Part III

The guys looked at each other unsure what to do next. It was Vijay who finally turned around and looked at the two bulky men standing ahead of them. He thought to himself, they were four of them against two of the goons. And they had their bikes ready to make a quick escape whenever they get a chance. With this in mind, he went a little closer to the two men. From the light from the torches, he could make out something shining in the shirts of the two men. As he went closer, he noticed that the two men were wearing some kind of uniform which was a bit relaxing for him. They were guards of some kind. He turned to the others and said, "Guys, looks like they are some local guards or policemen. " "Well, that's very comforting", said Shyam sarcastically. Sridhar was staring at the two men who had now come close enough to their bikes. they looked like watchmen up close, but they were huge and looked savage, nevertheless.

One of the men spoke menacingly in Telugu, "Yevaru da meeru, Yekadalunchi ostharu". Shyam was the one to reply first, "Sir, nanga Tamil. Chennai.." The guards quickly surveyed them and it seemed as if they understood the guys' predicament. Then one of the guards pointed his torchlight at something behind them. The four boys turned around and looked at a big hoarding bearing the words "National Forest Campus". They now understood that they had just entered a campus without permission. The guards, knowing that they were lost, showed them their way back towards the iron gate and outside the campus. There at the fork, they now saw a small, almost non-existent board with the words "Trespassers Prosecuted".

Cursing themselves for the situation they had landed themselves in, they decided not to make any more foolish decisions that night. They went back the way they had come to a a village where they got themselves lodging in a hotel which must have crossed it's expiry date a good ten years back. They had not only wasted valuable time in their midnight fiasco, but were also seriously behind their schedule. None of them could wake up early the next morning. By the time they woke up and started their journey on Day 2, it was already past eleven. Not trusting the maps anymore in village regions, they asked the villagers for route all the way till they reached Hyderabad that evening. Entering a city after so many hours was a welcome change to the four guys. All they wanted to do was to have a full Andhra meals each and rest their butts for an hour before proceeding towards Delhi. During that one hour break, Shyam had to manage his calls between his default girlfriend and his other on-off back-up girlfriend. Sridhar, Vijay and Amit made their own phone calls to their families and kept the details to the minimum. Once they were done with the more-than-fulfilling Andhra meals, they started their ride towards our Capital city.