Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear....

What will happen to you if you are at a completely unknown place you have to go to delhi and delhi is 230KM away, you missed your bus in which your friend was also there and that was the last bus, trains are not running due to Jat agitation, its 10:30 in the night, and the most important, you have 5 Rs in your pocket, and the ATM you have is not working due to some problem in its magnetic strip.


Let me tell what I actually did.




Here I was, returning from the National Conference at SLIET, Punjab.
The conference was very good. So many big people were there. One of them was Mr. Sachit Jain, CMD, Vardhaman Group. Before he was called upon the mic for the speech, his qualifications were told to us and they were- IIT Delhi, IIM-Ahmedabad, Stanford University. Very impressive speech he gave and said "An intelligent person is who makes his way into a system where he knows nothing, by virtue of the only quality, about which he knows everything." 


Well, that is not the point to write a blog about. The point is more interesting and adventurous. And thats why the title of this post is "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear". in the same way, the tragedies in life are more dreadful and unpredictable as they appear to be.




Well, to start with, I must tell that I went to the conference with my friend, classmate, and project-mate Anshul Prabhakar. it was 25th feb, 4 pm, nice february climate and we were happily returning from the college after a successful conference. We have to go to Bathinda (yes, I spelled it right, this is the right name of the city,not 'Bhatinda'). So from the college, we reached to the highway from where we had to catch the bus. The first mistake we made was that while leaving the college we discussed that we have spend the money and we need to go to any ATM and withdraw cash, but since we had all the time in the world , we were not in hurry no train to catch, we thought that "nikaal lengey bathinda pahunch ke". And thus this thing was not on the high priority list for us. So, we were on the highway, waiting for the bus to come and the bus came in 10 minutes. The bus stopped 2 persons stepped out of that bus. The boards on the bus were written in punjabi. So , we didn't understand so we thought asking a better option, and anshul asked to the persons who stepped out of the bus -"bathinda???" and there started the bad time for us. Both of them said -" han ji". We boarded the bus and it moved. To be on the safer side I once again asked to the passenger behind me and he said -" Naa ji, ye toh Barnaala jaegi".


Shittt!


I said to anshul koi nai yar, I have google maps in my mobile abhi dekhte hain. I opened the maps and found out that there comes a turn which is a by pass where we can leave this bus and catch the bus for Bathinda. Later I also found out that the turn and the barnala bus stand, where the bus was going to leave us, are not very far so we should go to the bus stand and catch the bus for bathinda from there, as we will not get seat to sit in any bus from that turn plus we had too much of time. So we both agreed on this point. 




5.30 pm :
We were at the barnala bus stand. As soon as we stepped out of the bus, after walking few steps, we saw a bus going to Delhi. Wow!! was our expression. We decided that this is way better to catch a direct bus to delhi from here only. So we asked the driver that when the bus will leave. He said "10 minutes".


I said "no yar.. Lets wait here for the next bus, we have too much time and he we board on the bus at this time it will drop us at delhi at about 2-3 am in the morning and we have to wait for the bus to noida in the morning. Lets have some snacks and catch the next bus."
Anshul said that we don't have any idea that whether there is a next bus in a couple of hours or not and this one is leaving in 10 minutes.


So, we decided to board on that bus. That was our second mistake, we had to go to the ATM, but we forgot that. in addition, Anshul bhaisahab felt hungry, and he went swiftly and bought some, not some but awesome refreshment material- Kurkure, Uncle Chips , Lays etc. Already we had limited money, and he spend that too. Well, the bus started, moved out of the bus stand, and just as the bus moved:
Me-" Dude!, ATM, paisey????? "
Anshul- " Shit!! "
Me- "Go, and ask the driver whether he is going to stop the bus at any big city for long duration, so that we can got to the ATM and get some money."


Anshul went there and asked the driver, the driver said that he will stop the bus at a place called SIRSA(Haryana) for 30 minutes, and an ATM is in front of the 


place where he will stop the bus.The tone of the driver was very promising and both of us got relaxed, we opened the packet of Kurkure started ejoying it!


The conductor came for the ticket, we explained him our probem, he seemed like he cooperated( yes,initially we thought, he is co-operating, as you will also think, but there is a twist) with us and said-"koi ni ji, aap SiRSA me baki paise de dena, waha pe samne hi ATM hai", we gave him 400 rupees combined, which made me left with 5 rupees and Anshul with 10 rupees, 100 more rupees were required for the ticket, I said to anshul- " kya jaroorat thi kurkure wagairah ki?". 


Eventually, the bus moved on and our journey alongwith my **SPECiAL** journey began.


After some time, both of us fell asleep and suddenly we woke up due to some dust. At that point of time I got to know that why there are special talks about " punjab ki mitti ki khushboo". As I opened my eyes I saw that the whole bus was filled with dust. So much dust that eyes could not be opened properly, everybody around us was covering their face with hanky to protect the dust going out in the nose, we too did the same thing. And some filmy dialouges were going on in my mind-" Punjab de pind di mitti di khushboo ki baat hi kuch aur hondi hai "


8:15 PM


The bus stopped at a place called MANSA. Somebody asked the bus conductor that when the bus will depart from here , he replied- "8:40". Moreover, while the bus was entering the bus stand we saw an ATM on that road, so when I heard that conversation, I just stepped out of the bus, walked to the ATM, reached the ATM, inserted my card, the screen said " invalid Card! ". I thought I am having a bad day, the ATM is not working properly, I have to withdraw money at SIRSA only. So I returned, sat down on the seat in my bus, while Anshul asked the conductor- " is there any other ATM around this place?". The conductor said, very convincingly- " kyun pareshan ho ji, SIRSA mein samne hi ATM hai, (it sounded more like- main hoon na)"


Again we got relaxed, sit back in the bus an at 8:45, the bus moved further from MANSA.


10:20 PM


Now the dreaded place , SIRSA came, I will never forget this town in my life.Just as the bus was entering the gate of the bus stand, and an ATM was seen in front of that gate, as told by the conductor.


There was too much crowd for our bus, too many people were there on the bus stand, who wanted to go to Delhi from there.Somehow in the crowd, I made my way out of the bus, and started walking towards the ATM which was just on the opposite road. The bus was parked too much inside the bus stand, so it took some time for me to reach to the same road, then I have to cross the road at go to the ATM.


 The 1st call from Anshul came.


Anshul-" Bhai ye bus nahi rok raha, turant nikal raha hai, mai keh raha hun, man hi nahi raha."
Me-" Abe aise kaise, tu rok ke rakh, mai bas ATM pahunchne hi wala hun 2-3 minute lagengey."


I was standing at the divider of the road, in front of me, was the Union Bank of india ATM's sign board, flashing with light, like it was saying-" come dude ,come!".




The 2nd call from Anshul. I was inside the ATM.


Anshul- " ABE YAR BUS NIKAL GAYI"
(I saw back, and had a short glimpse of the bus sprinting away from me)
Me- " abe tu to bus me hi hai na?? what do you mean "nikal gayi""
Anshul- " Han mai bus mein hi hun, aur ye driver aur conductor raaste mein pataa nahi kab change ho gaye( the bus had new driver and new conductor), sale sun 
hi nahi rahe, keh rahe hain ki koi nahi, tumhara dost HISAR se pakad lega bus, wahan pe rukengey kafi der"
Me-" acha jaldi phone rakh, battery kam hai ismey"
( and I disconnected the phone, and once again it said- " Battery Low!!")


At that point of time , I had 5 rupees in my pocket, I calculated the resale prices of  all the accessories I was wearing. The accessory which topped on the list was 
my watch, the birthday gift from my mother..... (  :(  )




While stepping out of the bus, some past memories of my ATM card haunted me, which were, that there were times when my ATM card said invalid card at other 


ATMs also. So, I thought that there might be chances that the magnetic strip of my card might be damaged completely, of which, indications were previously 


given by the card to me. Then, I , thoought that this is my last chance at ATM, if the card wont work, we both will be screwed up. I had two ATM cards, one had money, but not working properly, another one was working properly, but didn't had money. I thought of transferring the money online from the paisey wala account to khali account, so that I can use the 2nd card for withdrawing the money. I took out my mobile(I love you my NOKiA E51, you'll know why), 3G signal was there in the mobile which made me more happier because the transaction could be carried out easily in 3G, and 2G is just a joke for doing online transaction using the onlinesbi website which use 128-bit encryption, which makes the speed so low, that leaves you frustated. 


So there was I, opened the web browser , enterd the site name, and the mobile said-" Battery Low!! ". My heart beat went fast. if the battery will die out before the transaction, I will be completely helpless. after 2 seconds from this I got the 1st call from Anshul.


I was on the page that comes just after login, I quickly moved my fingers and went to the transfer page, hurriedly wrote the amount, clicked SUBMIT.Till now the phone had warned me 3 more times about the low battery. Then again a page comes which asks- "Confirm?? " , before that page loaded I already had inserted my card into the ATM, here I clicked CONFIRM, and there I entered PiN on the ATM machine>Fast Cash> 2000>Yes.
Now I had money in my hand, sending lots of love and well wishes to the people who invented internet, and really thankful to idea 3G, OnlineSBi, and the most important - my E51, on which I am right now writing this story.


I had a sigh, put the money in my wallet, and walked to the bus stand. 
(at the enquiry)
Me- " Bhaisahab, Dilli ki bus kitne baje hai yahan se"
(  I was too confident that Delhi ki bus to mil hi jaegi ) 
He- " Dilli?????????? ( in haryanvi tone with  lot of amusement on his face )"
Me- " Han ji Dilli! "
He- " Ji Dilli ki to koi bus hi naa hai "
Me- " Kya matlab koi bus nahi hai, koi to hogi, ek do ghante baad???"
He- " 3:50 pe hai agli bus. "
Me- " Kya?????? ( 3 times over in my mind kya???? kya??? kya????)"
He- " Han ji Akhiri bus to abhi 5 minute pehle nikli hai aap late ho gaye thoda sa"
Me- " F***  (in mind- abe chidha mat mujhe, wo meri hi bus thi ) "


I sat down on the nearest bench, tied my shoelaces more tightly, as I knew that its going to be a long, long night for me, and my shoes are going to play an important role in it.


I walked out of the bus stand, saw one rickshaw wala there, asked him- " koi bus milegi dilli ki?? "
He- " Na ji, bus to nikal gayi akhiri, abhi 5 minute pehle"
Me- " (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ) "
He- " Private busein nikalti thi yahan se , parrrrrr ....."
( I interrupted him )
Me- " Thi matlab ??"
He- " are kal hi private walon ka challan kat gaya tha, to aaj koi bus nahi nikal rahi hai idhar se, sab By-Pass se jaa rahi hain "


I remembered the date, February 25th, " Kya paap kiye the maine aaj ke din "


Me- " Railway station kitna dur hai yahan se?? "
He- " 2- 2.5 Km "
Me- " Chalo... "
He- " Sahab 30 rupay lagengey "
Me- " Ama chalo yaar .... "


I headed towards the railway station. Suddenly he took the rickshaw under the flyover and turned into a dark street( ajeeb si gali). I felt insecured.I put my watch in my pocket, distributed all the money notes in each pocket of mine and the took out my mobile. Again I would like to say- " I love you my E51 ".I opened google maps, saw my location and found out that he is taking me to the right direction. Also I saw the place where I was at that time, so to make the rickshaw wala feel that I am not a stranger I said- " Count Colony hai na ye?"
He said - " Han ji "
I confidently made up my voice and said- " Kafi badal gaya SIRSA 2 saal mein" Also somehow I managed to see the stone near the flyover, on which it was written that flyover inaugurated by some Mr....... on ..... 2011. So since I knew the details, I said- " ye flyover kab bana?pehle to nahi tha.. "
He said- " Pichle saal hi banaa hai "
Me- " Hmmmm , Acha Dilli ke liye is samay koi train hogi ? "
He- " Train ????? Train to band hain yahan se "
Me- " kya matlab? "
He- " Han ji pata nahi ji, kaafi dinon se band chal rahi hai train "
Me- " Toh pehle kyun nahi bataya ? "
He- " mujhe lagaa aapko kuch aur kaam hoga, aapke pas koi bag to tha nahi, mujhe pata hi nahi tha ki aap dilli jaoge..."
 ( mai tujhse dilli ki bus ke baarey me majak mein puch raha tha?? pagal hai ye, chal ke dekhta hun, train kaisey band ho sakti hai huh..)
Me- " tum chalo station "


I reached the station, it was completely empty, literally only two persons were there, one was on the enquiry, and another was the chaiwalah.


I asked at the enquiry (hesitatingly )- " Dilli ke liye train ?? "
He ( with a wierd expression and in a tone that is meant to tease you )- " Dilli ke liye to........... ji bus pakdo aap "
Suddenly my eyes went to the notice board , on which existed a list of trains titled- 
"  JAAT AARAKSHAN KE ViRODH KE CHALTE YE SABHI TRAIN RADD KAR Di GAYi HAiN, DiLLi SE AANE WALI SARI TRAiN HiSAR TAK HI AAYENGI "


Again I remembered the date, still , it was 25th of februrary. I said , I will always remember the date in my life.
I called Anshul told him my situation, and said that there is no need to wait for me at hisar, you reach delhi directly. before he could have said anything, my phone was Switched off. Well, I think it did its job quite well.


I came back to the rickshaw wala, said to him- " Mujhe dilli jana hai "
He said- " aap wahi bus station ke samne khade ho jao, wahi road dilli ko jati hai, warna laal batti chowk(LBC) se by pass kat jata hai, wahan se aapko kuch na 


kuch jaroor mil jaega."
Me-" laal batti chowk kitna door hai yahan se?"
He- " wo to door hai, auto se jana padega "
Me- "tum wapas wahin chalo "


11:15 PM
And I returned back to the same place, waiting for anything to come, that will take me to delhi. I had decided that at 12, I will go to the laal batti chowk, if auto is available, or by the rickshaw, whatever he demands.


At 11:30, a AC bus came, I was very happy to see that, but Sirsa ws that bus's destination, again I reverted back to the same mood.
At around 12, when I was just searching for any auto to LBC, a truck stopped in front of me.
Sardar Ji- " Kitthe jaana hai?"
Me- " Dillli "
Sardar ji- " Mai te Hisar ja reya hun "
Me- " Chalo  "


I thought Kam se kam hisar se kuch nahi, train to mil jaegi, railway station pe time to kat jaega.


I was in the truck, sardar ji was full tight with pahua chadha ke aayi, driving with only one leg, using it for accelerator only, no need of using brake, no need of changing gear, no need to drive slowly. Whenever I see any vehicle coming in front of us, I prayed god- "hey bhagwaan,  Bas ye wali gaadi nikal jaaye"in the meanwhile, I told him that I missed my bus and my friend.


Finally, he changed gear, bring it down to neutral, and said, "Hisar aa gaya." I thought " badi jaldi aa gaya, acha hua jaldi hi aa gaya", otherwise , the way he was driving, it actually scared me. He took 30 Rs. from me and dropped me on a road saying all the buses to delhi will go through this road, you will certainly get one.


Sardar ji was quite experienced, I must say, about the road network, within 20 minutes I got a Rajasthaan parivahan nigam bus, from Anoopgarh to delhi, I stepped in to the bus and confirmed- " Delhi ?? "
I got positive reply, so I sat down and got a seat in the bus.
It was a cold night. Everybody around me was embracing a shawl or blanket. I felt very cold, and I couldnt sleep. So, I Just travelled all the way, woke up all the night. At some point of time I fell asleep, and very quickly in about one hour I suddenly woke up and saw that it was the Haryana-Delhi border.


I felt very relaxed. Thought that now its okay, finally, I have reached Delhi, somehow. Took a deep breath, and curiously started peeping out of the window pane to recognise which place in delhi I am right now.


4:00 AM
Well, after one more hour, I was at the Kasmere Gate iSBT. (immediately went to BLACK ) . Then I started thinking, how to go to Gr. NOiDA at this time.  I thought of booking a cab but I knew it would cost 700-800, aur fir, hun to baniya hi naa.....


I saw a bus to iGi Airport, I thought I have two hours, the metro, or the buses will start at around 6:30. I thought of going to  the airport, having a coffe at the restraunt there, and come back. But then I dropped the idea. Went to the Metro station gate, which was at a short walk from the place I was. The air was too cold, and too heavily blowing ,it made me actually have a headache as I was not wearing proper winter clothes.


4:30 AM


I reached the metro station gate, I heard someone yelling-  " NAVEDA NAVEDA , 37 , 37 , METRO..."  it was a private bus service. I thought- " Wow, the date has changed, its 26th of feb now."
I quickly stepped into the bus, found a seat for myself and sat relaxed.


Guess what happened after 10 minutes???




Anshul entered the bus and we both saw each other, surprised, completely surprised.Definitely the date has been changed, everything was fine now. He was so curious to know, how I reached to Delhi, I explained him every thing, and we retured back happily.
Anshul, after listening all this, said- " is story ka to Blog banta hai... "
I said okay, I will definitely write one.


I came back to my room at 7:00 AM jumped on to the bed, and woke up at 3:00 PM. It was very sound sleep indeed.


Thus from this experience I learned one thing, - " Cash always helps you, never run out of cash, no matter how much money is there in your ATM card "


And Definitely, OBJECTS iN THE MiRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR(this line I saw on the mirror of sardar ji's truck)


Thank you for reading, Comments are welcomed!!!!