Artagnon's Presence

I had a meeting on Friday that extended upto 3:30 AM on Saturday. I slept at 4 AM on Saturday, only to wake up again at 7:30 AM and catch a train to Kolkata ten minutes later (yes, I just woke up, brushed my teeth and left). The local metro is awesome. I’d come to Kolkata to buy books- I wasn’t going to spend that money on cab rides. I headed straight to College Street to buy some books. I realized that I was feeling really hungry and headed straight to the famous (?) India Coffee House. Somehow managed to gobble up one plate of horrible chicken pakoras without eating too much bone/cartilage. The coffee, ofcourse, was awesome. I had two cups and convinced myself that I wasn’t feeling hungry anymore. Didn’t find too much at College Street- people were heading to the Kolkata Book Fair. Bang! That’s where I should be. In a hopeless attempt to catch the tram with a bag full of books, I totally exhausted myself, and then eventually dragged myself to the metro station. Got off at Esplanade and took a direct bus to the book fair.

Book Fair. 4:55 PM. I realized only then that I hadn’t even taken a piss since morning. After a short visit to the washroom in Science City, which was opposite the book fair, I was quickly back on track. It was 5:15 PM and I had to be _in_ Kharagpur at 11:00 PM to participate in a night-long coding competition, Overnite because I’d couldn’t let down my teammates. Forced myself to get out of the book fair at 7:00 PM after purchasing twelve books jointly with a friend. I knew I was running out of time and didn’t mind cabbing it to Howrah. But I couldn’t get out of the place easily- everyone wanted to get out and ten people were fighting to get the same cab. Started walking down without no end in sight. Then it struck me! First get out of the damn place somehow and then think about the rest. I got onto a random bus, paid a random bus fare and got off when I felt I was far enough from the mad rush at the book fair.

I was stranded in the middle of the highway, with no cab willing to take me to Howrah. Finally, one agreed to take me there for two hundred bucks. What the hell? I just had to get back in time. I tried sleeping in the cab, but the ride was over even before it started. He left me stranded in the middle of nowhere again and told me Howrah was just five minutes away by bus. What the %#*%&#*^? Only if I could get a bus, right? I was hungry, filthy and tired of carrying around  my share of six books. Did what I do best- kept walking down the road with no end in sight until I found a bus and jumped into it.

Howrah station. 8:10 PM. Next train to Kharagpur, Yeshvanthpur Express at 8:35 PM. Opportunity to finally eat something. This wasn’t Chatrapati Shivaji airport. No CCDs, no Barista. Heck, no place to even have a quick decent snack. Ate a couple of samosas and got onto to the train. Got myself a small place to sit on the top berth. Better than standing, but not comfortable enough to take a nap.

Kharagpur station. 10:40 PM. Went back to the room as soon as I could to dump the six books. I was filthy from all the running around, especially at the book fair. I had to wash atleast my hair. Emerged at 11:15 AM after a freezing cold bath. Missed calls on my phone. I had to get to the Overnite venue immediately. No time to even grab a snack.

Overnite begins 12:00 midnight. After the initial registration, I quickly got out to get something to eat. Packed cakes and canned coffee. Ouch. I had three of each. I was in no state to write any code. Hung around till about 6:00 AM for whatever little moral support I could provide. There was no way I could actually balance myself on a cycle all the way to my hostel. I walked back and crashed at 7:00 AM on Sunday morning.

That’s the story of how I managed to end up with a fever, throat infection and severe sleep deprivation/exhaustion and sleep through Sunday and Monday (eventually missing an afternoon lab).

Tags: kolkata, overnite, sick

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.