Happy Birthday Indian Railways. I don't remember when I got trapped in the magical web of the dhadak dhadak of the Railways. My father would travel from Borivli to Churchgate every day. He had his fixed local, fixed compartment. In the evening, he would tell us if the train came on time or whatever. Often a weird looking rake would come in, it had a strange sitting arrangement too. Its number was 301/401, if i remember correctly. I have also traveled in that rake, it had more standing space and very few benches. I started traveling by the local when i passed out of school, i was barely 15 then. Trains would be crowded then too, but not so bad as now. I also had a group of the regulars. Locals often ran on time, i hardly ever missed a lecture because they were running late.
A longer train journey that we would regularly take was to Manmad, in the famous Panchavati express. Baba would be excited, he would buy all kinds of food items at stations. A longer journey, where I first spent a night on the train was probably to Jabalpur. How i loved the rhythm of the Howrah Mail. How i enjoyed looking out of the window, at the passing villages, rows of farms, houses, vehicles, rivers, and most importantly, people. I also loved chatting with my fellow passengers. And the Chai, the tomato (okay, pumpkin) soup, cutless, vada pau... The list also includes hot n sweet banana pakodas on the Mangala Express. Hot upma with sev on the Mandovi express. Hot sweet Kulladwali chai on the Mahanagri Express. Clean tap water from Dahod station. Sanchi buttermilk at Habibganj station. Pohe on the Avantika Express. Tomato Soup on the Mumba-Aurangabad Janshatabdi express. Lunch ordered from Neelam at Itarasi station. Am sure each passenger has her favourite rail snack.
I also have a few favourite passengers! The elderly gentleman, a former MLA, I met on way to Jalgaon once. He had booked two lower berths for himself in II AC. The Jain businessman on way to Varanasi who knew which station offered the best food, almost across the country. A feisty woman in her 70s who was a master of Kashidakari. A family from Alibaug I met on a train to Kanyakumari to watch the solar eclipse who didn't buy bottled water but filled water at the station taps. A doctor who explained the complicated NEET case to me on way to Aurangabad. And many more.
IR gives you the pleasure of traveling. It's not only going from point A to point B. So much happens between these two. One grows. One learns. One alights at the destination much wiser.
It is a dream to travel on the longest route in India. Soon. Amen.
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