Wagle Street Journal

Plans, in fact, changed. We came directly to Kanyakumari today, instead of what was originally planned and amened subsequently. We got off the Kerala Express in Trivandram, the final destination of the train. Then we took another train- coming from Bengalore- to Kanyakumari. We arrived here at around 5 and headed directly to beach with all our backpacks. It was Gokul’s first encounter with the SEA goddess! He was awed. We took couple of photographs before the battery depleted.

Coming from a landlocked country that has only world’s highest mountains, sea naturally fascinates us. It does every time we see it, touch it and feel it.

Tomorrow morning it we will go back to the beach for the sunrise.

When I arrived here I felt I had seen this place before. Then I realized I was here in October 2008!

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The following are my Tweets that pretty much sum up the day:

1. Now charging the iPhone in a ‘Static Inverter For Mobile/Laptop Charging Point’ near the Latrine in the compartment. Good view frm da doors!

NOTE: That was early in the morning and there was a queue of three folks who wanted to charge their cell phones. I had to wait for about 1 hour to get my turn. Somehow the iPhone started showing the fully charged signal within 10 mins and when it was plugged out, would show the real power (which was understandably not fully charged). After a few minutes of playing with the cables, it worked. Soon, the there came other ppl and one wanted to charge for ‘only 10 minutes, i have a business call.’ After resisting for abt 10 mins, i gave up.

2. Merry Keralites, high in whisky, singing n dancing in our cabin in the tunes of Malyalam music that they sang and (we) clapped. It’s fun.

NOTE: This guy apparently had carried three bottles of whiskey. He had finished one yesterday which he shared with the Nigerian. The Nigerian was drunk beyond his assumption and remained to himself, mostly sleeping, most of the day. Hangover, we guessed.

The very pleasant and friendly Keralite (the whiskey-wallah) brought some of his friends to our box and started drinking. They gave a few pegs to the railway kitchen boys and got snacks for free in return. Upon my request, they started singing Malyalam songs (’No Hindi please,’ I had told). One of the guys turned out to be a real good singer with vast knowledge of lyrics. He even had a diary with many songs. They all started singing and quickly dancing while we clapped. Gokul joined in the whiskey spree and soon there came a Nepali song too:

Jomsamai bazaar ma,
barha baje hawa sarara
Ehe hajuuur, ghara Hamro Pokhara,
aile samma va chaina ghar-bara!

The friendly-polite-funny Keralite, meanwhile, continued with two Gappey- drinking a glass full of whiskey at one go!

Later in the afternoon, we noticed he was clearly feeling unwell. He puked right on the seat, ploughed his head in that dirt and, after his friends came to help him, took off his shirt, wiped out the thing and threw the shirt outside from the speeding train. But he was sane enough to take out the tickets from the shirt pocket before throwing it away.

Later in another man, a soldier on leave, cursed the group saying they should have drunk wildly. ‘This is against military rule,’ he said. ‘It gives us bad name in public.’

There were at least 10 soldiers on leave or going to their barracks (two of the latter were Nepali who were quiet and behaved well.) The drunk man was later on, in the evening, woken up by his pals.

3. Hahaha. Journo n his long-haired travelmate r limited 2 7up n garma garam chai so far while 3rd memebr did take part in whisky spree briefly.

NOTE: It was, in fact, a reply Tweet to a friend. It was a long day, didn’t rain and was hot at noon. Because of that and no shower, I am feeling little bit stinky. Others are telling me the same. Tomorrow we will get off at Kottyam, not in Trivendram where we will go next day. Plans keep changing.

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It’s 1:7 am, and as it happens with me most of the nights, I am awake. It’s not because of insomnia though. I am tapping this entry from the upper berth of the train Kerala Express that must be running somewhere in Madhya Pradesh right now. After having dinner at around 8 pm, I had slept at 9. When I woke up at 12 midnight, I thought it was already morning. I was thinking too much.

That three hours of sleep was enough for me to dream a dream that I can only vaguely recall now.

So what say? The lights of the compartment are switched off and people, most of them, are in their deep sleep. Some are awake but still lying on the beds/seats. A Nigerian is sleeping on the upper berth across mine while my two travel-mates are dreaming in the berths below me. Or are they? I just saw Gokul moving his head and hands in the lower berth. The train is moving continuously, perhaps not caring about all these things

Seems like we are far from the station as my iPhone isn’t receiving any signals. I hope to post this as soon as that happens.

We boarded this train yesterday (1st July) from New Delhi Railway Station at 11:15 am. The train was almost 20 minutes behind it’s schedule when it left the station at 11:50.

The trip has been fun so far. Unlike my previous trip of October last year, this time I am traveling with friends and that is a comforting change. I don’t have to take my backpack to the loo. We hope to reach Kerala tomorrow (3rd July) 3 pm. Let’s see.

The train, meanwhile, is moving. My fellow passengers are sleeping. The Nigerian, it seems to me, is dreaming.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party of India has realized that its hard-line brand of Hindutva politics doesn’t work anymore. And that’s a good news thanks to its defeat in the parliamentary polls

By Dinesh Wagle
as published in today’s Kathmandu Post

“There’s a fire raging in BJP,” said a headline in India the previous week. After the humiliating loss in the recently held parliamentary elections, the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party that propagates the idea of Hindutva has been involved in internal wrangling, blame game, finger pointing and leg pulling. The party, like all losers, has been trying to figure out the cause behind the unexpected wallop in the national polls that gave the rival Congress party an opportunity to continue in government with enhanced authority. Read more »

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What? A trip to Taj Mahal, Agra.
When? Saturday, June 13

How? The plan of Taj Mahal trip was an impromptu one that was conceived when I was lying down on the ground of Lodhi Garden Friday evening and looking at the sky hoping to count a few dozens stars. [I don't have the photos of that particular day but I had done the same thing, counting stars, in Lodhi Garden before as well. Here are the images from that June day: One, Two, Three.] I had gone there along with Satish and he started giving a small lecture about where can trains take me in India. He also tried to convince me against driving to places like Mathura or Agra (as opposed to train journeys) arguing that I was still not “acclimatized” (Ah, this words made me feel I was going to Gosaikunda, not Mathura) with Indian roads and traffic systems. It was already 8 PM and was decided on that auspicious hour that we leave for Agra in less than 10 hours. I woke up even before the alarm clock that was set for 5 am performed its duty. I think that was the earliest in years. My usual wake up time is around 9 am while 7 am or 8 am are generally early hours for me to get out of bed. I woke up, took shower, put new clothes and was ready for the day. Then I called Satish only to hear from his mother that he has gone back to sleeping after he was woken up at 4 am. I was determined to make the trip happen. So I moved out of home, towards the nearby Nizamuddin railway station to catch a train to Tajmahal, Agra. The Taj Express was scheduled to leave the station at 7:15 am. Read more »

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The IIT graduate who set off on a bicycle tour to Nepal [Here is the TKP PDF Page. Here is Kantipur Koseli Nepali PDF page]

By Dinesh Wagle

On his chin, Anand sports a Lenin-cut beard and a compromise. He wanted to be a bearded man, perhaps like Marx, but his girlfriend hated that. Thus the compromise.

Occasionally, the compromise is breached. This past week, Anand didn’t get time to trim his beard. The young Indian who left Delhi last Monday (15 June) aiming to reach Nepal spent his days bicycling on the sizzling roads. The juicy updates about the international cycle journey have been popping up in Twitter (@kaargocult) and his website rega.in frequently. “i hve a frnd named gautam who is into chakra meditation. Claims to have power over weathr. I requsted him for clouds n here they r,” says one post, called Tweet, in the micro-blogging site. “Sitting besides ganga watching others washing their sins away.” One guy says, ‘saare paap dhone hain bhen@&od‘ (Have to wash away all the sins, sister @&od).”

After a round of interview in a crowded eatery in Lajpat Nagar, I invited Anand to my apartment where he got a Chandra Surya! [रातो र चन्द्र सूर्य ज‌‌गी निशान हाम्रो...] Read more »

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