An unplanned trip

To an unexplored land

With tall coconut trees, sandy beaches and friendly people

A trip that worked out despite the all of slips-ups

One that promised peace and tranquillity, and delivered

I am back from a short trip to Mangalore. And what a trip it’s been! Del-Bom-IXE-Bom-Del  -all  done in a span of 6 days. I’ve been passing through Mumbai airport too often I think. I  now recognise every tile on the airport. Quiz me, if you like.

It didnt start off very well. I reached home to realise I had forgotten to bring along some very important documents  that had to be submitted at the bank in Bombay within the next 4 days.   A mild heart attack later, a solution was found.  The spare key at the landlord’s was brought into action. The house was opened, the  cupboard keys were  retrieved from their secret hiding place and the papers were located on a live call from Bombay and couriered by the 2nd floor tenant, now my best friend.  The aunt was requested to receive the courier for us in our absence.  She kindly agreed and we headed off to Mangalore for our 2.5 days of tranquillity.

We reached the airport later that day. Much to my horror and embarrassment I was stopped from entering the airport by the security. I had the wrong ticket in hand- my mother’s.  Frantically rummaging through my bag I encountered another copy of  mother’s e-ticket, mine was not to be found.  Panicking, I called up the father for my  PNR number. He gave it to me but I didn’t need to use it, since by then I had located what I believed was  my ticket to Mangalore.  I showed  it to the  lady officer and was allowed in. The joys of traveling together on tickets booked separately are immense, I said to myself.  Once inside, the panic passed, the heartbeat slowed, and  I took a good look at the ticket.It said  25th October, Del-Bom .  I had the wrong ticket, one I had already used to travel to Bombay the previous day, and I had passed security. Freaky.

The lady issuing boarding passes was, not surprisingly, amazed at how I managed to walk into the airport with an incorrect ticket. I told her my PNR number and she issued me a boarding pass.  She suggested next time I misplace my e-ticket; I get one printed out at the airlines counter at the entrance.   To avoid problems with the  security, she explained.  Mangalore is a small town, I hope you have your return ticket in order, she said as she handed me my boarding pass.

 Of course, I smiled back. And just to make doubly sure (for my mother’s sake, not my own)  I check  my bag for the ticket.  Two e-ticket print-outs  for the mother. None for me. Oops. What now?

In a manner in which only my mother can operate, she exited  the airport after engaging the security officer in a dialogue, headed to the airline counter and got a print out of my return ticket. What if she’s right and we really don’t find a print out facility there, she asked  me on her return. Then, she ordered me to hand over all documents, tickets, photo IDs to her. Not without reason.

It got better after that. Except for the fact that the re-chargeable batteries of my camera refused to get re-charged.  We had another camera so it wasn’t all that bad.  I did not get to  take any pictures, but  that’s fine. Two people with two cameras would have  looked silly anyway.

Pictures say it best. So here they are, courtesy the mother.

The airport. When was the last time you saw a parking lot like this?

The sky is my canvas, said God. At least in Mangalore. He couldn’t say the same for Bombay or Delhi.

Supari. The edible kind,not the kind referred to in Bollywood films.

Coconuts.Everywhere.

Fields reach out to touch the skies.

A shade of green sandwiched between two of blue.

Golden  fields of rice.

Crabs. All. Over.The. Beach.

Dead wood.

The case of the curious kids.:)

Blue flowers to match the  blue skies.

Kuwain ka maindak.Quite literally.

With past connections with ducks, how can we not take a picture of a duck when we see it?

Glorious food at gloriously low prices.  Here’s proof. We paid under  Rs.100 for a meal for two.  The restaurants were not fancy but the food was good,driving home the point of how much we overpay for eating out in big cities.

 

NB: The courier reached  on the same day as we did. And to everyone’s relief I was able to get all the work done before returning to Delhi.

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