Wandering Wonders 1: Travelliance

Close your eyes, hear the chugging, let your body loose as the train speeds through… with no scope to roll your body on the narrow berth of the train, begins the journey.

A little distance these long journey trains cover with only noise of their honking in the silent night. If sleep decides to leave you, stare out of the window and get your thoughts pace at a similar speed. As I stare into the middle of the night, observing the rural regularities passing along, observing the dim lights they survive in, as I leave behind my abode. Need no music on these nights to hum your own thoughts placed somewhere at the back of your mind. Long journeys do this to you.

As we set on the effing slowest train to Dehradun, I had no idea how the entire episode would turn out to be. The sheer excitement to meet my best friend already waiting there for us was enough motive to look ahead to. There was no contact with her since we had left, and wanted to hear her existence and tell her we are inching closer. Yay! 

In middle of the night as the train halted to receive no one. The platform had only speckles of dust in presence and maybe 2 men at the max, who wrapped themselves in the thickest cloth they could replace as a bed-sheet. Me and my friend who too luckily wasn’t sleepy, chose to get down on this estranged station, as if that was the best thing you could do. We did nothing, just stood there for around 10 minutes waiting for the train to chug again. It was time to add some more vapor to the already cold fume outside. The compartment was asleep as we lit the small stub of the cig and felt the warmth.

Soon it was time to mold some twists in the journey…

Destination differed from what was printed on our tickets. We still had to figure how to reach the last stop, to continue in the same train without ticket, to extend the ticket or to get down and take a different mode altogether? So it was time to meet the guy in the black cloak.. I mean the TC! (black cloak was to create some atmosphere yaar samjho!) The TC fellow was a judgmental chap who was just as confused as we were about how to continue the journey. We got our tickets extended and the rest was sorted. The train chugged, we moved on.

5o’clock in the morning, we had reached Delhi. My friend and I clearly had no intentions to sleep at length. So as he woke me up, for the heck of it, we got down. The train was supposed to wait for about 40 mins and the cold wasn’t bothering us. We strolled on the platform early morning searching for the ticket counter. Landed outside the station and attitude toh aise as if train nikal jaye toh bhi kuch nahi, hum toh chalenge re! Hum Baap Hai Na! 

The best part about train travel is it makes you meet new people with whom you’ve to make some conversation at some point compulsorily. Be it asking ‘Aap kidhar jaa rahe ho?’ An extrovert like me doesn’t take long to gel up. So when I had 4 other trekkers sharing the same deck of our 8 berths, we were bound to become friends at some point of the travel. It started with ‘Aap kidhar jaa rahe ho’ and ended with ‘phir pakka milenge yaar, plan banao.’ Get what I mean? From sharing breakfast, lunch, dinner to Uno cards and playlists, we did it all. The best and worst chai, Chole Kulche ka breakfast and Chicken masala. 

There is just so much more than took place on this embark, that I couldn’t wait to meet my counterpart waiting there with another group of hers. Oh wait, did I tell you’ll we fooled a TC? And watched Andaz Apna Apna by converting the 8 berth into a theatre with balcony seats? And also got down to click photos and ran back as the train left? And woke up to Shantaabaaaai! And also covered as good as 60-70 non-sensible stopping stations? In this slowest seeming journey was the beginning of perfect memories. 

When I started I just knew two people who I was going with, but does it look like?

I feel like I am sitting in the train again and started over. See you on the other side, let me reach. 

Next Station: Next Blog-post.