Train Journeys
Its been a while since I travelled by train. The last time I went, it caused some strain on my mental and physical health. Since I was travelling alone and I didnt want to fall asleep, it was quite a fight between the body and the mind. The only reason I had mustered the courage for that was because that was the only way (not really, I could have booked a day train for the 6 hr journey) to be back in someone's arms.
Apart from one particular event, I have loved travelling by train and it was always fun with a huge family circle making so much noise, playing cards and cracking the most horrible jokes! One of the usual events used to be a fight between my brother and me for the seat by the window. There was this time when we took our dog by train and by the 'rule' (to give in to the younger one's wishes), both of us had to let him sit there by the window (with his nose butting out) to stop all the yelling (sorry, barking) and fuss he was creating!
The 40 something hours of travel from Delhi to Mangalore during the summer hols was quite a pain. After fighting, threatening and also trying to bribe my brother, none of which would work in getting to sit by the window, I would normally go to the upper berth and lie down with a novel. The other reason for that was to avoid the crowd that had these deep stares for me just coz I was a girl. Atleast, in a particularly painful position up there, you could hide away from the stares of most of them!
Imagine this...u are so close to reaching your destination after a filthy travel of almost 2 sweaty days...and there has been some confusion with the schedules of crossings! So...the result: we reach 6 hours late! And it was those days when you unconditionally loved all your relatives, so I was really upset that we reached so late coz one of my uncles was leaving the same night!
Some of the things are so typical that anyone who has travelled in trains in India would be able to relate to it. Like, the unbearable stench of the bathrooms after a day of travel, the water supply dissapearing (and having to run to the other end of the compartment to wash hands), railway employees carrying the chai coffee canteens, churmuri, peanuts, cold drink sellers..., someone waking you up to ask if you want to order the night's meals, buttermilk packets, a bunch of guys always hanging out at the end of a compartment sitting near the door, families opening dabbas of food and snacks, kids crying (this one has to be there when I travel).
I think two of the the best things about those journeys were...one...I loved looking out the window feeling the wind on my face and see the sceneries and the daylight change colours. Second...it was probably the only time when I actually sat and talked to my parents! Back home, mom and I were always pissed with each other and would have sworn never to talk to each other! It was so much fun playing games and chatting with them on the train, the value of which I realize only now.
I have so many more memories linked to train journeys that I could write atleast another 7 paragraphs (I did count the events in my head before coming up with that number!), but I wont.
The reason I went about thinking of train journeys was because, right now someone close to the heart is sitting in one and enduring the almost 2 days long journey back to his home. :-)
Apart from one particular event, I have loved travelling by train and it was always fun with a huge family circle making so much noise, playing cards and cracking the most horrible jokes! One of the usual events used to be a fight between my brother and me for the seat by the window. There was this time when we took our dog by train and by the 'rule' (to give in to the younger one's wishes), both of us had to let him sit there by the window (with his nose butting out) to stop all the yelling (sorry, barking) and fuss he was creating!
The 40 something hours of travel from Delhi to Mangalore during the summer hols was quite a pain. After fighting, threatening and also trying to bribe my brother, none of which would work in getting to sit by the window, I would normally go to the upper berth and lie down with a novel. The other reason for that was to avoid the crowd that had these deep stares for me just coz I was a girl. Atleast, in a particularly painful position up there, you could hide away from the stares of most of them!
Imagine this...u are so close to reaching your destination after a filthy travel of almost 2 sweaty days...and there has been some confusion with the schedules of crossings! So...the result: we reach 6 hours late! And it was those days when you unconditionally loved all your relatives, so I was really upset that we reached so late coz one of my uncles was leaving the same night!
Some of the things are so typical that anyone who has travelled in trains in India would be able to relate to it. Like, the unbearable stench of the bathrooms after a day of travel, the water supply dissapearing (and having to run to the other end of the compartment to wash hands), railway employees carrying the chai coffee canteens, churmuri, peanuts, cold drink sellers..., someone waking you up to ask if you want to order the night's meals, buttermilk packets, a bunch of guys always hanging out at the end of a compartment sitting near the door, families opening dabbas of food and snacks, kids crying (this one has to be there when I travel).
I think two of the the best things about those journeys were...one...I loved looking out the window feeling the wind on my face and see the sceneries and the daylight change colours. Second...it was probably the only time when I actually sat and talked to my parents! Back home, mom and I were always pissed with each other and would have sworn never to talk to each other! It was so much fun playing games and chatting with them on the train, the value of which I realize only now.
I have so many more memories linked to train journeys that I could write atleast another 7 paragraphs (I did count the events in my head before coming up with that number!), but I wont.
The reason I went about thinking of train journeys was because, right now someone close to the heart is sitting in one and enduring the almost 2 days long journey back to his home. :-)
posted by Pooja Subramanya at
10:35 PM
3 Comments:
Totally, agree. Train journeys were fun when I was a kid. It was quality time spent with the family, perhaps the longest stretches of time, when no one was busy with some or the other task; everyone was totally free with nothing better to do than chat with each other. It was also the best time to do great reading. I too spent most of my time on the upper berth, reading. In fact, even now, if I travel by train, I take book the upper berth. :-) As a kid, I absolutely liked the box light in the ac coaches. It meant I could curl up in the cosy warm blankets, switch on the light and read on immersed in the saga of the Hardy boys or the secret seven. sigh...those days were bliss.
Later on, in college, train journeys were still fun, when we used to return back home as a gang, the gujju gang. We used to play loud games and crack wild jokes to the amusement and occasional consternation of the other travellers in the coach. We also used to prowl around the entire train in groups, checking out the other travellers. ;-) There was on occasion when we booked the major portion of a coach amongst ourselves. That was the best trip of those four years.
The Indian Railways, with all its shortcomings and foibles, is interminably linked with the life of the common Indian. These days, when some families catch flights to take the quick vacation in goa or kerala, the kids sure are missing something.
haha! gud one...had a chance 2 travel by MARTA the local train in Atlanata..There was a begger asking for alms...(felt I was home) and then the worst part, he asks money from everyone but us! Duh! how did he know we were graduate students????????
@Anty: Grad students are marked I tell u...everyone knows who u r..wherever u go! Works for me! So..not complaining!
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