheart, best hostess I have ever met. Dilip going that extra mile to make memories for us (Late Night Jungle Safari). Dev, smart and full of life and an excellent sot and dancer.
Thank You doesn't exactly say it :-). We will be back.

April 2007 (This is what Amith wrote on their book)

Forget It!!! I never visited a resort I felt like I visted my relative's place and honestly never felt like I am new here. Excellent food (considering that I don't eat) Awesome hospitality. (Dilip, Vdya, Dev you rock).
Thanks for this wonderful experience. Many more visits to come.

Bangalore Roads

Here are some of the most common things you will come across when you are on the roads in Bangalore. For people who are aspiring to drive in Bangalore this is more of a heads up and for people who drive through this trauma every day, you will just be able to relate to these very well.

80% of Bangalore's Traffic jams are caused by two things: A BMTC bus that broke down on the road and is parked almost diagonally on the road only leaving enough space for Auto rickshaws and two wheelers to pass through. The other thing that causes Traffic Jams in Bangalore roads are traffic cops, who have blocked half of the road with barricades in order to repaint a zebra crossing on the road during peak hours. Or they have caught a truck without proper papers and made him park the truck blocking the road till a higher official gets there

Majority of the bus stops are at the closest proximity to traffic signals, fly overs and bottle necks on the road ensuring that very limited vehicles should get past them during peak hours.

When you realise that the vehicle in front of you trying to move towards the left side of the road while there appears to be a lot of empty space towards the right side of the road don't think you are smart and move to the right side of the road because you will bang into a cow standing in that side of the road or fall into a huge pit around which the road seems to have been built.

If you ever happen to be driving a car to some place trying to make it on time and if you are in a narrow road where there two auto rickshaws trying to overtake each other right in front of you. Then the only sensible thing to do is to give up the idea of making it on time. The auto rickshaws will appear to be going faster than the speed of sound and the engines will be constipating to death but the auto riskshaws are actually going at a speed of may be about 25 Kms per hour. So just sit there and pray that the road gets broader soon so that you can over take them.

The simplest soultuion our government can come up with reduce traffic congestion in Bangalore is to put as many traffic singals as possible. Some times you see a free left and a signal for the same, don't assume that the free left concept in Bangalore is the same as in the rest of the world and turn left because there will be a cop wating to fine you just round the corner.

If you are walking down a pavement and if you hear somebody honking at you, don't get startled or offended because most of our pavements are meant for two wheelers and if you happen to be walking in a pavement blocking the way of a biker they will honk to death.

The size of your vehicle decides whether your father owns the roads or not. And hence the size of your vehicle is inversly proportional to road sense.

Traffic rules and road sense are not applicable to BMTC buses and auto rickshaws.

If you are going for an important appointment in a bike, never stop your bike to a bus in singnals. Or if you are in a car, never park you car next to a bus and even if you do so don't leave your windows open. Because its not cool to wear a shirt on which sombody has spit paan.

If you are behind a bus that is moving at about 25 kms speed, never try to overtake the bus from the left because suddenly you'll see people jumping out of the bus.

If there has been an accident there will definitely be a traffic congestion for a long time not because the road is not cleared, its beacuse though the road is cleared every vehicle that passes by that road will drive at 10 Kms per Hour speed staring at the victims. No body will do a jack sh*t to help the victims but will just stare for a while and move on.

If somebody even slightly bangs into your vehicle, you are supposed to stop you vehicle right at the middle of the road, get off from it and start a fight with the other guy regardless of how much of traffic congestion you cause. You can then disperse at the sight of a trafic cop because if the cop gets there he will not let you clear the road until he's made a profit.

Signals are primarly meant for old people, women drivers, new drivers and NRIs. If you are not any of these then you can drive past the signal even when its red and there is a traffic constable standing there. The only thing you need to be careful is if there is more than once traffic cop then you should adhere to the traffic signals unless you want to donate money to the cops.

If you have a two wheeler you are not allowed to drive in the wrong direction on the road but it is perfectly normal and acceptable if you are pushing your bike in the wrong direction though the trouble you'll cause doing so will last longer that it would if you have to just drive in the wrong direction. This is because of the fact that you are not sitting on you bike which means technically you are not driving but you are just walking which is not an offence but the only thing is that you've got a bike along with you while walking.

It is perfectly normal to honk, shout and abuse a vehicle with an "L" board that is either blocking your way or is going too slow for you to tolerate. Its not your problem that the other person does not know driving.

The Secret to success for "Driving in Bangalore Roads" is all about filling the gaps without banging into other vehicles, animals, people, cops, barricades, etc. You just need to keep adjusting your speed and switching lanes.

These are some of the things i can remember for now, will keep adding to the list as and when I recall / discover more on this topic.

My trip to BIA

I had to make this "Lightning Visit" to my home town Coimbatore in late September 2008. The plan was for me reach there on thursday evening, spend a couple of hours with my folks and take a bus back on thursday night to get back to Bangalore by Friday morning. I booked my ticket in a Kingfisher Red aircraft that leaves at 1810 Hrs IST from Bangalore International Airport (BIA).

So far all my flight travels have been "On Business" hence I was always provided with a company car to get to the airport. This time since its a personal trip I had to make my own arrangements to get there. I was pretty determined to avail the bus service to BIA called "BIAS," which I always refer to as buffalo, only because it was cheaper than my air ticket to coimbatore. If I had to take a taxi it would cost me about 600 INR whereas my air ticket was 500 INR (though it came up to some 3 1/2 grand with tax). 

A week before my journey, I did a google search to find more details on the buffalo services and couple of websits that had information on this stated "Buffalos ply from all parts of the city to BIA and you'll see a buffalo every 10 minutes. Cost will range between 90 INR & 120 INR." This sounded like a good deal to me because the frequency was good and the cost too. So I made my plans...

My Flight was at 1810 Hrs IST and in order to save time I did an e-check in on thursday morning. I left office at 1530 Hrs IST so that I will have enough time to get to the airport and also if I don't manage to get a buffalo after waiting for 30 to 40 minutes, I'll still have enough time to take the taxi to get there. I got out of my Office in Ulsoor and was waiting for a buffalo in the bus stop that was just outside my office.

I have seen quite a few bufallos pass by in the past, but for my luck I did not find even a single one that day. Looking at my watch every 30 seconds did not help as well. It was already 1600 Hrs IST and no signs of even a single buffalo. Then I saw this beautiful green taxi parked out side my office. I saw light at the end of the tunnel but did not realise thats because of an approaching train until I spoke to the Taxi Driver. I decided even if it costs 600 bucks I'll still take this taxi because I just had about an hour to get to the airport. When I approached the taxi driver and asked him if he could drive me to BIA, he said he's booked and is waiting for the customer. He even called one of his friends to check if he can come over to drive me down to BIA but unfortunately he was also booked.

I then said "Unbelievable" to myself and called the call center number that was written on the beautiful green taxi. The lady who answered the was polite as usual but told me that i"ll have to wait for atelast an hour and 15 minutes to get a taxi. She also recommended me to book a taxi atleast a day in advance going forward. I thanked her for her timely advice and hung up. Then this 'out of the taxi' idea struck my mind, why don't I take an auto rickshaw till Hebbal and there I will get a buffalo for sure. 

"Genius" I said to myself and got into an auto rickshaw (for people reading my blog in the UK, an auto rickshaw is nothing but a Tuk Tuk). I told the 'Auto Driver' (he is not autoamatic but that's how they are called here) "drive as fast as you and get me to Hebbal." He said it will cost me 120 bucks and I told him "I don't care just get me there." It was already 1615 Hrs IST when I got into the auto rickshaw and my reporting time was at 1740 Hrs IST. The auto driver let his auto rickshaw flow through the gaps between vehicles and drove as fast as he can. On the way to Hebbal he asked me where I live, a little startled with the question I asked him "Why?" He did not bother answering my question but asked anohter question "You say some where in Lingarajapuram right? I know you." "How?"I asked him as I was getting more curious. "I have dropped you once to Lingarajapuram from your office." I was wondering how the hell can he remember a passenger he dropped and I haven't travelled in an auto rickshaw for may be 4 months now. Before I could ask him the next question, he gave me the answer, "I can very well remember you because of your moustache." "Paparazzis" I told myself and told the auto driver "That's nice, but please get me to Hebbal soon."

The auto driver said he can drop me in front of Bangalore Baptist Hospital and will not be able to drive me past the Hebbal Flover as he'll have to go a long way to take a U turn. I got down in fornt of Baptist Hospital and stood there in the bus stop hoping to get a buffalo. It was 1645 and no buffalos yet. I called up City Taxi to see if they can send me a taxi, a lady answered the phone and said I'll have to wait for atleast 45 minutes to get a taxi. I said fine send it anyways. It was 1655 no buffalos yet, then I got this 'out of the auto rikshaw' idea. I thought I'll take one of these buses that goes to the nearby villages if they go via BIA. I asked one bus conductor if his bus goes via BIA he said "yes we go through the main road but not uptill the terminal." I got into the bus thinking that even if I get till the BIA peripheral road I can some how manage to get to the airport from there. I bought the ticket which costed me 15 bucks and stood at the door peeping out to see if I can spot any buffalos. 

The bus was going in the right direction for some time and after it crossed Yelahanka, the bus turned left and got into some other road. I know we should be going straight to get to BIA but was not sure of this road the bus turned into but why take a chance. I screamed at the conductor asking him to stop the bus. The conductor couldn't hear me as there was some Kannada movie playing in the television in the bus in full volume. I decided to get off the bus and jumped from the running bus. As I was waking back to the main road, I saw a buffalo pass by "HOPE!" if I have spotted the first buffalo on this road then I will definitely get another one in 10 minutes as the website mentioned. 

Just before I got on to the main road, I saw an empty taxi returning to the city from the same road that bus went into. I jumped in front of the taxi, stopped him and asked if he could drive me to the airport. He said it will cost me 500 bucks, I looked at my watch it was 1715. I said "take what ever you want but get me to the airport in 15 minutes." On the way to the airport the taxi driver told me that his son has finished B.Tech and asked if I could get him a job in my company. I told him "I'll give you my e-mail address ask your son to send me his resume, I will forward it to the right people." Though he took a little longer than I expected he dropped me at the airport at 1735. I gave him my e-mail id, paid him 500 bucks and got out of the taxi. I did not spot a single buffalo till I got to BIA except the one I saw before I got into the taxi. As i was collecting my boarding pass, I got a call from this unknown number. I answered it and the guy in the other end told me that he is calling from city taxi and he is waiting for me in front of Bangalore Baptist Hospital. I told him "thanks for coming but I don't need your services any longer, you can go home early today."

I completed the security check and ran into the loo to change, I was going to my home town to attend a wedding. While I was changing my shirt in the loo, I noticed this guy who was standing and staring at me with an expression in his face that said "What the hell is that guy doing taking his shirts off?" I looked at the guy and asked him "What are you looking at? Never seen anybody change clothes in front of a mirror?" he just left without speaking a word. I changed and ran towards the terminal and got into the bus that will take me to the aircraft. The bus started as soon as I got in and I was feeling relieved that I finally made it on time. I was looking at the Boeings and the Airbuses standing there and was remembering my earlier flight experiences. 

When the bus stopped, I had another shock awaitng. I was flying an ATR!, not a boeing nor an airbus. It was at that moment did I realized that Kingfisher Red does not mean some premium class but Air Deccan. There I stood in front of the aircraft wondering how am I going to manage till I get to Coimbatore because I'm sure my legs will not fit in those seats. One of the cabin crew members got me back to my sences, "Sir do you want to get in, we should be ready for take off." As I was still staring at the ATR is asked her "How long did you say the flight is?"