Your attention please... Review on Indian Railways

Indian Railways

Welcome to the largest railway network among all the nations. And for a country which is close on heels of being the most populated nation in the whole world.

Close your eyes.

What do you see?

~ I see a vast sea of people of all shapes and sizes, coming in and out of a railway station.

~ I see coolies(porters) in their red attires arguing over the amount paid to them by the passengers.

~ I see platforms. Where do I need to go? I have done a few trekking trips but once I go past those foot over bridges and land on one of the platforms only to be told that there have been last minute changes to where my train would actually arrive, I tell myself “With such wonderful settings in the heart of the city, do I actually need to go searching for a trekking site?”

~ I see trains with their mammoth engines whistling their arrival or departure.

~ Constantly blaring loudspeakers with a programmed voice of a lady asking for my attention every now and then, announcing the arrivals, the departures, the delays…oh,it never ever stops. But then, how would you know?

~ I hear a commotion as soon as a train arrives. People jostling and shoving past each other. I hear a brawl that has brewed over a large piece of luggage that a passenger is trying to push inside an already packed compartment. If you thought that it was more than the place could handle, you were wrong. Some more arrive on the scene. I mean both passengers and luggages.

~ I see several stalls- some selling chai, paani etc., some magazine stalls which sell less and are thronged more, some fruit vendors , and some selling just about anything.

~ I see beggars. Where else would they get such a vast source of income?

Now, the journey begins. For those who aren’t aware of the way Indian Railways functions. Let me tell you – I don’t know. Even God doesn’t know. But yes, it helps me and my family reach the 1000 miles away from home and then back which I don’t know how else would have been possible. For those, who still want to know (as if there really are some), let me tell you.

~You need to know where you are and where you want to go.

~You need to find out among all the scores of trains (thanks to the new trains announcements that each hounourable Railway Minister makes in his/her Railway budget speech every year) that can take you there, which one runs on the day you want to depart and whether it suits your timing, budget(well, those who just abhor the janta trains because they are as slow as a snail and run as erratically as a drunken ragamuffin, always have the Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and the other of the same ilk), and above all whether its AVAILABLE. Else, you would just see lingo like WL196 and RAC78 on your travelling ticket. And that will keep you on the tenterhooks till the last moment. And you would be thronging those charts on the boards with more anxiousness than you did when you went to see your board exams results. Hurray! One exults. He is in. Are you? If not, never mind. Just jump in. There are some white collared, black coated guys you would encounter on the train. For the sake of letting you know, they are called TTEs. TTE what? Yes TTE. Travelling Ticket Examiner. Talk to them. What do you talk to them? Well, if you don’t know what to talk to them, just show them your travelling ticket. They would do the talking.

~ Once you are in, you would just like to know who all will be your companions for the next 8 or 12 or 20 or 40 or yes, yes, even 64 hours(Gosshhhh! Two and a half days sitting inside a tinned roof , looking outside those windows into the length and breadth of your vast motherland). All kinds of people. From people who just snore past the entire journey to the ones who would discuss everything and anything under the sun and make no sense at all. Some who would read “Suhaag aur Bandook” to the ones who would eat everything that come their way.

~ Don’t ask me what is the best way to travel on Indian Railways? But one thing I would strictly advise against is – Travelling alone. Some people tell me they prefer traveling alone. Just climb atop their upper berths and do whatever they please – read, rant (silently), dream, sleep, eat…But doing that for the hours and sometimes days together becomes a pain.

Bottom line

Indian Railways maybe a nightmare for some. It maybe the lifeline for some. Some hardly care. But, whatever you may think of it, living in India, you cannot survive without it. If you thought I was exaggerating , just close your eyes and imagine there was no Indian Railways. What do you see?