Indian Railways

Hi Mausam,
A few days back I had a chance to see the workings of indian railways up-close, A travel through a local train which reminded me of the india i knew existed but I had completely forgotten about, A ride through the Delhi metro which projected so clearly the "india shining" campaign which the last NDA govt had so strongly talked about and then a booking counter for a state train which actually showed how the old india is catching up with the new india.

My local train journey started from Faridabad to delhi. I was with Rinni and we decided to board the 1125 train to delhi. The platform was chock-a-block with people and I kept wondering how will all these people get on a single train!!! which they eventually did when the train actually arrived. on the local train there are two kind of compartments "general" and "mahilaaon ke liye". The general compartment is basically for males and it was so conjusted that there was absolutely no way to actually step in. The people who boarded the train ended up hanging from the doors. As I was with Rinni so there was no way I would have stepped in there so we decided to settle ourselves in the ladies compartment. As soon as we stepped in, there was a bunch of ladies who started screaming at the top of their voice that "yeh compartment mahilaaon ke liye hai" (no wonder the govt didn’t spend money in placing any sign boards mentioning those compartments as women only)
We had no choice really and we tried to ignore those vociferous females. In no time the police guard was in the compartment and started asking men to step down from those women only compartments (the poor guy was doing his job, though he knew that these "men" don’t have much of a choice as there was’nt any space at all in other compartments) and he did his duty, pulled a few fellows out, who kept arguing with him. When the train actually left the station everybody again boarded the train and calmness prevailed....
Well the calmness was definitely short lived as the next station had so many more passengers waiting to get on the poor train. A lot of pushing, jostling, fraying tempers later, the train moved ahead. The only space I had was enough for me to place my two feet. My whole concern was about the two laptops I was carrying, my wallet and my cell-phone (my track record while on such journeys hasn’t been all that impressive). Rinnie was my senior partner on this visit and was telling me the nitty-gritty of the train rides-The small incidences, the accidents, the scuffles, the kind of incidents which truly define “it happens only in India”.
From the expression of the passengers one can easily make out what kind of passenger a person is. There are a few who are so very comfortable with the whole situation and it’s clearly visible that there are other things on their mind and not this train journey, those are the ones who go through this grind daily. Then there are few like me who have a lost expression on their face and stare at anything and everything going around the compartment. The difference between various socio levels is so very evident, upper middle class, middle class ,lower middle class, poor . You can easily figure out who fits where. The ones who are really poor had a carefree expression on their face. It doesn’t really matter to them as to what others think about them. I think they have this attitude coz maybe they think that we got nothing more to lose. You also get to see how people behave in different situations, which reflects their temperaments. The main point of contention in a jam-packed train journey is people stepping over each other’s feet or people just not budging from where they were standing as a result others were unable to get off the train. And these are the only two reasons for the argument, Our compartment was no different. “Vikas ki Mummy” like other passengers was arguing with a lady who was the enemy of all because of her attitude.
All through the train ride I kept wondering what the situation would have been, had it been the middle of summer. 45 degree Celsius would have made the situation truly miserable. This train journey made me realize again the comfortable life that I am leading in comparison to those who don’t know any other way to commute other than this local train, all year through.
I had to go to a New Delhi railway station to book Shatabdi tickets for Paras so that meant I took the metro for R.S. As soon as I entered the metro station I couldn’t help comparing the two trains. Though the number of people who boarded the metro train was no different from passengers boarding the local train, but still this journey seemed a totally different world. Cleanliness, calmness, smoothness of the whole affair made all the difference. I am sure if the same people were in local train they would have behaved just like the people had behaved in local train.
When I reached the New Delhi Railway station the changes at the advanced booking counter were very apparent. The Railway station had improved a lot. Things were more organized, the officers on duty were friendlier, people were sitting in queue (sitting??? Well they placed chairs, so that people didn’t had to stand!!!) . All these changes brought about good feel and all of a sudden going to railway station to book a ticket didn’t seem all that scary. (Mind you, I am talking about the advance booking counter which they recently opened up, not the regular railway station, which still works the old way) .
There still is a long way to go before india truly arrives. Population is a major bottleneck which is ruining all that we wish to achieve. But the heartening factor is that there is a will for change.
We talk about lack of heroes in today’s India. I think the “Metro Man” Mr. Sreedharan truly deserves applause as he is the one who has single-handedly shown us that anything is possible.
Regards,
Ajj Kaim