Drama filled journey

Yesterday I was traveling from Bangalore to Coimbatore to visit my sister’s by flight. It is usually an hour and a half journey from my home. So booked the cab accordingly. When the cab arrived at 10.30 am (for my 1.30 pm flight) I didn’t expect the excitement that was gonna follow.
Just close to my home the traffic jam started. Since I had a 2000 Rs note (finally got one when I had been to a bank), the cab driver requested me to give him the cash instead of using the credit card and he called up his friend at the airport to have some change ready because the travel was expected to cost around 1200/- Rs and he didn’t have the money to pay back the rest. That is when his friend informed him that there was some heavy security in the airport and that the traffic was too high on the roads. Now my estimated time shot from 11.45 to 12 pm. I asked the driver to ensure to drive through less congested routes and got my kindle out. We were hitting traffic every now and then and I tried not to check my time lest I get worried and anxious. But almost close to 1/4th of the distance I heard a ‘bang!’ sound followed by yelling and some cursing by my driver.

Looks like my driver tried to overtake a suddenly stopped car only to have that car not see us and come forward there by hitting our car on the right back side creating a dent. Now the other car driver(another cab) was chasing us and was trying to get us to park the car and sort this out. Both the drivers started shouting that each of them had heavy damage but the other driver was hearing none of it. He threatened my cab driver even though he (my cab driver) tried to convince him that the mistake was on both sides and that his car had the maximum damage and also he was getting late to get to the airport. When the other car driver didn’t relent, my car driver decided to give him a miss and went through some lanes trying to stop him from tailing us and merged to the main road. I was all the while wondering what happened to my day suddenly. Hitting, Chasing, Escaping and Hoodwinking… 🙄
It was already 11.45 pm and I wasn’t even half way through. Now I started to worry, because there is no way I could get in (along with an additional baggage to drop off) and get to the gate before boarding time. I also started to check for the next flight just to be sure that my trip to the airport will not be wasted. By about 12.10 or so, after very long waits every where and the frustration of the driver at having his car dented (which was pretty new by the way) we reached the highways by 12.20 pm. From there the route was quite empty when compared to the roads inside the city. Finally, after that tension-filled will-I-make-or-not moments, I landed at the airport at 12.40 pm and the boarding was about to start at 12.45 pm.
Ran to the counter which was about to close and that girl looked at me up and down, totally disappointed. I told her that I had been through some rough journey and I really can’t help that I am late. Got the boarding pass (which wasn’t necessary because I had it on my phone, but these airline people will give you one on paper anyway) and my luggage receipts and ran through the airport all the time wondering ‘how I will ever talk / comment about people who run through airport at the last minute from here on, when I am doing just the same’ (wonder why I was worried about that…but I was) Thankfully not much queue in Security line. After that when I reached the boarding gate at 1 pm is when I breathed a sigh of relief. And they hadn’t even started to get ready for boarding. The boarding started only by 1.25 pm for 1.30 pm flight and it was 10 min late anyways.
And the whole flight journey to Coimbatore was only 30 mins in air. Reached Coimbatore by 2.20 pm. For a flight journey of 40 mins in total, I had to endure the traffic filled travel of 2 hours, which was OK, but it could have been with less drama, tensions, and suspense. But the highlight of the day: My nephew was very happy with his Thomas and Friends train set which I got for his birthday and we ended up building the big set and play with it in the evening. All the drama was totally worth it.

A-Z Book List: U for Uninvited

I am sure most of you have had books that were bought, which were started but then for some reason stopped in between only never to be picked up again. I have a list of such books with me, both paperback and Kindle books. Why would I even have them on the shelves (physical or online). Because I am never sure when the mood would strike and I would pick them up again and continue. To name a few of them, ‘Brothers Karamazov’, ‘The Fountainhead’, ‘The Winner stands alone’ etc. The book associated with today’s alphabet is one such. Sadly 😦

Name: The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Gothic, Fiction

I bought this book on a sale (paying in Euro’s in fact) while on my way from Paris to London on the ferry’s book shop. I got three books for the price of two. I did complete one during the trip. One I finished when I got back home. The third on, The Uninvited Guests, was the one that got dumped not even half way through. Not that it was uninteresting. It was a mystery. I did not know it was a paranormal story (at that time at least) but it was going pretty OK. And I honestly don’t remember the reason for me to stop that book. Was it because it was a little slow for my taste? May be or may be not. I remember about the accident that brought people to this estate and the girl not being very happy about it because it was her birthday and she didn’t want the attention away from her. But that is where I stopped. Now I might have to pick it up again sometime and complete it or at least, see if I got bored of the story earlier or was it some other external factors that made me put that book back in the shelf. If you have read that book, please drop in a word as to how you felt about that book, or if you have written a review of the same, please do ping me the link. I would love to know about it.

 

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

A-Z Book List: S for Silent (ssshhh)

Y’all know by now that my favorite genre is Mystery, Thrillers etc. I am not sure about you, but when the story gets going at a very face pace so does my adrenaline. I don’t have to do anything to increase my pressure or to increase my heart beat. Just read some of those fast paced well-written thrillers and I am sweating just by reading them. This book is one such.

Name: Silent Predator by Tony Park

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction

It takes place on an African safari. Surrounded by jungles, all kind of predators lurking around the corners, people backstabbing, animals hindering the rescue process…what is not there in this story. I read this before a very important IPL T20 match. I was already all hyped up with this story and that match too increased my pressure. I was almost hyperventilating that day and it did feel like I had climbed a mountain. It was a very very good thriller and I just couldn’t keep it down. I was not ready to endure a night without knowing what happened. Not many books do that to me. This is the only book of this author that I had read. I got this book on a sale and as part of a deal. So didn’t bother looking for other books of his. Maybe I should and see if his other works are as fast paced as this one.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

 

A-Z Book List: Q for Question

If I had started this series almost 3 months ago, I wouldn’t have found a book that I had read which starts with the letter Q. I might have ended up listing a book which I wanted to read as Linda once suggested when I started this series. But recently I read this mystery series in which the second book’s title started with the letter Q. So I got a save. How many other books do you know that starts with the letter Q? Goodreads lists only 102 books according to this list. Mostly starting with the word Question or Queen which are the most common ones used.

Name: A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

Thanks to the Amazon Kindle Unlimited trial period to which I was subscribed at that time (and then later went ahead with my subscription paying 9.99$ per month) I got introduced to this series called A Very English Mystery and enjoyed both the books that is available in Kindle Unlimited. It is a historical mystery with a slight hint of romance. It is not a fast-paced story, flows at a medium speed, but never boring, at least to me 🙂 The male protagonist, Hugo, is slightly disabled (for now) and reminds me of Cormoran Strike (the Robert Galbraith’s series) and uses his sharp senses and with a huge help from the female protagonist, Freya solves the murders that happen in that small town. In this second book, the Selchester Castle (where Hugo, Freya, Hugo’s sister are staying for now) has got a new Earl, that too from America (the first book deals with the death of the Earl of the castle). But when he lands, people start to drop dead. And the very quiet town gets into a frenzy all again. I gave it 4 stars in Goodreads because I loved both the books in this series and will be eagerly waiting for the nex tone.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

Little Gray Cells in Action

After ‘Death in Paradise’, I needed something else to keep me engaged in my weekends and if it was a detective series, the merrier. After a lot of thought, I decided to go back to the good old Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Do you remember the old TV series that used to come, where a cute stout fellow played Poirot? My friend gave me his name, David Suchet. I remembered his face but not this name 😦 He has a very cute mustache doesn’t he!

I have always loved those episodes. But I don’t remember when I stopped watching them. I don’t even remember the season I used to watch earlier. That is clearly a sign that I should start on them again isn’t? Finally got hold of all the seasons and started to watch them one by one. So far I have completed one season and have just started the 2nd season. It is so much pleasure to watch the ‘little gray cells’ in action. I love the small quirks, the friendly banter between Hastings and Poirot, the love-hate relationship between Poirot and Japp and Ms. Lemon with her cute curls. I think I am set for a month or two with these episodes. And Mr. Hercule Poirot never disappoints 🙂

“It is the brain, the little gray cells on which one must rely. One must seek the truth within–not without.” ~ Poirot”
― Agatha Christie