The Beginning...

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26th evening

Train to Chennai

The day was a whirlwind. Just so many things to take care of and with that my almost visceral need to spend more time with Sanaa. She has been trying to come to grips with my travels, and i have been trying to find some justification within my head. To go away for a week without her? Why? Why am I guilt tripping so much?

I am taking the Chennai Express. A little nervous about the fact that my flight leaves at 10 next morning. It should be easy, I hope the train is not delayed. I have just one bag, I can put it on my shoulder and run if need be. May be i am just worrying too much.

Was it important to do this? Would i be able to find the 'me' underneath the 'me' the mother and the 'me' the wife? Is there a real me anymore? Is it necessary that there should be? Should I even resist being defined by relationships? Sometimes you need to be alone to hear the voice inside your head.

Big mistake! Should have carried some food. Food orders must have been taken at 5. And all came after that was Porotta/ Chapathi and Egg/ Veg curry. I made bold by asking for a meal - disaster. It was a fish curry meal and the stinking curry just what i hate spilt all over the rice. I threw it away and settled for chapathi and egg curry. Edible. Good thing i had a bottle of water with me. Another mistake - no tissue/ toilet paper - nothing...these are must haves when you travel in Indian Railways.

I woke up in the middle of the night with text messages from my friend who was joining me. He was flying in from Frankfurt to Kolkata by Lufthansa (in which he got bumped up to business class because they had overbooked, and no one was complaining about that) and was scheduled to catch the 4.30 am Deccan flight from Kolkata to Port Blair. Well, ofcourse meanwhile Deccan has become Kingfisher, and it has slipped my mind to tell him about that, and not just that, the 4.30 flight in non-operational! And no, no one has thought of informing either of us of that tiny little detail. So now he has been put on the next flight, which is at 8.50 am, so he should be arriving more or less at the same time as me, if everything goes all right from now on.

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