There’s this place you pass by once in a while and have always wondered what lies behind those only walls that fall within your line of sight, but which looks uninhabited when compared to the rest of the city. You’re still curious and you find that your EB office exists in that neighborhood. So, how do you land in an unexpected trekking experience?
Miss the due date for the electricity bill payment and get ready to visit the EB Office for reconnection (the best part – while cancelling the plan for Interstellar).
Ask your Building Security for the way to reach and get all confused, though you already know it from a friend and make him angry when you argue, so buy in his confident statement.
Get down at the previous stop only to discover that it’s the next stop, unlike what the Security said, so ask a couple of people for more guidance, who point out it’s a ‘walkable distance’ (a normal grammatical mistake our people do; some people auto-correct : it’s a walkable <break> walking distance).
Follow the advice and walk, only to discover you can’t even spot the huge-bridge-landmark even after passing all kinds of existent vehicles on the road.
Pay double the price a previous cab offered – rejected under the optimism of ‘walkable distance’.
Arrive at a neighborhood totally unlikely for an Electricity Board office, get into a building totally unlikely for an Electricity Board office and walk into the office totally unlike an Electricity Board office.
In all the excitement, conveniently forget that our Government offices still are medievally cash-transaction-types, so after some sarcastic humour from the officials, begin the next hunt for an ATM.
Keep eyes all tightened to spot that ATM board that appears pretty close on the opposite side of the road, which you’ve no idea how to get to.
Carefully cross road, criss-crossing among the whizzing vehicles of the highway, get to the median, heave a sigh of relief and repeat for the other direction.
Follow the only possible path that people seem to be taking – though not a path in strict terms – flanked by weeds.
Carefully, trek the mounds (wish you had worn trekking shoes), jump over a few rail tracks, wait for the train to cross, jump over a few rail tracks – uh! ‘Huge wall means dead end!’.
‘No wait! People appearing out of and vanishing into thin air at that spot! Must be a teleporter there!’
Find a narrow wall-less spot, guarded by a huge tree with roots running all over and a tiny temple and vanish into thin air just like the others.
Voila! You arrive at the ATM surrounded by a few scattered shops(for whom you wonder)! (Make sure you’re dressed that you blend into the environs, nothing flashy).
Wonder if that tiny provision store nearby, stocks the hair serum you need, so that you don’t have to make a detour to the super market before going home (And hear friend utter sarcastically ‘If you actually get it here, then I’d take the bus and always come here to shop’).
Go back through the apparition spot, jump more rail tracks and trek your way back to the road.
Carefully cross road, criss-crossing among the whizzing vehicles of the highway, get to the median, heave a sigh of relief and repeat for the other direction (Ok, I cheated – copied this from above).
Get back in time to the EB office, ignoring dead stuff on the way that you’re not supposed to see, as warned by friend and yay! – Achievement unlocked.
Linger on the way outside, when you hear people talking in pretend-English to gain some nuggets of information – ‘Hey! In Bombay where ya?’ ‘<TODO : Recollect>’.
Go home with happy memories of adventure.
The End.
Anilicious 