The D day was a day away. Packed by rucksack the night
before, as I had to make a early start the next day.
I woke up with the sound of the alarm, buzzing in my ears
the next morning. It was 5:30 am
now. For a change I finished my daily
morning routine early so left for Andheri Station, as I didn’t want to be late.
I had to take two connecting trains before I reached Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. As decided, I boarded the 6:43 am Harbor
Line train to Vadala Station. The train
reached Vadala Station at 7:08 AM. From Vadala Station I had to board the 7:11
AM train to Panvel to alight at Tilak Nagar Station. From Tilak Nagar Station,
Lokmanya Tilak Terminus is a 15 minute walk away.
Luckily all the trains were on time. I reached Tilak Nagar
Station at 7:26 AM. The Mumbai Lokmanya
Tilak – Haridwar AC Express 12171 was scheduled to depart at 7:55 AM. So had 24 minutes in hand to reach Lokmanya
Tilak Terminus, search for the boogie and sit on the seat designated to me.
Hurry, is what I said to myself. As I approached Lokmanya
Tilak Terminus, I saw the train standing there. My legs moved faster than ever
as I didn't want to run and board a train.
This always happens in Bollywood movies. I had 10 minutes in hand now and I had to search for the boogie where I had my
seat reserved.
Finally in the nick of time I managed to get in the boogie
and parked myself in the seat designated to me.
I was thrilled to see that I was sharing the cubicle with a
family. Just when the train was about to depart I realized that only the
grandparents were travelling and the others, around 5 of them alighted from the
train. So out of the six seats 3 were
already taken. The train departed sharp
at 7:55 AM. Next stop being Kalyan
Junction, scheduled at 8:28 AM. I had a good chat with the elderly couple, who
had come down from Hardiwar to visit their children here. They told me a lot about their village and how
they prefer the village life to city life.
Somehow I agree with them. They
spoke so sweetly about their village that I actually started imagining about
it.
They were so sweet that they shared food articles with me
too. They informed me that there is no pantry car on this train. So one needs
to get food from home or buy stuff at the stations where the train halts. The
food doesn't please your taste buds but then you have to eat it unless , you
come well prepared for the journey.
After having a long chat for around 2 hours, I decided to
let them sleep and have some sleep myself. The other two seats in our cubicle
were filled at Nasik Road Station at 11:12 AM. Another elderly couple visiting
Haridwar.
I slept for 8 hours at a stretch. I was woken up by the jerk
of the train. I learnt that the train was approaching Bhopal Junction. At 20:30 PM we were at Bhopal. The train was
on time so far, which is a good sign.
Stepped out of the boogie to buy myself, dinner for the
night. All I got was a plate of 5 huge samosas for Rs.20. The samosas looked
pale and were tasteless. The elderly couple were correct about the food. They
were so sweet that they shared and forced me to have dinner with them. We had a
grand party , me and the two elderly
couples.
Before I stepped in the train I didn't even know them and
now we are eating, having conversations, giggling on jokes together. Train
journeys are fun. They make you bond with people and I am loving it.
After a heavy dinner, and watermelon and bananas for dessert
we called it a night and went off to sleep. I was not very lucky in terms of
sleep as I had slept 8 hours at a stretch before dinner.
So like many nocturnal animals like bats, cockroaches I too
was active in the night playing games on my phone. Don’t know when I fell asleep. I woke up in
the morning at 6 AM. I was then informed
by the elderly couple that we are now approaching Delhi. So I refreshed
myself. The train was scheduled to reach
Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Station at 7:15 AM.
I kept Rohan informed about my train schedule as he was
going to pick me up at the station. The train arrived 10 minutes earlier at
7:05 AM.
As we approached Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Station, I was
greeted by peacocks on either side of the tracks. A name kept for people shitting
on the tracks. By Neel.
It was an emotional moment for me. I had to depart from the
elderly couple who were my companions for the last 22 hours. I was touched by
their caring and loving nature. They even invited me to Haridwar with them. How
I wish I could go. But I had planned Delhi so be it. I bid farewell to them and
exited out of Delhi station.
Rohan was running a bit late so asked me to meet him at the
bus station outside Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Station. We were to hunt for a place to stay for me, in Delhi which was both economical and easily accessible.
