Bad beginnings

My first attempt at any kindof travel for travel's sake was in 6th grade. It was a school trip
to Vaigai dam and Kumbakkarai falls (near Madurai).

I grew up in Trichy, and in our family, we did not have this fundaa of taking vacations and doing touristy things. Most of our travel as a family would be to some temples in Kumbakonam/Chidambaram/Thiruvaiyaru etc. I used to enjoy these trips simply because they mostly meant a dip in the River-Cauvery (yes, Cauvery almost always had water back then).

In that context, i was looking forward to this school excursion like an excited kid (well, i was an excited kid, in reality, back then!!). I was supposed to be at a specific bus-stop at 6 am on a Saturday. It was Navraathri('Dasahara') time, and the previous night we were visiting families that had invited us for 'Golu'. When i got up the next day, it was around 6:30, and i saw mom, dad and sis still sleeping. I created a ruckus, everyone got up, I dressed up hurriedly, and dad took me to the bus-stop and someone said a school-bus had just passed. I was disappointed beyond words can tell. (i vividly remember the sequence of events and way i felt...i even remember what i was wearing...a marron and black shirt...and this was in 1988)...I ended up playing football in the school grounds that whole day...