Talking about train journeys, let me narrate my horror story that happened this July (“Train of woes; they call it ‘shubh yatra',” Open Page, Sept.25). It was a return journey to Thiruvananthapuram by the Sabari Express, A/c 3-Tier. During my stay in Kerala, I went to the Suchindrum, Siva and Anjaneya temples, performed vadamala and brought 58 vadas safely packed, or so I thought. On my return journey, the train was held up for 200 minutes at Thrissur for some technical reason. When I woke up in the morning I saw the plastic bag of vadas torn and in shreds with paper all around. It was the result of a ticketless passenger — a rat, which seemed to have worked hard all night. To make things worse, the pantry car was unable to cater for the needs of passengers.
Raghunathan,
Hyderabad
