A train journey to just forget

Only when the journey ended did the traveller have a smile on his face

This Dasara, a family get-together came up at the last minute. As the vacation ended, my brother and I were reminded of the return journey by train in sleeper class that we needed to undertake.

The festive season had ensured that flight tickets were well out of our reach. It was not as if we were born with silver spoons in the mouth and had never travelled by this class. As kids we had even looked forward to it. But that was before we had known the delights of air travel and air-conditioned train coaches. The distance we had to travel was also particularly long.

Nose protection

Regardless, we decided to be sportive and armed ourselves with enough reading material purchased from the railway station to pass the time. But as we checked our tickets we realised our seats were the closest to the toilets which are (in)famous for their cleanliness levels. For the first time in my life I wasn’t embarrassed of the fact that on my mother’s advice I had carried with me a gents’ handkerchief (it being bigger than the ladies’ kerchief). I promptly folded it diagonally and tied it to cover my face nose down.

For some time we enjoyed the view of the countryside through the window. Every now and then at a major station we connected our phones to the “fast and free” railway wi-fi connections there.

But as noon approached the temperatures rose and so did the jostling numbers of short-distance passengers who without the slightest hesitation parked themselves on our reserved seats. My brother contemplated charging them on an hourly basis. The smell of filth was being overpowered by the stench of sweat.

Not wanting to have any conversations, my brother and I only gave each other occasional looks that meant: “I am okay, but I am not okay.” The uneasiness removed any scope for sleep. And any scope of reducing this uneasiness by washing our faces was ruled out by the condition of the toilets and the washbasins.

Vendors at work

What was amazing was that despite every inch of the floor being occupied, the vendors were still able to wade across bogies while balancing products on their head, like some world class gymnast.

When the vacation had ended I wasn’t really looking forward to going back. But this long journey made sure that when I reached the destination station I had a smile on my face.

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