I always look forward to travelling by train. For me, It's not just the journey alone; the sights, sounds and smells of the railway stations, the hustle of thousands of people either waiting to board a train to their destination or just alighting is so awesome that I often feel that I can stand at the Chennai Central Station and watch the happenings all day .
Enriching
Getting into your compartment is like getting into a new world in itself. You never know what kind of people are going to share the coach with you. It could be an elderly gentleman who keeps on talking unmindful of the fact that nobody wants to listen to him (but are too polite to say so) or a family with children who would be so deeply immersed in their own problems that they would hardly notice anything that happens around them or a young person like you or me meddling with his/her cell phone and observing everything that happens around them.
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Night journeys are also exciting. Most of the times you are faced with requests from others to exchange berths, sometimes even change coaches.
Sometimes when you wake up in the night, you might find people sleeping on the floor in your compartment.
I still remember (vividly) when travelling alone on a night journey, I fell asleep and missed my station. I had to get down at the next stop, walk in the early morning fog to the bus-stand and catch a bus to my destination. A time delay of more than two hours!
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This experience taught me to bond with my fellow travellers and to request them to wake me up in the morning when the train arrives at my station.
Train journeys are always eventful with something different happening every time and I am waiting eagerly for my next brush with the Indian Railways.
K.RAMDAS, Final Year Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi.