The Lighter Side of Train Journeys

The trip for this year is done and dusted. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again- trips with friends are like a tonic for the soul. The memories remain, as do the pictures. We saw some beautiful spots, marveled at several monuments, soaked up the ambience of a few out-of-the way places, laughed, chatted and discussed topics from food to families to climate change. From that collection of memories I’ve plucked out a few that I will not forget in a hurry.

1. The Train:

So, we were booked in a long distance train that ran once a week and took 2 nights and 3 days to arrive at its destination. Luckily for us, we were to get on one night and get off the next morning. But our deep mistrust of Indian Railways; created over decades of bitter experiences had made us extremely wary of the train ever reaching on time. Accordingly, we had Plans A, B and C all lined up for each ‘What If…’

But then Murphy’s Law kicked in and this darn train took us completely by surprise by arriving no, Not on time but…EARLY! And not just a few minutes early but at least an hour. There we were, standing at the platform, prepared to wait and then this engine glided in, hauling a long line of coaches with the name of the train written on each. And we still couldn’t believe our eyes. We asked the people who descended, whether this really was the train we intended to take.

For our return journey, we were booked by the same train and this time it pulled into the station two hours before time. I kid you not. Luckily we had arrived early with plans to sit at one of the cafes on the platform, just chilling. But it is impossible to chill when the train you’re going to take is standing at the platform, and you don’t trust it to leave at its scheduled departure time. So, instead of sitting on pins and needles at the cafe, we decided to plonk ourselves in our seats on the train. Which was a very good thing as it turned out. And here’s why.

2. The Train Journey:

The train (long distance, remember?) was returning from Bangalore to Rajasthan, via Gujarat and was packed with families heading back home after Diwali. It was full. As in, bursting at the seams. It’s a good thing we had climbed in and corralled our seats. That’s 2 of us and 70 other people with their assortment of food (for 2 days) and assortment of luggage. We had boarded at night and after crawling onto my berth, I spent the rest of the time lying awake and listening to the varieties of snores emanating from all around me. They were varied in volume, frequency and rhythm and I listened to them all. All Night Long. Hello!

3. The Washroom Saga:

This is a recurring theme in my posts about travel, but it’s very important. It’s only while travelling that one truly appreciates the availability of soap and a plentiful supply of water. And a clean wash basin. Not to mention the jackpot- a clean, usable toilet with efficient plumbing.

The wonders of monuments steeped in history, temples with exquisite carvings, water bodies, acres of green countryside; pale into insignificance before a throne and a jet-spray. Or should I say- Would Have Paled into insignificance. Because we didn’t get that lucky- except maybe once. But we ventured cautiously in, out and through quite a few loos in our search for a suitable one! We even marched out of one restaurant without ordering anything because their loos were un-usable. But the place didn’t have anything appealing on the menu either, so… Hah.

Well, there you have it- memories of some moments and feelings, smiles and laughter (the laughter came later- after the train journey ended).