Few truths to be told first, I still travel in second class of Indian railways, love to eat Srikhand from Bhopal, Lalmohan from Urai and salted Lassi from Jhansi station.
Yes, even if it’s crowded, stacked with the people with general tickets asking you to adjust on your reserved seat.
Yes, even after completing 4 years in corporate word, working with a prestigious organization and drawing a moderately ‘Tankhvah’ every month.
To most of my friends and relative it sounds very bizarre as they feel that one should maintain their status and move with the junta of their standard (as though traveling in AC-2 or AC-3 decides the social standardJ).
Well, I tried to travel in elite class on Indian railways and if I keep aside the people who feel proud to travel in that class, I somehow didn’t like the ambience at all.
Let me start with the seat first, in the words of one of my lady co-traveler and constructive critic “It’s 21st Century India but we are still given the bed sheets analogous to hospitals bed sheets (with crystal visible spots of course) and blankets alter ego to the Arthur Road/Tihar jail blankets“. Towels is some thing which you need to ask at least twice to get it delivered at your seat as attainder thinks that elite class travelers gets greedy and slips it in theirs bags.
It’s not only the SL class where cockroach and mouses give you the company but the elite class as well.
Now coming to Sah Yatri (co-traveler) end, it's elite class where I realized that the acerbic comment punched on our bunch by a Swiss lady during our Swiss tour that “You Indian are loud” was not wrong at all. Good Lord, it’s difficult to read or sleep once a political discussion starts, people put their throat out to curse the ruling government or deteriorating infrastructure around. It’s not that this discussion doesn’t happen in SL class but fortunately the noise and curse generated get submerged with the rail track sound and makes it uniform.
I don’t want to sound negative or cynical by omitting these comments on Indian Railways elite class, it’s just that as “HUM BHARAT KE LOG” (remember, the first line of our constitution) climbing socio economic ladder rapidly it’s Railways as well as the Junta, both need to change.
The best way would be utilizing the hefty profit of Railways and converting all railway classes SL and General as elite class. Every Indian has right to travel safe, healthy and elite.
2 comments:
Balaram, I too still travel in Passenger trains which run on single track. Either I travel by air or second class coaches in Trains. I too don’t prefer AC classes because there is absolutely no fun. Second class coaches are cosmopolitan in nature and the extent of cultural mix is quite significant. No doubt about that. Whichever language you speak or whatever you eat, railway station is the safest place in the city (not always in terms of security).
I remember the stories of college days when we used to travel in Karnataka express. Karnataka exp ke Amrud, Jhansi station ki jalebiyan, Agre ke pethe, Ballarshah ke omelets aur Deoria sadar ke shuddh dhoodh ke pede:)
Those were good old days, Jha ji.
Very true, travel experience of KK will not fade from our memory :)
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