Indian Railways

One of the most pleasant of my childhood memories includes my train travels.
All throughout my school days, I used to keep anticipating our summer vacations. Partly because I could go and meet my maternal grandparents, and partly because I could travel by train!!!

What a pleasure train travel used to be in those days!!!
Although I did make the most of the "cheap Indian airline" phase, now that the oil prices are touching stratosphere, I have turned back to good old Indian Railways to shuttle between Mumbai and Mysore.

But as I compare these journeys to yesteryear's, I find so much that has changed!!!! Let me revive the good old days of railways:

What I miss the most about trains, is the water bottle!! Everyone nowadays prefers to buy a mineral bottle. Once finished, you simply buy another mineral bottle. But thats definitely not what we used to do about a decade back. In those days, every family carried a water bottle. And at almost every station that the train halted at, a family member(always a male!!) had to rush to the drinking water tap to fill the water. Everytime my father used to step down to fill the bottle, I used to be scared to death, thinking about the consequences if he misses the train!!! A few years later, I was old enough to hold the responsibility of filling the bottle. What a proud moment that was! Coming back to the water bottle, well, I remember my mama had gifted us an expensive Milton water bottle - that would keep the water cold - even during the scorching hot temperatures in the train. How delighted I was when I first used the bottle. It had a small tap, and a cup on top. You could remove the cup from the top, and use it as a glass to drink water. Inside the tap, there used to be a filter! All this was the equivalent of a complex gizmo to me then. My aunt on the other hand, preferred to carry a surahi - an earthen pot with a long slender neck - with her. It always cooled down the water, and imparted an earthly, delicious taste to it.

Then there was this "THING". I am saying thing, because then I did not know its name. A number of rail workers used to be sitting on this kind of a trolley, that had wheels designed to move on rail tracks. They could actually cycle, thus moving the trolley. This particular "vehicle" was always a pleasant sight to me. I still don't know what drew me towards it. But I always kept fantasizing of roaming around on such a vehicle, wearing sunglasses and all, and looking like a general hero!! It was just a couple of days back, that I met a guy with a book having "NRMU" printed boldly. I immediately recognized NRMU as a railway union, and presumed - quite correctly - that he was a railway employee. I immediately queried him about the "thing" and he told me that it is called a "rail trolley". In fact, there are trolleys, that do not have any cycling mechanism. You simply push the trolley for a distance, and then jump over it. After covering a distance, when it starts slowing down, you again jump down, push it for some time, and jump back again. There are also trolleys that are fitted with diesel motors. Just fill in some diesel, and the motor would start chugging your trolley. It would look like a miniature train!! And the guys sitting on it would look like "dudes"(a purely personal opinion). That guy also told me, that in yesteryear's top ranking officials used such trolleys to visit some places for inspection. Now, of course, they have special trains, and other more "respectable" modes of transport.

Apart from the above reasons, what enthralled me the most, was the scenery outside. The empty farms, stretching for miles, looked so amazing, so exciting and so inviting!! On countless moments, I desired to run away from the train, into those fields. I did not care about anybody else or any other thing. The only things existing in my world would be the fields and myself. I never thought as to what I would eat? I never thought that I wont be able to meet my relatives, or watch TV. I only thought about running into the fields. I remember my mother telling me, that earlier, when my father used to travel with her, he would always sit at the window, and kept gaping out at the scenery. Then, he got bored, and as she rightly pointed out, he preferred sleeping on the upper berth over admiring the beauty of the fields. I was very surprised by my father's wierd behaviour. After all, how can somebody miss out on such amazing beauty. Now, when I travel sleeping on the upper berth myself, I realize that it is only in human nature to become "bored" easily. I myself don't feel like watching those same old fields anymore!!!

Lastly, what I would like to add is the bonds of friendship that we used to create on our journeys. We used to travel for long distances - 2 or more days - and often we had families travelling with us. After, say half a day, we would tentatively start conversation with the strangers. And over the next 24 hours or so, a bond of friendship would bind us. In fact, so strong used to be the bond, that many a times I have seen my mother crying while parting with another woman - who was herself weeping as if CERN had blasted the whole world - whom she had met a couple of days back for the first time!! I, myself, had got very senti once. I had made a very nice friend of a kid, and I suddenly felt very lonely leaving him. The conversation used to be lively. We got to know so much about each other. It was also fun to exchange foodstuffs!!

Now, of course, all this is past. Not a single person would ever accept any foodstuff from you, let alone offer you something to eat!!! :D In fact, one of my OWN relatives was drugged on his way in train, and when he came to his senses - all his belongings were missing!
Crime has increased so much, that it is very difficult to trust anybody. Everybody should be sujected to suspicion.
So many things have changed. Even the Indian Railways itself has transformed!!!

I am sure of one thing though - travelling by train will never be as fun nowadays. At least not for me!!!! :)

A story of Mumbai, MNS, North Indians and a bar of soap !!!

This happened at the start of this year - around Jan or Feb.
The whole of Mumbai was burning then.
MNS workers were all over the place - beating Bihari workers, breaking shops, slapping North Indians, abusing them.....
(In fact, they are all over the place even now - they have issued a ticket to the Big B - urging him to return to Uttar Pradesh...)

In the midst of all this, a micro incident had occurred. Of course, the incident is so minor that it means almost nothing. But since I have just opened this blog, why not add it here.

I am used to bathing with a particular brand of ayurvedic soap. Now, this soap is manufactured by the ashram of Parampujya Sant Shri Asaramjee Bapu!
Every Saturday, there is a van from the Ashram that is stationed outside the local Maruti Mandir(Lord Hanuman temple). (The locality, for your reference, is Government Colony, Bandra East, Mumbai). And it is from this van, that we often buy the ayurvedic soaps.

As I am currently staying in Mysore, and come here only once in a while, I make it a point to buy some soaps which can last till my next visit to Mumbai.
This particular day, I arrived a little late to the temple. My brother warned me that I wont be able to buy the soap as the van would be closed. And how right he was!!
Just as I arrived at the van, I found, to my horror, that the van was closed - all the items neatly packed inside. There was no chance that I would be able to bathe with my favourite brand of soaps - at least not until my next trip to Mumbai. This is because the van arrives here only on Saturdays, and I won't be present till the next Saturday! Today was my only chance.
Fortunately, I saw a girl was still sitting in the van. I went to her, and requested her to please give me the soap. I also told her that I have come all the way from Mysore, and it would be great if she can sell me the soap. Now, from her looks, I deemed her to be a Maharashtrian. And so I chose to speak in Marathi. And what a costly mistake that proved to be!! Let me explain further.
A guy wearing dhoti and kurta, and looking like a pure North Indian arrived and sat next to that girl in the van. This girl, upon my request, told him that I needed the soap, urgently. She asked him if they should give me the soap. Now, that would have been some trouble, but it was quite possible. "No" was the blunt reply from that man. And from his tone itself I found out why.
From his accent, I was sure that he was from UP (I can bet on that:)). And he had heard me speaking in fluent Marathi!!! And this is the time that Mumbai was burning. Barely a hundred metres away, on that very day, some MNS workers had broken a taxi belonging to a North Indian! If he held a grudge against me for being a Marathi, then it was quite understandable.
I went to him, and started requesting in chaste Hindi. But he did not budge. In fact, his response was very blunt, and a little rude. Which surprised me, because he did not look like a rude person. He was obviously being biased by the goings on.
But what he did not know, is that I am a theth(pure, in this context) Bihari!!!!!! Both my parents are pure Biharis, and so am I!!!!
But how do I tell this to him? I was really helpless. It does not sound good, if I go and tell him "Listen dude, you are highly mistaken. Though I can speak Marathi, I am a pure Bihari. So don't hold your grudge against me. And sell me the soaps. How else will I bathe my dear friend? I would stink. And my girlfriends would die the next time they smell my armpits for pleasure :P :P".
Of course, it was not right. So I chose to not say anything. I requested him humbly a couple of more times. But he did not listen. Started the van, and zoomed away past me.
I still don't know whether I should be dejected, disappointed, angry or amused. After much thought, I think the last emotion is what I need to use. :) :)

My First (international) Blog!!

My O My !!!
Even in the rarest of my rare dreams, I had no idea that anybody (anybody being the key word here - I mean YOU could as well be sitting on the other side of the globe right now) would be reading a random collection of words typed by me!!!!

It is really a proud moment.
Thanks a lot my dear friend for reading these words. You have forever indebted me, and I can only show my gratitude by typing a few more articles and making you read them as well!!! :P :P

Don't get scared. THere is no compulsion.

My first blog was really worth the effort. Thanks to all.
Signing off.

With warmest of regards

Abhishek Karna