Another Travel Diary

I spent the past few days traveling to my Mamaji's place, both in Tatanagar and Dhanbad. The journey has a sorry start. I was supposed to board the Steel Express that arrives at 7:20 pm. So on last Friday's night, in order to reach by 7 pm, I took a rickshaw at 6:30 pm. On the way to the railway station, I noticed something odd; that no vehicles are coming from the opposite side. It was a strange feeling, but I don't know how I noticed this and actually chose to ignore this as coincidence. But I noticed the reason very soon. When I reached the railway crossing, I found that there was a train standing across the railway crossing. This was again strange as I had never seen this before. I dodn't remember any signal just after the crossing, and I would regard it a folly of the engineers if this were the case. But soon, the red-light thoery was dismissed. People started coming looking for something with torch-lights. Now I proposed a new thory.....A chain pull. But alas, even this was not true. When they zeroed in onto a place, instead of climbing the train and catching the culprit (who, if existant, must have already fled), they started seeing under the tracks. A few more people joined in. One of them came back to tell that a scooter-rider has been hit by the train and has died.

That the crossing was manned should not create stirrings in your mind. There is hardly anyone who abides by the dropped level-crossing bars by his own choice. All the vehicles, including bicycles, rickshaws, scooters, etc., use their flexibility to create a mockery of the crossing. Even I do it, though only after being triply conscious. But anyway, someone had been in hurry to have missed noticing the incoming train. From what I gained from eye-witness account (they spoke in Bangla, and I understand it in parts), the man's scooter got shut down on the crossing, and the man tried to start it instead of steering it to safety first. The man managed to get the scooter going, but the train was also quick to knock him off. I couldn't help blaming the IIT authorites who have for some mysterious reasons, kept the joint project with the railways of creating an over-bridge over the said crossing in back-burner for years.

Coming back to the story, I waited for the train to start again as it was not possible to cross the level-crossing on the rickshaw. But then people told that this is not going to finish off quick. There will be a police enquiry and only after it will the train move. This all will take close to half-an-hour. I was undecided whether to believe their speculations or not. But within a few minutes I realized that I better do something quick as time was running out. I gave a 5 rupee note to the rickshaw-wallah and crossed the crossing by going over the train. I had a few moments of panic when I was aboard the train. After managing to board the train and before I got to the other side, the train gave a whistle, prompting people to board the train from where I was supposed to get down. The big shoulder bag I had added to my misery by restricting free movement. I panicked as I knew that if the train started going, there is no chance that I can get off it before the next station, which will surely mean two things: Missing the train to Tatanagar, and a hefty penalty. Fortunately nothing happened and I crossed over to the other side without any problem (as if this was not enough). On the other side, I took another rickshaw to the railway-station, and I realized that I got it just in time as on reaching the railway station, the Steel Express entered the platform with me.

I spent the next day at Tatanagar with my eldest uncle (Mamaji) and his family. My grandmother was also bed-ridden owing to a fractured hip. After spending the Saturday and the morning of the Sunday, I took Swarnarakha Express to go to Dhanbad. On the day I was to travel, my uncle gave me a suggestion. That instead of taking the train to Dhanbad, I should get down at a station called Patherdih. The reason he gave for it was quite interesting.

Not long back, the said train travelled from Tatanagar to Dhanbad going through Patherdih and then Jharia before going to Dhanbad. Then happened the great fires of the underground that have been raging even till today. That led to a sinking of the section around Jharia as the coal under it gave way. Since then, the train has been retained to run till Dhanbad, but from Patherdih onwards it now takes an alternate route by going around Jharia. This means that the train has to change direction and now the situation is that while the journey can be completed in under 45 minutes if we take a Auto-rickshaw from Patherdih, it takes almost one and half hours to complete the journey if we continue to stay in the train. This translates to a near complete emptying of the train in Patherdih. This is a chain reaction as a more empty train means a greater chance of incidents like robbery and this prompts even more people to leave the train.

So even I unboarded the train to get into a crowded tracker (I believe its called so) to my Mamaji's place. That the tracker was crowded looks like an understatement to me. Though designed to hold eight people (including the driver), it moved with 15 people on board. And this even with the condition that the roof was so low that it was impossible to stand upright.

I spent the next few days in Dhanbad (upto 2nd November). I don't play with crackers as I have a history of smoke-related problem since the Diwali of 2000. But anyway, this never came into picture owing to the tight schedule of pujas. We had a Laxmi puja at home from 7 pm to around 8 pm. After that we took a cab to reach the shop where we had a Puja from 9 pm to around 10 pm. After that, we went to a nearby Kali temple to have a darshan and bhog and by the time we reached home, it was already midnight. I came back the next day from the usual passenger train to Adra followed by Rupashi Bangla Express to Kharagpur.

Dhanbad Tales

I had to wake up the next day due to the commotion caused by Nidhi and Iti. They are usually up by 6 in the morning. I remember my school days when I too had this habit. Although now waking up at 6 seems a bit out of question, I still miss my school days and want my childhood back.

The whole morning we chatted on various topics including our current lives and future plans. It was more relevent for their side as Iti has just passed 12th and Nidhi is in 1st year. I had not much to say. I happened to know that Nidhi too is an avid Harry Potter fan and for the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon, it was the topic of discussion. Iti couldn't comprehend much what we said, but pretended to enjoy it too. I came to know that Nidhi has "Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix" book and I immediately mentioned my wish to read it.

She said : "If you are going to read it now, when will you talk with us?". So sweet of her. She gifted the book to me so that I can read it in my free time in KGP.

In the meanwhile Iti showed some of the greeting cards she had received for her birthday, new year, etc. She also showed the diaries of a few friends she has taken to fill in. For those who couldn't understand what it means, here's the explaination. As against the usual Slam Books we have to be filled in by friends, it appears that the girls use diaries as a substitute. It has its advantages and disadvantages. While the advantage is that people can write as much as they wish to (the entries I saw were easily 8~9 pages with 30~35 lines per page) , the disadvantage is that you might me at a loss of words to write anything as there's no guideline.

After seeing those, I must say that girls are a lot more sensitive and romantic than I thought. Even if writing for another girl, they have used such a great degree of emotion and romantic language that I couldn't have imagined of. Same was the case with the cards.

I wish I had a girlfriend.

In the evening we went to market but were disappointed to see very few shops open. Even the ones open had Holi related stuff to sell, so we had very few alternatives. We settled for eating Chat and Softy. The rest of the day went rather eventless.

The next day we woke up to say hello to Holi, the festival of colours. Nidhi and Iti planned to not play it initially, but were later forced to play when their grandfather insisted. In the meanwhile I learnt that long time back, my only Mausi died due to people recklessly playing Holi with all sorts of stuff like mud, cow-dung, cereals, etc. Since then onwards, thet didn't played it with that fervor. I also learnt that my Mamaji (Sunil Nandan Sahay) had worked in GE before moving to US.

By the time my Nidhi and Iti were back, they were unrecognizable and spent the next few hours cleaning themselves. We ate the customary Meat Curry for lunch. I played the Abir Holi in the evening as it is harmless to skin, easy to wear out, and people play it with decency. Nothing much happened the rest of the day.

The next day I started preparing to leave. Mamaji had gifted us (me and Ankur) a Leather Bag each. Nidhi and Iti were very saddened to learn that I am going. Nidhi didn't even eat her lunch that day.

I had to catch the 1455hrs train (Bhaga Adra Passenger), so I left a bit earlier around 2pm. On my way, I saw places where the gound level has dipped 4~5 metres owing to the fire that has been raging inside the grounds for the last few decades.

I caught the train and the journey to Adra was very comfortable. I reached Adra on time at 2pm. Here I found another of my friend from Kharagpur, Sudeep Banerjee. As I had no time to call Dhanbad, I took his help to send an SMS back.

I caught the Rupashi Bangla Express which leaves at 1620hrs. It was also full. I had to stand till Bankura station when I managed to get a seat. I reached Kharagpur by 7:30pm, but another surprise awaited us.

We decided to take a Taxi as there were many people. But we found that none of the taxis has any driver in them. Neither were there any Autorickshaws. The Cycle-rickshaws were also very few and they demanded obscenely high money. I was fortunate enough to manage getting a rickshaw, and there were three of us on-board. But the man was professional. He steered the rickshaw even faster than the ones carrying 2 people and we safely reached IIT. I was relieved to be back in RP Hall.

The Great Indian Railways

My weekend was full of adventure. Well, first of all it started on thursday instead of friday due to a real "Good" Friday. On the morning of 24th, my sleep was terminated by a call from my dear sister Nidhi, who asked :

"You are coming to Dhanbad, Na?".

Poor me. I got blackmailed by her innocence.

Although I was not quite sure how I could make it, I felt that I should have gone to Dhanbad. But I had to say "No" to her as I knew that the day ahead has two labs, the second of which having 2 experiments to do instead of 1, making the job even more difficult. But seems like luck was by my side (or my sisters' side)!

After reaching the Hydraulics Lab, we were told by Prof. Maiti that we have to do only one experiment today instead of two. I knew that this was my opportunity. I decided to hurry on with the experiment, so that completing it before schedule, I can go on to catch the 1650hrs train.

But the experiment proved to be pain fully long. I was able to complete the experiment only by 4:10pm, and told my friends to do the submission on my behalf. I ran for my room, packed my luggage in a record time of 3 minutes, and left the room for the station. The only bit of planning that was a part of my plan was that I wrote "Adra-Bhaga" on my palm to remind me of the station names I can't afford to forget. In the meanwhile, I tried to contact Ankur to ask whether he would like to come, but he didn't answer the ring.

I embarked on an cycle-rickshaw for station, but didn't call anyone as I myself wasn't sure whether I would make it or not. Reaching the Railway Station on dot 1650hrs, I tried to vaguely recollect which train I was supposed to catch that will take me to Adra. My memory failed me and I had to buy a ticket of the 1710hrs Kharagpur-Adra Passenger that looked like a safe bet. Seated comfortably in a window seat of the train, I waited for it to move, as I called Ankur (This time just to inform(!) him that I am going to Dhanbad. It appeared that the last time I called him he was out for Snacks.) and Mamaji to tell my plans. Mamaji reasoned to tell that I may be fortunate enough to catch the Adra-Bhaga local. But this was not to be!

The train refused to move as the clock ticked by. I leant from fellow passengers that the train will proceed only after Neelanchal Express will depart (to the same location, Adra). I dimly recollected that this must have been the train I was supposed to catch on the first-hand. I decided to continue with my journey on the same train as I thought it to be a bit too risky to go for a ticket of Neelanchal, which was about to leave any minute. By the time the passenger train's wheel cranked, it was almost 5:45pm.

I waited as the train leisurely strolled towards its destination, but another surprise awaited me. One of the passenger told me that all the train on this route are running late because of a faulty line on a river bridge. I was already beginning to feel the heat of the problem as the train started halting on stations for unusually long time. The gentleman sitting opposite me was very doubtful of the possibility of my catching any train that day as he believed that there won't be any train remaining for the day by the time we reached Adra. Other passengers had similar views. To add to my misery was the fact that the train halted at a very remote station (Ondagram) for eternity. Bhaga being just under 40kms from Adra, there wasn't anything I could do as people were apprehensive of the possibility of even bus services running on the route during night-time. At this time I started preparing for spending the night at an unknown destination without eating dinner. Never in my whole life have I slept without eating anything, but if this was to continue a bit more, it was going to be my first time.

It was quite late by the time the train started. And in a while, we reached the aforementioned bridge. It was in a real bad shape. Nevertheless, the journey continued and I was happy as long as the train was moving. But another bad thing started happening. It started giving passes to other fast trains on the same route. I was fortunate to have a few knowledgable passengers who told me when the train halted at a station (Jhantipahari) that Purulia Express will also halt on this station for a while. As I had passenger ticket, I was not entitled to board an Express Train, but the way this passenger train was running, I had no other option.

When I got down on that station, to my surprise I saw many more familiar faces, the most familiar being Orko Kundu. He was going to Adra itself to meet his sister so he had lesser worries. The others were hoping to catch Patna bound South Bihar Express, though a few didn't even have a ticket, while the others were unsure of the time. They just hoped that the train gets delayed so that they can go on with their journey. I managed to find a place to sit on the train, while the others had to keep standing. Their misery didn't last long as Adra was just 35~40 minutes from that station.

Disembarking from the train, they found South Bihar Express standing on the platform and about to leave. I was again left on my own, and decided to first have something to eat. I found a snacks-stall, and found only boiled eggs worth trying. I bought 4 eggs and immediately ate two of them, keeping the other two for the rest of my journey.

The vendor was a gentleman who enquired why I was in so hurry. I told him that I plan to reach Dhanbad. He told that all the trains to Bhaga have left and I should try reaching Dhanbad via Assansol. He told me that South Bihar Express goes via Assansol, and if I am lucky, I will catch it. I ran for the ticket counter and immediately bought a ticket to Dhanbad via Assansol, naturally after confirming what the vendor had said.

As I started my journey back, climbing the bridge to go on to Platform No. 4, I heard the announcement of the South Bihar Express leaving the station. Chill ran through my nerves as I ran as fast as I could. By the time I reached Platform No. 4, three such announcements had been made. I found the general bogie just in front of me, but it looked packed. I peeked in to see whether people are just standing on the gates or is the bogie actually full. The person on the gate whiffed my purpose and commented :

"Come on in. The Coach is Empty".

I ran along the direction of the train to find that even the Sleeper class is flooded with people. I decided to take the chance and boarded S4 Coach that atleast had the space to stand. Within a minute, the train whistled off to Assansol.

This coach was also packed to capacity. I barely managed to get a place to stand. But I was counting my days as the TTE was steadily marching his way towards me. I waited for doom to strike as he kept on checking tickets, alloting berths and imposing fine. When he reached our coach he was slowed a little. This was because almost everybody had a grievance.

Some of the people, I learnt, were KGP students who were going to Patna. The two boys had confirmed tickets, while the girls had wait-list ticket. One of them was a First Year B.Tech., while the other was a First Year M.Tech. Atleast they had a seat to sit on. There was another passenger in the adjoining bogie who boarded the train without a valid ticket and creating nuisance. He pleaded to the TTE in a very Bihari accent:

"I know that it is wrong to board the train without a valid ticket but what can I do! It so happened that today was to be the day I didn't had any money to buy tickets. You may have a look into my purse. Please understand."

The TTE looked at him with confusion and disbelief. But he was hardly able to do anything. He continued his work asking others for ticket. When he was busy asking tickets to some nearby passengers, with his back towards me, I decided to move on to the adjoining compartment. When he was done with checking ticket for the remaining passenges, he asked announcingly :

"There was a boy standing here. Where did he go?"

I froze, keeping my back towards him. Fortunately he didn't pursue his quest long and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I gathered from the fellow passengers that I may be fortunate enough to catch a train in Assansol as there still might be a couple of trains left in the night to come. But the trouble was that many of them were long distance trains and hence I might not be allowed to board them. I decided not to worry and continue till Assansol.

"Let's face the demons as they come. Why make your life hell when you are still living?" I said to myself.

I reached Assansol by about mid-night. I stepped down to plan the remainder of my journey. I enquired from a lacal standing on the platform whether any train bound for Dhanbad is due in the night. He pointed to the train stationed on the same platform. I was jubiliant. I confirmed it from a passenger sitting inside the train and to my relief, he too was going to Dhanbad. Within 10 seconds of my climbing the train, it rolled on. I felt like Harry Potter did when he first embarked on the Hogwarts Express.

But I had other worries cropping up. I had to switch off my mobile as there was no network connectivity till Assansol. To add to my misery was the fact that I had forgotton to bring my Mobile Charger which meant that I cannot afford to leave it on without any connectivity hoping it finds a network. I tried to contact Mamaji (in Dhanbad) but outgoing calls were not allowed. I was again losing hope. If I reach Dhanbad to find that all the STD PCO's are closed, how will I contact them? I didn't had their address to reach their on my own.

Here again the luck was on my side. As soon as I disconnected the call to the Reliance Service, the phone rang, call being from Dhanbad itself. I briefed them that I have left Assansol and am on my way to Dhanbad. He asked from which train am I coming. I was clueless. In the hurry, I had forgotton to see the name of my Hogwarts Express. I had to ask the fellow passengers to eventually tell him that I am coming from Ranchi bound Vananchal Express.

He said : "Excellent", which meant to me that I need not worry any more. Now the fact dawned on me that if WickC came with me, he would have reached home a lot earlier than he actually did.

I reached Dhanbad at around 1:15am and was readily welcomed by my Mamaji. The journey henceforth was quite pleasant, and after a tasty dinner, I said goodbye to the most memorable journey of my life spanning approximately 9 hours in 4 trains.