Northern Sojourn: Day 1

It was early morning on the 12th of January. We were all set for a backpacking trip of the Northern side of our country. 8 of us, it was. The short train ride to Kurla was non-eventful.
We got ourselves a ride to Bandra Terminus. It was me, Niranjan and Kunal in the taxi. Our taxi driver was something else. This guy was right outta a video game.
He drifted along the long winds near BKC, merrily drove his old FIAT at 80 and was blissfully ignorant of all driving rules and lane-discipline known to mankind.
At one particular signal, the stud from the outer lane, barged to turn to the right and managed to bring the taxi right in front of a truck and another taxi. we had our balls in our mouth, but thankfully, the truck driver braked in time to save our lives. Our taxi stud meanwhile started swearing at the other taxi driver. We were too relieved to say anything.
Soon we reached Bandra and after finding our way through the many people, we got onto the train. The hours between morning and night were passed normally, without any drama. A few card games, a few phone-calls et al.
It was 3 in the night when terror struck. We realised that we were no longer in Maharashtra or Gujarat. The cold was unbearable. Several jackets, sweaters, gloves and skull caps later, we were at peace. This was our first encounter with "Thandi", which would go on to become our slogan throughout this trip.
As we went to sleep, the only thoughts in our mind were about the next 6 days.
Delhi, here we come.