Hot seat, The aweome driver!

|| " Our world is a collection of awesome people, 

few of them drive buses and others  i  have still not seen" ||

7:30AM my eyelids opened and the morning light made my eyes uncomfortable. I had reached Dindugal. The bus got into the Dindugal bus tand and i got down and just discovered another dirty bustand in Tamilnadu! Kudos colombus!! The guy next to me got down after me and i waited for him down. He once again reminded me about the place and wished luck. When he was about to leave i took a snap with the him and watched him walk away.

For next few minutes i  navigated around the bustand and opposite to the bustand i found what i wanted. A cheap dirty hotel to eat my breakfast and i found one. I walked out of the bus stand crossed the road and reached the hotel. To my surprise  it was not that dirty as i thought. It had wooden benches in a small room and the room was partitioned into two.one to serve and one to make food.Food was served on fresh green banyan leaves on the unclean wooden table which had stains of chutney and sambar. As i entered the hotel i saw  all people dressed in dhoti and light colored dirty shirts.One man was different, dressed in a purple T-shirt and to my surprise, this fashionably dressed man was the server! I had 2 pooris for 17rs. Normally in many hotels the servers themselves clean the table and pick the plates or the Banyan leaves once the customer is done eating.

Here it was different, everyone has to clean their own mess. You have to take the Banyan  and launch it into the dustbin. The poori and masala was OK.I did not want to  eat too much as i would be riding up hill and definitely with those kind of buses it will not be a pleasant journey.

I took a snap of the shop and rushed to the bustand. As i moved into the bustand , i saw a pecock green bus with name Kodaikanal , as i walked towards it, i imagined to take a seat near window so that i could shoot the mountains and wave my hands outside and feel the fresh air. My imagination just got assassinated, by my fellow travelers.

I stood near the bus and my Jaw dropped down, it was full! few people were already standing.Usually Buses that had to ride uphill dont encourage travelers standing when the bus is on move .The conductor of the bus said that the next bus to Kodaikanal was at 9AM and i did not want to wait that long.

I climbed into the bus and brought the tiket and there was no comments or arguements from the conductor with me or anyone who were standing.I was happy, i thought i will sit near the footboard which will give me a more awesome view of the scenery.The bus started and hit the roads. Again for the second time my imagination was assassinated, all those vision of me taking pictures and looking at the mountains vanished minutes later. The conductor called  me and said "Thambi neenga Kodai high road la yerangeekonga (Brother , you have to get down in Kodai High road) and just walked away and i had no words to reply or explain my plan to sit near the foot board.  I understood the reason why he said that.

I was thinking what i should do and suddenly the conductor voice reached my ears. Something sounded positive this time. My vanishing visions came to life and my imagination were raised from  death! Praise thy Lord :P

There were few more people standing, so the conductor juggled few people to different seats. He requested kids to be seated on their parents lap and offered me a seat on the engine and said i need not get down anywhere.I was happy! seat on the engine and i have to turn my neck 180 degrees to  my right and i get a whole view of the road ahead and via the drivers cockpit i will be able to take snaps, but the glass might reflect the flash on my lens and even that could be sorted by setting flash off.

The road to kodaikanal was neat, except there were some take diversion boards because of some highway improvising project. Both sides of the roads were covered with farms, barren lands, grazing cows and distant mountains and all these accompanied by a hush of dust, however the dust could not keep up with the speed of bus, by speed i mean the bus was gearing good and taking me near kodai, my trek spot, every minute and  the credit for it goes to the driver.

The driver asked about me and he started talking.He was a very nice man , adventurous and clever.He was tall, unshaven face with chandan on his forehead, over weight and an awesome tamil slang. I loved his Tamil slang, it was awesome!!. After few minutes of talking i was enlightened with a lot of information about kodaikanl and its numerous Trek routes. The man was a Riding Google Map! had a lot of information!

He gave me names of several villages, falls and sightseeing spots. Well im very poor at geography, till date im not sure what bus i should take to the Malls in chennai from my room or to anyother place which includes my office too!. Hearing all the names of the villages from the driver all at once was like watching Inception from the middle :P. He was a cool driver, he was looking at me and as well as the rear mirror and as well as the road and moved the bus like a snake when something huge came in the opposite.Man with such a rich driving experience and a multitasking expert.

The wind  outside grew chill and the heat from the engine penetrated my Jean and you know were it goes :) .Ouch it kinda hurts!!


After all the talking  he said " Neenga adhuthavati moonaru ponga, kodaikanala vida 10 madangu sooper ah irukum" ( next time you should visit Moonar which is 10 times better than kodaikanal".  Apart from telling the village names, he shared lot more information on what he did and how good was Moonar when he went there with his family..

As the bus neard kodaikanal , he pointed out to the mountains to his left and said "Do you see a line in that huge rock? that is were a falls was located, now there is no water" . The mountain was far away and my eye took time to reach and the line he was pointing out was huge! A long line it was and if there had been a falls now , it would have looked beautiful!. Just like the fantasy place in those Hollywood movies.The lines were formed because of continuous flow of water for several years .

As we were talking a sound of " whaaaaa" came and i looked to my front! A small boy in the seat behind driver was bending down and a gluey liquid, with white stinky particles flowed out of his mouth bounded with thick saliva, it was too late! the puke hit the Bus floor and a minute particle of it had hit my left shoe. Like a uncontrolled river out of a dam , the puke flowed and flowed towards my bag.Gravity had played with that toxic liquid and was about to bring a disaster to my bag. The disaster had happened in fraction of seconds but still i was able to save my bag, phew!!..

All this time i was sitting facing the seats and my hear  turned  back so that i could talk to the driver. After this incident, i put my legs to the right side of engine and never saw that floor decorated with white liquid.

After few more hairpin bends to his right the driver pointed and said  "this is silver cascade falls". There was water , but it looked like a shower and people were looking and trying to bathe in it, im damn sure these people should be from my place were you could not see a mass of water!!

After couple of stops the bus entered a slope and climbed up and the driver pointed to a line of hotels on right. Annapoorna, Dominos, Dhaba and some home made chocolate shops were located. The Bus now entered into the Main Bustand .All passengers got down and driver asked me to wait. He  now threw a plan on to me, the conductor watched and i listened. He started " there may be a sightseeing bus, it will cost 50rs , they will take you around kodaikanal and after that you can stay and tomorrow morning you decide were you want to trek" i nodded my head and said " But , i want to walk!!" . He looked  and thought for a second and came with a better plan,  he pointed straight to a steep road and said " That road will lead to Coakers walk , got there and from there you can go see the lake, go for boating and from there park,before you begin all this have lunch at Annapoorna, its good there "

It was a good plan , i would be walking and also  sightseeing, "Sounds good " i said.  "Were are you going to stay today night" he asked,  "hmm.. my friend knows some one here , he might be able to get a room" as i said that he took out his mobile and said "Note this number, his name is Karthi, he used to come in this bus , regular customer .He can get you a room. But hold on i will talk to him , its been long and i want to check if he is still using the number". He called him and spoke for couple of minutes.

"Here is the number, see if you could get any room , else call him" and shared Karthi's number, also grabbed a visiting card from the purse and said " note this one too. this lady was also a regular in my bus, but 4 years ago .but still in case!"The driver warned me of hotel owners who would say " Vaanga paathukalam" (Just come we will see to it) when one enquire about a room and its rent, when a person says that it is sure that he is going to present you a bill of 4k or 5k , so beware he warned again. I smiled at him and noted the number.I videoed this conversation. I also had few words with conductor who was  in a shock and he could not digest the truth that i have come all alone just to trek! I shook hands with the driver , took a picture of the conductor, waved good bye and said " may be we will see tomorrow if your ride a Chennai bus"  and we all laughed and i walked having the 45rs Pizza at Dominos in my mind.

The conductor and driver started to have a chat with few other people there , as i walked  listening to their slang, a cool breeze hit my face and left me with a smile on my face. The place was brighter than i thought and less misty. I have got next 48 hours of great adventure, next 48hrs of enjoying life to fullest, the next 48hrs of loosing and finding myself! The Kodaikanal Trek begins after the Lunch. Here we go!