TRAVEL DIARY- #UNRESERVED COACH #EXPERIENCE #VIZAG-KIRANDUL PASSENGER

 









That  train was packed ! .........packed to hell.!...it was   packed to the magnitude of  post Independence Lahore return train.

Owing to my  underestimation of  this Vizag- Kirandul  passenger as a passenger train  and as a  ghat train and my   “ who will travel in this train? “ kind of attitude , I didn’t bother to reserve a ticket ...it was squarely my mistake . well ! That doest mean  that the reserved compartments were empty and filled as per the protocol ,  the whole train was packed , thats it .

 I was left out with no other option than to travel in the unreserved coach  along with some TEN THOUSAND and odd people .....With much of difficulty I squeezed myself inside the train  and the train started moving . 

This  train  travels through the jungle, ascends and descends the Easter ghats  at a speed little faster than  a Mule   and it stops at all stations exclusively  created for this train , as this is the one and only train through this route .

  Inside the compartment  I stood among my sweating fellow passengers and  was held tight and still  by  the standing people, I didn’t get  a hanger to hold-on even , but then it was not necessary  as the crowd provided a good reinforcement for me from swaying  this way or that way . I didn’t  have a place to keep my travel bag as  people were sitting in the luggage loft comfortably in uncomfortable positions.  The passengers -, they were  villagers with gunny bags full of weekly  groceries, rice ,live chicken , farmers  from the mountain with materials for  their farming  , local merchants with their monthly  stocks   and rural  college picnickers,  

With that fetid sweat smell, and the crowd chatter ,  standing  for such long time   made me so frustrated. My purpose of selecting this train to see the  scenic  eastern ghats ,on the way to Arrakku valley –my destination ,  went for a toss, and the thought of standing among  the crowd for a ‘god only knows how long ?’  made me  even more nervous  .  

After  the first station , the train stopped  at many locations for no reasons , it stopped for allowing the frequent  criss crossing of  iron ore laden goods trains, which was quiet frequent . It stayed in stations for more than required time, I could see the excited reception to this train from  the station masters  ; almost all the  station masters or station in charge  got their share of materials –may be from their respective  homes ,downloaded for them  from the   guards compartment , I saw the TTR , having tea or sharing a cigarette with all the respective stations masters   inside the  station offices.  

After one hour of travel , I saw a man in dothi with a towel turban occupying the window seat  constantly starring at me; from the start I noted  , he was noticing me with a purpose , a mean look  , initially I just ignored him  as a curious villager staring at an outsider, but at one point I started noticing little meaningfuly , I started getting the meaning of his stare, he had a purpose , he wanted to do business with me , he wanted to trade..... he raised his hand  and spread  his palm to show 5 , I understood he was asking for 50 ,,, I immediately nodded ‘yes’ ,  , he just got up and put his towel on the seat and invited me to sit, I pushed myself thru the  crowd and sat on the seat – alas!... I got a seat , a window seat , a seat  worth a million ...I was so excited  about this transaction  ..... the next station , the man got down and came closer to the window, I happily pushed   5o bucks  to his hand , he moved away .......and mingled with the crowd.

The train moved  and  halted in umpteen number of locations, exchanged luggage with more station masters , passed thru 84 tunnels , equal number of bridges and some via ducts , allowed way for all the goods trains on the earth ,I thought .."....who cares...!.. let it take the full day to reach my destination  I don’t care , I have the whole day at my disposal  and I have the whole of Eastern Ghats on offer  thru the window with its spectacular Valleys and scenic gorges ."......... the crowd shouted in ectasy  when it passed thru tunnels..........Thats cool ..! I started njoying  my travel . 

 

- on board Vizag- Kirandul passenger train on the way to Arrakku valley - Bhora caves on 15th of January 2007

 











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