There was no specific reason for taking the trip to Pune by train. When it all started, it was supposed to be 4 of us, and we agreed that the trip was going to be great fun. Going back to Pune was supposed to be a trip down the memory lane and to me Indian Railways was an integral part. So much so, we decided to take the Sleeper tickets, all agreeing that people in the AC boggies are too snobbish and we wanted to have blast.
And the day finally came. I was standing outside the Bangalore Railway station with my backpack waiting for Vishal who had the tickets. Nothing seemed to have changed. As I leaned on the railings watching the glowboard saying Bangalore railway station, I wondered if Saifi was still there. I checked my mobile, and his number was still there. I remembered the day, I had first got this number. I had been in Bangalore for just about a month and I had to go to my home
town. Got leave in the last moment and by then, there were no tickets available. A flight ticket was out of question at that point of time and I was so desperate I had decided to go anyway. The plan was simple, try your luck with the TTC, else all you needed was a bedsheet and find a suitable flat empty surface.
Well thankfully I did not have to do either, because there was Saifi. A friend gave his number in the office and clearly spelt out how it worked. "He is not an agent, there is no office, no address and he takes clients only on reference. You are supposed to go the railway station, give him a call and he will come and meet you in the reservation lobby. When he comes to you, tell him your desination, pay him in advance plus a charge of 200 rupees. The rest he takes care of. You would get an confirmed ticket." And i swear this mysterious charachter was good at is his work and he did save me the trouble of sleeping on the train floor that night.
Now coming back to my pune trip, I was going through a flashback of memories attached with Udyaan Express. I was just remembering the last time I was anywhere near it was when we were leaving Pune after MBA. Most of the guys from Delhi were to leave on most probably the Goa express at 4am and Randa was leavin by Udyaan. It was supposed to leave at an unearthly hour of 1 AM and there were a bunch of us who were there that day on the railway station to say the final good buy. Having made the 25Km drive from Hinjewadi to Pune Station after a good see off party, I was lying half awake, half dazed on the platform. Some one was taking a video with his handycam and it was all fun, we were leaving but no one missed any chance to pull a leg if someone got sentimental.
Anyway, Vishal reached and I realized that it was gong to be just two of us. Randa was flying to Malyasia and Dilip was already on a flight to meet his parents. For the first time, the whole thing seemed like a very very bad idea. Bangalore was boiling like a pot and Vishal reminded me, this was nothing. We were to pass the barren lands of Vidharva the next day, and the snobbish crowd of AC boggies appeared like great wise men to me. Any way, the journey had begun and it was upto me to make the most of it. We moved on to Comesum to pack off some dinner. I am not sure if Comesum is there at other places but during those 2years in Pune, the comesum on the Pune Station used to be our last hope of grabbing a quick bite at 2 AM before we returned to our hostels.
And so started my journey. We shared the cubicle with another Marathi family. A family of 5, husband, wife, a kid of 4, another of abt 1 and the father of the guy. Nothing is more convenient than the Indian Railways, when you have to travel with a family like this. There were so many things that had not changed, that remained so typical of a train journey in the sleeper class. A few hours into the journey, the family took out their dinner. As we feasted on our packed dinner from Comesum, I could not help sneaking a peek at the nice home made Chappatis, Sabji and achar that my fellow travellers were enjoying. The meal was typical, you can almost predict what a packed meal for an Indian family making a train trip would be. Puris or chappatis with a dry curry/bhaji, I remembered my mother used to pack it for me every time I made an overnight trip on the railways and i really enjoyed it.
A few hours latter, something that I almost knew would happen begun to unfold. Both of us had the Lower berths and if you are a young guy with a lower berth, then it is almost certain that you would be approached by someone with either a lady or a senior citzen to exchange the coveted lower berth for an upper or middle berth. I never hesitate to do that, actually the upper berth is more convenient since you can wake up whenever you want. But the summer heat meant that you could sleep off only after 11 in the night when the roof has cooled off. Anyway, we chatted off till 11 and by the time we climbed onto the upper berths, it was cool enough.
The next morning, I somehow woke up at 6AM.. yes... too soon but the train had stopped waiting for a signal and i decided to climb down and have some fresh cool breeze. The topology outside was typical of the dry deccan region and even at 6 you could feel that it was going to be a hot day. I climed back and assembled the new camera I was taking for my brother. I missed my Canon S3IS but the photos from this was were not that bad.
Some time latter, a shoe shine boy came along and as vishal stopped his for a shine, i watched him work. When the time came to pay, I realized that, the standard rate had increased from Rs5 to 10. With inflation above 7, i guess they deserved a hike. He tried to sell me a special sole for my shoe and I could not help pointing out his cross selling efforts to Vishal. He said thats something he knows even without a MBA.
One after the other vendors came selling their wares and i picked up the Bhel, the Vada pao, the Misti Dhoi, the butter milk, the coffee and cucumbers. After all, this is why we were in the sleeper in the first place. Having it from them seemed so much more natural. I mean if you are travelling by any no frills airlines, the nice over painted lady who sells you a bottle of water for 3o bucks and sandwitch for 100 bucks really makes me feel out of place.
Well all this time, I could not help notice how unprepared I had come for the trip. The family i had mentioned earlier had brought bedsheets and air pillows while my back pack made up the pillow for me. The breakfast and even the lunch for the next day was well packed. There was special food for the old man and the lady who were doing a Shaniwar fasting. There were enough snacks for the small kid and a nice lunch for the man which he was kind enough to invite us to share with him.
All the way along, there were short distance passengers who kept climbing on to our reserved berths and expected us to share it with them. It's a matter of 2 hours sir, they would alway say. And then of course there were the TTCs. I realized that the Side Lower berth was reserved for the TTC on duty. There were two very young guys who were the TTCs for the trip. Most probably very fresh into the trade, i watched them in amusement as they returned from their rounds and started exchanging notes on the seats available and the challans they had made out.
Anyway, by the time we reached Pune, it was around 3 and the trained stopped near Hadapsar just on the outskirts of the CIty, waiting for the signal. I figured out, it would be closer to get down here and pick up the bike from my brothers place before we made the trip to Baner. So we jumped off onto the tracks and found our way to the Hadapsar station after having walked about 300ms. A small station with a few people sitting here and there, this place did not seem like one that would have a taxi stand outside. As we walked out, we found a single auto rickshaw with its driver napping in the seat. We woke him and as i asked him to take us the address I gave him, we haggled for 5 mins on the right price. So finally we were at my brothers place, the train journey had ended and we were thakful that we had made the return tickets by flight.
But looking back, I think it was a great journey. You should keep travelling by Indian Railways from time to time, even if you can afford other means of transportation. It shows you so much of real India and such a variety of people. Forced away from your laptops and with nothing to do, you really start taking interest in the people around you and more often than not you would enjoy the feeling of having to do nothing but just enjoy the journey.
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