Bangalore to Hyderabad

Bangalore Hyderabad trips are part of thousands of Telugu software engineers.
A whole section of the transport industry thrives on this chunk of population who work in Bangalore but have strong ties back home.

My favourite mode of transport has been the Bangalore-Hyderabad Express inspite of the inconvenient timings.
Being a 'true blue' engineer, too lazy to walk over to the reservation counter, I always got a kick from booking tickets online at www.irctc.co.in. Every single time I booked an online ticket, I felt so happy being an Indian with access to lightning service from the largest railway company in the world.

The train used to leave Bangalore City at 5 pm, but most of us used to prefer the pretty Cantonment station.
With just two platforms and conveniently located at the heart of the city, the Cantonment station is heritage Bangalore at its best - clean, small, quiet and convenient. I used to leave office at 4.30, haggle with those auto drivers and finally reach the Cantt station.
Buy a magazine, grab a cup of coffee, look around to see if anyone I know is travelling too..

At 5.20-ish I am settling down into my seat, looking around for some good company (if I have not already met a friend/colleague/ex-colleague).. I don't know why but I always used to get those typical families who have a son working in Bangalore and a daughter settled in the US (80% chance that she is in San Jose).

In my early days as a s/w engineer I used to participate in those discussions of how high we are paid, how late we work etc.. "Your generation don't exercise enough. You sit all day with your computers and don't use your brains." - says the old man next to the window seat.
I stopped bothering about giving my opinions on such mundane stuff and preferring keeping to myself.

The guy next to me is reading Outlook Money to get the latest dope on hot stocks and investment avenues. He happens to work for - TCS, Infy, Wipro, IBM, HCL, TI, Intel - or some other company at Whitefield.
After the routine chat on Java, SAP, Peoplesoft, Onsite salaries & Indian salaries, we end up discussing common friends. The Indian software industry is well connected and if you are a graduate from a decent college, there are good chances that you know someone who knows someone who inturn knows your friend's brother !

We've crossed Yelahanka now and by then we'd have had a good look at the booming real estate and the Hebbal Flyover. Little stations zoom past us. Let me remember: Bangalore East, Bayyappannahalli, Doddaballapur.. not bad.. Yelahanka has a stop.

Slowly you find everyone quite cheerful and before you wonder why, you know why. Its the sunset.
It was always a pleasure watching the sunset as the train sped away through the hills.

Hindupur is the first station after the train enters Andhra.
And the sequence is:
Dharmavaram - Get down, have omlette, buy water, go back and goto sleep. Its 9.30-10.00 pm
Gooty
Kurnool
Mahbubnagar
Kacheguda - 5.30 am

There is a definite sequence of things you eat/drink on this train:
- Chai, coffee
- Alu Bonda/masala vada
- Tomato Soup (with two crusty pieces of bread)
- Meal from the Pantry
- Omlettes at Dharmavaram

Get down at Kacheguda at 5.30 and wake up to harsh realities : Hyderabadi Auto Drivers :-)

Scotland - The Haggis Experience

Scotland is my best travel experience till date, not just because I love mountains, silence and single malt.  It so happened that I was suddenly alone during the 2004 Easter long weekend in the UK.  A splendid (well, almost) Italy trip got cancelled in the last moment.  I sincerely think Italy would have been splendid since I chalked out the itinerary after hours of Googling.  We planned to cover Venice, Florence, Lake Garda and Rome -  travelling in trains and staying at quaint little B&Bs.  But, never mind...

Ok.. So I had 3 days left to plan a long weekend and I somehow stumbled upon this company called Haggis Adventures.  I blindly went and booked a package for 269 pounds for 5 days and had a superb holiday.  
The guy met me (and a bunch of wild backpacking girls) at London’s King Cross station on Thursday morning.  Put us onto a train to Edinburgh (EdinBurrraaaa ).  Picked us all up at the station in the trademark yellow bus and drove us down to Bruntfield’s Youth Hostel.
And drove us all around Scotland for the next 4 days, taking us on trekking trails, staying in a castle, having a bon fire, arranging Scottish folk music & dance at the cute little Scottish pub in the village at Carbisdale, tasting authentic Malt throughout, spend a night on the Isle of Skye and educating us all the while on the ancient geography and tragic history of Scotland.

Not to forget the tour guides.  They were mad. And made us play all sorts of games and made it feel like a college trip.

Next time you see a whisky whose name starts with Glen,  think of me.  Because Glen is the scottish word for mountain.  Any Speyside whisky is good because the water from the river Spey has the peaty taste imbibed from the coal in the land.
I made some great friends from all over the world – US, Brazil, New Zealand, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Canada and Australia.
I can devote a whole page for this trip, but in short :
Go for Haggis adventures when you go there next time.