Trip to Coimbatore

By Reet Goraya ‘21, Keystone Foundation Fellow 2021-2023

In the short time I have been in Kotagiri, I have dealt with a few adjustment issues, but still managed to somehow make this small town feel like a home. Working at Keystone has provided me with a group of people who in just a month have begun to feel like family. I have found that they would help me with getting groceries, finding auto drivers to take me home, teaching me Tamil, and even throwing me a surprise birthday party at midnight the night of my 23rd birthday. I came here nervous that I wouldn’t have a support system, or that I would feel lonely, but this group of friends has really provided me with endless memories that I continue to cherish.

This past week was one of my friends' (Natasha) last days at Keystone. We celebrated her last day with dinner, singing One Direction songs together, and reminiscing on the memories we have all had with her. We stayed over at her house, and all decided to go with her to drop her off at the train station the next morning.

When Natasha had booked her train ticket, the train was supposed to leave at 12:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. When we checked the status of the train on Friday, though, the train was delayed and leaving at 3 pm. We agreed we would go with her, have lunch and drop her off at the Coimbatore Train Junction. One of her friends kindly agreed to drive us to Coimbatore, a 2.5 hour long drive from Kotagiri. We would leave at 9 am so we’d have some time with her in the city. 

My friends and I (Left to right): Habeeba (pink hijab), Harsha (grey jacket), Reet, Maddie, Kanmani, Vandana, and Natasha (with glasses)

The next morning, we all woke up at 7:30 and got ready to leave. At 9:15, the guy driving us still wasn’t there, though. We called him, and he said he was on the way from Coonoor, 30 minutes away. We were a bit upset, but decided to go back to sleep until he got here. Natasha stayed up though, and waited for him to come.

At 9:45, Natasha’s dad called her and asked her where she was. She told him she was still at home, and he began to worry. “Your train is leaving at 12:40! What are you still doing at home?”

She was confused. The train was delayed until 3, why was he telling her it left at 12:40.

She checked the status of her train again. They had moved the train's time back up to 12:40.

“GUYS! MY TRAIN LEAVES AT 12:40”

We all awoke instantly. We carried her 8 bags down the stairs and frantically began calling her friend to see where he was. It was almost 10:15 by then, and panic had begun to set in. She didn’t think she’d catch the train. We came up with alternative plans: we could go to the next train station in Kerala in case she missed this one, or we could get her a flight home. We could always mail her her bags also! There was no need to worry, everything would work out!

Maddie overlooking the town of Coonoor

She still worried though, and perhaps rightfully so. We were all internally screaming, but stayed calm to not freak her out more. Her friend finally came, almost around 10:30. Like a NASCAR pit crew, my friends and I all packed the stuff into the trunk of his small, white Honda and ran into the car. Some things, like the huge box Natasha had, simply couldn’t fit into the trunk. Maddie (the other India fellow) decided she would hold the box in her lap the entire ride. I’m pretty sure she didn’t have full circulation, but she didn’t complain once (that superstar). We finally started the 2.5 hour long drive, hoping it would be closer to 2 hours. 

Her friend drove as fast as he could, and we all began giggling at the absurdity of what was happening. Natasha was calming down, maybe we’d catch the train! My other friend, Vandana, decided to do some research. She said that the train for the last 2 months had been 2 hours late to the station. There was no way it would decide to be on time today. 

Our ETA was 12:45 pm. The train was supposed to arrive at 12:40. We really could do this, we all agreed. That was, until we hit the traffic in a neighboring town of Mettupalayam. Panic started to set in again. We all just tried to cheer her up though, making jokes and saying there was ABSOLUTELY no way we’d miss this! 

Viewpoint on my daily walk to Keystone in Kotagiri

We finally got out of the traffic and reached the junction. Natasha and Vandana ran in. It was 12:56. The rest of us in the car agreed we’d be ok. The train was there, we just had to go put her stuff on the train.

I got a call from Vandana. “Start the car.”

There is no feeling worse than not knowing what to do to help a friend who is freaking out. The train had left 8 minutes before we got to the station. Her parents were freaking out, calling her, wondering what to do. We all were silent as she tried to process what was happening. The guy driving said maybe we could go to the next station. It was an hour away, and that's when the train was supposed to reach. Maybe we could make it. 

We started driving, and watched as the time it would take went up on the GPS. There was traffic again. 

“Just stop. I’m not going to go chase this train down, it’s not worth it,” Natasha told us. She had calmed down and realized there was no way she’d make the train. I began finding plane tickets (thankfully, the airport was in Coimbatore). We found a flight that left at 5:20 pm. It was only 1:30 right now. She began booking the ticket, but of course her card wasn’t working for online purchases (clearly nothing was working out today). We rushed to the airport, and she brought her 2 heavier bags so she could check them in. She ran in with Vandana to book her ticket. Maddie and I waited in the car. Maddie’s legs were still being crushed with the weight of the box, and both of us were sweating profusely as the sun’s rays weighed down on us. We began to look for food to eat around us; no one had eaten anything substantial yet and it was 2 pm. We found a restaurant 10 minutes away, and as soon as Natasha had booked her flight and checked in her bags, we zoomed over to eat. 

Harsha, Natasha, and I at a “hubba” or festival that Keystone hosted on campus

We ran in and quickly ordered our food. Natasha had to be back at the airport in an hour, that surely would be enough time to eat! No one was in the restaurant either. We began to laugh again, how could this be what was happening? Our appetizers came out, and in an instant we finished our garlic breadsticks and vegetarian momo’s (Nepalese dumplings). But time kept slipping away. It was 3:15 and none of the main courses had come. Natasha tried to check in for her flight online, and of course like everything else that day, it wasn’t working. I took her phone and called the customer service line. After waiting on hold for 10 minutes, they hung up on me. Frustrated, Natasha grabbed her stuff and began to walk out so she could go back to the airport. I finally got a call back from the airline, and Natasha began to check in for her flight. She was still stressed though, and decided that she would leave. She didn’t want to miss another thing today, and we all understood. Without having eaten anything, she said goodbye to us. We all smiled and laughed and hugged for one final time. We decided we would wait for the food, and her friend would take Nastasha to the airport. She waved goodbye, and we all waved back, already missing her.

It was a wild day, and while we wished it wasn’t as stressful, we all were glad to have had those moments with her. It seems crazy that in a month I could get close enough to these people that we could have an adventure together like this. Natasha made it to her flight on time thankfully, and sent us videos when she got home of her and her dog. I teared up a bit by myself that night, thinking about this group of friends I had made. We were all willing to help each other out no matter what. To have a loyal group of friends who would go around with you all day to try and make sure you could get home was something heartwarming, even though I wasn’t even the one who was trying to get home. I am thankful for these people, and am excited to be with them for the next year, making even crazier memories. 

Just going to keep reminding myself not to trust public transport fully.  

Me on my birthday!