Guwahati Trip : A memoir.

Every good story starts with a simple premise. Then it develops into a tricky middle act followed by a last minute twist ending which leaves the audience/readers with a sense of bewilderment. This particular story (rather a travel memoir) is not EXACTLY a great story but it has most of the afore-mentioned elements. This article details the events that happened in the 6 day trip to Guwahati.

Chapter 1: The Beginning 

It all started with a simple premise. We submitted our papers for consideration in AIMTDR 2014. It is a conference of repute, specifically targeted towards production engineering. It is organised once in 2 years and receive a large number of papers from all the major colleges and universities of our country. We were lucky that all of us had some results which we could send and that all our papers got accepted for the conference.

It may be a good time to define ‘WE’. We means the members of Metrology Lab (WS 111, Central Workshop, IIT Delhi). Manoj Sir, Dinesh Sir, Chetan, Anil and Yours truly.

Once our papers were accepted we made plans for the visit to Guwahati (IIT Guwahati was hosting this year’s AIMTDR). Our professors Dr. S. Ghosh and Prof. P V Rao agreed to go with us to the conference. It was Ghosh sir’s idea that since we will be in Guwahati for the conference we should visit the nearby places, namely the Kaziranga Park (famous for Rhinoceros), Shillong (famous for beautiful waterfalls) etc. Manoj sir had a friend at Tezpur University so he proposed that we can visit Tezpur University en route to Kaziranga because according to him the campus is absolutely beautiful (as it later turned out, he was not exaggerating). But the future was 3 months away and we needed to make arrangements.
We booked tickets and that was the easiest part (or so we thought, but more on that later!!). Main logistical issues were planning the itinerary, arranging guest houses for the stay of our professors, booking a car for the road travel so on and so forth. Manoj sir did his M.Tech from IIT Guwahati so booking guest house over there was not a big issue for him. As far as we were concerned, we would be given accommodation in hostels by the conference organisers. Manoj sir had a friend at Tezpur University who assured that he will book rooms for professors at Tezpur Guest House and he will arrange our (us students) stay at a hostel. The last frontier was the trip to Shillong. Again Manoj sir stepped in and contacted someone at NEHU and arranged for guest house in which our professors will stay and we will book hotel rooms for our stay. The final itinerary was like this:

1. 11th Dec. Arrival to Guwahati

2. 12th Dec. Attending the Conference

3. 13th Dec. Departure for Tezpur (Stay at night in Tezpur)

4. 14th Dec. Back to Guwahati after Kaziranga Visit

5. 15th Dec. Departure for Shillong and Stay at night.

6. 16th Dec. Back to Guwahati Airport

All of it was done by Manoj sir. In this whole story you will find Manoj sir appearing at every time of need and resolving the matter. The trip and the story would not have been complete without him.

Ghosh sir had to cancel his trip because of some problem and in the end the team was reduced to : Rao sir, Rao sir’s wife (henceforth referred to as Ma’am), Manoj Sir, Manoj sir’s wife (henceforth referred to as bhabhiji) Dinesh Sir, Chetan, Anil and Yours truly. It was still a big team and the packed itinerary meant that a lot of things must fall in place for the trip to be a complete success for all of us. It was tricky, to say the least but it was doable. Or so we thought.

Chapter 2: Twist came early

In the opening paragraph (or abstract if you prefer) I said that a great story has a last minute twist, but in this story the twist came early! On 4^th December (7 days before our scheduled departure) Manoj sir received a message from Spicejet that his flight to Guwahati is cancelled due to operational reasons. As I have already mentioned Manoj sir wasthe most crucial part of our travel because he had all the contacts and the knowledge of the area and most importantly he had the best people skill amongst all of us. If Manoj sir’s trip is cancelled, there was a very high chance that the complete trip will go haywire. Also Anil booked his ticket in the same flight as Maonj sir (but after few days) and he got the cancellation message as well. at one point of time Manoj Sir and Anil both thought of cancelling their trip but the departure was still 7 days away. We had time to make alternative arrangements. Manoj sir applied for tatkal ticket and by god’s grace he got 3 confirmed tickets too. (Two for himself and bhabhiji and one for Anil). 

But there was another twist, two days before departure (on 9^th December) Manoj sir got the message from Spicejet that his ticket is reinstated and as of now he scheduled for departure. It was good news, but the twist was that Anil’s ticket was not reinstated. They called him and said it is not possible to accommodate you in any of the flights, do you want full refund. Anil said yes and the promptly closed his ticket. It meant Anil will have to travel in train. At one point of time he decided to go to Spicejet’s office in Gurgaon to request them to accommodate him somehow but he realised it was a fool’s errand. . Before that day the longest journey which Anil had done was 6 hours (from Delhi to Dehradun in bus), but right now he was looking at a scheduled travel time of around 31 hours in train. So all of us were set for our journey to Guwahati on the next day.

But wait, there’s one more twist left. The night before our departure (10^th December) Manoj sir got a call from Spicejet telling him that now they can’t accommodate him, and he should go for refund. But Manoj sir held his nerve and his ground and told that I don’t know what you will do but I won’t give away my seat. I have a message confirmation and it imperative for me that I reach Guwahati tomorrow itself. Actually it is an elaborate scam by the airline to tell passengers that they can’t accommodate him so that they can sell the vacated seat at exorbitantly high prices to the last minute travellers. 

But after we checked in at the IndiGo counter (Dinesh Sir, Chetan and myself were travelling through IndiGo for our onward journey), we checked at Spicejet counter and they told that all the seats are confirmed. We conveyed the same to Manoj sir and he arrived at time in the airport to board the flight. Rao sir had already checked in at Air India. Anil had boarded his train which was already 3 hours late. But even with all the early twists, all of us were en route to Guwahati.

Chapter 3: Guwahati Campus… You Beauty!

There was still sometime before checking in. Chetan was feeling hungry so he decided to get something from the shop inside the airport. He purchased a packet of chips for 50 rupees, which will normally cost 10 rupees at max. During the security check in there was one minor incident wherein something dangerous was found in Chetan’s handbag. It was a nail cutter! The soldiers of CISF returned it back only after making sure it is not a weapon of hijacking or mass destruction!

The travel through the plane was uneventful for me to say the least. Dinesh sir and Chetan got adjacent seats and I got a seat in some other part of the plane. Dinesh sir got an aisle seat but a person was already sitting at that place when we boarded the plane. This was his first time and Chetan convinced him that he is sitting at the right place and thus Dinesh sir got the window seat!

We reached Guwahati at the scheduled time a tip of hat for the on-time services of IndiGo. We booked a taxi for IIT Guwahati and asked the driver to stop somewhere in between so that we can have our lunch. We were starving since morning. The restaurant where we stopped for dining was very slow. In fact slow service at eateries were a recurrent theme in our whole journey. They took 25 minutes to even start plating the order. It took us around 45 minutes to finish the meal and start onwards towards IIT Guwahati. We crossed a bridge en route to IIT Guwahati. We found out later that this bridge is the connecting link between rest of India and the whole north east and is a prime target for terrorist attacks. The security was tight and there was traffic jam too. But the road had scenic beauty. Small hills adjacent to the road, lush green village in distance, awesome statue etc. We reached IIT Guwahati campus after around 20 minutes. 

The bridge.

Road to IIT Guwahati 1

Road to IIT Guwahati 2

Road to IIT Guwahati 3

The road to Guwahati was nothing in comparison to the IIT Guwahati campus. It was lush green. Impeccably clean. Picturesque. And awesome. I mean really, really awesome. When we reached the campus it was almost dusk. So the beauty was a bit lost. But even in the dying light the campus seemed awesome. Alas at that moment I could not take pictures to justify this statement, because the camera was not very good to be able to take pictures in less lighting. But later I took the pictures, lots of pictures. !

We went to our allotted hostel UMIAM. We got 3 separate rooms for each of us and booked one room for Anil who was supposed to join us next day at 1100 hours (but his train got late…very late). 

One we kept our luggage in the room we decided to roam around a bit. We went outside the gate hoping to go to the Brahmaputra River which flows nearby to the campus. But it was still around 1 kilometer away from the gate and in the dying light of a new city we decided it will be unwise to take the risk, and in any case nothing will be seen in this light so headed back.

On our way back we saw a golgappe wala and had delicious golgappe from him. He turned out to be from Delhi and chatted a lot with us. !! Once we were back we decided to register for the conference. By the time we completed the formalities Manoj sir was also free. He came and joined us in our hostel. He was staying in a colleague’s room. We chatted and discussed for a while. Then we had dinner and went off to sleep. We had our presentations the next day. In fact everyone except me and Anil had presentations the next day. But we expected it to get pre-poned. But at that moment it was uncertain and Anil was around 1500 kilmeters away. Sleep came swiftly under the warm balnkets.

Chapter 4 : Day 1- AIMTDR
1

As per the plan Manoj sir reached the hostel at 0830 hours and we started for the conference venue. All of us started together towards the auditorium where the welcome address was supposed to take place. Manoj sir took us there from the other side of the campus, showing us the different departments, lecture halls where he used to attend classes, his department etc.

From left to right : Dinesh sir, Chetan, Manoj Sir

When we reached the conference venue Prof. U S Dixit was delivering the welcome address. 

Prof U S Dixit giving the welcome address

It was followed by address from other professors including Prof. Amitabh Ghosh, Prof. A K Chatterjee and other eminent professors. It was followed by snacks.

I talked with Rao sir regarding preponement of my presentation so that I can join them on the trip to Tzepur and subsequently to Kaziranga. It was decided that I will give my presentation at the end of a session which Prof Rao was chairing. Anil was supposed to do the same but he was still around 750 kilometres away. The train got further delayed due to heavy fog covering in the U. P region.

The arrangement for the snacks was nicely done. There was no line, the snakcs were already arranged in a plate the delegates were supposed to just go and pick up the plates, that’s all. It was tasty too. After that we went in front of the security office to pose for a group picture.

After that Dinesh sir went back to attend the conference, while Manoj sir, Chetan and I went to download a presentation which one of our lab mates (Bikash) had sent to Chetan. He was not able to attend the conference hence Chetan was supposed to prepare and present the on his behalf.

photo 1-1

photo 1-2

Manoj sir knew someone at Mechanical Workshop. So we went there. It was very nice. It looked like a workshop for assembling an aircraft !

Chetan stayed back at the workshop to work on the presentation. I accompanied Manoj sir for booking the vehicle for the road travel.

On the route I got to experience the beauty of the campus. And took numerous photos. What impressed me most was the cleanliness of the campus and the mountains in the background. In most of the pictures my camera couldn't capture the beauty of the background but that didn't deter me from taking pictures !!

Django Unchained!!

After taking the details of the vehicle we walked till the main entrance of IITG ( it was nearby). 

Yours Truly 

 The security guard was sporting enough to take a picture for us. 

Then we walked back till the conference venue. 

It was time for lunch and my presentation was scheduled in the session after that. But before the session started we had some free time and I took the liberty to take some more photos. 

Dinesh sir and Chetan had their presentation at the auditorium, while I had my session in a separate hall. Manoj sir had poster presentation at the end of our sessions, so we parted ways. The presentation went well, actually the session was for metal forming and my paper was on gold nanoparticles which are completely different so there was not much cross questioning.

 Dinesh sir and Chetan finished their presentation early so they went with Manoj sir for finalising the vehicle and making the payment. By the time I finished my presentation it was already dark. I decided to take a walk around the lake. It was serene and beautiful. The glittering lights shone in the still water of the lake.

 It was not very cold but that perfect temperature between warm and cold which made the walk even more pleasant. By the time I completed my walk and collected the certificate Chetan and Dinesh sir were back. We attended the cultural programme which was mind blowing, but I could not tak any decent picture because my camera quality was not that good. 

After the cultural programme we had our dinner and by the time we finished Anil reached the venue!! After a journey of close to 44 hours, we reached at last. Due to the delay in his journey his trip to Tezpur got cancelled and he was supposed to stay back and deliver his presentation.

All of us stated walking back towards the hostel. We convinced Manoj sir to show us the way and dragged him along. At one place I saw fog hovering over a water body and decided to take a picture of it. Ince my camera quality as not good I asked Chetan for his camera.
Lo  and behold, his camera was missing. !

He searched all over his bag, checked his pockets, but to no avail. We hurried back to the security control room and asked them to open the auditorium. We suspected that Chetan could have dropped his camera there during the cultural performance. But the gate was locked and the keys were with a person who stayed outsid the campus. We collected his phone number and called him up. He asked us the colour and make of the camera which was lost. And later confirmed that a camera was found in the auditorium, but we can collect it only in the morning. We heaved a sigh of relief and headed back towards hostel. Next day we were supposed to start for Tezpur it was long journey by road and we badly needed the rest. Sleep came in no time.

Chapter 5: Day 2 -Tezpur

Next day I got up early. I wanted to go a temple before starting the journey. We were supposed to start at around 9. I left my room at quarter to 8 in search of a temple. the hostels and the buildings looked mysterious in the fog.

The security guard told about a temple which was nearby if I took an auto. I decided to do that. That temple turned out to be 5 kilometres away.! Many times during the onward journey I felt like turning back fearing that I may not make it back in time but I continued. Once I reached I found that the temple was glorious. I felt it was worth the risk which I took. After prayers I hurried back to campus. Took breakfast and got on the car with Chetan and Anil ( he was accompanying us till the auditorium). Once we reached there Chetan went to collect his camera. Early morning mist over the lake looked absolutely beautiful. 

 Anil

Meanwhile, Manoj sir called and asked us to pick him up, by the time Chetan collects his camera. So we went there. There were so many lakes in the campus and each one exceeded the other in their beauty.

Dinesh sir was travelling in a separate car with Rao sir and madam. They left ahead of us. It took us around 15 more minutes to start from IIT Guwahati. The way to Tezpur was devoid of mountains but it was picturesque to say the least. 

 There were fields extending till the horizon

The road was paved by trees on both sides. 

It took quite a long time to reach Tezpur university.

Main entrance

It exceeded IIT Guwahati campus in its beauty.  

 The guest house

The hostel where we stayed

Dr. Sachin Singh helped a lot in arranging the stay for professors in guest house and our stay in the hostel. He even 'ferried' us between hostel and guest house a number of times. He also suggested that we can go to a park in Tezpur city. It is beautiful and is a popular tourist attraction. We obliged and were not disappointed. It was indeed beautiful.

Ghat : Humka aur kuch na chahi humka ghat pe photo chahi !!

Bhabhiji and Aami 

From left to Right : Dr. Sachin Singh, Chetan, Manoj sir, Bhabhiji, Aami, Rao Sir, Madam, Yours Truly, Dinesh sir

Sculpture depicting the Hari-Har battle. Brahma ji trying to stop Har and Hari from fighting. 

 I thought pictures won’t do justice to the beauty of the place, so I took a video. 

A bridge to the far left side, vast Brahmaputra river in front, setting sun on the right and city in the back. The view was ultimate. One can sit there forever. . But since that was not practical we came down. 

On our way back to the Tezpur University campus we visited a temple. By the time we got back to the campus it was pretty dark, although it was barely 1730 that time! I was eager to sit on the benches in front of the lake.

It was an awesome experience too. The grass was wet from the dew. Occassionally a splashing sound of frogs jumping into the water can be heard. It was dark, but silhouettes of trees and houses on the other side of the lake could be seen. Beyond the silhouettes the twinkling stars can be seen in the clear night sky.

After sometime our group came out from the guest house and we went for coffee in the cafeteria. It was impeccably clean. The service was a bit late ( as usual) but it appeared straightaway that the cafeteria is well maintained. The taste was not that good, but it was still delicious in that hungry state. ! Chetan and I went with Dr. Sachin till the main market inside the campus to withdraw some money from ATM. He told us about the life and politics in an university. How, at an young age we prefer solitude and places like Tezpur which has so much natural beauty. And how after marriage the priorities gets re-aligned. When you are alone you can be anywhere but with family you need to socialise in functions and staying in far off places like Tezpur (~200 km from Guwahati airport) makes it really difficult. There was solid wisdom in his words.

After finishing the snacks and coffee we walked back till the guest house. Then Dr. Sachin dropped us back to our hostel. As per the usual practice I transferred the pictures from my camera and Chetan’s camera o Dinesh sir’s computer and put my camera in charging. We had early dinner and went off to sleep.

Chapter 6: Day 3 – Kaziranga and Guwahati

The plan was to start at 0430 from the guest house for Kaziranga. Manoj sir had to make a number of calls to arrange the elephant safari and the jeep safari for our group. At one point of time it seemed that nothing will work out. But he tried incessantly and ultimately we booked the safari for the complete group. So it was imperative that we show up there on time. But somehow I could not sleep that night. ! All I wanted to do was to go by that lake and sit on the bench. The whole night. Also the guys in the hostel were making a lot of noise. Amidst the interruptions I managed to catch maybe 30 minutes of sleep in the whole night. I woke up at 0250 but then fell asleep till Dinesh Sir woke me up at 0330.

Today was going to be the most interesting day of our trip.The idea was that we will get ready by 0415 and Dr. Sachin will pick us up from the hostel, but we got ready earlier than that and decided to walk till guest house. It was distance of around 1.5 kms. It was practically night that time. Street lights were on and the buildings shone in the distance. I tried taking pictures but as usual the beauty was far greater than the capability of the lens. It was the point when I started realising the futility of trying to take pictures. It was a vain attempt. I was better off just enjoying the view and recording it in my mind for future playback !

When we reached the guest house neither Manoj sir nor Rao sir not even the drivers were out. They all came in one by one and we departed from Tezpur University as per our plan after profusely thanking Dr. Sachin for all his help and time.

The journey from Tezpur to Kaziranga was nice. The sky was clearing little by little. Bhojpri songs were playing in the music system in the car.! From the plains of Tezpur we were gradually progressing towards the hilly terrain of Kaziranga. The scenery changed slowly.

We reached Kaziranga well ahead of our schedule. the clouds in the sky against the rising sun gave an awesome view.

There was a replica of a rhino just outside the range. We took numerous pictures with it. !! 

There were many goats there too. 

When Dinesh tried feeding them biscuits one of the baby goat stood up on his hind legs like a well-trained dog! 

The range was separated from the outside by a river. 

 An elevated platform was there for boarding the elephants. Rao sir, Madam and Chetan got on one elephant. Dinesh sir, Manoj sir, Bhabhiji, Aami and myself got onto another elephant. It was scary for the fr=first few minutes when the elephant got down form the elevated platform. But after that the ride was pretty pleasant.  

The mahaout told us about the upkeep of the elephant. We saw rhinos from quite near. Well some of the pictures are taken in zoom so the objects may appear closer than in reality!!

He told us about one time when a tiger tried to attack and how the mahout hit the tiger on his head with an ankush ( a metallic handle) to send it running back in the forest. It was good to hear but definitely not a fun story to experience. We came back from the elephant safari and alighted the elephant. 

Then we got ready for the jeep safari. In this all of us were together in the same jeep.

It was not half as exciting as the elephant safari because there was not much to be seen. But still we saw elephants, bison, deer and rhinos again in the jeep. The scenery was again brilliant.

At one point the jungle with all its old trees and vines resembled like a lost jungle of Sumatra or inca!! But the low point of jeep safari was the dust. The jeep ahead of us was unsettling the dust on the road and all of it was coming on to us. We thought of staying back a little and let the jeep go ahead of us but in that jeep there was a guard and we cannot roam around with a guard in these part of jungle. So we decided to play it safe and let the dust fall upon us.

At the end of the safari the driver took us to a viewing spot. It was similar to the spot where we went yesterday, only much more beautiful.

After that we started our journey towards Guwahati. We stopped only once for lunch at Brahmaputra hotel. The service was late (as usual) but the food tasted good in that hungry state (as usual!!).

We reached Guwahati by around 1700 hrs ahead of the other car in which Rao sir, Madam and Dinesh sir were travelling. I got the time to see the guest house and the lake closely this time.

When Dinesh sir arrived, we decided to go to the view point, up in the hill. Manoj sir told whole of the campus and the Brahmaputra river can be seen from up there. We called Anil too. Poor guy was missing out on everything in this trip till now. Manoj sir called Bhabhiji as well.

The trek upwards was nice but the view from the top was not that nice as was promised. The light was dying too. But still it was quite serene out there. 

 Another car was there in which a bunch of tourists had come to see the view. Only I and Anil were left from our group rest had started moving downwards. Ghosh sir had warned us not to be there in night time as we may encounter some wild animals so we were hurrying back. On our way back Anil started playing “dilli wali girlfriend” on his mobile. We did not encounter any wild animal, and all credit is due to that unbearable song. Humans can't tolerate it, how can wild animals!!

From that view point we returned back to our hostel. The plan was to leave for Shillong early morning. Dinesh sir, Rao sir and madam will start ahead of us, while Manoj sir, bhabhiji, Chetan, Anil and myself will first go to Kaamakhya maata temple and then we will start for Shillong. But the plan was re-modelled. Nevertheless went to sleep thinking that we are going to Shillong.

Chapter 7: Day 4 - Guwahati

I got up in time to get ready. We were supposed to leave for Kaamaakhya maata at 5 from the college. But I found that Dinesh sir was already awake and he just received a call from Rao sir. Madam was not feeling well and it was not possible for her to make the trip to Shillong. The roads are more curvy and the journey maybe harder. So the trip to Shillong was cancelled and we decided to stay back and explore Guwahati. Anil missed out on Tezpur trip and he missed out on Shillong trip too. But the visit to Guwahti was worth it.

First up we went straight to Kaamkahya maata (a little behind the schedule because we had ample time now). It is situated around 15 kilometers form campus (maybe a bit more). We had to park our car outside then walk some distance to get in the actual temple. It was a good experience spiritually but in some aspects it was not such a nice experience. But that will be a separate post.

Once we completed our darshan we headed downwards. We had our breakfast/lunch in a hotel in Guwahati market. During last day’s jeep safari I had contracted cold and I was not feeling very well. So I did what I always do in such situation. I gorged up on roti and paneer (butter masala). Then we returned back to campus. For a brief rest.

 After that we went to the bank of Brahmaputra river flowing by the IIT Guwahati campus. The bank was not as clean as I was expecting, but still, to see a vast flowing river with Guwahati city in the other side, mountains, the hill on which the Kaamakhya Maata temple was situated in a clear day; it felt really nice. 

Also there were 2 cute pups there. But somehow they were afraid of me. And it broke my heart.

This was a recurrent theme with the dogs in Guwahati. They were somehow scared to come near. One particular dog followed me around the IIT G campus on the day of conference but every time I tried petting his head or rub his belly, he used to step back. And when I started walking he again would follow me around.

Anyways we went a little ahead to the point where people were getting onto ferries which them between this side and the Guwahati city. It was kind of a beach so we sat down for a while. The sun was not that hard right now. The sand was cool. A mild breeze could be felt. A fisherman was trying to use his contraption to catch fishes (with no success). We sat there for around half an hour.

Next, the plan was to go to Guwahati city. Bhabhiji and Aami joined us with 2 other ladies for our trip to Guwahati. The ladies lived in the same building where Manoj sir was staying temporarily. First we tried to get to Guwahati by the road, but there was a BIG traffic jam which extended for around 5 kilometers. We took the next possible U turn and returned back to the Brahmaputra River ghat. 

This time not to just look at the ferries but actually board them to reach Guwahati city on the other side. It was a pleasant ride. The ripples of the water which approached the moving ferry and then changed its direction and velocity upon encountering the streamline created by the ferry which cut across the water surface was a sight to behold. My mind went back to the wave equation and all those analogies of waves which are used to describe the wave propagation in physics. It was beautiful. The way the waves inter mixed on the peaceful surface. The sun was setting. We were sitting in the ‘basement’ of the ferry. On top two wheelers were parked. On the far horizon we could see a small island where a famous temple was located. I was sitting inside with Dinesh sir. Manoj sir, bhabhiji, Aami and the other 2 ladies were sitting inside too. Chetan and Anil were standing outside. After some time I came out to see the view. I should have come out earlier! It was such a beautiful sight. 

Me and Mondal Da (our driver)

Once we reached Guwahati we parted ways with the ladies. The ladies headed to the fancy market, while we decieded to go to a handicraft showroom. In his excitement, Anil boarded a bus ahead of us and as soon as he boarded it the bus moved ahead. Anil knew nothing about the city so we shouted for the bus to stop. It stopped around 5 meters away !! from there we walked to the handicraft shop. 

 The handicraft shop.

The shop was good. Lots of variety and good items. Everyone purchased a lot of things. Shawls, fancy items, pen stands, bed sheets etc. I got adventurous and purchased a flute! And before you judge let me tell you I learnt to play a tune within the next 15 hours! Through hit and trial and that’s saying something. The items were cheap too , because roughly 22 hours later we were gonna need money. Lots of money. But that was still in future. At this moment we were just delighted to be in this wonderful place.

Once we were done with the shopping, we headed outside and had golgappas. We are pretty sure that the guy selling the golgappas counted them wrongly and over charged us but are never aggressive (22 hours later I got aggressive, but that’s in future!).
We were headed to fancy baazar. In the way we had pakoras. 

Fancy baazar

We joined the ladies’ group at the ghat and headed back. This time were in a big boat which I mistook for a waiting room until it started moving!!

 I like this pic even though it is out-of-focus

We reached campus within half an hour. Settled the payment and headed back to hostel. Now we just had to chill till the time of our flight.

Chapter 8: Twist and TWIST

Every good story starts with a simple premise. Then it develops into a tricky middle act followed by a last minute twist ending which leaves the audience/readers with a sense of bewilderment.

Before I embark on this final chapter of our trip, let me bring your attention to 2 things. The chapter title Twist and TWIST. It signifies minor and major twists. Because as is the trend, whenever twists came, it didn’t came alone. And secondly if you were watching closely (tip of hat to Nolan for THE PRESTIGE), you could have seen that I have been ending each chapter at the point where I went to sleep. But not the last one. Because something happened before going to sleep that night. We got the minor twist.

So you may remember that Anil got a call from Spicejet the day before his departure saying that his flight is cancelled and he can go for full refund. Anil said yes. But the problem was, Anil had booked both the onward and the return journey in the same airline (Spicejet) and the PNR number was same for both the onward and the return journey..

When the call came, Anil thought he was asking for refund for the onward journey. But the representative at the other end cancelled both the onward and the return tickets. So when Anil checked his PNR status it showed cancelled.

It came as a major shock for Anil. All the trains were booked for the next 2 days. Even with the train ticket he was looking at another 44 hour of train journey. He called up the customer care, they picked up after 15 minutes and stated their helplessness in helping him in any manner. Anil got charged up and was about to start an argument when his balance ran out. He was in distress.

At this point I came in. I called up the customer care. It took 20 minutes to cnnect. Another 20 minutes for the executive to understand the situation and the fact that Anil had to get back to delhi ( I was posing as Anil and doing the talking). At last the guy realised what we were trying to tell him and he confirmed Anil’s ticket.

We all heaved a sigh of relief (Anil heaved the longest sigh of relief) and went for dinner.

Next morning was a peaceful one. We had no places to visit or to hurry. I got up and packed my things. Then tried playing the flute and after around one hour of hit and trial I finally managed to build up a tune. A popular tune. !

We had our lunch and headed towards airport. IIT Guwahati had arranged for our transport (because we were with Rao sir). It was a bit congested for the 4 of us but we managed till the airport and thankfully there was no traffic jam on the way.

We reached airport and helped Rao sir and madam to check their luggage through security checking and entered the waiting lounge.

There was still around 4 hours before the scheduled departure of our flight. We were just whiling away time. Dinesh sir spotted a book store and asked me if I will come with him to that shop. I accompanied him. He purchased English translation of Gitanjali while I purchased a collection of short stories by O. Henry. It was sort of fan indication of the things to come, because O. Henry was a master of last line twists.

We decided that we can check-in our luggage and get our boarding pass, after that we can simply relax till it is the time of boarding. We went to the Spicejet counter to ask whether they will give the boarding passes for our flight. They told they will start it after sometime. We waited for 15 minutes and then again I went to the counter to ask.

Brace yourselves, for what happened next.

The lady at the counter told “Sorry sir, the flight is cancelled. You can go for full refund”.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL.

Anger, frustration, helplessness dawned upon me simultaneously. What followed was 40 minutes of intense shouting at the Spicejet counter with the conversations going round and round. (You can read the gory details in my last blog. Be advised that te language maybe a bit graphic, it was written in a state of extreme anger).
There were other passengers too. Apparently they cancelled a lot of flights that day. Dinesh sir was put in-charge of the luggage. I was trying to convince them to re-schedule the flight by screaming at them. Anil and Chetan joined me for sometime, later they wised up and started looking for some other alternative.

They found out that 4 seats are available in an Air India flight which was scheduled to leave within 45 minutes. Ticket cost is 15K per head, but they want only cash. I did not have that much money in my ATM. So Chetan and Anil arranged the money. The lady at the counter was pressurising us to pay quicly otherwise the seat maybe given to someone else, so we took out the money and gave it to them simultaneously. First Dinesh sir took out 15K, I handed it over to the lady. By the time she counted it, the next batch of 15K arrived. Thankfully the ATM was nearby and there was not much rush.

Ultimately we got the seats. Checked-in. We were on the same flight as Rao sir.! We told him about what happened. We decided ot boo Air India (exclusively) for future travel.

The journey back was nice. They gave snacks (unfortunately, it was not unlimited). We reached in time. Got a cab and reached home.

Thus concluded our eventful trip to Assam. 

Special mentions :

• We acknowledge the help extended by Dr. Sachin Singh at Tezpur University. He gave us time and helped us in every way possible. Thank you so much sir.
• A special mention of the warden at the Tezpur hostel. He mistakenly overcharged us by 300 rupees (he made a calculation error). But he woke us up in the night (because we were leaving early morning the next day) to give us back the 300 rupees. We could have kept it without us knowing anything, but he chose not to. Respect.
• Special mention of the security guards and the in-charge of IITG auditorium who found, retained and returned Chetan’s cam. They could have easily kept it for themselves but they chose not to. Respect.
• Thank you Mondal da (our driver) for making me an addict of Bhojpuri songs!
• Thanks to Prfo.Dixit and Dr. Ravishanker for the hospitality extended.