My Days Is Modiland:- My First Rendezvous With The Charming Place

Hi guys!

A warm welcome to my new readers and comeback to my old ones.

And of course, a heartiest "Kem Chho" to my Gujju Bhais and Bens!

I am really thankful to all my precious readers for having encouraged me to continue with my writing spree.

And really apologise for having taken almost 2 years to make a comeback with my next instalment (I have really counted the days before which I have made this visit to my dearest darling Gujarat)

However, this next one is not really an episode specific to Gujarat.

It can take place with anyone making a first trip to start a new life with a new life partner.

Well, to cut the long story short and with a view not to bore my readers I will start with the episode.

I remember it was the last week of the financial year of 2014 (March which is really hectic to a Banker or anyone even remotely connected with the financial world). I, like the usual romantic fool I am, was very enthusiastic and eager to join my dearest hubby in Gandhinagar (Gujarat). I had even booked my train tickets for the 30th of March. Thankfully for me I was posted as processing officer at the Loan Processing centre at Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. As the junior most officer in the department I did not have much of a responsibility to shoulder. Still, I got an earful from my superior for not having informed her before I booked my tickets for Gujarat (Ms. Leena Lavande who has been my mentor throughout my time at the cell, who has never been anything but patient during my ceaseless periods of mistakes, and who has the sweetest smiles I have seen in any of my lady superiors). I will not blame her entirely, but I had to join the new place before 31st March of the financial year to save my year.

I had applied for a transfer in November 2013 after having received the good news of my hubby having got a job in Gujarat (a place I had visited as a kid when my father (Army Officer) was posted at Bhuj much before the place was literally demolished by the earthquake) but got my orders after a lot of follow ups only in the month of March 2014.

Well, on 30th March 2014, I had a train to catch from Bandra. My parents and sister with a heavy heart came with me to send me off to Gujarat (like in case of a bride going to her husband’s house for the first time. I was really happy for being able to join my husband and start a new life and was chattering throughout the way (looking back I think was a lot selfish for not feeling their grief) with my mother continuously reminding me to mind my luggage in the train and my father sharing anecdotes (he was upset but being the Army Officer he was he tried to hide the fact the best he could)

I boarded the train at Bandra after a not so tearful goodbye to my parents and settled down to enjoy the views outside the train (actually my train reached A Ahmedabad in the wee hours next day morning and we husband wife duo like the young foolish people we were and after having heard 100 good things about the safety of place called Gujarat had thought that my husband would come and pick me up the next day at Ahmedabad station around 8:00 a.m. after me having spent 4 hours at the station, but when we explained this idea to our parents we both got an earful from our respective dads and so my poor hubby dearest had to lose a night’s sleep so he doesn’t lose his wife.

I had got the side lower berth in 2AC and I settled down after having a packed dinner (simple but love filled sandwiches which my maa had quickly packed, even after my repeatedly telling her not to since it was one of the rare times I could have the railway meals) with starry dreams of my future life with my new shy husband (not so shy and not at all new after completing 11 years of marriage).

Like, at the beginning of this episode I had informed my readers that this writeup is not about Gujarat in specific but can happen with anyone particularly about to start a new life in a new place, it so happened that there was a young lady freshly married like and about to join her husband at Surat who was occupying the upper side berth. At 1:00 in the morning we reached Surat and, in a hurry, and half sleepy she got down quickly and unfortunately picked up a piece of my luggage (a small travelling bag not containing many items but which I would have liked to miss) instead of hers

When I reached Ahmedabad, I had to carry my luggage minus one which she had taken plus one which I had to take (which she had exchanged with mine). Fortunately, for the talker in me, I had taken down the girl’s number (don’t remember the name now but should be still having it in my contacts since my number remains the same from the time I have had a mobile phone). After 2 weeks of repeated calls her husband (who was a bigshot in some company in Ahmedabad) agreed to meet the not so bigshots (us) and even then instead of inviting us home sent one of his juniors to a well lit road where we exchanged the bags (just like we see in old Hindi movies where we exchange drugs for money, but fortunately here we did not require any password like some of the old don movies required)

Well, my first rendezvous with the charming place called Gujarat was not very charming.

But this was just the beginning of the many movies' adventures in the land of sweets and sweet people, the land of Bhais and Bens, the land of Lord Krishna and the dearest land called Gujarat.