A train journey across India - 2005

Courtesy: stock.xchng

As I boarded the Rajdhani Express one fine morning at Chennai (formerly Madras) for Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi), swarm of flies and the unbearable stench from the toilets overpowered me, on the compartment wall a face of smiling 'incredible !ndia' welcomed passengers aboard.

The journey to Delhi was pleasant, nice company, unending conversations and not to forget the flies and mosquitoes, who sung in accompaniment of the PA system that periodically rattled some haunting melodies.

We complained to the coach attendant and the (TT) ticket-checking official on the lack of cleanliness...pat came the reply... "sir what can we do, the maintenance of the trains are now in the hands of private contractors, ...they are just minting money without doing work!"

Then it was the turn of the coach attendant to make rounds to distribute the bedding, a blanket, bed sheets, pillow and a hand towel. The spick and span white sheets were fine save for some tear and specks of dirt here and there but the blanket looked like it was run over by a gang of WWF wrestlers for their 'raw is war' show, smeared with foot marks, crushed and smelling stale.

The man was hauled again, "what is this," a co passenger asked, "can't you give a clean blanket, who is going to use this..."sir, what can I do, this has just come from the laundry!!!"

To be doubly sure one marched to the cubicle where these were kept, no luck there too; the other 'clean' ones were equally stomped and wriggled, one had no choice but to pile it on a vacant berth or camouflage it with bed sheets and use it, I chose to do the former.

Travelling in a train has always been a memorable, experiencing the varying vegetation, colours, language, people and attire from the southern tip of the country to the north and the gossip of the co-passengers. For company there were an elderly couple from Punjab, and a group from France (originally from Pondicherry).

Train hospitality can be overwhelming at times; when it comes to food, from the moment one was treated to juice, soups, tea and breakfast and tea and a snack and lunch and tea and a snack and soup and dinner ...end of the day one was feeling like a glutton. The accompanying sachets of jam, pickle, ketchup, sugar, salt, pepper, tea bags and milk powder were pocketed by the co-passengers to be consumed at home.

Call it the Chennai effect, the water in the toilets had dried up half way through the journey because of some 'technical fault'. With a day to go, the 'king of good times' (the bottled water supplied in the train) came handy for washing hands and brushing teeth. 

What's next...with chai in kullhar (earthen cup) now in place, we can replace berths with charpoys (string beds) and add a bunch of bushes for toilets, nature friendly and ingenious!


This journey was from Chennai to Delhi in one of Indian Railway's premium train Rajdhani Express (Rajdhani - Capital city). The year was 2005...hope things have changed for the better.