15 days and 2 train rides later...

Before we get to the 'later' part, we must begin at the beginning. Well in the beginning, there were the founding fathers of our department who in their infinite wisdom decided to sanction a 15-day field trip as part of the Field Methods course in our fourth semester. This decision was truly wise because for most people, this trip forms the highlight of the course. In these two weeks we learnt more than we had bargained for and definitely more than anything that can be learned in a classroom. There is something about living with a bunch of people for a fortnight in generally grimy conditions; you get an unimpeded view into people's souls.

So we started off on Feb 25, 2011. This trip covers a fortnight and I'll cover it all, in parts. I'll start with the preparations. I remember we had a rather important seminar conference before the trip. During the key note address, I remember nodding along with what I hoped was a sagacious expression on my face while K. and I made a list of necessary things to carry. It had everything from fresh knickers to kajal. At one point I had written UGs (short for under-garment thingies) and K. asked, "ugs, what the hell are ugs?" When I explained, she said, "Oh, I thought they were something like 'mugs'. 'ugs-mugs', you know..." We sniggered for like 5 minutes after that one.

A couple of days later the morning of our momentous trip dawned and with it came K. The plan was to leave together from my hostel. K. hadn't slept the night before. Having dragged herself up two long flights of stairs and one long corridor, I opened my room to her. I read in a Wodehouse that in ancient Greece it was customary to enact those scenes behind the curtain that were likely to arouse great pathos in the audience. Taking that under advisement I am only going to say that K. must have swayed a little on her feet. Encountering my room in a sleep-deprived state after having dragged a suitcase and sleeping bags up stairs is not recommended for the faint-hearted. I think I heard K. take a deep breath and with heroic stalwartness move forward and in one sweep clear my bed. When I came back after taking a bath, she was asleep.

Leaving from my hostel for the station was another exercise in frenzy. I had conveniently forgotten that my hostel warden in her infinite wisdom had decided that everyone leaving the hostel would need gate-passes for luggage. While I had my gate-pass, K. and another friend who also joined us hadn't. I ran around like an imbecile for a while before someone told me that our warden was to be found in the gym. Sure enough, I found her there in a medieval-looking piece of equipment. When I told her my predicament, she gave me an agonizing look (although that may have been the machine) and signed a permit.

 Having extricated ourselves thus, we were to be found standing stupidly in front of my hostel with 9 pieces of luggage between 3 people. Reason, S. hadn't arrived with the cab. He was supposed to pick up B. (the same B. who a year later would lick my spatula and profess undying love for my fiance) and another classmate of ours before meeting us and heading to the station. S. was having his own adventure in the meantime because said classmate was running around like a headless chicken between the two exits of her hostel with a rucksack about three-quarters her height and weight. S. and B. were finally able to capture her and so after a lot of running and yelling and bickering, we were on our way.

We reached the station well in time and soon it was time to board the train. But that's another story and a very important one because these posts are about the two train rides and the fifteen days that lay between them; and it will have to wait for another day...