Sadhuragiri-Part 3

The auto ride from Sri Villiputtur Railway Station to foothills. We are just unloading the luggages.


November 14th, 2008.

I started packing things at 4’o clock in the evening. For some unknown reason, my mother is never happy with my packing style. She always checks it twice. This is not the first time I am going out for an RF/Trekking trip but it always happens at my house. Generally I start 3 hours before the departure of the train. But for this trip I thought starting before two hours should be okay. Dunno why? I was to board 2661 Sengottai Pothigai Express at Egmore at 20:50hrs. I started at around 18:30hrs from my house and took the MRTS train from Kasturibai Nagar and reach Chennai Fort in 25 minutes approx. I walked towards the other side of the platform and waited for my EMU towards Tambaram to arrive.

WAM-4#20671 pulled in with Howrah Tiruchi Express near Fort. My EMU also came and I boarded it. My EMU soon accelerated and overtook the train. My EMU then honked. I thought it was a bit sarcastic. That’s life isn’t? Tough competition and there exists selfish people who take great pleasure in hurting others. As my EMU stopped at Park, the express overtook and entered Egmore first. Amazing! That's life. Tough competition. Now the Howrah-Tiruchi Express has won the battle!


Sadhuragiri Entrance.

I reached Egmore at 19:40hrs. Ramkarthik came in an EMU from Mambalam. We both waited for Aravind and gang to come from Saidapet. A surprise visitor showed up! It was S.V.Sriram. He has come to send me off. S.V.Sriram looked quite different than I expected. French beard, fair face, professional looks(???) and I didn’t believe that he was 35! Soon Aravind and Co came. The power was WDP-3A#15515. Nishant, Aravind, Anand, Senthil, Harish Kumar, Prabhu were in S10 while Ramkarthik and myself were in S1. Perhaps, the first time I was traveling in anything other than S6 and S2. And it was the second time I was behind a WDP-3A. Pallavan Express ride on February 17th, 2007 during my third year at college was my first ride behind WDP-3A. HWH-TPJ Express started a few minutes earlier than us. That would mean we would be trailing that train.


Lots of advice from the Forest Department.

We started on time and soon we were accelerating. WDP-3A was doing well! Ramkarthik and myself got busy with our routine discussions regarding railways and other stuffs. What I believe is that too much of anything would be boring. Generally, I prefer to talk off-topics! Try that, you would enjoy that too. WAP-4#22218 was seen hauling 6128 GUV-MS Express and was entering Mambalam when we crossed Mambalam at a good speed. As the train curved out of Saidapet, I could see Aravind’s parents ready to wave out to him from the legendary South Cabin. I felt peace when the train curved outside Guindy. It was like a long snake with a shining body as the lights inside the coaches were still switched on and it wasn’t sleeping time yet. A couple of EMU’s crossed us. We were running parallel to an EMU for sometime but later we overtook. That’s life isn’t it? Life itself is a railway track. Green lights, occasional yellow lights and sometimes even red lights. But aren’t red lights always better than simply crashing somewhere?



List of medicinal herbs, vegetables found in Sadhuragiri.

My train crossed Pazhavanthangal. It brought different feelings. Though I always say nothing is permanent, there are a few things, which still retain the same charm. There are a few things like: -

1. Lord Vishnu resting majestically on Adhi-Sesha.
2. The divine grace seen in Lord Jesus’s face.
3. The vibrant energy that’s felt when the Quran is recited.
4. People of Pazhavanthangal still retaining Indian culture.
5. And of course, the WDM-2! 30 years and more, but still chugging along. Loyal work horse

Traditional things have got a lot of value! Maybe we should go back to the Vedas.


A warning board as we climbed the hill.

Ramesh.S was boarding S10 at Tambaram. I felt bad when I heard the day earlier that Harish Kumar.R was pulling out of the trip due to sudden work. Instead of coming for trekking, he was traveling with us till Madurai and he was to return to Chennai on Sunday.


Save forests!

At Chengalpet, I bought idly and vadai. It was around 21:50hrs. I finished it before my train even crossed the outer of CGL! I drank the sambar, as it was more like Masala water! By this time the berth was put, so I sat in Ananta Sayanam similar to the Lord's pose to look out of the window. Ramkarthik and myself talked for sometime somewhere till Melmaruvathur. Then RK went to sleep. I thought of practicing my favorite hobby. RK warned me not to strain myself as the upcoming climbing task would then prove to be tough.


Mountains.

I connected the headset to my mobile and started listening to songs. Sheer bliss! Nothing to beat Backstreet Boys! I took a deep breath and inhaled fresh air. The train was now going past green fields. I could see a lot of coconut trees. My mobile’s music player was playing,” Back Street Boys-I want it that way”. “Ain’t nothing but a heartache, ain’t nothing but a mistake, I never wanna hear you say, I want it that way”. Excellent lines, wonder how the BSB wrote such scripts!


Pic taken using my camera mobile.

There was a freight train in loop near Melmaruvathur. My train passed at a slow speed near Tozhuppedu. Wonder why? I could see the stationmaster waving the green torchlight. It was around 22:20hrs I think. I was listening to music and I was enjoying. One way or another, I wasn’t giving my 100 percent. I didn’t know why? I was thinking too much about my deadlines in my workplace. At Mundiambakkam, my train stopped and waited for 5 minutes before moving into Villupuram Jn. HWH-TPJ was there and my train was likely to overtake it again as mine was more of a prestigious Super fast. Amazingly right! That’s life isn’t it? Heavy competition, unpredictable?