Confesión of Boarding Indian Railways...!!!

(New Delhi to Bangalore, 12628, 23-26 November 2011)

It was sometime in 1994, that I first boarded a train from Patna to New Delhi, of course I was with parents,, my age didn’t allow running away with someone else…

Anyways,, that was heaven of a journey,, journey amidst drizzle, un-crowded bogies and of course clean toilets…

It was feeling of something elite,, not because I was unaware of the AC coaches,, I was not aware of the general either… But becauuuuuuse ,, just bcoz..!!!

17 years down the line,, of course there was umpteen number of railway torture in between,, I can feel the irony in the railway tagline : “HAPPY JOURNEY” && “INCONVINIENCE IS DEEPLY REGRETED”,, I still wonder how deep the feelings of an electronic voice can be..

Anyways…

But for the first time, with the train 12 hours late(when the reports last came in), with all the time in the world,, I feel an urge to pen down something in remembrance of the railway minister, whose name I don’t know…

Anyways,, it all started with  “YATRIGAN KRIPYA DHYAAN DE… blah.. blah.. blah… 3 GHANTE DERI SE CHAL RHI HAI” and  then “AAPKO HUI ASUVIDHA K LIE HUME KHED HAI”…

Apology accepted…!!!

But what followed, forced me to un-accept that digital apology…

I guess that was a general bogie,, I don’t know, why it was named like that in a country whose constitution at the very outset says : “SABHI NAGRIK SAMAN HAIN”..

Few additional bukks categorized the people???..!!!

Wait.. wait.. wait…  it  was not about the coach they boarded but the way they were treated…

A policeman with a danda guarding the gate that had a queue… I am 200%% sure they were not cattles,, shashi tharoor might well disagree.!!!

But a queue was a more disciplined approach than the adjacent bogies, where people paid more to get un-humane : abusing, pushing , pulling each other for a place that is reserved for them… And haaan,, mind you, there were no police there…

Well, I was yet again reminded of the unethicity of the money,, BIG BOSS tops the list…

Anyways…

I too got in, but not before the door deserted the look of the calmness after the stampede only to find the stampede being relocated to the compartment, this time for the placement of the luggage..

I just had my shoulder bag,, so I was safe…

Oh, mind you,, there was no déjà vu in it.!!!

Well, by this time it was already 1:00 AM, but I preferred a page out of “INSIDE STEVE’S BRAIN” only to find nothing was getting into mine.. so I decided to call it a day…

Well the next day began sometime around 4 PM,, but not before one of the co-traveller(description follows) inquired : “BHAI NAASHTA NAHI KAROGE??” somewhere around 11,, of course unknown of the fact that while on journey I don’t consume any eateries that requires a physical contact with my hand… 

“ APNE KAR LIA ?? BAHUT KHOOB !!! ” I was off…

The same person, “ BHAI KHANA NAHI KHAOGE ??” at around 2,, (oye dimagh ki dahi,,, I thought ) and was off yet again…

When got up, there was something missing from the air.. wo awaaz jisse sari train goonjti thi was missing,, there was NO “cha -  cha – cha –chai – dip  cha – dip chai”…

Sukoooooon.!!!

But what followed was nothing less than a railway disaster..

Pantry car for a 41 hrs journey(12 hours delay excluded) wore a deserted look,, and so was the water tank of the bogies…

Train is late echoed my ears, followed by the corruption(anna) talk, abuse to the government, blah.. blah.. blah… I reminded myself – every individual is a chalta phirta governance…

Oh sorry,, I forgot my co-travelers : one was batauni(the food alarm clock), one sutauni, one pakauni,, and of course Myself.. Others seem to be illogically normal…

With multilingual snoring, that were producing sort of resonance,, it was hell of a journey to witness..

With the clock ticking 3:30 AM, after sacrificing 3 days of my life,, I forced my way out of the train after marathon 56 hours of journey… After all INDIAN RAILWAYS can only wish you “ A HAPPY, SAFE AND COMFORTABLE JOURNEY ”.. The train was 15 hours late…

With a glimpse of dizziness ,, sleep in the eyes,, tiring body but an undeterred soul,, the real motto was yet not done : I had to rush to the examination center in couple of hours…

And haan, to remind you all,, in the 3^rd decade of my life, this journey was sans parents…

But,, this time again, without that someone…

Destiny,, as I see to it…!!!