My Train Journey….

I’m Deepika and I generally prefer to travel with family. I have my own reasons for it and I’m sure you will side with me by the time you read this to the end. Ever since my marriage in 2008, I had to travel at least once or twice a year and the pandemic also was no exception. It’s because my parents are based out of Vizag and my in-laws are in Nellore; Whereas I stay in Hyderabad because of my work. Since the birth of my 1st child, my in-laws started living with us here in Hyderabad however my husband chose to follow his passion and got into the business field. He is based out of Nellore for the past 5+years and hence COVID lockdown proved quite helpful for me to spend a whole year working from home. I have mostly travelled by car during the lockdown due to the risk of COVID however I did travel by train too.

I don’t have any hard feelings towards travelling and the actual journey but what I don’t like is the tiny bits of discomfort which one has to endure. Let’s begin. With Indian railways, it’s never easy to book a reservation ticket for someone like me. It’s not like I don’t plan but it’s just that there are too many factors involved. What’s the occasion? Who should be attending? What about my office hours? What about kids? Who will be taking care of the elders in the family? Are there any festivals close to those dates? Is it anyone’s birthday in the family? Is it Summer? So, on and on…

Ideally, I try to book my tickets at least 30 days in advance and prefer the lower berths as my kids would want to tag along if it’s my mom’s house. I would be very happy if at least 2 lower berths are booked and it feels like the moment in the movie “Pursuit of Happyness”. There is background narration that sees that happiness in life is a moment and for me seeing the 2 confirmed Lower berths is pure bliss. Now, the anticipation and excitement keep building till the day of the journey. A week prior to the journey, I have a handy list of stuff that I should be packing like a Toothbrush, comb, towels, and n number of pairs (n= number of trip days) which is mandatory. Then comes the list of party wear and sarees (just in case I must visit a temple). Additionally, I would be packing stuff that are gifts for near and dear. By this time, I have already filled one small suitcase and thankfully it doesn’t weigh much. But now comes the Hercules task of packing my kid’s clothes. The basic stuff doesn’t change like toothbrush, comb, and towels but when it comes to their daily wear; I definitely either overpack or under pack. There’s never optimal utilization of resources here… wonder when I would learn?

By the time I’m done packing, I somehow end up with 4 to 5 big bags and the UBER Auto wouldn’t accept my ride because it’s 2 elders + 2 kids + 5 big bags of luggage. Hence, I end up booking a cab and have a nail-biting adventure till I reach the station because no service would accept my booking. Even if they do accept the booking, they show a minimum wait time of 20mins. Eventually, I board the cab but the driver is so overzealous that he would end up getting stuck in traffic. He would try to navigate on the free road and gets overtaken by a different guy. In his hurry, he would avoid the shortcuts just to be safe and takes the long traffic-stricken route and drop us at the station with just 10mins to spare. Thankfully I rush to the platform and start running towards my S2 Coach which is always at a corner of the station.

The moment I enter the train is another moment of happiness/bliss. One which can’t be comprehended in words as that’s an achievement on its own. We soon stuff the bags under our seats and the next minute my phone would buzz with calls from my husband. Have I reached the station? Are the kids safe? Have we got our seats? All I can say between the heavy breaths is “I have reached and the train is about to start” before the train starts to slowly pick up the pace and start the journey. Wow…. This is yet amazing because the train started right on time which means if I were stuck in the traffic for 15 more minutes I wouldn’t have been able to make it to Vizag. Wow… that’s such a relief. Is it???? Is it????? Because it’s just the start now and there’s more to come.

So, the first thing that I do after tucking the luggage under the seats is to look for the tiffin bag as my kids would have been tired, bored, and hungry. Task 1: Dinner. It’s not just dinner but it’s a task because we must eat while ensuring no one looks into our plates and make sure to check out what they are eating. If you have got Panner and they got Pulihora (South-Indian Homemade yellow rice), the flavours in my dinner get exemplified, for no reason. There’s a bit of shouting involved because both kids would want to have a go at each other while I would be trying the decorum. There would be a few angry glances from my end and my kids trying to avoid this. I’m not sure why, no matter the amount of care, there’s still bound to be something spilt on the seats and hence the tedious task of trying to be cleaning it decently (unlike how I would just wipe all of it onto the floor at home). Finally, we are all done with dinners and we can now move on to the next task.

Task 2: Sleep. This is simple you have 2 lower berths and hence it should be simple right. No. Never. It’s never simple nor easy because there’s that one uncle who has knee pains and can’t board the Upper berth. So, we struggle and compromise with that uncle. He takes the lower berth and then the kids take the middle berth. So, the one sleeping on the Upper berth will have the fan so, that shouldn’t be an issue but the one sleeping on the lower berth will have to face extremes. Either there’s just no air and it’s suffocating (even if the windows are open) Or it's so cold that my toes fall off.

Task 3: Protecting the luggage. Again, the one sleeping on the upper berth is carefree because what can they do. The ones sleeping on the lower berth will have to be the ones holding the handles on the luggage bags in one hand and clutching the money bag with the other. Can’t imagine how it’s possible? Don’t worry. Indian moms are capable of anything…. Literally anything. As if it’s not enough that we are holding the bags but if in case accidentally someone from the general coach comes to this coach and dares to sit (even on the floor)… That’s it. We wait patiently for the TC to come and then show the man as if he has broken all possible train laws. So, if you hope that there would be finally some peace and time to sleep well not really…. What if there are goons around? What if there are chain snatchers? What if there are some kidnappers lurking around? What are the odds of them happening? Not much but then, this is the time when these thoughts start to pop one after another.

Finally, after waking up nearly at every station and the toll of the day plays its card pulling me into the depths of sleep. Guess what, the reality of being in S2 Coach kicks in. You are just one away from the engine and that means you keep getting the worst kind of jerks + noise. Added to this, seat number 66 means that you are almost towards the end of the coach and all those people trying to go take a leak at night; kick you at your feet. Like I’m not even that tall but the coach is so jerky because of the speed and they tend to just grab hold of my leg to avoid a fall.

Ok. All said and done. The journey comes to end, and we have reached our destination. Is it over yet? No. We still have Task 4: Getting the luggage down. Did we get all the bags? What about the suitcases? Did we leave anything behind? (Like that’s possible…) What about the water bottles? Should I take it? Should I leave it? But we have de-boarded the train with all of these thoughts hanging in my mind while trying to clear the checklist as much as possible.

Task 5: Which way out? It’s not like the exit is not marked but the point here is which would be ideal. Should I go to the entry side of the station? But there might be traffic? What about the backside of the station? Well, that’s the longer route. Anyway, it’s now decided. Let’s proceed with the Exit towards platform 10 but there’s only one escalator. This means the whole train will be gathered and we all are in a hurry to exit the station after being on the train for more than 10 to 12 hours. Like where’s the fire? What’s the hurry? But no, we are hell-bent on exiting and we can find crowds being pushed against one another. There’s that occasional person who is afraid of stepping on the escalator and that causes only a marginal minute or two delays. Still, there’s that pressure from the crowd and they eventually, get on with it. Thankfully, we didn’t get to take the stairs because there was a slanted ramp which made it easy for us to take the luggage outside

Task 6: Getting the auto. Why is it that the 1st auto that you speak to asks for exuberant pricing? Like almost double or sometimes triple. It’s exactly the same thing that happened with me when the auto person wanted something like 300/- for a trip that won’t be more than 100/-. I had to literally walk away and only when I was approaching the pre-paid auto stand; did I hear a reasonable amount. 150/-. I eventually got in because I didn’t have any more energy left and that was that.

My trip to Vizag.