One mistake, made me travel a whole day on Bangalore Pune road.

I am not a roadie, I prefer travelling by road hardly for few hours, that my mind starts itching to reach the place. One such trip we did plan from Pune to Bangalore, via Goa. We planned to drive till Goa from Pune, stay for two days in the Club Mahindra resort then fly to Bangalore, attend family function and return the same way. Bangalore to Goa by air the stay for two days and drive back to Pune. This way we planned to cover some spots of Goa, visit some beaches, taste yum goan cuisine at the same time relax with travel breaks and enjoy smooth ride, on Goa - Pune highway.

Thinking everything would go as planned, I started packing for the trip. I made a final check of all documents and finally gave a thumbs up for the travel. From Pune we took Mumbai highway via Kolhapur touch Belgaum and enter Goa. We stopped by

-Bhuleshwar shiva temple- A 13th century temple with good architecture, where when I was praying I had no idea such a mess I would create.

-Being a history buff we stopped at Rajhansgad fort, at Belgaum which was ruled by Marathas, peshwas. Standing from the fort, admiring the picturesque view, I had no idea few hours later my eyebrows would knot, leading me to deep worry.

From the moment we entered Goa, I was so mesmerised by the surrounding, lost in its beauty above all being my first trip I was curious about this state, just as we neared club Mahindra resort my husband said, “Keep your ID card ready”. Nodding I opened my bag confidently and started scanning for my Aadhar, Passport, driving licence but found none. Slowly I digged, re-digged and kept on digging. Panic stuck me, my whole world stopped around me, I forgot I was travelling for all I wanted to do was, turn the car drive back home. The word “Mistake” stuck me so hard, I felt I did a “costly mistake”.

My family members didnt known what to scold me with for one mistake was ruining our perfect planned travel. Luckily at the resort they didn’t make it an issue, but gave us a room facing the beach. Varca beach resort is a balmy beach with sands all over, and from any part of the room you could view the blue shorelines. With installed palm trees I should say everything was mesmerising except my mind which was nibbling on the ID card. Gearing up myself, and a strong pat from my family I tried forgetting my mistake, and indulged in the resort stay. The resort had organised lot of things to do. A two hour sit with the travel desk, gave us a list of things we could do.

-First we went for boating followed by banana boating. This was my first time on a banana boat, that too holding it tight. I was taken awe by the blue sea.

-Second from the beach we drove to Madgaon city also known as Margao, meaning village of monasteries. History says it was known as Mathagrama a temple town. Surrounded by Sal river there are lot of landscapes in this town.

-We then moved towards Chitra museum, then went to Church of Holy Spirit, Rachol fort and Municipal gardens.

By afternoon we were back to the resort, had lunch and nap to resume a trip to Varca beach to see the sunset. Gazing the sunset a question popped in my mind “How do I travel to Bangalore by flight without an ID?”. I think I spoke the question loud, for my husband and daughter were staring at me in the room. I could sense the cool that was leaving their mind. Calling the airlines the lady said, “Sorry sir, no ID no entry”. I felt like banging my head, and again got back to the mistake mode.

Hours of thinking gave me a thought. With a meek voice I asked, “Can’t we drive to Bangalore?”. My husband who was holding back his anger till then, shouted “How could you think of such an idea. Do you know how long is the journey?” So still lowering my voice I asked “Can’t we keep a driver for our journey?” “What” word echoed the whole room. I had no other choice but to beg “What else could be done? I can’t miss the function?”. Though I didn’t want to, tears did flow out of my eyes, me and my lacrimal glands. All I heard was “Fine I will drive”. Saying he cancelled the tickets.

Our journey next day started early morning via Hubli-Devanagari-Tumakuru route. Though initially we maintained cold silence all through the journey. Slowly travel eased things among us. The road journey was so lovely, that as we neared Hubli we planned to stop at

- Unkal lake- A lovely, serene lake with lovely surroundings. Since we didn’t have time for boating, we gazed at the lake.

-Other places we stopped by was Chandramouleeshwarar temple a 900 year old temple with autistic rock cut architecture.

From here after breakfast our car moved towards Davanagere. By then we forgot mistake- irritation- on change of our plan instead started enjoying the lovely ride. We stopped by

-Kundurada lake- It is a prominent picnic spot, which circulated most cool airs.

After that we drove straight without stopping and entered Bangalore by 8pm. We stayed in woodlands. Had hot hot bisibela bath, pappad. Next day after function we took the same route back to Goa. On the way we first stopped at,

- Mandara giri Jain temple- An ancient temple at Tumakuru which is a popular trek spot.

-At Chitradurga we visited fort and proceeded straight towards Hubli.

We stayed at Taj residency in Hubli. Since it was only a day we stayed for, we planned to taste Hubli cuisine. Joladi roti, mirchi vada and peda. Next day from Hubli via Kolhapur stopping by at Mahalakshmi temple, we returned to Pune by evening.

Six years have gone by, not a word we spoke about this trip nor I shared much about this trip on any platform. For even today I would label it as “Mistake trip”. After this trip I bought colourful wallet to store all my ID cards, place them under one roof, that be where I travel within or outside the city, I carry them. One mistake did change my life pattern so taking an oath I said “This trip is a fiasco trip, mistake trip which caused travelling for hours, forming memories”.