“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner

Yes, it is the start of yet another of those long journey that I do. And this time, am starting off the journey from Chennai.
As soon as I came to know that I will have a week’s break after my summer internship, I was clear on how I would want to spend it. The only question that remained to be answered was whether I am to do it alone or with a travel companion.
I reached the station early in the morning and met my travel mate, Ravi, who is also my batchmate at TAPMI. Ravi is a Tamilian and is known for his interest in Finance. Though he hasn’t travelled a lot before, he had asked me to let him know of any trip plans I have so that he could join me. And he agreed, without a second thought, to come with me on this trip when I told him about the plan. We had a typical south Indian breakfast of idli vada from one of those famous restaurant chains, Saravanabhavan and boarded the train to start our journey along the east coast of India. The train moved on and I settled in my seat, next to the window, listening to music, watching the train thunder past the beautiful country side, lush green with the rains that lashed out in this area the week before. Ravi soon settled to watch movies in his laptop and I, pulled out my camera and started shooting pictures, trying hard to bring in the element of “speed” that the train provided, into the photographs for my blog picture of the day.
We had our lunch, which, being from the pantry, was bad. But yeah, that was expected. I guess the TAPMI mess food was any day better when compared to the “food” these guys were preparing!
The route along the Coromandel coast isn’t very interesting as it had a plain landscape throughout, unlike the Konkan coast that I love to travel through. The only special sight that I had was the expanse of the river Godavari. It was a very long bridge indeed.
After a short nap, I had a cup of hot tomato soup from the pantry which, for a change, was yummy. Its a must try, given that its cheap at just Rs.10. The ambience in the coach was soothing as it rained heavily outside. We chit chatted about our TAPMI stories and passed time as it was getting dark. With a hope that the skies would clear by the time we reach our destination, we settled for sleep.

berT
Location: Coromandel coast
Date: 13.06.2010