Chiku buku chiku bukku railuu...

Indha nalla London managar-la trains odudhu-nu ellarkume theriyum, aana enna azhagula odum theriyuma? Everyday in some networks, there would be some delay, some engineering work...so eventually late-a varardhu normal-ana vishayam. And if you arrive on time, well, that's a bonus!

Naan ennoda 2.5 months tenure-la oru thadavai kooda on time vandhadhe kidayadhu en office-ku. Podha kuraiku ennoda nalla lead en time sheet naan parkareno illayo, avar correct-a vandhu naan eniku late-a vandhen, enniku off eduthen ellam track panni vandhu sollitu povar. Yet another aspect in my life here is that, I keep shifting residences..idhoda 4 idathula stay panniachu, just like my career, my residence also keeps changing. Ippodhan Sunday aniku I moved to the 4th place (oh yeah, and the next day my brother left for India).

Monday aniku I started for office - idhu pudhu idam illaya, so I didnt know the exact station and stuff and only knew the overall picture (en mobile eduthukka marandhutten, to ask others from same area). I had a meeting by 9:15, so I was kind of rushing. So station-lerndhu I took a train to London Bridge which was good, just 20 mins travel. Ippo London Bridge pathi yaravadhu periya expectations vachirundheenga-na marandhudunga, it is just like our normal bridge over Coovam.

London Bridge-la irangi I took the Northern Line to Moorgate, en office-la niraya per andha station-ladhan iranguvanga, so I thought I could go there. Train erittena, adutha stop vandhadhu..Bank. Normal-a naan previous edathulerndhu Central line eduthu varumpodhu my train passes through Bank, and it is the stop just before my stop. Aaha, Bank vandhuduche, namaku Central line edutha easy and familiar-achenu I got down.

Erangi suthi parkaren, platform-la central line indication-e kanom!! Seri padi eri parpom-nu eri ponen, partha Monument station-nu potruku!! Aaha, eppoda Bank station Monument station-a marichu-ntu kozhambitte suthi partha District and Circle lines dhan anga nikkumam! Hayoo, ennada idhu-nu frantic-a edhir platform partha, there was a board saying Central line. Seri-nu platform cross pannen...panna udane, the arrow indicated the stairs going dpwn. Seri ok-ntu padi iranginen, irangina vandhudum-nu. Irangina udane, left indication irundhudhu..ok fair enough, left-la thirumbina platform poliruku-nu thirumbina...the indication said go straight.

Ok, kona dhooram dhan-nu nera pona..there were stairs going up, so I climbed the stairs. Appovum platform kanom..innoru board said go straight..and there was yet another set of stairs, and the board said climb the stairs!! idhe madhiri 7 thadavai I had to go straight and take stairs up and down :( For every staircase reached, I was losing my energy and kadaiseela I was almost staggering! By now I had missed the Northern line which would have reached Moorgate in one minute, a circle line that would have reached in 5 minutes, and when I saw the arrival board, it said the next train is due in 6 minutes!! Ada kodumaiye, idhuka naama ivalo kashta pattom-nu time partha...it was already 9:30! Breakfast missed, meeting missed, train also missed!!!

Office reach pannumpodhu mani was 9:50 AM, and the kodumai didnt stop there, I opened my calendar only to see that the meeting was only next week!!

(Seri seri ok Bala.G, enna enna line inga pogudhu-na - Central, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City, Northern, Jubilee, District, Circle, Bakerloo...idhuku mela edho 2-3 iruku. But dont ask me where these lines go, these lines cover the whole of London. Circle line mattum, as its name depicts, goes round and round covering specific areas..so thoongina kooda you can still go to the place you want sitting in the same train. I dont want to cover the stations, that would be too much, but what I was mentioning was that "Bank" is just before my usual stop Liverpool St via Central line, and unfortunately it is just before my new stop Moorgate too via Northern line. Adhanala kuzhambi poi naan irangitten. Avalodhan...ippovavadhu edhavadhu vilangudha?)