shashi's world

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Bhartiya Rail..

Gandhiji had said, India lies in its villages, and if you want to explore this great nation go to its villages. Without contradicting the father of the nation, I would alternately suggest you to explore India by traveling on a train – yes, the Bhartiya Rail – the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second largest under one management, running around 11000 trains everyday (of which 7000 are passenger trains), carrying about 1.3 crores of passengers everyday. So we could accommodate 70% of the Australian population on our trains!!! I have had a fascination for trains since I was a small child. I remember cajoling my elder brother to take me to our hometown railway station just to watch the trains pass by. The announcement was made for the arrival of Magadh Express. When it comes to naming trains – the railway department is unrivaled – what brilliant names – Sampoorna Kranti Exp, Toofan Exp, Purushottam Exp, Rajdhani Exp. My heart used to begin pumping at an accelerated rate upon hearing the whistle of the approaching train. The giant engine of the train puffing a large volume of smoke would send shivers down my spine. I have to admit that I wanted to become nothing but a train driver. A procession of red bogies would finally come to halt with a screeching sound. I could see the train jam packed with people – even the train roof was not spared (electric engines were still rare those days). The effective width of the train would actually be about a meter more than the engineered width – courtesy to the butts of the people (critically holding the door bar) hanging out. The chai wallah would shout chai chai – a typical sound he makes by stiffening the middle of his throat. The passengers to get down would hurry and jostle with the passengers to board. Some passengers would rush to the place marked sheetal jal with empty bottles. And then there are these young hunkies who get down for no reason – probably just to have a glimpse of the chicks moving around. The signal then turns green and the train starts dragging slowly – to enable some late-comers to board the moving train. And yes, those hunkies would board only when the train begins to move – it is an insult to their age to board a stationary train. Slowly the train catches up speed and soon it is out of the view. My brother would then ask me to come back and I would always make him agree to watch one more train before we pushed off. Today I have grown up, but my enthrallment to trains lies undiminished. If time is not a constraint, I would prefer commuting by train than taking the aerial route. And ya, you don’t get a feel of the environment unless you travel in the sleeper class. The surrounding in the AC class just seems so dumb to me. The people there wear a busy look on their face, and are caught up with their cell phones – you just got to give your cell a rest and enjoy the milieu. Let your sophistication take a backseat – at least sometime you got to behave originally. When you get down the AC coach, don’t show how uncomfortable you feel outside by raising your eyebrows. Look into the eyes of the coolie or the hawker – they are your fellow citizens. Real India lies in the sleeper coaches.
I remember how I used to grab the window seat when I was a child. Slowly we become familiar to the people sitting nearby, to the extent of sharing each other’s food items. You get to meet people from all over India speaking different languages and wearing different attires. It is India on wheels. You can enjoy cracking moongfalis, sipping chai or just gazing out of the window. I personally also have some forgettable experiences with train journeys. It was the end of my summer vacation after the first year. I had a confirm ticket for North East Express. The train reached the station on time at 10 in the night. I was ready with my luggage to board. The train was just over crowded. Somehow I made my way inside the bogey but could reach my assigned berth only after about 2 hours of journey. Hmmm… My friend Shailesh Kalsia had to go to the bathroom to answer nature’s call. But there was no way he could walk to the loo. But he was acrobatic enough to reach there by taking the aerial route (crawling by holding to the upper berths – like Spiderman).

7 Comments:

  • Hmmm... you are very correct in saying trains as India on wheels... and you know when i was a kid, i used to imitate train's whistle with a hope that it will confuse the driver and he will start early :)) ... this idea worked sometimes to make me happy, though it was all coincidence...

    By Blogger Abhishek Prakash Chaubey, at 6:28 PM  

  • Its really surprising to know that the driver was fooled by your whistle - I guess you can really make shrilling whistles - girls beware :-)

    By Blogger shashi, at 11:42 AM  

  • Hey shashi!! u remember i helped u out in that NE express...my plight was worse..I had to remain in one position for 3 hours...and what not..i got to my seat after 5 hours....uff...that train journey i wil never forget......subodh almost died that day.....i had to convince him really hard to board the train.....
    anyways agredd sleeper class is where u get the taste of India!!!

    By Blogger Chandan, at 12:39 PM  

  • yes chandan, I remember every moment of that journey. We somehow managed to accomodate ourselves near your berth.

    By Blogger shashi, at 1:52 PM  

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  • does your friend shalesh have brother name Anurag?

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