Cartoon by Brainstuck.com
I have usually never paid attention to how my day has been: good or bad. Even when my sister asks me everyday, how was your day. I tell her it was as usual. But sometimes your days go horribly wrong and one thing or one person can make a huge difference.
Like the day I told you I lost my jute bag. After I lost the bag, some more subtle and unpleasant things happened same day. While returning to home, I realised with shock that I had also lost 250GB hard disc that I kept in my bag! With this discovery, I was more than ready to wallow in self-pity.
By sheer instinct, I decided to go back to the restaurant at metro station where I had eaten a vegetable cutlet waiting for my colleague, my co-commuter. I half-heartedly asked the guys at the counter about a jute bag that I might have left in their eating area. They queerly looked at each others’ faces, and called other guys. Finally one guy asks me, What did you have in your bag? Inwardly I angrily thought they don’t even have it, yet I have to list the contents of my bag. But to my surprise, they had it!
My colleague was wrong when she said I had brought the bag to auto. I got all my things back. The guy at counter informed me that my bag had also caused a ‘bomb’ scare. Getting your things back after losing them once is a very happy phenomenon. So that was a day that started badly and ended on a happy note. 😀
Cartoon from Toonpool.com
It happened again.
I had gone to Chandigarh for personal reasons. First I missed my Shatabdi from New Delhi Railway station. Why? I didn’t know which platform it was running on. I wasted precious 5 minutes, looking for ‘Enquiry’ counter. It had been shifted due to construction going on at railway station. I asked every policewallah and PCO wallah posted there about it. I ran up the stairs to platform, asked a coolie who directed me to Platform number 1. I saw display said platform number 2, I ran toward it but train was not there. I thought coolie was right, I rushed to platform number 1, train was not there too. Till now I am not sure which platform it went away from. People stationed at platform said it went from 1, while a passenger I met on return train (same day) said it went from platform number 2. But what matters is I MISSED the train. A whole post about Indian railways later.
I had to be at Chandigarh. So I told myself, Don’t panic, girl. I took an auto to the bus station. Took the fist bus that was leaving Chandigarh. It was a state bus, though freshly painted, it was not Air-conditioned. I traveled for 5 hours on hungry stomach. Things did not go well at Chandigarh either. I was pissed off but then I met Ava.
Ava was like a breath of fresh air. It was her working day, yet she had come to pick me up from my remote location. I was still hungry, she took me on her scooty to Anupams to feed me. We chatted, and then she dropped me to the railway station. She waited with me for the train to arrive and saw me till I boarded my Shatabdi, lest I missed my train this time. This sweet act of generosity and love made me whole day worthwhile, considering it had started so BAD.
I repeat, Ava, you were the best thing that happened to me that day. Thank you! 🙂 May God bless you, and we will meet again. I promise to be more energetic then than this time. 😉
Similarly, there was this meeting I had gone for. I was there by appointment, yet I had been waiting for about 45 minutes! Things went bad. In hot Delhi summer, there was no electricity at this facility. Forget cold water, there was no water for me or any other guests to drink. Thirsty and waiting in heat, I was about to walk out. But as always I was debating inwardly; just then the reception announced that I could go and meet the MD.
A surprise.
MD was a pleasant-mannered and very strikingly beautiful woman. I had great time talking to her. It was brief and to-the-point meeting. We talked with open honesty and it was clear we both needed to rethink about the things in question. We concluded the meeting, with promise to keep the dialogue open. Best part, she salvaged my day single-handedly. I was perked up for rest of the day and did some constructive things 🙂
Power of the human touch. How many times has it happened to you?
Visceral Observations 
Bingo.. you got it ! I was afraid to let you out of my sight until you had boarded the train. Readers ! I even patrolled her coach till the train left 😉
P, it was great to meet you. This has been a good year for me, first I meet Smita and then I meet you ! If my luck holds I will meet many more people on my blogroll .. cross my fingers..
Dont fret girl.. delhi station is a nightmare. Even Ahmedabad station is so cool, and this our national capital ???? tch tch !
Ava, you are such a sweetheart. I saw your patrolling and tried to catch your attention. My seat was on other side of the window. I would be lucky if I met all my blogroll, quite number of them are overseas and most of them Bangloreans.
A post about Railways soon. 🙂
Do you believe in Good times and Bad times within a day 🙂 ?
Destination Infinity
Hehehe..I live in timelessness, I would hardly realise it at the time. Do you believe in that?
as long as you give me credit and link, post away!!
I’m flattered.
Hey, I always meant to credit and link you. But since I was not sure when you would reply, impatient that I am, I published this blogpost. 🙂
But you didnt meet me in Chandigarh!!!! 🙂
How was Anupams? I didnt go there this time.
If you were in Chandigarh now, I would have met you. You didn’t meet me even when you were in Delhi for 3 days! 😛 This time? You a regular to Anupam’s in Chandigarh 😉
P.S: When are you writing that post about your visit to India?
Like some kinda detective series here.. CHD for Personal reasons.. rethink about things in question? Wot questions? waited for 45 mins for MD? Why? Arrey likhna hai toh sab saaf saaf likho.. ;);)
Ava could be the best day even our bestest day. I haven’t met her but someday I will. Btw, not even a line thanking me for the meet. Cuz of me only you could meet her else u surely wud have missed ur train. What a lucky train the morning one was, though!!! 😉
Huh…you don’t get things right, dude. Some things ARE meant to be personal, don’t need to write them in public domain. And why should I thank you? Me and Ava would have found each other anyway. It was all because of your buri nazar I missed my Shatabdi.:P
P.S: Apni grammar thik kar, I couldn’t understand the sentence you wrote about Ava. Neend mein log comment likh dete hain. 😉
While travelling from the new Hyd airport once, a lady left her laptop bag and went to the toilet and there was a bomb scare, almost. The CISF asked everyone to back out and the walkie talkies were in full chatter. The lady coolly walked back to her bag. The CISF officer then gave her an earful for leaving her bag unattended. She was embarassed for being chided so openly in front of everyone.
So…next time be careful of your luggage 😉
never knew that New Delhi rly stn was so sucky.
Well, the lady cudn’t have carried her laptop to her toilet, perhaps she could have told a co-passenger. But in my case, I had no choice, I forgot. That bag had my lunch! I will write another post on Indian railways that would tell how much more it can suck.
That first cartoon says it all. Everyday seems to be the toughest sometimes:)
Good that you got your things back.
It just happened recently, I was having such days of tough character. I usually have uneventful days. 🙂
Yup. Bad days are often caused by inanimate things, unfortunate events, strangers, and so on…and the warmth of a human being can save your day!
Agree with Vee above – the post reads like it was written for a select few ‘in the know’, and raises unanswered questions for us ‘outsiders’. 🙂
Naah, don’t pay much attention to Vee. He puts up these baits just to drive away my charming readers like you. 🙂 POV of my post was about having a good day and bad day. Reasons were inconsequential so I didn’t mention them. . 🙂
I have had my bad and good days but when someone asks me “how was your day?” my usual ans is “mast!” and thats not out of habit but generally i think that the day WAS in fact “mast”! 🙂 🙂
That’s good that you have all ‘mast’ days. May you continue to have them. 😛
@Poonam: Hope u wud nt mind sharing this episode in ur comments.I just thought to share it with u all.
My train experiences :bad but a bit funny as well.
I had just joined the college (in 1998) after schooling..The strating few months were a kind of new experience coz of ragging etc.I had been a studious and reserve kind of guy.The institue a highly prestigious but it was also notorious for ragging at that time.I guess now days a lot of fun is associated with this ragging episode but it was not all so funny at that time in our college.So, to save myself i used to go to my home every saturday evening and b back in monady morning.We were 5 ppl in the 1st yr from the same place.It was a saturday and we all were planning to go together.I asked my friends to collect a ticket for me as they were leaving a bit earlier.i was supposed to meet them at the station.They left and then i took an auto for station.when i reached the station i found the train just leaving so i boarded the train without looking for my friends.I could not find anyone of them in the adjacent compartments,so i thought to search when the train wud stop at some station for 5-10 mins.Almost one hour passed.Gradually i started realizing that i had boarded the wrong train,then i asked a fellow passenger and he told me the train is going to Varanasi and it will reach there at 1’O clock in the night.When i had boarded the train at 6’O clock in the evening it was a bit dark and the train which i used to board usually was supposed to be at that platform so i didn’t care and boarded it.
I became extremely worried as i had travelled less and never alone, so i became afraid of the thought that i wud be at some unknown stattion at 1’O clock in the night.I told to a young gentle man my story.i was a bit lucky and at some place a train ,which was going to the place from where i had boarded this train, stopped along with my train.Their that gentleman helped me to board that train.I reached back but as i was not having the ticket i had to bribe the consatable at the exit Rs 50,Though i explained him everything but it didnt move him.
So,I reached my hostel safely.
Prakash, thanks for sharing your experience. See, in your case too, a human touch made a difference to what that could have been a bad day. Yes, I know what you mean when you say that ragging was not fun those days.
well my days are on a roller coaster..one sec I feel like killing myself and the next sec I will be on top of the world…:P
It used to happen to me long back. Now I am not so high on emtional quotient. Days are usually neutral unless something eventful happens.
“You didn’t meet me even when you were in Delhi for 3 days!”
Poonam jee, I was not in Delhi for 3 days!!!!! You know that very well..I was there for 1.5 days and you know eevrything else..so stop blaming me…:).
Btw, I did update my blog..Iam sure you will love reading that post..:P
I will read that post today. And I was just kidding about not meeting. 😛
You’re pretty lucky to get your bag back. It’s always good to read such incidents that reaffirm your faith in humanity and honesty.
As for missing the train – i have done worse. I once missed a flight. An international flight.
Why? Because it took me two hours just to enter the super messed up Delhi airport. That was one embarrassing day.
Yes, I AM lucky to get that bag back, it had my 250 GB hard drive! I hope I never miss a train or flight again. It was a lesson learnt hard way. 😦
I’m tempted to write down that yesterday is history, 2moro is mystery, today is a gift yadda yadda blah blah stuff but I guess since your day already brightened up (look at all those concerned ppl. commenting away 🙂 ) I’ll let it go….
BTW, was ur milk jug still there innit?
Yes, all these days I wrote about they resurrected my happiness. Yes, my milk tumbler was in there. Needless to say, milk was spoilt in Delhi heat.
Ava could be the best thing in a day even if it is the bestest so far, till u meet her. Samajh jaaya kar. Anpadh, Ganwaar! Huh.
Huh.ulta chor kotwaal ko daante. Pehle apni langauage thik kar. 😉
P.S: and yes, I agree about Ava. 🙂
I’ll share something with you.
Two days before I had to leave for Edinburgh, suddenly there was too much work in the office. I was angry, thinking that why does this happen to me all the time? Why can’t I have some piece of mind and go happily on a vacation?
Then there was another gang in my office who were going to Italy on Easter holidays. Just one day before they had to leave, some serious issue came in their application and three of them had to cancel their plan. All the money gone down the drain as the tickets were non refundable.
That is when I realized how lucky I was that I at least went on a holiday and enjoyed myself.
Glad you could go to a vacation to unwind. Where did you head to?
*peace of mind* 😐
A very pleasant post Poonam! I mean something like every cloud has a silver lining or what I often call it, the law of compensation! My friend and me always joked about this law of compensation and you know it works!! You miss a bus, and meet someone nice and stuff like that. 🙂 Yeah, happened to me once to.
Real analysis of the days which and good and bad. as always said life if mixture of joys and sorrows like that there will be good and bad things. But one must know how to convert a bad day or a bad start to a good one. All the things explained will happen but your positive attitude will take u on right path. Yes let what may me u decided you will go to chandigarh let Indian Railways let u down, state transport by road came to your rescue, then your day at the place was not pleasant then you had Ava who made rest of your day wonderful and Ava ensured you will not miss shatabdi for second time.
gr8 thing is getting back your jute bag still we have lot of good and honest people be it be in a coffeeshop, autorickshaw etc., where no. of bad people too will be there. wonderful thing and your instinct to enquire took you to the place and it was a pleasant surprise to get back. yes what they have done enquiring about the things which were there just to ensure they are returning to the right person.
your post has brought out some hands on real life incidents out too
kudos to positive thinking which took you to good time
never lose patience in times of crisis be cool and see the alternatives available, you will end up finding a solution
pranesh
haha..you finally got back your bag 😛
these days i am even finding hard to comment , reply and to even write a new posts……..i guess i have gone into hibernation. i read this post the day you wrote it but i didnt even drop in my comments…….and what more….somehow my punky mood also shows my current mood as “goth” ….god knows when will i break open from this shell!
You got your bag back! And you met Ava! Good day after all! 🙂 Your cartoons and smileys made my day better, too. 🙂
That was some ordeal u had but then meeting Ava turned the tide no?? She is a sweetheart and meeting her was a pleasure indeed 🙂