A Weekend Getaway

My urge to write continues this year as well..its not that I am bound by any kind of so called “new yrs resolutions” but just that the artistic part of my brain suddenly went active.

After a pretty hectic month at work place (some merchandise inventory was going on at the client’s site) I managed to get 04(read it as FOUR..unbelieveable isn’t it!!!) consecutive day offs. They were 1st to 4th of February.

Having sensed this some days back, I had initiated this motion with Subhadip or Dada as he is fondly called by me. Ideas flew…from Goa to Munnar, however nothing much did materialize.

It was on the last day of January, or in other words just the day before my day offs, that I took the reigns in my hand and sealed the deal with “Mangalore” previously known as “Kudla” and now-a-days known as “Mangalooru”.

Y Mangalore?? Well a couple of reasons..

• Arnie, Sapoo, Chiku, Abby and Sappi stays there.
• Arnie had been telling me ever since he shifted base there to come over.
• My Mentor (Dovey Pinto) is from this city and so wanted to check it out as well.
• Some one once said this city smelled of fish (it’s been long that I had tried out some yummy fish fries).
• Last but not the least I love bitches (read it as ‘beaches’ – pun intended!!)

A couple of quick calls followed all to Sapoo as it was planned out that my visit should come as a surprise to the rest.
‘Arnie will come home a lil’ late from office in the morning, so u better reach before that’ ;
‘Make sure u get down at Kankanady bus stop when u reach Mangalore’;
‘Call me up after u have crossed the ghat section’;
‘Do u want me to tell Sappi to pick you up from the stand..no no leave it..lets give her a surprise as well’;
‘Arnie drank the Pepsi I got for u’
‘When u come I’ll show u my college (St Agnes), hostel where Nattu, Sappi, Seema and myself studied.

These are some of those statements Sapoo rattled out (almost in the same breath) sounding rather excited.

Who is Sapoo??

Well let me introduce them all to you.

• Arnie – Mr Arnab Ghosh (Unit Manager/ Activation Manager/ Pre-Process Selection Committee member with MphasiS, Mangalore..ex Vice President Operations with Vacation Club International )
• Sapoo – Mrs Swapna Arnab Ghosh (better half of Arnie. Ex employee of Transworks, Accenture and ANZ….now a mother of one and homemaker)
• Chiku – Ms Saanvi Ghosh (11 months old daughter of Arnie and Sapoo)
• Abby – A cute Geman Spitz (presented by me to Arnie and Sapoo on the day of their wedding)
• Sappi – Ms Swapna Salian (college friend of Sapoo, smart (read as dumb), soft spoken, a fast learner and my disciple). Just joined MphasiS in a UK based process.
  Matt – Matthew (Team Lead in Transworks, ex colleague of Arnie, loves to drive, helpful guy)
  
  Mangalore:-
  
  Location:-
• Latitude – 12.52N
• Longitude – 74.53E
  It’s on the west coast of Karnataka, located at the confluence of Nethravathi and Gurupura rivers. Bounded on the east by the Western Ghats and on the west by the Arabian Sea.
  
  Day 1 (1st February 2007)
  
  Returned from office around 10:00 am and headed straight to Rakhsit Travels office (on 100ft Road, Indiranagar). A couple of anxious (I was not sure if I can manage a ticket at the last moment) minutes wait for the office to open….
  
  “Do you have any buses leaving for Mangalore tonight” I said. “I would prefer a Volvo and a Semi- Sleeper” i added.
  The guy at the counter makes a couple of calls from all the 3 desk phones on his table.
  
  “Yes Sir, you are lucky. I have the last seat just for you. Your seat number will be 31, but it will be the last row” he said.
  
  Some thing inside me provoked me not to get excited.
  
  “The last row” I remarked aloud. “Well then I might just try for some other travel agent who I’m sure can get me a better deal” and I started to leave.
  
  “One Nimsha (means minute) Sir” I heard him tell me. By the time I could turn back he was already calling up someone from the only phone left with....his cell phone.
  
  “This game plan of mine always worked” I was thinking to myself when the guy said “Sir, I have managed a seat for u in the middle, its number 23. Your bus will pick you up from here at 9:45pm” I checked out the seating configuration and headed for my wallet.
  
  Seats confirmed. Time 11:00 am. I nice grin on my face. I dialed Sapoo to confirm her the news of my travel.
  
  “I was just getting your room cleaned up. I will be seeing you after so long. I’m just dying to see you……….”she said as I dozed of to catch up on some pending sleep.
  
  Time 04:30 pm.
  
  A call on my cell phone woke me up..It came from an unknown number.
  A lady with a sweet voice on the other end said “Good Evening Sir, This is Neha calling from ICICI bank. Would you be interested in some personal loan?”
  
  “Sure why not” I said. “I need a loan of about $ 400 Billion, I’m planning to buy Microsoft and use the rest on some exotic vacation”.
  
  “Well……Sir…….I……..Hmmm….CLICK!!!” She hung up.
  
  
  A fast check of my emails, a session of scraps on Orkut, a quick shower, a skipped lunch and off I was to Saibaba mandir. Its Thursday and I generally do not miss this trip at any cost.
  
  Time 8:30 pm
  
  Time to pack my bag. Took out my new IBM’s Duffle Bag and packed some minimal number of clothes. Wearing Arnie’s clothes had been a habit since ages.
  
  Time 9:45 pm
  
  On board “Palm Grove”. Dat was the name of the bus of Ballal Transport which was supposed to take me to my weekend gateway…
  
  Mangaloruuuuu here I come……..
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Day 2 (2nd February 10, 2007)
  
  Time 2:15 am
  
  A sudden application of brakes woke me up from my so called sleep. A look outside gave the impression we were about to enter the Western Ghats. It was a full moon night. Rather that’s how I felt. I pulled the curtains up to get a better glimpse. Breathtaking !!!
  
  We cruised slowly and steadily along the curves sometimes climbing up, sometimes doing down. We had to cross 5 ghats on the way to Mangalore. (Got to know from Arnie later on.)
  
  The whole ghat section was dark….sometimes broken by the lunar rays coming thru the branches and leaves.
  
  Time 4:30 am
  
  A vibration attracted my attention. It was Sapoo calling.
  “I just got up to boil some milk for Saanvi” she said, but I could feel the excitement in her voice.
  “Don’t forget the stoppage. It’s Kankanady. Tell the driver in advance” she reminded me again.
  
  Time 5:57 am
  
  “Kankanadyyyyyyyyyyyy” the driver and his assistant shouted in unison.
  
  I grabbed my so called luggage from the over head racks and stepped down. It was still dark. The driver had told me that we will reach Kankanady at 6:00am.
  
  “Pretty impressive service” I thought to myself as I started looking for an auto to take me to Valencia. A couple of minutes of roaming here and there and some calls to Sapoo I was there at last …. the residence of Arnie.
  
  
  Abby and Saanvi were both awake by the time I reached the 2nd floor apartment.
  
  
  Time 7:00 am
  
  Both Sapoo and I were racking our brains off deciding how to call in the surprise for Arnie and Sappi.
  
  Sapoo took the first step..dialed Arnie on his office extn and here goes the conversation
  
  Sapoo: “Arnie can you please come home now. I have something to show you”
  Arnie: “Is that something good or bad”
  Sapoo: “Its good and you come right now”
  Arnie: “I can’t come now, I have some pending work”
  Sapoo: “Ok. Here is the deal. You come for just 10 mins and then go back to office”
  
  That was enough to convince Arnie.
  “He said he would be here soon” Sapoo rattled but was more worried on how/what to tell Sappi.
  
  Some ladies talk later I was told Sappi would be here for 10 mins on her way to the office.
  
  Time 8:10 am
  
  The doorbell rings. I open the door and waiting there was my ex Vice President Mr. Arnab Ghosh with mouth wide open, eyes poping out…Dumb Stuck !!
  
  Mission One :- Successful
  
  Breakfast followed ..Fried Egg, Toasted Bread…sounds simple but since I had them after a long time tasted awesome.
  
  
  Time 9:30 am
  The doorbell rings again…Enters Swapna Salian. Mouth wide open.
  
  “Wow! So u have bought a new laptop Arnie bhaiya?” My Toshiba laptop was kept on the sofa in the living room. I was at that point standing at the balcony and I heard both Sappo and Arnie say in unison “Yes. How is it? Did u like it? Now come here for another surprise” as they headed for the place I was standing (hiding).
  
  “When did u come? I was talking to you y’day only. Infact I spoke to you yesterday night itself. So u were on your way then? Wow what a surprise” said Sappi.
  
  Mission Two :- Successful
  
  
  Being pleased with the fact that I cud give everyone a big surprise I had a kind of satisfaction within me which I dinn experience in a long time.
  
  Arnie was the first to react to the situation. I’m not going to office today. He immediately got on to his mobile phone and couple of text messages and calls followed and a wide grin on his face suggested he is off for the weekend as well.
  
  Arnie has his signature way of celebrating any thing. Out comes his bottle of RUM and Coke.
  
  “Cheers guys!! My brother is here and I’m happy. I’m gonna drink with out n e limits.”
  
  Sapoo had to surrender as well as she headed for the kitchen. “Lemme prepare some nice lunch.”
  
  “I can’t take a day off, my trainer won’t allow me a leave” claimed Sappi. A lot of dialogues followed. Sappi was adamant. We went down to see off Sappi to her car but she promised to be back in the evening after her training.
  
  The rest of the day went lazing around at home. Arnie fiddled with my laptop, saw a couple of movies, while I caught on my much needed sleep.
  
  Mangalore becomes very hot in the day time and the humidity percentage is relatively high compared to Bangalore.
  
  Had a late lunch. The Chicken Ghee Roast which Sapoo ordered from a nearby restaurant was exotic.
  
  The rest of the afternoon was spent on catching up on lost time till Sappi came back from her work..more chit chatting followed, dinner at home…some more gossip..Off to bed again.
  
  “Wake me up when Sappi comes in the morning tomorrow” was the last thing I told Sapoo before I hit the sack.
  
  Day 3 (3rd February 2007)
  
  
  The traitor (previously known as Sappi) never turned up…hence I woke up late as usual. The rest of the morning went cursing the traitor.
  
  Arnie had a friend of his Matt who visited him for sometime.. Lunch at home.. Arnie cooked some yummy Beef curry.
  
  Evening we all got ready to check out Managalore.
  
  First stop was Adlabs, which a commercial complex. Picked up a couple of stuff for Saanvi, Sapoo, Arnie and myself.
  
  
  A Chinese dinner at Hao Ming, Balmatta and we were back home. Some more of gossip. Sapoo got pissed off for sometime as myself and Arnie were only discussing about our adventures while at VCI.
  
  Matt was supposed to get his car the next day. It will be a whole day spent at the beach.
  
  
  Day 4 (4th February 2007)
  
  Matt was there on time on his Toyata Innova as we all packed in for a trip to a Zoo nearby. On the way back we picked up the traitor who was back from her work as well as we headed for the Panamboor beach.
  
  This was probably the best part of my trip. Being a Piscean, I have a fondness for water since birth.
  
  Myself and Arnie had a ball of a time. Drifted kinnda deep into the Arabian Sea. We filled up an empty bottle of Sprit which acted as a makeshift ball. We played from 3 pm till around sunset as we grew fatigued and drowsy.
  
  Sapoo was feeling hungy.
  
  “Why donn you get us some Gobi Manchurian?”
  
  Gobi Manchurian of Panamboor beach is supposed to be very famous and it sure was good.
  
  We left the sea shore quite after the sun crossed the horizon.
  
  A quick stop at Adlabs for a Pizza dinner where myself and Sappi were supposed to throw a treat.
  
  Dinner over we rushed back home a quick shower and was back on the long drive back to base..
  
  We touched Bangalore when it was around 5 am on Monday of 5th February.
  
  I would like to this this opportunity to thank Arnie & Sapoo for their wonderful hospitality, Matt for taking the trouble of driving me around and showing me the places and off course not to forget Ms Traitor Sappi for being a spoil sport throughout..
  
  I love u all
  
  God Bless.