Those who read the earlier post, now know that we had wrong ticket for right train. The moment we discovered that ticket is wrong , Mangu ran out of the compartment to check the name . There was list put up outside every compartment , Mangu cross checked it and naturally our name were not on the list .I had followed Mangu ,Manju was wide awake and tight lipped . Apala still trying to figure out what exactly happened. I came back to take wallet and took some additional money ( By now Apala had figured out and was visibly shocked and surprised !! ). I think only 10 minutes were left for train to leave.
Mangu and I made our way to a "ticket counter" through platform which was full of consignments which were to be uploaded and I guess some would have been unloaded . When we reached the counter , to our shock and visible surprise counter had been moved to far end of the terminus in newly constructed building. The idea was to buy ticket of general compartment and then take a new ticket of sleeper coach from ticket checker once we board. We knew we wont be able to make it to the other end and get on the board . Mangu called Manju and told her to get off the train along with the bags.
Mangu, Manju , Apala and me were at Bandra Terminu at 11:45 PM. Let me describe Bandra terminus at that hour. There was a maalgadi , few taxis which were parked after the day's work and few autos. Bandra local station is 1 km away and I think the last local train is at 1:00 A.M. The road was empty and atleast not pitch dark . I must add , Bandra station is very well surrounded by slum dwellers. If you ask me if I were feeling safe , the answer is , I wasn't even thinking about it . We first took an auto and reached terminus building. Mangu went to enquiry counter and asked if there is another train. No prizes for guessing , Dehradun express was last train to leave from Bandra. The train gave siren of leaving the platform. We all looked at train leaving a platform with appealing eyes (there goes our train :( ). There we were , train gone leaving us behind .
We quickly got into action trying work out the options . Since we are professionals nad are working from past few years in industry and are well respected among colleagues for our knacks , wits and intelligence we never gave a thought to give up the idea of going to wedding. The options we had were either hire a car or take a bus. Highway developments in India have offered great options to mail trains i.e , travel buses and car. And yes you have companies which have created brands in travel . It was midnight and we knew even the bus option might be little unavailable.
Mangu called up Justdial took the no. of Neeta Volvo and other travels . Meanwhile we had return tickets booked through Redbus.in ,tried their no. too . We furiously tried the nos , whichever nos were reached ( some of them didn't even pick up :( ) , travel agents told us that the last bus has already left Borivali . Manju called up her husband to take his suggestions . Apala said if we could get to Vapi , we may have some option. I guess Manju and Mangu were equally puzzled as I was at this statement. But we were too busy to comment . What Apala meant was we can take a cab till Vapi and from Vapi we may get some option.We reminded her , it may not be safe. Mangu said she checked with Neeta Volvo , they have a bus coming from Goa , will reach Borivali at 1.00 a.m . We knew it was too uncertain. The idea of standing on highway at 1.00 AM wasn't inviting too. She said lets keep trying with other travels and I said I knw a hire a cab fellow from office who may give the cab. I wasn't expecting cab fellow to pick up the call . He did. I explained him the situation, he said he can give a vehicle. I said thts great however there was a hitch. He said charges would be to and fro (this was the most expensive option ). I explained I already have return tickets and I cant cancel them as there wont be any refund . I knew he was right, thts how it works . I said , gimme 15 mins to confirm.
We knew standing at terminus wont resolve our problem at hand. I looked at Mangu and Manju , the options we had is go to either Andheri or Borivali Highway .It was difficult to predict where we would get bus. All this conversation among us was at high pitch and volume. The Railway staff and fellow auto stand drivers heard the conversation for free !!!! ...... ( high entertainment drama for free) . We approached the auto driver who was standing in a group of auto drivers . Before we could say anything , he said , I can get the bus tickets for you. Where do you want to go ? We said Vadodara , He said I will charge 450 bucks as fare upto Borivali . Since I do the most of the travelling part in this part of the city , every one looked at me expectantly. Frankly it was difficult to decipher how much he was overcharging ( he was overcharging for sure ) . As it was already past 12 ( fare is 1.5 times ) and the auto fare had increased jus six month before. That day my gut feeling was actual fare could be anywhere around 300-350 , if we took metered auto (After 3 more months I realise reter won't have charged us beyond 250 :( ) . While I was working on this part so we could negotiate , Manju countered whats the guarantee we will get the tickets . The driver replied , if you don't get tickets , I won't charge you a single penny . Now that's a stake out . Then he said since you ar 4 people , you need to take two autos and the charges would be 650. Later part obviously came upon enquiry. I am an experienced auto rickshaw traveller ( I take a lot of pride int :D) , I said assertively, we are girls and we had like to be together . We take a single auto. Auto fellow already knew he has squeezed enough ,agreed.
On the way he said , I think you can get bus at Andheri highway itself but charges will remain same. For the first time I knew , we are going to pay highest charges for an auto upto Andheri . It fell in place , in Mumbai networking works , the auto fellow probably is used to passengers like us . Passengers who would looki for a last moment ticket , in emergency and with wrong tickets :| . He had tie up with travel agents who would give him a commission and he took it form us too in terms of charges . Rest went as predicted, we got tickets on Andheri highway , bus was expected in 10 minutes and it came. I wanted to negotiate with the fellow , however my temper prevented me from reasoning out. He was adamant over 450 bucks which Mangala paid him ( she likes to adhere to terms of contract ) . Later I told her he charged us heavily , she said she knows but atleast now we are traveling comfortably and without worrying.
Once we settled , Manju said we get good Pav Bhaji ( road side , obviously) at Borivali station . I said yeah I am already feeling famished . And for the first time during the night I asked who booked tickets . Manju said , Kinjal booked it . I sank in the recliner seat, for two reasons , one, she was getting married and hence needed to keep quiet and she had done one smart thing , she had forwarded tickets to all of us as soon as she booked it . I had specifically opened it checked all details like the train, time, names and gender except the date :) . It was almost 1:30 a.m when everyone drowsed to sleep.
In morning we called Kinjal , explained her in brief what happened and she directed us to "Vivah sthal" :) .
Mangu and I made our way to a "ticket counter" through platform which was full of consignments which were to be uploaded and I guess some would have been unloaded . When we reached the counter , to our shock and visible surprise counter had been moved to far end of the terminus in newly constructed building. The idea was to buy ticket of general compartment and then take a new ticket of sleeper coach from ticket checker once we board. We knew we wont be able to make it to the other end and get on the board . Mangu called Manju and told her to get off the train along with the bags.
Mangu, Manju , Apala and me were at Bandra Terminu at 11:45 PM. Let me describe Bandra terminus at that hour. There was a maalgadi , few taxis which were parked after the day's work and few autos. Bandra local station is 1 km away and I think the last local train is at 1:00 A.M. The road was empty and atleast not pitch dark . I must add , Bandra station is very well surrounded by slum dwellers. If you ask me if I were feeling safe , the answer is , I wasn't even thinking about it . We first took an auto and reached terminus building. Mangu went to enquiry counter and asked if there is another train. No prizes for guessing , Dehradun express was last train to leave from Bandra. The train gave siren of leaving the platform. We all looked at train leaving a platform with appealing eyes (there goes our train :( ). There we were , train gone leaving us behind .
We quickly got into action trying work out the options . Since we are professionals nad are working from past few years in industry and are well respected among colleagues for our knacks , wits and intelligence we never gave a thought to give up the idea of going to wedding. The options we had were either hire a car or take a bus. Highway developments in India have offered great options to mail trains i.e , travel buses and car. And yes you have companies which have created brands in travel . It was midnight and we knew even the bus option might be little unavailable.
Mangu called up Justdial took the no. of Neeta Volvo and other travels . Meanwhile we had return tickets booked through Redbus.in ,tried their no. too . We furiously tried the nos , whichever nos were reached ( some of them didn't even pick up :( ) , travel agents told us that the last bus has already left Borivali . Manju called up her husband to take his suggestions . Apala said if we could get to Vapi , we may have some option. I guess Manju and Mangu were equally puzzled as I was at this statement. But we were too busy to comment . What Apala meant was we can take a cab till Vapi and from Vapi we may get some option.We reminded her , it may not be safe. Mangu said she checked with Neeta Volvo , they have a bus coming from Goa , will reach Borivali at 1.00 a.m . We knew it was too uncertain. The idea of standing on highway at 1.00 AM wasn't inviting too. She said lets keep trying with other travels and I said I knw a hire a cab fellow from office who may give the cab. I wasn't expecting cab fellow to pick up the call . He did. I explained him the situation, he said he can give a vehicle. I said thts great however there was a hitch. He said charges would be to and fro (this was the most expensive option ). I explained I already have return tickets and I cant cancel them as there wont be any refund . I knew he was right, thts how it works . I said , gimme 15 mins to confirm.
We knew standing at terminus wont resolve our problem at hand. I looked at Mangu and Manju , the options we had is go to either Andheri or Borivali Highway .It was difficult to predict where we would get bus. All this conversation among us was at high pitch and volume. The Railway staff and fellow auto stand drivers heard the conversation for free !!!! ...... ( high entertainment drama for free) . We approached the auto driver who was standing in a group of auto drivers . Before we could say anything , he said , I can get the bus tickets for you. Where do you want to go ? We said Vadodara , He said I will charge 450 bucks as fare upto Borivali . Since I do the most of the travelling part in this part of the city , every one looked at me expectantly. Frankly it was difficult to decipher how much he was overcharging ( he was overcharging for sure ) . As it was already past 12 ( fare is 1.5 times ) and the auto fare had increased jus six month before. That day my gut feeling was actual fare could be anywhere around 300-350 , if we took metered auto (After 3 more months I realise reter won't have charged us beyond 250 :( ) . While I was working on this part so we could negotiate , Manju countered whats the guarantee we will get the tickets . The driver replied , if you don't get tickets , I won't charge you a single penny . Now that's a stake out . Then he said since you ar 4 people , you need to take two autos and the charges would be 650. Later part obviously came upon enquiry. I am an experienced auto rickshaw traveller ( I take a lot of pride int :D) , I said assertively, we are girls and we had like to be together . We take a single auto. Auto fellow already knew he has squeezed enough ,agreed.
On the way he said , I think you can get bus at Andheri highway itself but charges will remain same. For the first time I knew , we are going to pay highest charges for an auto upto Andheri . It fell in place , in Mumbai networking works , the auto fellow probably is used to passengers like us . Passengers who would looki for a last moment ticket , in emergency and with wrong tickets :| . He had tie up with travel agents who would give him a commission and he took it form us too in terms of charges . Rest went as predicted, we got tickets on Andheri highway , bus was expected in 10 minutes and it came. I wanted to negotiate with the fellow , however my temper prevented me from reasoning out. He was adamant over 450 bucks which Mangala paid him ( she likes to adhere to terms of contract ) . Later I told her he charged us heavily , she said she knows but atleast now we are traveling comfortably and without worrying.
Once we settled , Manju said we get good Pav Bhaji ( road side , obviously) at Borivali station . I said yeah I am already feeling famished . And for the first time during the night I asked who booked tickets . Manju said , Kinjal booked it . I sank in the recliner seat, for two reasons , one, she was getting married and hence needed to keep quiet and she had done one smart thing , she had forwarded tickets to all of us as soon as she booked it . I had specifically opened it checked all details like the train, time, names and gender except the date :) . It was almost 1:30 a.m when everyone drowsed to sleep.
In morning we called Kinjal , explained her in brief what happened and she directed us to "Vivah sthal" :) .
its like a movie!... good one vani
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