Back in Mumbai

We got back to Delhi from Mathura on Sunday, Nov 8th. It was a comfortable ride back on the August Kranti Rajdhani, which brought us back to Delhi’s Nizamuddin station in 2 hours. The family car picked us up from there to bring us home. The only hiccup was that my stupid phone doesn’t seem to find a network when it’s needed the most . We were supposed to call Anand, the driver, when we alight at Nizamuddin so that he could bring the car around. But I couldn’t find a signal at all, so Madhu had to make the call from a PCO. There was no network at the Gurgaon home as well. I swapped the Airtel SIM card in my phone with Amma’s phone and found that we could get a strong Airtel network on her phone. This meant that it’s my US Motorola phone that’s causing the problem . We definitely need to buy a local phone…

On Monday and Tuesday, we did nothing but laze and catch-up on emails, our blogs and pictures. We also practiced our driving skills using dad’s Santro. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. But I still need tons of practice, especially with moving the gears at the right time. Madhu seems a little more confident.

Yesterday, Nov 11th, we took the August Kranti Rajdhani from Nizamuddin to get back to Mumbai. It’s an overnight journey that starts from Delhi at 5pm and gets to Mumbai Central around 10am the next day. We booked our tickets using the MakeMyTrip.com site again and were able to get 2AC (2-tier, Air-conditioned) compartment tickets for a total of Rs.4,550 – this included taxes and fees. The train was on time and we had a rather pleasant journey. It’s a sleeper coach, so linens, blankets and pillows were provided – they were or at least, looked clean. The food provided was also quite good. As soon as the train got moving, we were given a bottle of mineral water each. Then a few minutes later, the staff came around with a tray of evening tea/coffee and snacks, which consisted of a cheese sandwich, a kachori and a peda . They were all packaged exclusively for the railways by Haldirams’, so the quality was pretty good. For dinner, we had an option of veg or non-vegetarian meals. Madhu and I both opted for a veg meal, which consisted of 2 plain parathas, a paneer dish, jeera rice, daal, salad and dahi – it was quite good. The next morning, for breakfast, we were served bread and omelettes, which were yummy. Overall, for a train journey, the food quality definitely surpassed all my expectations. The one concern, of course, were the bathrooms . I’m a little squeamish about public toilets in India – but the toilets in our compartment weren’t all that bad. It was relatively well-maintained, so no complaints.

We alighted at Borivali, a north-western suburb of Mumbai and took a regular taxi out to Thane. It cost us Rs.700, which was a lot more than I expected. Apparently, taxis from Mumbai suburbs that come out to Thane, charge for the return fare as well. If we had booked a Meru taxi in advance, they would have only charged us one-way as they expect to find other fares in the area. Oh well – we learn with each passing day …

Now the plan is to apply for our OCI cards as soon as possible. Part of the application process is online, which is nice. Copies of our passports and a demand draft of the fees will need to be mailed to the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Mumbai. It will then take about 3 to 4 months of processing time to get the OCI card. Once the application is submitted, we need to go to Pune to retrieve one of our bags that our friend brought with her to help us out with the luggage situation back then. Her mother lives in Pune and the bag’s with her. We’ll probably hang out in Pune for a couple of days and see the place too. Madhu studied at PICT, a computer engg college out there. He has regaled me with many of his college stories so I’m totally looking forward to checking that campus out as well …