Unplanned

Beautiful, this is what I was prepared to say. But nevertheless, I am happy to be here.


Prologue :

We must all agree that the success rate of sudden plans is more than that of planned trips. But let me tell you this, the expectations from these unplanned trips are inversely proportional to planned ones.


Scene 1 :

Friday night, me and two of my friends were having a casual conversation at a local tea stall. The temperature was slightly cozier than the previous night and the freshly poured tea was doing its job very elegantly. We shared the table with an unknown middle-aged man who was about to finish his masala dosa. The man gave us a blank look when we took our seats. It became clear that he was not happy with us invading his break time. He then constantly interrupted us in our talks. Instead of leaving after his meal he started introducing his stories. A story about how he once quarreled with a traffic policeman over falsely charged for breaking some rule. A story about how he once proved his boss wrong by traveling alone to Dubai with his own savings. He bragged by showing pictures on his phone about all of the things he did. The awkward silence with which we started soon became a friendly 'round table'. We acknowledged his guts and the bold move he showcased only to prove that a man can do whatever he wills and age is just a number.
By the end of our conversation, we three were fully charged to do something with our lives, better not this weekend.


Scene 2 :

Traveling without reservation in a general coach is not an easy task.
Next day we reached Dadar around 6:00 am to board the first train to our destination. We were astonished to see the no. of the crowd at this hour of the day. We somehow with our so-called Indian ninja skills managed to get on the train struggling against all those unqueued passengers. But as a nonregular traveler of a train I have never managed to grab a seat, in fact, according to me grabbing a seat in these non-reserved coaches takes a lot more practice than preparations for our board exams.
Standing near the gate and being crushed by the crowd from all direction made me question my decision of choosing the train over a car. With each halting station, the number of passengers kept increasing as if everyone was traveling to the same destination. They all were busy on their own creating a commotion which only we felt. Every now then someone or the other took full freedom and pleasure by passing gas and welcoming onboard.
I was fully exhausted. My legs were on the verge of losing their sensitivity and my hands were already numb. Suddenly I heard a woman squabbling with a man in their local language on something which was hard for me to decode. Nobody felt the need to stop them, as if it was a daily drama. I looked for my friends only to find out that they somehow managed to grab a seat and were enjoying to all these pandemonia.


Scene 3 :

The longest 2-hour journey ended and we finally reached our destination.
Lonavala, the place which I've been longing to visit from the past two years. So, without wasting any time we started questioning the locals about the best spots to visit. They all started with a list of fancy names, explaining small details of every place and the distances between them, which they might have gathered with all their time staying at this place. But what made our enthusiasm to go down was their final verdict of saying that this is not the correct time to visit Lonavala. It is during monsoon when one must come. We were heartbroken and shattered but more importantly hungry. So we decided to fill our stomach and then think about what next to do. Because empty stomach won't let you think properly at least mine I know.


Scene 4 :

We did not come all the way from Mumbai just to have breakfast I announced while having a bite from a freshly steamed idly. Well, yes it sounds thrilling, but this was not what we are here for. We started googling and discussing new find outs with each other. But nothing was getting to a conclusion. We were struggling to proceed further. Looking at our situation the owner of the restaurant came to offer his guidance. He introduced to a man who was well aware of the place and had promised to take us to a few places worth watching. He was a local driver cum guide. But what kept our happiness to go up was his fare. He was charging more than the others. We refused to take his offer. With a very tight budget, we started searching for other options.
One thing was clear we cannot let our weekend ruin like this. We had to visit at least one famous spot. With some more inquiries and runarounds, we found out that there are some 'autowallas' who can take us to the nearest spot in the cheapest fare possible. This was it, the silver lining to our miseries.


Scene 5 :

Here we are, standing on top of a hill overlooking some more hills, clicking pictures of almost barren lands and comparing photos from the Internet. It was not even close to what we have imagined. Everything seemed to be out of place. There were no waterfalls, no environment fog and not even some good patterned clouds. The view was not photogenic at all. It was like an old painting covered in dust fully desaturated and waiting to be restored. We looked at each other and started laughing. We laughed to our innocence, we laughed to our naive thoughts, we laughed for the other night and we laughed to our sudden plan.


Conclusion :

Though it was not what we hoped for and we already knew what we are getting into we still moved further with our plan. It was like going forward with your gut feeling. But this time the feeling was somewhat manipulated by others. Still, I was happy, happy with the thought that at least I've crossed an item from my 'bucket list'.

Moral :

Planned or Unplanned. Either decision will have a different experience and a different lesson to teach.