Story of a journey 10 years back

This is the narration of a journey that is etched in my mind. This happened in 2000 and I believe it was summer. I was working in Wipro ePeripherals in Mysore. The R&D facility is also right next to the factory. The facility had few rules that was Factory centric. Things like
* Mandatory working hours 8:30am to 5:00pm
* You need to be at the gates around 8:30 am. If you arrive from 8:30 to 8:35 am, you can make your attendance at the security but cannot enter the premises until 10:30 am. Useful in you need to finish up some persona work (like Bank; Remember ATMS were not available in those days; No mobiles; Internet was a luxury). If you arrive at 8:36 am, 1/2 day leave (and that too if you come back). You could do this exception once a months, during the 2nd occasion, your manager will be informed. Some times staff used to come to the gates in sleeping costumes and then go back home for their personal work.
* You are allowed to leave early from work once a month for 1 1/2 hours. You if you do not plan to come back you can leave only at 3pm and not earlier than that.
* All Saturdays are working, except for 2nd Saturday.

And the list goes on.

Kannur is about 200 km from Mysore. Busses are there but they are rare. The last bus to Kannur is a Kerala State transport bus that starts around 3:30 pm. The next bus would be a night bus that arrives around 12:30 am, but no guarantee of seats. The facility is in Hootagalli, which would be about 10-15 km from the office.

And so I am like a sprinter at 2:55pm, getting my vehicle ready. Back then I had a Bajaj Super FE scooter (KL 13 registration). So get set and go. Reached the gates and the security said hang on 2 more minutes to go. Damn! but the KSRTC bus would not care if the security guys watch is 2 minutes late! On your mark, get set and go.. Zoom towards the city bus station. Road intersections all around. Do you know the most common vehicle in Mysore; It is a Moped
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moped. I could at least remember a few of my R&D colleagues owning them. Perumal is one that I remember, lean guy found his luxury in a moped! Back to the ride, So I reach the vehicle parking area near the bus station. Park the vehicle and run to the bus station. Damn... Did I lock the handle... I run back... Oh it is .... And I run back again.. From the vehicle stand to the bus station there is a blind turn towards the right. The buses (once they depart from the main station) come on this main road. It is 3:30... I check the area where the Kerala busses are parked... Aghast... I don't see the bus :( ... Did it arrive at all? Did it leave early? No clue...

So in this desperate feeling, I am thinking of what to do in next 2 days. Should I stay back or should I travel the next day morning. Coz traveling in the night is risky. And then I thought.. May be if I get to coorg (Virajpet, the border town) and I can get the last bus to Kannur. So I caught a Karnataka KSRTC bus to Virajpet. The time of departure 4:30 pm. 3 hours, If I reach by around 7:30 pm, may be I could get a connecting bus.

Very few passengers in the bus. Most of the seats are empty. I caught a window seat in the middle rows. The ticket was close to 40 Rs. I gave the conductor the exact denominations.And then a fight broke out with him and the next passenger over change. The other guy was a Coorgi. Two of them held each others shirt and a debate started. Sometimes I am astonished over the small fights that occur in public. Some people like to get the issue sorted out through a verbal duel, the others a physical duel. But a mix of that is very common. Well do it fast ... The bus driver immediately slowed down.. Get a move on guys I need to catch the connection bus... After a little bit of verbal duel, both of them were pacified by the fellow passengers.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. We reached Virajpet around 7:40 pm. The bus took a turn towards the KSRTC depot and I ran towards the bus station. What No buses.... I checked with a local guy, the last bus had left. (most of the guys in Virajpet speak Malayalam, In fact most of the settlers in this part of the country is from my town. The merchants, the estate owners, the casual laborers etc. ). The only option remaining was to hope to get a vehicle (a truck or a light vehicle) that would be going towards Kannur. So I stood on the main road. Fortunately a Jeep stopped and said Mattanur (27 km before Kannur town). I hopped in... If I can get to Virajpet then I can get to Kannur from Mattanur. How much. 20 Rs... 4 kids hopped in. Most of them looked to be as 16-17 years. The driver Nazar. He owns a small land in Coorg where he grows cardamom, pepper and coffee.. "The market for coffee is not that good sir". 10 kilometers we are at the check post of Karnataka border (near Perumbadi lake). From there until 30 kilometers it is dense forest with uninhabited areas. Did I make a mistake.. what if these 4 kids turn assailants.... what if they beat me up and throw me down the road.... I decided to remain silent.

5 minutes later... Ka boom, one of the tires blast... Nazar gets help from another jeep that was going down the hill. The guys in the jeep also help.. A casual conversation starts.. And in that emerge story guys are from hill ranges of Kottayam district (in south Kerala). They have completed their 10th, In order to help their families, they came over to coorg for some odd labor jobs. Now that the jobs were not there, they decided to go back home and may be come back later. Jijo (who seemed to be the most talkative of them) was also the one helping out Nazar get the tires fixed. Incidentally the guys did not have a sense of how to get to Kannur. Their need was to get a night train to Kottayam. So they were asking me Chetta (elder brother), how to get to the nearest railway station. And then my confidence emerged. Ok .. let me help these guys. Thalassery or Kannur. "But Chetta if I get to Mattanur, can I get a bus to Kannur, will there be trucks that ply in the night?". I said may be yes.

"Yup the tire is fixed, we are all set to go" Nazar shouted. I am in the front seat along with Nazar and the guys are right behind. Me and Nazar were conversing in Kannur dialect while the others were trying to catch up. Reached Iritty around 10pm. Mattannur around 11pm. There seemed to be some communal tensions near Mattannur. People were not advising the route from Mattanur to Thalassery. We got down paid the agreed money and said bye to Nazar. There were couple of Jeeps in the area and I checked with them on their charges. Around 100 Rs till Kannur. (20 Rs per head). I was Ok with the rates. I checked with Jijo and team, they said chetta, we have only money for food and cannot afford the fare. I told them to hop in and will see on the way. Finally they agreed. While on the way , I asked them how they were planning to travel if they were so short of money. They said we will get in the train without getting a ticket. If the Ticket Inspector comes, they will run or try to give him a bribe!!!! "Chetta we earn very less for us to survive, how do you expect us to travel".

The rest of the journey was uneventful. I got down at Mele Chovva (few kilometers from Kannur town), paid for the journey (including the guys). Gave a 100 Rs to Jijo and told him to take a ticket rather than get caught in the train. I am not sure if he heeded to my advice. I took an auto to home. My mother was startled when she opened the door. My grandmother slowly got up from her bed and was happy to see me. Their only question "Why are you so late?" I said you would not believe.

So much so for the journey. I came back to Mysore and like an ideal citizen wrote an email to the Chief Minister of Karnataka (Sri. SM. Krishna, who is presently our Union Minister). I told him about the lack of buses to Kannur. I was glad that I got a reply which mentioned that the request has been forwarded to the transport secretary.

For about 2-3 years, the route was closed due to very bad roads in the Ghat section. Now the roads have improved and I heard that the bus services have improved now a days. The frequency of buses from Mysore to Kannur district has increased.