Weekend.

This weekend I, along with Jha and RG, took a trip to Pune and Mumbai. Since Friday was a holiday on the account of Holi/Good Friday, we took leave from office for Thursday too and took train for Pune on Wednesday evening. The journey was long but major part of it was spent in night, so weather didn't bother us that much.

We took a halt at Pune, before taking off for Mumbai next day, to meet old pal Amit Jain (aka Cheeku :). I found Pune to be quite similar to Bangalore (to start with, both were Cantonment Towns, if you know what I mean). The city is still not as over crowded as Bangalore, but with IT companies popping up crazily, it could be matter of months only! The rent rates are quite cheaper than Bangalore rates. The difference was quite shocking (Cheeku stays in a quite decent 2 BHK apartment and pays 6000/- pm for it, along with 3 others!). We missed the college crowd (bird watching session!) at the famous MG road and FC road, probably we were late to reach there. The best investment we could think of, for our only night in Pune, was to watch a movie together. We went to Inox Multiplex (they play movie to be released on Friday on Thursday last show!) and watched Tango Charlie which turned out to be ultimate bore!

Next day we started for Mumbai in sarkari AC bus, which was pathetic to say the least. I couldn't quite relate with Mumbai this time, which was disturbing for me. I've spent four years (plus little extension :) there and yet it seemed alien to me. But I guess the Mumbai I spent time at was different from the Mumbai I visited now. We stayed at PJ's (nice) apartment, which is located at posh Powai Gardens. We went to Toto's Garage, bowled at Hakone, dined at Pizza Hut. On the contrary, during the campus days my tastes were rather humble; 50 bucks could buy more than decent lunch, bowling was considered extravagant, pizza was a luxury, travelling in taxi was done only when absolutely necessary. Money can corrupt minds :).

I quite liked Toto's Garage. It has absolutely fantastic ambience, plays good music and hosts good looking people :). I've quit drinking but abstemious visits to pubs are still enjoyable. This visit was an exception tho' pertaining to a forgettable, though not regrettable, incident where yours truly ended up emptying a soda bottle on half-drunk Mandy's crotch. As I said, its quite forgettable incident and I'm not holding any grudges and hope for vicé versa.

Our visit to hostel wing brought many memories rushing back. I couldn't check out my room, after I saw that they've painted the rooms and thus my murals were lost, soI lost the interest to visit my room. It was really nice catching up with wing juniors, we sat for some time and cacked like good old days. Campus was looking good, mainly due to recent painting. I couldn't go to SP for their superb biryani though, quite regrettably.

The train journeys were long, but I tried to capture some good landscapes with Jha's new camera. Very soon I'll upload them on the net, some of them turned out to be real stunners!

Currently Reading: Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis; Casino Royale - Ian Fleming