Dumb-nut retraces.

Day 17: South Ex., Part I and II; Bus Route 540 (Kendriya Terminal to Tara Apartments) - Check.

“If you’ve never gotten lost, you need to live your life more aggressively.”

Trust me, if it wasn’t for the bus ride today, this piece wouldn’t have held any credibility for being pinned up.
The first stop was South Extension Part I. The market seemed to look the same, sharing the gratitude of not being counted as a Metro victimized area. I travelled the length of the market, absorbing in a distinctive feel of the market, and a small inlet through the market that leads to the Aakash Institute.
Aakash Institute and I share a long story – one that began 7 years ago, and lasted for a year. The same year where I scrubbed off my youthful exuberance at the price for a petty ‘medical’ teaching. It’s depressing, so I’ll save it.
Experiments can turn out to be unexpectedly amusing, even if it’s a casual sip at Barista. Amongst the three of us, we ordered a Watermelon Mojito, a Lemon Ice Tea and a cold coffee. Now, as customary, the experimental bit, the Watermelon Mojito, fell in my share. And ironically, it turned out to be the best. Served with watermelon flavoured drink, in a glassful of crushed ice and a hint of lemon, nourished perfectly by a mint leaf, Mojito exceeded in its taste against the standing contenders on the table.
The Lemon Ice Tea was pretty usual, and although I find the Mc Donald’s the best, the one my friend had was nowhere close to it.
The cold coffee was again, a disaster. In simple explanation, it seemed like a splurge of coffee beans, without being beaten, were stirred in a glass of cold water with thick unmixable chocolate swimming at the bottom. And to top it up, there was definitely no milk in it because of the liquid’s inexplicable thinness.
The subsequent stop was over at South Ex. Part II, on the other side of the road. A plateful of vegetarian Momos, which are steamed balls of flour stuffed with vegetables, a specialty particularly in Tibet. However, there are numerous stalls in Delhi that run their business by selling Momos. Along with vegetarian, there are paneer (cottage cheese) and non vegetarian (with an option of chicken and very seldom, mutton). Next stop, was the typical Aloo Chaat, which are basically pieces of friend potato tossed in a splash of lemon juice and various chaat masalas.
The last eating stop was again, across the road, at South Ex. Part I; and god knows why we kept switching. Gol Gappa, which by the end of today, seemed to have become my staple meal. I’ve shared the recipe of it before, so I’ll save it this time.
Apart from the overwhelming meet up that was stuffed with disastrous experimental drinks and discussing my inability to find a girlfriend in the UK, the bus ride on my way back home spiced the day up.
Bus route 540, which runs from Kendriya Terminal to Tara Apartments; I got on to the bus at South Ex., this being one of the routes I hadn’t tried before.
(One thing that should be understood, before I go on glorifying my embarrassing escapade, is that people who’re not so good with directions can turn vulnerable when it comes to judging ways and routes in a place being visited the first time in 7 months.)
So after sitting in the bus, while I’m merrily plugged into the guitar crashing riffs of Green Day, I skipped my own stop. Green Day was a spoiler for having me distracted from the conductor’s scream that my stop had arrived. As a result, I was driven till the end of the bus route, after which the conductor asked me to buy another ticket because the ticket I help in my hands was for South Ex. till the completion of the journey.
Unknowingly, after sitting at South Ex. and having crossed my stop, I went on till Chittaranjan Park, Greater Kailash until the bus reached it terminal stop. There, being the only person sitting in the bus, I realized my idiocy upon an epiphany – an epiphany that dawned as a reason of hilarity and amusement for the conductor when I asked him the time it’ll take for my stop to come.
At the end of it, with an entertained, yet completely puzzled for stumbling upon my dazzling sense of directions, he saved me from an extra ticket. The only fresh of breath air I sighed was after getting down while the bus rode on its way back.