I am on my way to Meerut from Chandigarh in the Chandigarh-Chennai LINK Express. My ticket says Sleeper - S8/48 (Seat number 48 in S8 coach). As long as I can remember, this is the first time I am going to travel in the sleeper class. It wasn't a planned trip so I could only manage a reserved seat in the sleeper class coach, which my brother (and his friends) says can have its own unforgettable experience. Well, first look at the coach from outside confirmed that but I have to take this train today as it only runs on Mondays. I reached my seat, which was a side-upper and saw one middle-aged lady sitting on the lower birth. Side seats can be unfolded in the night to make beds (or berths as they are referred to in railways) and then folded in the morning to seat two people. I asked the lady to unfold the seats (as it was already 8 in the morning) so that I can have my reserved seat.
"Son... I want to take a nap, you need to move to the upper birth"
"Upper birth? well, I wanted to sit not sleep at this time of the day" I said.
"In that case, you can sit in the corner, pointing to the 30% of the area she had cleared for me.
"Okay that's fine".
Me and my brother came outside for some air. We still had 10 mins to fix something with the ticket teller (popularly known as TT). We saw the TT coming out from the AC coach with a bundle of papers. Without wasting any time, my brother pounced on him to check if a seat is available in the AC coach.
"Actually it was a last minute decision and we could not get a ticket in the AC coach. Its Monday and he needs to work on some urgent things" my brother said pointing towards my laptop bag and making a helpless looking face.
I don't have this skill at all. I would have straightway asked him if there is a seat in the AC coach and probably have got a straight reply that the coach is full.
The TT gave me a look and said "Okay let me check - In the mean time you take seat no 42 in the AC coach".
It was a real life example of how to make things work and communication play an important role.
I grabbed seat #42 in the AC coach. At Ambala, the TT came to the coach for ticket checking. I gave him a quick look "Sit Sit, I'll come to you". Then at Jagadari station he came to my seat and said "Sir, can you come to seat #21". I picked up my bags and started walking towards #21 in the same coach.
"You can sit here and work. Do you need a socket to plug your laptop in?" he asked.
"No that's fine, its fully charged"
It was the side seats reserved for railway personnel, he sat in front of me and drew the curtains.
"200 rupees Sir"
I had 200 change in my upper pocket that I had kept for the tempo but forgot to give to my brother. I gave him two 100 rupee notes inside that curtained space.
"You can sit here or move to the upper birth if you want. Your brother said that you had to do some urgent work?" he said with a smile.
"Yes, Yes I had to. Thank you very much" - relieved, I was now a passenger of the AC coach.
To make the urgency look real, I took out my laptop and started fiddling with it, thinking what to do without access to the Internet. Between the noise of "Chai piyo Chai Chai", "Tasty Chole lo Tasty Chole" and "Namkeen Biscuit Chips Kurkure" in their typical tone, I decided to write something on food. Though I had Aloo-Paranthas in the early morning breakfast, I've started feeling hungry already.
My brother was particularly concerned about the eunuch beggars. They would stroll around the sleeper and general class coaches during the 40 minute stop at Saharanpur station for rake-sharing (joined to Dehradun-Chennai Express). These beggars are popular for passing some embarrassing comments at people ( like "oye shahrukkhan") until they shell out something. And if you don't look like a general or sleeper class passenger, you will have to give them more to avoid any kind of argument with them.
And while I am writing this sitting in the AC coach, I saw a young man hasty/roughly sweeping the floor with a cloth and then looking at people to get some money.
"come on, isn't that something that the railway guys would do?" I asked him. Without saying anything, he moved to the next compartment.
The *scheduled* arrival time for this train is 12:20 PM (4.5 hours journey) but even the TT was sure that it won't reach Meerut before 12:45. The train was in full speed, zooming past the green fields of Uttar Pradesh. Some Tamil speaking TT has replaced the one I met. He was busy fiddling with his mobile phone and striking some kind of deal for a dual sim. The train started loosing speed at 12:30. I asked the TT which station is it. "Ahhmmmm" he took out his station chart "Meerut City will come in another 10-15 mins". People have started collecting their luggage and moving towards the door. There was no stop in between, the window glass was too foggy to see which station it was so I asked a gentlemen standing next my seat "Meerut aa gya kya?" he nodded.
I decided to write about my love for food but ended up writing about my train experience. Though this one was better than my last train travel experience in the AC Chair Car (from Meerut Cantt to Ambala Cantt in New Delhi-Jalandhar InterCity Express) when the AC unit malfunctioned, making passengers dripping in sweat for nearly an hour until some SardarJi decided to pull the chain. They stopped the train at Muzzaffarnagar station, not allowing the train to move until the AC unit is fixed or their fare is returned. Luckily, it tool 5 minutes for the railway technicians to fix the fault.
"Son... I want to take a nap, you need to move to the upper birth"
"Upper birth? well, I wanted to sit not sleep at this time of the day" I said.
"In that case, you can sit in the corner, pointing to the 30% of the area she had cleared for me.
"Okay that's fine".
Me and my brother came outside for some air. We still had 10 mins to fix something with the ticket teller (popularly known as TT). We saw the TT coming out from the AC coach with a bundle of papers. Without wasting any time, my brother pounced on him to check if a seat is available in the AC coach.
"Actually it was a last minute decision and we could not get a ticket in the AC coach. Its Monday and he needs to work on some urgent things" my brother said pointing towards my laptop bag and making a helpless looking face.
I don't have this skill at all. I would have straightway asked him if there is a seat in the AC coach and probably have got a straight reply that the coach is full.
The TT gave me a look and said "Okay let me check - In the mean time you take seat no 42 in the AC coach".
It was a real life example of how to make things work and communication play an important role.
I grabbed seat #42 in the AC coach. At Ambala, the TT came to the coach for ticket checking. I gave him a quick look "Sit Sit, I'll come to you". Then at Jagadari station he came to my seat and said "Sir, can you come to seat #21". I picked up my bags and started walking towards #21 in the same coach.
"You can sit here and work. Do you need a socket to plug your laptop in?" he asked.
"No that's fine, its fully charged"
It was the side seats reserved for railway personnel, he sat in front of me and drew the curtains.
"200 rupees Sir"
I had 200 change in my upper pocket that I had kept for the tempo but forgot to give to my brother. I gave him two 100 rupee notes inside that curtained space.
"You can sit here or move to the upper birth if you want. Your brother said that you had to do some urgent work?" he said with a smile.
"Yes, Yes I had to. Thank you very much" - relieved, I was now a passenger of the AC coach.
To make the urgency look real, I took out my laptop and started fiddling with it, thinking what to do without access to the Internet. Between the noise of "Chai piyo Chai Chai", "Tasty Chole lo Tasty Chole" and "Namkeen Biscuit Chips Kurkure" in their typical tone, I decided to write something on food. Though I had Aloo-Paranthas in the early morning breakfast, I've started feeling hungry already.
My brother was particularly concerned about the eunuch beggars. They would stroll around the sleeper and general class coaches during the 40 minute stop at Saharanpur station for rake-sharing (joined to Dehradun-Chennai Express). These beggars are popular for passing some embarrassing comments at people ( like "oye shahrukkhan") until they shell out something. And if you don't look like a general or sleeper class passenger, you will have to give them more to avoid any kind of argument with them.
And while I am writing this sitting in the AC coach, I saw a young man hasty/roughly sweeping the floor with a cloth and then looking at people to get some money.
"come on, isn't that something that the railway guys would do?" I asked him. Without saying anything, he moved to the next compartment.
The *scheduled* arrival time for this train is 12:20 PM (4.5 hours journey) but even the TT was sure that it won't reach Meerut before 12:45. The train was in full speed, zooming past the green fields of Uttar Pradesh. Some Tamil speaking TT has replaced the one I met. He was busy fiddling with his mobile phone and striking some kind of deal for a dual sim. The train started loosing speed at 12:30. I asked the TT which station is it. "Ahhmmmm" he took out his station chart "Meerut City will come in another 10-15 mins". People have started collecting their luggage and moving towards the door. There was no stop in between, the window glass was too foggy to see which station it was so I asked a gentlemen standing next my seat "Meerut aa gya kya?" he nodded.
I decided to write about my love for food but ended up writing about my train experience. Though this one was better than my last train travel experience in the AC Chair Car (from Meerut Cantt to Ambala Cantt in New Delhi-Jalandhar InterCity Express) when the AC unit malfunctioned, making passengers dripping in sweat for nearly an hour until some SardarJi decided to pull the chain. They stopped the train at Muzzaffarnagar station, not allowing the train to move until the AC unit is fixed or their fare is returned. Luckily, it tool 5 minutes for the railway technicians to fix the fault.
1 comment:
Nice write-up.
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