Avalahalli to Avalahalli

Many years ago, I was appointed as the examiner for viva-voce examination at an institute at Bengaluru.  The institute was located at a place called Avalahalli.  Two days before the examination, I got a call from the coordinator of examinations asking me the travel details.  I told him I would be travelling by bus to Bengaluru in the morning.  So, he asked me to take a city bus from Majestic bus station and get down at Avalahalli.  He said he would pick me up from Avalahalli bus stop.  

Accordingly, on the day of the examination, I reached Bengaluru and walked over to the city bus station.  Since I did not know the route number of the bus, I went to the enquiry counter and told the staff that I wanted to go to Avalahalli.  He told me the route number and directed me to the platform from where I could board the bus.  When I reached the platform, a bus with the same route number was already there.  After confirming with the conductor that the bus goes to Avalahalli, I boarded the bus.  After 45 minutes of journey, I got down at Avalahalli and rang up the coordinator.  He told me that he would pick me up in 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes I got a call from him.

‘Sir, are you in Avalahalli?’

‘Yes, I am standing at Avalahalli bus stop’

‘Where are you standing Sir, I am also here in the bus stop’

‘I am standing in front of the bank’

‘Sir, there is no bank at Avalahalli bus stop!’

‘Yes, there is a bank and next to it there is a bakery, I am standing right in front of it’

‘Sir, there is no bakery either at the bus stop, are you sure, you are at Avalahalli?’

‘Yes, I am sure, I can see Avalahalli Branch written on the board in front of the bank’

Both of us were confused.  He paused for a moment and said, ‘Sir, I will call you after ten minutes’

I went to a nearby shop and asked him if the place was Avalahalli.  The shopkeeper said yes.  When I asked him about the institute, he said there was no such institute at Avalahalli.  This added to my confusion.   By then I got the call from the coordinator.

‘Sir, are you in Avalahalli near Banashankari?’

‘Yes, I can see Banashankari written in a board here’

‘Oh, Sir, you are in a wrong place.  Our institute is not there.  There are two Avalahallis in Bengaluru’

‘Oh, what do I do now?’

‘Sir, I will hand over the phone to my senior professor.  He will guide you’

The professor told me that I had travelled exactly in the opposite direction of the institute.  There is another Avalahalli after K R Puram, and I was supposed to go there.  He told me not to return by bus, as I had to change two buses in between.  Instead, he suggested me to hire a rikshaw.  (No Uber/Ola services those days).  Many rikshaw drivers refused to come saying it was on the other end of the city.  At last, one guy agreed.  Almost 20 minutes into the ride, there was an unusual sound started coming from the engine of the rikshaw.  He stopped the rikshaw and got down to check.  He came back and told me, ‘Sir, there is some trouble in the engine, so you please hire another rikshaw’.  Thus, instead of changing the bus, I ended up changing the rikshaw!  Finally, I reached the institute two hours late.

Later I came to know that the coordinator who had spoken to me was also new to Bengaluru and had joined the institute just about a month ago.  So, he didn’t know there were two Avalahallis.  The staff at the enquiry counter of city bus station didn’t bother to ask me which Avalahalli.  Thanks to Google Maps, these things don’t happen now a days. 

There is a famous dialogue in an old comedy Malayalam movie starring Mohanlal: 

‘How many kilometers from Washington DC to Miami beach’.  

‘How many kilometers from Avalahalli to Avalahalli?’, 30 kilometers!