A train journey to remember

It all began with a journey that I had to undertake to Indore for some personal work. Because my friend belongs to indore, I thought it would travel with him (saves boredom on the way & free place to stay as well :P). My friend’s forgetfulness can put ANYONE to shame. He is the kind of guy who forgets his computer’s password on a coffee break. I on the other hand belong to tribe who checks PNR status twice a day for a journey which is 2 months away. Notwithstanding my OCD along with knowledge of how my friend is, I asked him to book the tickets for the journey ( I forget the reason..probably it is because he knew a tatkal travel agent and I did not).

So one day before the journey he calls me and tells me that agent managed to get tatkal tickets and we need to meet at Bombay central station for a train which leaves at 7PM. I being cautious travel reach early and he does as well as the idea was to grab dinner before we get on the train. Halfway through the dinner, I ask my friend to check the coach in which we are travelling. He takes out his mobile and (with nonchalance only he can have in times like this) says that we are booked on another train which is not from Mumbai central but Vasai Road at 8PM. Imagine my shock. In addition, as it happens on each such occasion, his battery dies.

Already, I have given up hope of going to Indore and am thinking of calling my wife that I would be back for dinner. But my friend (who has undoubtedly found himself in many such situations in past) says lets board the 7PM train anyways and we will ask TTE to ‘adjust’ us somewhere. We reach the station and expectedly TTE does not let us enter any reserved coach so we enter the general Coach. As everyone in India knows, general coaches are atleast 300% over filled beyond their capacity and that’s just people sitting leave alone others standing in aisles and toilets and those sitting on the doors.

With difficulty we find seat on the luggage berth above the seats. Let me take a moment to describe these ‘berths’. After long thought post the journey (along with lots of pain down there) I came to conclusion that they have been specifically designed by a babu in Indian railways to give maximum pain to anyone sitting there to teach them a lesson that you better upgrade when you travel next. What masquerades as a berth is actually about 6 irons laid next to each other end to end. As soon as you sit, you find your butts slipping between 2 rods and pain starts to shoot up due to body weight pressing your bones to those hard rods.

After about 90 seconds sitting there I told my friend I am getting off and he can continue the journey to Indore if he wants. He being a compulsive smooth talker convinces me to stay on till Vasai road. All this time he is checking through a co-passenger’s phone (who he has managed to befriend) the status of other train. Incredibly, he finds out the train we are on would reach Surat by 11PM and train we are supposed to be on will reach at 23.05 (being slower than train we are on). So we sit 4 agonizing hours on those berths at end of which I have what I think is a  permanent deformity on my back. We get down at Surat and like clockwork the other train comes 5 mins later and we board it and sit on our seats.

Suddenly the TTE comes and after explaining him who we are, he says that he has allotted these seats to someone else as we dint show up for 2 stations. My friend the evercool customer tells TTE that we were in a different coach as we were catching up with a friend in 2^nd AC. After saying this, he takes out his blanket and goes to sleep.

It is left to me to tell TTE what actually happened and give him few Gandhiji’s before I can rest my bruised butts in a cushioned seat after 4 hours which felt liked 40.

Many days have gone since we did this journey last year. Though my initial thoughts were one of ensuring that I never ever get into situation like this again, now I feel it was one of more funnier and unpredictable things that happened in our mundane office going life which on one hand gave me an experience to remember for a long time and on other hand reminded me of those times when we used to travel by non AC coaches during summer holidays. And no, I have not let my friend book any tickets for me since then.