12 - 01-2014
Well It was 11:00 pm and I was in the railway station, waiting for the machilipatnam- visakhapatnam passenger , which was scheduled to arrive at 11:50 pm.My friend Ganesh and I were eagerly waiting for it , it was already half past 12 ,but the train didn't arrive yet , then did I realize that I am in an Indian railway station and laughed to myself. Mean while around 12:45 the train has reached and we both rushed to the general bhogi(coach) to grab a seat, but God damn, there wasn't enough place to even get into the train ,and more over there were people pushing us away, and I just gave up trying to get into it.
We waited for the visakha-express
which is to arrive at 1:30 and thank God, it arrived around 1:35 am, this
time too we rushed to enter of the train .My friend has already given up and
suggested me to give a try, I somehow caught hold of the steel rods and was
hanging at the foot board, hoping that I could get in once the
train moves .Unfortunately , an old man too caught hold of the same bhogi,
Oh my God, he was stinking to death, I don't fathom which liquor brand did he
choose but , the smell was unbearable. So, I immediately jumped out and took a
plunge of the fresh air.
My friend laughed at me and we both
approached the inquiry officer for any other trains on board , we were informed
that there were 2 trains early in the morning around 6:00 am. so , we were
compelled to stay back in the waiting hall of the station. fortunately we had a
good night's sleep even if it was on a couch and even if the lights
were switched on, I woke up at 4:45 am to buy the tickets as the tickets are
given only 1 hour prior to the train's arrival, and then I was told that the
train’s arrival was postponed to 7:30 am. Ganesh, told that we shall head to
Tadepalligudam and catch a train form there , so we immediately came out and
got into a service auto.
Thank God for the complicated
physiology of the abdomen , which supports the stomach , heart, liver
,pancreas to stay fixed at place come what may , because a speedy ride in
that auto on the pukka roads of Bhimavaram was such a jerk, moreover the
co-passenger who got in started puffing biddi, the pungent odour of that dried
strip of leaf was plunging into my lungs and I couldn't resist it .
Finally we reached Gudem, Ganesh
rushed to get the tickets as the train is going to arrive and there was a whole
lot of crowd waiting to grab a space.I figured a bhogi , which seemed hardly
empty ;-) and tried to get in , and that was really a herculean task .The thing
is if we are going to miss this train ,then we are gonna miss the whole day.
so, I somehow gained courage and pushed in to make my self firm and also took
care that Ganesh was also in. We were literally handing at the foot board ,
just being supported by a single leg.
When the train fastened I was
feeling nervous , at the fact that, we were just half inch away from the poles
passing and that was seriously awful.Our lives were totally at stake , not
knowing when we will be banged . Even in such critical situation , there
were people swearing each other for some silly reasons, people using cuss words
for being stamped , being pushed ,being pressured sounded totally silly.
here too there were people
chewing pan parag, gutka ,thambhaku and spitting publicly though the
windows and doors , and puffing biddi and cigarette in that burning situation.
And to my surprise there were even eunuchs, demanding money from us , I straight
away made it clear that I am not gonna give him/her any money, and he/she went
away throwing cuss words onto me . Then there where vendors selling buttermilk,
idly and roasted peanut.And that was ridiculous ,but still there were people
who savored them in such congested situation too. Then there were two blind old
women , who sang really good and they were begging alms, those few moments of
their music melting into my ears were memorable.
You can see me totally withered . hanging at the foot board,without a good night's sleep( I remember I said that I had a good night's sleep ,but that didn't last longer). without a shower, without a meal. But still, what's cool about all this was the hand full of smiles I shared with the people around me , playing with two little girl children was really fun . Then finally we reached vizag around 12:30 in the afternoon. Finally I braved a torturous ride of almost 5 hours. I don't know whether I will succeed in my semister exams, But I am sure that I can brave such rides ever after....:-)
The very first thing I did after getting home is ,I googled for the least densely populated place in the world and found the list of top ten least densely populated places in which Greenland(Denmark) stands first with just 0.026 people per square kilometer and that's really cool. I guess one day I will definitely visit this place.
So this is how I braved a herculean ride on the rails of India and reached home safely :-)
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