clog

(Read Part 1 and Part 2 for context)

Target for the Day - Capturing a DCH moment
R had advised that it was Aguda fort where the famous DCH scene was filmed with the three heroes looking at a ship and talking about it philosophically. No one questioned because of her experience with Goa and her purported filmy IQ. Blind turns are dangerous.
They were on their way to Aguda fort with K (driver) and S and A (driver) and D. Following the tortuous Goa routes, K (remember he is an accomplished biker) was going great guns until he approached a blind turn where he was almost run over by a truck had he not swerved expertly to avoid a fatal accident (by may a quarter of a second). The second bike was right behind. The swerving, however, slowed down the truck and alerted the second bike saving the not so accomplished driver and his pillion from death. After a few speechless minutes and breath catching they were over the accident and were ready to shoot the DCH moment.

Aguda fort looked spot on as it was on the film. The stage was set to capture the moment, but with a small glitch. The camera ran out of the battery. It meant a trip of around 1KM to reach the main land and then search for a shop. Well, it seems this was quite a common thing to happen and so the small shops in the area catered to all such needs. Batteries in place, they captured their DCH moments. Mission accomplished!

Having accomplished the primary target, it was time for bonus action. There was a Jet Ski adventure to follow and then a booze buying session. Apparently, you are a loser if you don’t take booze back from Goa. K bought around two bags worth of alcohol, in plastic bottles, thankfully! (you will know why soon).

Undocumented stuff
Meanwhile, some incidents happened, but those are not included in this blog. Let's just say, someone was expecting to eat Tandoori chicken but ended up eating a raw toad.

The Bike
Time went by fast, and soon it was a race against time. There was a bridge to be crossed before certain time else it closes down and reopens at some unearthly hour. In short, it would have made them miss their bus. The time was running out. The pairs were the same. The less accomplished pair couldn't keep up with the other group. K, who never bothered to watch his back, could care less. A and D had it coming and there bike stopped in the middle of the road with a thud, causing a little mess at the junction. They were completely clueless. Sheepishly, avoiding angry glances, they moved the bike out of the center of the road. None of them were carrying their mobiles (except S) because it seemed like a 'hassle'.

A seemed to remember R's number because A can remember phone numbers of females pretty easily. It comes quite naturally to him. But his skill was hardly any use at this point. However, D remembered S's number because of some conversation they had about it (remember he is smart!). But even the call was of no use since K and S had already surrendered their bike and there was no way they could come back, find the other two and rescue. A and D felt they had lost it, when a quick look at the bike revealed that there were some pipes hanging around. It was quite clear even to the two amateurs that those pipes were not meant to hang like snakes. After fitting things wherever they could, against all their fears, the bike started. A deserved a bigger share of credit in the exercise.

After, all this rushing they managed to reach the bus stand in time only to learn that the bus would be an hour late.

The Bus
In time the bus to Bangalore arrived, seat numbers were 1,2,3,4. Bus was houseful perfect occupancy. They got to their seats. No trouble so far, other than the conductor’s furtive glances towards them. But that might be attributed to various reasons. 20 KMs past, conductor decided to explain his interest. He went ahead and started inquiring about the tickets. Tickets seemed all right but he was not convinced. The details:

The seat numbers were 1, 2, 3 and 4

Bus number was 2777

Bus was from Goa to Bangalore (approximately same time)

Here is the conductor’s take:

Seat 1, 2, 3 and 4 are not booked at all. Every other seat on the bus was.

The bus number is not 2777, it’s 777

Bus was from Goa to Bangalore (approximately same time)

Conclusion: These guys were in right seats on a wrong bus to right destination.
However, it sounded too much of a coincidence to happen in real life. It all seemed like a money minting trick to them. They could not digest most of the details. D wasn’t even convinced if 777 was a real bus number. “When did RTO start rolling out three digit numbers for vehicles?”

Since, it seemed like money minting trick, being IT guys (who are blamed for inflating the prices of everything from real estate to baby food), they were quick to offer him extra money over the amount already paid for the tickets. The driver was a man of principle and wouldn’t take them even though the seats were there. It was literally a difficult spot to be in.

Next moment, they were calling their agent in Goa, who booked the ticket. He confirmed all the details that conductor mentioned and they realized that they indeed were on board a wrong bus.
But, that realization wasn’t enough and they started shifting some blame on the agent for getting them in the mess. (Blame shifting is another popular corporate trait and they had been around enough in the industry to have learnt it). A was at his rudest best, mafia style when he spoke to the agent. He was firing away choicest abuses to him on S's mobile on roaming. Tired of all this, they (A and the bus ticket agent) reached an agreement. The correct bus was lagging, so the current bus will drop them at a stop and the correct will take them from there. They were promised a representative at the said stop and A stuck on to him like a leech till they boarded the right bus.

The Cop
At this point, they were all too tired to handle any more excitement. (Even I am tired of writing this post now) As soon as they finished saying, "no more troubles", the bus came to a halt. Two policemen walked in. A got just too excited because he knew that they came searching for booze. Taking booze out of Goa is tantamount to smuggling. The police usually wouldn’t check buses, but they had to do it this time. Police had two options to start; the front seats, (1 and 2; K and S) or, the other side, taken by other passengers. In general, the first part of the search is quite extensive because of all the energy. A was audibly asking K if he was carrying anything questionable and K was pissed off to no end, so were others (a little less though). A continued doing so for quite some time at which point he was severely admonished to keep quiet.

Lucky they were, the search (and it was really extensive) started on the other side and had lost all its steam while they reached seat # 1 and 2 in the end. The plastic bottles didn’t respond at all to cop’s casual slap. The event passed without any fatal repercussion and the night was over without any more issues.

The mobile
The first thing in the morning, D realized his mobile was missing and was quick to admit that it was meant to happen. How could they have a peaceful day! They called his number and miraculously found his mobile ensconced safely in the luggage stand. That was the last shit that happened because the trip got over right after it.

Looking Back
The funny part of tragedies is, while they are happening, people wish them to not happen. However, if they pass without any permanent or fatal damage, they become memories. This trip would surely go down in the memories of those four guys throughout their life. No matter where they are now, I am sure once reminded of it, they will miss it.