Indian Railways - warps and wefts

Over the 4 years studying at Dhanbad the lifeline to mobility was the Indian railways. You can call it a behemoth that silently connects India physically, weaving the cultural carpet of India. Coimbatore ⁴⁹⁷ Chennai ¹⁶⁶² Howrah ²⁵⁹ Dhanbad was a ~ 2500 km journey covered over 40-50 hours and I happened to do it  thrice a year and over the four years the Indian Railways carted me over 60000km across length and breadth of India. Looking back at the end of my engineering days I had done this calculation and wondered how it happened. 

Railways in 80s did not have air-conditioned coaches (only Rajdhani had it), computerized reservations, first class travel was expensive and a railway guide detailed stops and scheduled timings en-route for each train. Stations had reservation quotas and one had to stand in queues to fill a reservation form and got a card ticket with details written at the back of train, seat details. Travel in the last minute got managed in 3 ways. Touts got you a ticket and reservation which you hope is in order as it could be a fake you realize much later when in train and the TTE checks. Or the well connected could use a senior railway official to get seats allotted from emergency quota and hope there isn’t somebody more important taking it away. Else land up like many do even today and try your luck with the TTE or pick a reserved seat (space to sit) in the unreserved coach which porters will palm by blocking it when the train comes from the yard – the unreserved coaches have this unwritten rule of letting one occupy space just enough to sit for the journey. Travel by trains in south and west was a bit orderly with TTEs securing reserved coaches. In east was a different cup of tea as almost always I have seen people being allowed to come and sleep on the floors in overnight trains. The TTE would say we all are one family and let them be (of course he had greasy palms).

There were Super fast trains which were the new age trains which travelled at higher speeds, had priority clearance and most importantly cushioned seats. The other regular express trains mostly had hardwood seats straightened the bottom & back all the way. Then there are the mail trains which stop almost in every station picking and dropping post and were glorified long distance passenger trains – but if you liked a relaxed journey, wanting to reach or see smaller stations this was the option and always were the least preferred for reservations but they were timed left origin stations end of day and reached destinations early morning. Then there were passengers and an oxymoron called Fast Passenger for travelling to hinterland from major locations.

The experience of travelling was unique every time. So much so there were two serials done for TV which I am aware of. Shyam Benegal’s Yatra done as documentary – a must watch if you have not seen it, that wonderfully weaves Indian culture as it covers train journeys across India. Rayil Sneham (Acquaintance on trains) by K Balachander a tamil serial.

As a bachelor and student one was blessed if one got a family to travel alongside. It ensured supply of packed home food as they took pity on people like us. It also ensured the luggage was safe and one could request them to keep an eye and freely get off at station and in turn get them some things from the platforms at stations. A major event in long distance trains was availability of drinking water which was there in specific places in platforms and in larger stations there was also a water cooler a major need in hot summers. In an era where there was no bottled water the rush to fill the water cans one carried was an exercise. There were these aluminum water cans which had a felt or canvas lining which one could wet and hang it by the window and it would end up cooling the water inside the can – it was cool. Only superfast trains had pantry cars and had vestibule inter-connecting coaches. In others one had to place orders ahead - for dinner at lunch time and lunch at breakfast time and meals got delivered at stations ahead. If the trains run late the meals got late and cold. Each station had something special to have from vada, puri bhaji, bread omelette, flavoured milk, just plain chai etc. and the seasoned travelers picked this soon.  And then if you got to travel with a holiday group you have had it. First students and single travelers became non entities to them. They would invariably seek a seat change some times to another coach. Groups can get noisy and eat into your space as they gather at your bay nudging you out of your comfort zone. In the route I frequented esp around Puja and Christmas it was sight to watch large groups of Bengali families travelling to south to go to Aurobindo Ashram and Kanyakumari. They travelled in large groups like 40 or 50. They broke their journey at key places of interest, travelled with cooks, utensils and even managed to cook at select stations if there were delays.

While leaving from college to home we would travel with friends and have company atleast for part of the way. Kumar & Satish were the most regular with me. However planning the same on the way back was a challenge. Books and magazines (Reader Digest being the most handy and with lot of variety to read) were the trusted companions.

But all along the journeys I would often stand at the door enjoy the wind gushing as the train sped and wonder at the way these routes have been laid. They offer breathtaking views and in many scenic places, the tracks invariably curved, maybe to climb heights in an incline or whatever, but it was and is wonderful. There were the landmarks like Basin Bridge cooling towers at Chennai or the Howrah bridge at Kolkata. My favourite are the rivers. The train approaching the rivers and rolling over, always at a slower pace, with a characteristic rattle over the rivers is exquisite. If it horizon is spotted with a sunrise or sunset it is spectacular. Crossing Cauvery, Krishna, Godavari and Mahanadi every time to and from Dhanbad, the most memorable river crossing for me was over Godavari at Rajahmundry.  

The 2 tier bridge over Godavari at Rajahmundry

Every year the trip home for Puja holidays had the risk of a cyclone or heavy rains affecting it. For some reason the Kakinada coast was the most vulnerable for cyclones along the east coast and invariably when a cyclone strikes tracks got washed away, trains got rerouted etc. and everything from water food, information trickled. Once the train I was got rerouted from Kharagpur towards Rourkela then to Nagpur and it took almost 24 hours more than normal time. The train got treated like a vagabond and reached stations at odd times, often getting sidelined to lets other pass as it was the odd one out. For almost a full day the only good thing I could get was fresh cucumber and tea.  

As an institution it is still something I hold in awe at the sheer scale it handles every day catering a diverse set of customers and having various conveniences from water to waiting rooms, retiring rooms to restaurants, catering to cloak rooms… not expensive, aimed at the common man and many times surprising us. It certainly is getting stretched and trying to reinvent and hopefully in times to get will continue to transform itself as it is an essential and integral part of the Indian fabric.