Why Should Boys Have All The Fun?

Plot
Adventures of Three Musketeers in Thiruvanthapuram and Kanyakumari,
24th – 26th January 2009
*ing
A (Athos) working in Mysore
B, that’s me (Porthos) working in Bangalore
T (Aramis) doing PhD in Thiruvanthapuram
Supported by
P, doing engineering in Thiruvanthapuram
V chechi & H ettan, working in Thiruvanthapuram
G1 & G2, nephew & niece studying in Thiruvanthapuram

Planning
Christmas day, Palakkad – A, B along with P visited T. A and B disclosed about their London escapades to their younger cousins T and P. Out of the blue, they devised a plan to make a trip to Thiruvanthapuram since V chechi, her family, P and T were now based there.

The room was filled with sudden exhilaration and elation. The conversation took place as below.

T said “Thiruvanthapuram is a beautiful city. Why don’t you guys (A and B) come over? We can have some memorable time together.”

P was equally excited. She said “I would like to have food at Maurya. I am just waiting for an occasion to make a maiden visit there.”

B said “A, if you are fine, why don’t we visit them on January? We have a long weekend starting on the 24th.”

A said “That’s great. I am for the game, but need acquiescence from my Mom.”

When B conveyed to her Dad about the Girls (cousins) Days Out plan, he smiled, lifting the famous line from Mahabharata, he said “Shoot arrows instead of words!”

That reminded B about a conversation that she had with G, one of her closest associate. She had some plans to visit him in Mumbai which got foiled, thanks to Mr Kasab and team.

He said “B, is there something that you wanted to do 10 years back and didn’t do it?”

She thought for sometime and said “Yes, aplenty.”

He said “Don’t repeat it again. If you plan for something, execute it at once. Its way better than not even essaying it and repenting later, say 10 years down the line.”

In order to start the New Year on a promising note, B resolved not to have the plans go astray, went ahead and booked tickets for the arrival & return trips. She knew that 16 hr trip via bus is going to be too fatiguing, and train is the best option. To get train tickets in such a short notice was merely out of the question.


from left G1, V chechi, T, G2, B and A

Execution
January 23rd
A boarded a bus from Mysore to Bangalore, together with B left for Bommanhalli at about 6.15pm. To live up to the India Stretchable Timings construct, the bus started 1 hour after the scheduled departure time of 7pm.

A’s mom was not quite pleased with the decision of travelling by bus and she conveyed her displeasure at the nth hour. It didn’t dampen the spirits of A and B because they knew fun and frolic awaits them at Thiruvanthapuram.

Because of the last minute booking, A and B didn’t get seats next to each other. Girly sentiments do sometimes soften a guy’s heart. And it did. The guy henceforth called X who was sitting next to B agreed to exchange his seat with that of A.

At about 10pm, the bus stopped at Krishnagiri for dinner and loo visits. At A2B outlet, A and B gobbled ghee dosas followed by hot cup of dainty, aromatic coffee. Since A insisted that she needs to brush before she boards the bus, B gave in, in spite of the continuous honking by the bus driver. The look that the driver and co-passengers gave when A and B finally got on, can not be scripted in few lines.

At about 7 am, B woke up. She was comforted by the fact that the bus would reach its destination in 2 to 3 hours time. At about 8.30 when the bus stopped at Tirunelveli, X made her realize that the bus was 2 hours behind the normal schedule. She received a call from H’ettan asking her about her current co-ordinates. Meanwhile, A was woken up by a call from her home.

B continuously bugged X asking him about the time when the bus would actually arrive at Thiruvanthapuram. The bus finally reached the terminus at about 1 pm, 24th January.

A and B were dog-tired, but in hearts of heart they acknowledged the fact that they just had 2.5 days and it needs to be utilized to its zenith.

When B and X parted ways, he did ask her “Is it the first time you both are travelling to Thiruvanthapuram?” B said “Nope. We have been here before but this time its gonna be different.” Using this medium, B wants to convey “I don’t know who you are, what you do. Thank you for your remarkable tolerance and patience.”

January 24th
To be continued ...