Anticipation and Countdown (August 2023)
Everything was planned by the end of August 2023, and now the only thing pending was to wait for the judgment day, just kidding 🤣. The travelling day for the Kalimpong trip was still almost a month away. I would call someone every other day from the group, discussing plans. And it seemed like the day was passing by very slowly. It happens, you know when you’re waiting for someday to come; it feels like an eternity.
Birthday Surprise (September 2nd, 2023)
In between all this waiting, my birthday also came. It was on the 2nd of September. I didn’t do anything special. I remember Sandeep, Shobhit, and Ekansh, coming up in the evening with a cake. Sometimes you know I feel, I don’t do much for my friends and I’m kind of lucky to have them around. I was out of touch with all of them for about 4 years i.e., during my college days. But still, it didn’t matter to them, they were as welcoming as one can be when I reunited with them during the final months of my college life. And tbh, I enjoyed a lot with them.
Professional Challenges and Resignation (Mid-September 2023)
Coming back to the context, I remember applying for leave for this Kalimpong trip. But later in that month, I resigned on the 12th of September 2023 after receiving a better offer. Everything seemed fine just before the day of my trip. A very crucial part of the project was coming up known as SIT (System Integration Testing), and it was a do-or-die situation for the project. So keeping in mind the urgency of the situation some new Sr. Manager and Managers were brought in.
Navigating Workplace Dynamics
My Manager was reporting to the new Sr. Manager and to be honest this new guy was very unprofessional. He was pressuring my Manager to make me cancel my leave and work on some new work items. Things got very heated between them, she put up a fight for me as well. Anyway, I didn’t have to cancel my leave, but still, I felt a bit sad that now as I’ve resigned, some people are treating me like shit even though I did so much for the project.
Preparation for the Journey
So, it was the day of travel. I called Sandeep in the morning, to discuss where to catch the local train. We needed to pick some snacks from Reliance Smart Point. Sandeep picked me up from my house so that we could shop for snacks, aluminum foils, and a couple of more stuff which I don’t remember. We did the leftover shopping and decided to meet at the Jaggadal Train Station, all three of us (Sandeep, Shobhit, and Me). Packing was still pending for me, but I packed up quickly after coming back home. After that, Maa prepared Puri and Chole for the trip. I ate some freshly prepared ones and Maa packed around 20 of them.
Unexpected Delays and Setbacks
One cannot imagine a trip without some setbacks. The local train was running late, but it was okay as we had time to spare. But, we started panicking a bit when after onboarding the train, it started delaying even more. Now tbh I was freaking out, and kind of cussing Sandeep, as I had told him earlier that we should leave even more early. Mayukh had already reached Kolkata(Chitpur) Station and was waiting for us. He was also cussing us, as he was all alone on the station and he was coming even from further distance compared to us. And my brother’s place is near Kolkata Station, so he also reached before us.
Onboard and the Journey Begins
Anyway, we reached the railway station with only I think 30 mins to spare. Mayukh wanted to hit me as soon as we reached the place. I was just laughing as he was frustrated when we reached. The train had already arrived on the platform. We on-boarded the train, it left the station around 9:45 pm and our Kalimpong Trip began 😉.