Stranded!

12.30 p.m. 14th November 2010, Tuesday.

There we were, in the bus, on the way to Delhi. It had been the most fun week of my life, seven days with friends, seven days of sightseeing, seven days of making new friends, and seven days of every other imaginable fun thing. And now, it was getting over. In a few hours, we would be in two different trains and then we would only meet after school started.



It was our annual school tour. This year, me and ninety of my batch-mates had been to Nainital, Kausani and Bhimtal with nine teahers and three Cox and Kings tour escorts. We had had a blast, to say the least. And now, as the last day approached, we were told that we would be put into two trains, and most of my friends were in the other train. I wasn't happy, and it wasn't my best Children's Day. Well, we had already had lunch and we'd reach Delhi in a few hours (we would board our trains from New Delhi). It was time for my friends to board their separate bus to go to their seperate station to board their seperate train. I bade gooodbye to them and settled down with the remaining two of my friends to what I thought would be an extremely boring journey. We were some 100kms from Delhi, and stuck in traffic. It was irritating, getting stuck in traffic on a National Highway miles away from a city.



1.15 p.m. Still stuck in traffic, moved 5 metres.

Now we were talking about what we would miss most about those seven days. I was trying to come up with something I hadn't already said. Absorbed as we were in our discussion, I happened to glance out of the window.

"Look!" I exclaimed, "we've hardly moved an inch since everyone left!"

Everyone looked out of the wndow. Someone sighed. Nobody wanted traffic outside Mumbai!

"At this rate," someone remarked, "we could miss the train."

Everyone laughed. Somebody started singing the song that had been sung a thousand times over the past seven days just to keep from getting bored. I joined in at my favourite line, trying to shake off a funny feeling that had got me.



2.00 p.m. Moved one metre.

People were bored, very bored. We were out of songs to sing. I looked out of the window.

"Still there." I told everyone. I looked straight at the boy opposite me, who we called Calculator. "Assuming we get out of this traffic in the next 15 minutes," I said slowly, "our train's scheduled to leave at 4.30 isn't it?"

"We'll make it easily", he said. "Don't worry."



3.15 p.m. Not moved at all.

I looked at Calculator for the umpteenth time questioningly. Now, he looked worried too.

"I don't think - I mean, at this rate..." A few people gasped. Unanimously, we looked towards the front, where our tour escort was sitting. He had already whipped out his phone and was talking very fast. His forehead was wrinkled. He was sweating. A few words floated to the back: "Hotel Delhi International... yes, that's right... 25 rooms... thank you."

We turned to each other. And slowly, slowly, our expressions changed and we let out a huge cheer. We were going to miss the train! Those were the only trains for the next two days. Somehow, we were not tensed. We would leave tension to the tour operators. That was all we had wanted, and we had all got our seemingly impossible wish granted. So there we were, still stuck in the traffic and looking forward to the next few days of facing the unknown. Nobody was scared. Parents were duly informed, and everybody was soon talking excitedly.



Thus, it was at 4.15 that we escaped the traffic. Apparently, Chhat Puja celebrations were the cause of all the traffic. We reached Delhi at 6.00 in the evening and we were taken straight to the hotels in which we had been booked. At the hotels, seeing our friends from the other buses, we could only squeal and laugh in excitement.



Well, the next evening we left Delhi. No, not by train. We travelled from Delhi to Mumbai by buses! Arriving two days later than our scheduled arrival had all the parents worried, but for us, it had been the best vacation we had ever had. We also learnt a few things. 1)There are things you just cannot help, such as missing your train, and you have to live with it. 2)You never have a problem adjusting to that, its your parents who find it hard. 3)Its always better to carry a few extra sets of clothes, you never know!