I woke up at 10 am (Now why i woke up at 9.30 am , the reason is here in this blog /blog/post/1756559 ).
I as totally shattered. Now what to do, what not to do, i didnt knew. I was just praying , please god let the CBE LTT exp be late by 1-2 hrs , so that in this time i could reach Pune station and catch this. But when luck is poorest , then nothing good happens. I heard a WDP loud honk and i understood , train is on time. I saw my train CBE LTT Exp crossing me.
Actually...
more... my room was exactly infront of Loni station from whose window i could see all the trains crossing Loni station. So now i got my train is missed ,and now its full fledged chance that my linking train from Mumbai (12908 NZM GR) will also be missed. But somehow i didn't loose hope , Yaa "Against All Odd , We Still Hope.", I packed up quickly , got freshen up and ran towards Highway to catch anything for Pune. I reached Hadapsar at exactly 10.45 am. Now i was stucked. What to do-should i go to Station and catch the Pune-BSL till Panvel and then to BDTS or should i go for Bus. I was in doubt and then i decided not to take bus. I asked a Auto to take me to Pune station. I boarded it but i was still in two minds for where to go - Pune Jn or Swargate ? Out of curiosity , the Humble auto wala asked me, "Sahab koi pareshani hai kya "? I told about my doubt. He smiled and simply replied me , "Sahab agar main aapki jagah hota toh Swargate jata kyunki agar aap Panvel chale gaye train se ,tab bhi aapko atleast 2 hrs chaiye Bandra Terminus pahunchne mein kyunki Traffic bahut kharab hota hai mumbai mei and less Locals chalti hain afternoon time pe." I listened him aptly. Then my mind struck from nowhere , and near Fatimanagar i told him "Bhaiya mujhe Swargate Le chalo."
He said No problem. Aapki Marji.
Through out the route he was talking. He told he also has a son who is 10 years old. He was basically from Beed dist. and here he came to pune 7 years back. He is trying his hard by driving auto for sending his son to a good Engineering college. And within 30 minutes , we reached swargate. It was 11:30 am and i bid good bye to the noble Auto person and ran inside the bus terminal.
I quickly boarded a Laal Dibba bus bound to Mumbai central which was standing on the main road to leave. I couldn't afford to wait for Hirakani or Shivneri buses as they were not frequent (atleast 15-20 minutes waiting required).
The journey was pleasant and quick. And i was happy that it reached Chembur bypass at about 2:30 pm. I asked the conductor for the way to reach Bandra terminus. He told me to alight at Sion and take a auto/Taxi for Bandra. Hardly 20 minutes will it take.
Now i felt that i could catch my Garibrath. But i forgot the "Notorious" traffic of Mumbai specially while entering Mumbai. Unluckily We got stuck in traffic. After so much of crawling and skidding , The bus dropped me at Sion exactly at 3:40 pm. See the Irony, It took just slightly more than 3 hrs to cover Pune to Mumbai outer via panvel halt , and it took nearly 1hr just to enter inside Mumbai city through Chembur.
But somehow , i quickly crossed (Or say Very Dangerously) went to other side and took a Taxi for Bandra Terminus. I asked him how much time it will take. He replied nearly 30 minutes. I frankly told my problem and time constraint. He nodded and quickly accelerated the taxi. While travelling in Taxi , I was getting flashes of that Nana Patekar-John Abraham movie "Taxi No 9 2 11". Just like John abraham , I was also continuously shouting "Bhai Aur Tez, Aur Tez..." And he was Replying , "Sir Araam se pahunch jaoge. tension Mat Lo."..
And he stood upon his words. I was standing infront of Bandra Terminus exactly at 4:20 pm , Well Before Time..LOL..
And I boarded the Garibrath. And I promised myself , that never ever again i will Do these kind of careless Travel Itineraries and reservations.
But still I remembered what i said when i was in Room and saw my CBE LTT Express leaving me , "Hope & Hope , Because Against All Odds , We Still Hope." And this Hope is a Very strong Pusher. This Pusher turns a Looser into a Do-er.
Thanks for Reading.
