My Initial Bangalore Visits

I was in class six when our school arranged for a class trip to Goa. My dad was hesitant to send me for the trip for reasons only known to him. When he didn’t want to send me to the class trip, he promised that he will take all of us to Bangalore trip for the summer holidays. So our summer holidays began that year and we were waiting for our Bangalore trip.

Finally one day Dad came up with his plan for the trip. We (Dad, Me, my brother and sis) first went to shravanabelagola where one of our uncles stayed. After visiting our Gomateshwara, we headed towards Bangalore.
In Bangalore we had planned for a week's stay in my mom's aunt's place in Bangalore Dairy quarters. We had to get down at the Christ College stop (It was then known as Devasthana Stop) and walk for 5 mins to reach their place in a total open space. They stayed in the 2nd floor and whenever we heard any sound of the flying plane, we all used to run out to the balcony to watch it. Now it all looks so funny, but then we had enjoyed every moment of our trip. We all roamed Bangalore, visited Vidhana soudha, Bannerghatta, Bangalore dairy,Vishveshvaraiah museum, cubbon park. We missed lalbagh (Even today I haven’t got a chance to visit lalbagh). Finally my dad got me an HMT watch from Unity building near corporation. We came back with loads of memories.
Then 8 years later, I had to visit Bangalore again. This time it was for my CET counselling. Again we planned to stay in the same Dairy Quarters. From Majestic we had to take a bus to Devasthana stop. By then the system of entry into the bus had changed, ladies from front door, gents from back door. I was in the front and my dad at the back since the bus was crowded. What I had remembered was that we are going to Dairy aunt's place and had forgotten the stop name. So, as soon as the conductor shouted "Dairy Circle" I got down the bus and the bus took off. My dad had not got off the bus and he had not seen me also getting down. It was 800 PM.
Now let me tell you my part of the story. Luckily I remembered from my first trip to Bangalore that Devasthana stop was next to Dairy circle stop and along the way I remembered having seen Dharmaram college and Christ college. So I walked all the way from that stop to Devasthana stop. The total open space via which we used to walk to my Aunt’s place was no more there now. There were all buildings and one of it I remember was of Axes technologies building. I also remembered the block in which aunt stayed. So I reached home, told them what happened, freshened up and was waiting for dad to return.
Now my dad's part of the story. He came home at around 9.30PM. I can’t forget his relieved face as soon as he saw me in the house. Then he explained, he had got down of the bus at Devasthana stop and didn’t find me. He thought I might have gone further in the bus itself. So he enquired someone in the stop where that bus was going. Came to know it was going to BTM. He immediately took an auto and followed the bus till BTM and checked with the conductor. But I was not there and the conductor also could not recall anything about me. Dad got tensed, he enquired in the depot but in vain. With a worried face he came back to Aunt’s place to ask their help but only to find that I was already there waiting for him.
Next day was my counselling we both made sure that we stayed together in the middle of the bus. We reached the place together and we opted for a seat in Tumkur.
Now with these many years of my experience in the software Industry, working in the same office building which was once Axes Technologies. Sometimes I go for a stroll behind my office building after lunch and I see those quarters where I stayed during my initial Bangalore visits. I see the same Jack fruit tree, Guava tree that I had seen earlier but of course they are big trees now. I recall all those things and laugh about it. The whole area has become incomparable to what I had seen during my initial visits.