Over the years I have travelled widely across India over long distances by buses,trains,and planes.I have travelled less by buses,the road conditions being what they are,many a time.Plane travel has generally been limited to official tours,or for emergencies.Besides,I feel that planes take away the'travel'(read fun) out of travelling.Trains then have been my most preferred mode of travelling over long distance.
I love trains,railway platforms, and train journeys. When I am in town, or even outstation, I love nothing better, in my spare time, than to go and stand or sit at railway platforms, feeling the hustle and the bustle of the crowds, listening to the announcements on the public address system of the arrival and departure of trains, and watching the trains themselves chugging in from, and chugging out to distant locations.
Sometimes I wish I could chat with these mechanical beings we call trains. These beings,so to say, run a mega-marathon called ‘India’ on a daily basis. This makes them the most widely travelled, and conversant with the rivers and the mountains,the flora and the fauna, and the rich geographical and cultural heritage of India. Who then can be better raconteurs,or write travelogues better than them? Their experiences,and revelations could compile an enchanting encyclopedia.
The trains get to visit and say hello to the mango and palm trees of the Konkan;the tourist spots and bird-life of Goa;the paddy fields,backwaters, churches, temples, and synagogues in Kerala; the holy temple towns and cities in Tamilnadu,and in the Hindi heartland of UP,MP,Orissa and Bihar such as Madurai,Rameshwaram,Varanasi,Gaya,and Ayodhya;the mineral sites and windmills of Andhra and Karnataka; the tea and coffee plantations of Assam; the hilly terrains of the western Ghats of Maharashtra; the coastline of Gujarat and the salt pans in Saurashtra; the pink city of Jaipur, and the saintly city of Ajmer in Rajasthan; the Howrah bridge in West Bengal; the wheat fields and granaries of Punjab and Haryana; and the historical sights in Delhi and Agra,et al.
Trains engage in regular conversations with the palm trees nodding in the wind, the cattle grazing in the fields, the bungalows adjoining the railway lines,the birds perched on the overhead electric poles and wires, and the tunnels,rivulets,and bridges that come in their path. The trains also get to partake the weather prevailing in the various geographies they traverse: the torrential rains, the cool breeze of the winter, and the warmth of the summer, albeit they may not enjoy the hot humid climate, in some tropical locations.
The trains are also privy to the joys, aspirations, apprehensions and sorrows of their passengers,who are on board. There is the relaxed holiday travel bug, the job-seeker going for an interview with his aspirations, the bereaved passenger going to condole a family member’s death, and the home-sick one,waiting to see his near and dear ones. And of course, who does not enjoy the prattle of children on board, wonderstruck with the sights and sounds around?
Occasionally, a mechanical fault, or poorly maintained signals, or a fire within the train, leads to an accident, and the poor train silently and painfully bears the brunt and blame for the injured, and the dead. It is,of course,not its fault really; wish we human beings were more careful and diligent in our work!
I am reminded of the fable of a circle,which had lost one of its parts.The circle felt incomplete, and therefore it went on asking everyone, who came its way about its lost part. In the process, it gathered so much information about people and places, that long before it found its detached part, it felt complete again.Like the circle in the fable, I feel that the train too, through its association with people, places,and nature, achieves completeness and self-fulfilment,as a human traveller does.
Of course, the next best thing to 'being' a train, is to be 'on' a train, and partake some of the pleasant experiences and delights, I have just narrated.
So, dear reader, happy journeys aboard trains, and happy communion with trains,while off them!
