DOWN MEMORY LANE
A 4-PART TRIP REPORT OF MY JOURNEY FROM KOLKATA TO CHANDIGARH & BACK
FIRST PART OF MY CHANDIGARH TRIP REPORT
Travelled in 12301 HWH-NDLS Rajdhani Express with my wife by 3AC on 2nd Dec en route to Chandigarh to attend the wedding of her sister’s son. A marriage symbolising national integration of sorts between a Tamil Brahmin groom and a Punjabi...
more...

Arya Samaji bride. Many of our relatives from the groom’s side did ask the bride “ Tamil teriyumma (sounding closely like TERIMAA) but fortunately she did not respond angrily by saying “Arey oh, fir Punjabi TERA BAAP HAI” 
>The train left Howrah with an extra 3AC coach bang on time at 16.55 and hit full throttle even before it crossed Dankuni (20 kms). Little wonder that we crossed Burdwan at 18.00 hrs (95 kms in 65 mns) before it halted there for 5 mns, the first time in at least 10 trips of mine by this train.
> Later on enquiry I came to know that a senior citizen who had boarded the train at Howrah, hale and hearty, at 16.55, had passed away in between of a massive cardiac arrest. The train made an unscheduled stop at Burdwan so that his body could be lowered. How sad ? May his soul rest in peace.
>The train with LHB coaches and a GZB WAP7 was spick and span with clean toilets. Good food and pantry service and pest-free too. No cockroaches, mice etc. for company.
> A highlight was the LED boards at both ends of all coaches displaying details of the passing station, the distance traversed and other sundry messages of caution.
> Another innovation was a MASTER CONSOLE BOARD above the wash basin indicating the passing station, the name and timing of the next halt and the present speed of the train which never exceeded the prescribed MPS of 130 kmph. Little wonder therefore that I spent almost the entire evening perched on the small seat meant for the AC mechanic near the toilet watching the MASTER CONSOLE BOARD and also helping senior citizens, especially ladies, who were unable to fathom the mechanism of opening the toilet doors of the LHB coach.
> A welcome tea followed by tea and evening snacks. And after the first halt at Dhanbad at 20.00 hrs, the customary tomato soup as a precursor to dinner. There was a bit of a faux pas at dinner. As is now usual, I opted for a veg dinner while my wife close to have egg curry. Suddenly my wife handed over to me a rather suspicious looking object and asked me what it was as she was unfamiliar with the smell. I took a bite and said “ Let me keep it or rather eat it and you can instead take my PANEER CUTLET”. The offending object was the ubiquitous FISH FRY, a source of culinary delight to Bengalis. My wife is a very STRICT EGITARIAN whereas I am a PART-TIME NON-VEGETARIAN.
> We confronted the pantry car staff and they came up with a bizarre explanation. According to them, the IRCTC menu for Rajdhani offered a choice for non-vegetarians between chicken curry OR egg curry/fish fry. If anyone chose to have EGG CURRY, then FISH FRY formed part of the package. Apparently they did not recognize EGGITARIANS as a separate SPECIES of travellers.
> I continued to occupy the AC mechanic’s seat till the train departed from GAYA at 22.45, more or less on time. After that it was time to hit the BED or rather the BERTH.
> The next day morning started with bed tea and a sumptuous breakfast with 2 free extra slices of bread on demand as we had planned to skip lunch on the second lap of the journey.
> Arrived at NDLS just 15 mns late at 10.10 am as against the STA of 9.55.
SECOND PART OF MY CHANDIGARH TRIP REPORT
After reaching NDLS at 10.10 am. shifted from PF15 to PF 5, to await the 22925 Paschim Express (Slip Coach) to Chandigarh. The train arrived from Bandra at 11.00 and departed at 11.30, with only a slight delay of just 15 mns. We occupied our seats 1 and 4 in the S9 coach. During the half-hour wait at the platform, there was a huge rush to board the train after the disembarking passengers had got down. But since the longer first portion of the train was going to Punjab while the shorter second part was destined for Haryana and Chandigarh, there was utter confusion. Intending passengers to Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar were trying to board slip coaches meant for Kalka. The TTEs had a harrowing time redirecting the passengers particularly those, who were going to travel in GENERAL BOGIES. These, being the last and first compartments, were at the two ends of the train. I lent a helping hand to the TTEs. But one family wishing to go to Amritsar, could not make their way from the end to the beginning as the train started moving. The RPF did not allow them to risk boarding the moving train.
And now come comes the interesting part of the journey. Imagine a UNDER-30 TTE wearing a black pant, white shirt and a black blazer. And very handsome too, like our say Rahul Kumar Jain and Venkat. A style of speaking similar to the writing style of our Railfan86. A man who took his job SERIOUSLY and also did it with a GREAT SMILE and a WONDERFUL SENSE OF HUMOUR, besides looking like a BOLLWOOD STAR.
His territory extended from S7 to S10 while B4 had its own TTE who looked as old as PKV sir in his recent coat of GODREJ. The young guy, going by the name of SURENDER KUMAR, would keep a watch on passengers trying to board the sleeper coaches with general tickets and set off on hot pursuit to send them packing to the UR bogie. If he was in front of S10 and spotted someone trying to board S7, he would run after them shouting “HELLO, HELLO” and scare them off. His shouts of HELLO, HELLO are still ringing in my ears.
Surender Kumar also had a HUMAN TOUCH to his strictness. Unauthorized travellers in the sleeper coaches were ticked off with a stern warning and forced to deboard at the next halt.
His efforts were partially successful in keeping the sleeper coaches less crowded than they otherwise would have been. Two ladies who boarded the train at Panipat were in trouble as the adult male accompanying them could not board the train as it started moving. Apparently he had gone to buy something. When Surender Kumar asked them for the tickets, they could not produce them. He allowed them to travel WT till the next station when other passengers confirmed what had actually happened. They requested him to let them travel till Ambala but he refused. He advised them to get down at Karnal and wait for their family member to join them there with the ticket by a subsequent train. And as the train reached Karnal he ensured they got down after threatening to hand them over to LADY CONSTABLES of the GRP at Kurukshetra. Right through the process he made it very clear that he had allowed them to travel to the next station only as a gesture of goodwill and not as a matter of RIGHT. I was greatly impressed with his handling of the situation where 2 ladies were involved. All in all, he seemed to be a GREAT BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR IR.
Come, Ambala, at 3.15 pm and the major portion of the train left for Amritsar. At 4 pm, 7 coaches of the slip train, 2 SLRs (one of which was added to the train along with the loco at Ambala), 4 sleeper coaches (S7 to S10), one 3AC coach (B4) left for Kalka hauled by a white GZB Wappie 7. With a WAP 7, I guess it was like an ox pulling a mouse. No wonder we made the distance of 46 kms to Chandigarh in just 35 mns. At 4.35 pm we were in LE CORBUSIER’s CHANDIGARH and from the station on the way to the marriage hall.
THIRD PART OF MY CHANDIGARH TRIP REPORT
The 4th of Dec was rather hectic. The marriage ceremonies took place in Chandigarh during the day time as is customary with Tamil marriages. Evening 8 pm, the venue had shifted to a farm house in Mohali for a Punjabi style reception replete with song and dance. The revelries continued well past midnight and by the time we returned to our place of stay in Chandigarh and went to sleep it was nearly 1 am. Only to get up at 5 am to prepare for boarding the 12006 Kalka-NDLS Shatabdi at 6.53 am. Finally 8 of us from the marriage party arrived at Chandigarh Station at 6.30 am to board the train.
The station PF1 was choc-a-bloc with waiting passengers and a myriad assortment of luggage eagerly awaiting the arrival of the SHATABDI. Suddenly I witnessed a queer phenomenon. All passengers were standing in an orderly manner at least a foot clear of the edge of the platform. I paid a very silent tribute to the discipline of the Indian rail passenger, a trait I have not encountered at any other station so far. Soon I realized that this restraint was prompted by a sense of self-preservation rather than self-discipline. The scaffolding of the platform particularly right above the edge was home to hundreds of cooing pigeons which had made their homes on the iron beams. The platform bore the look of a bird sanctuary and our feathered friends were more noisy than the people who had assembled there. 6.30 am was apparently TOILET HOUR for the birds and anyone who dared to get close to the edge of the platform risked a warm welcome with a shower of bird droppings. No wonder that intending passengers maintained a safe distance from the forbidden territory.
Just before the Shatabdi arrived, PF3 played host to the dot-on-time 12983 Ajmer-Chandigarh Garib Rath Express. As soon as the Shatabdi marched into PF1, a few minutes later, all hell broke loose. There was a mad scramble to enter the train without our winged friends spoiling the party or the dress rather. There were hardly 30 passengers who had entrained the 12-coach train at Kalka. And yet the train was full in Chandigarh in less time than it takes to imagine.
This SHATABDI was one of the most beautiful trains I have travelled in, a far cry from my usual haunt, the ICF coach Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi which resembled a JANATA EXPRESS in comparison. Wonderful coaches with beautifully decked interiors gave me the feeling of a
Dr. Nazeer aboard one of the trains he had journeyed in Thailand. It was a pleasure to travel by this train. The breakfast was good and ample.
We tried to make amends for the lack of sleep the previous night as the train thundered on its way to New Delhi. But soon all passengers were rudely woken up from their deep slumber by a horrendous grating noise, as if the train was engaged in shaking hands with the nearby electric poles. That was around 8.30 am and half an hour later the noise was much louder and ear-splitting. My wife panicked and asked me what had happened. Like the wise rail-know-all I replied “I think the train has derailed”. Fortunately that was not the case. Some of the couplings had apparently snapped and the train had come to a halt bang in front of a level crossing. 10 mns was the time it took to restore the links amid screeching of horns by vehicles of all kinds waiting impatiently at the crossing for a pass.
Reached PF1 of New Delhi Station at 10.40 am, just 15 mns late. And from there to a cousin’s home at Rohini for lunch to be followed by the 4th and concluding part of the trip.
FOURTH AND CONCLUDING PART OF MY CHANDIGARH TRIP REPORT
Finally on the last lap or in athletics lingo the HOME STRETCH of the Chandigarh trip commenced with a very early arrival at NDLS at 3.30 pm to board the 12314 Sealdah Rajdhani Express STD 4.30 pm. To revert to the more readable format of the 1st part, I have altered the structure of the report.
> As we arrived at the Ajmeri Gate end of the NDLS station at 3.30 pm and engaged a porter, I was pleasantly surprised at the availability of an ESCALATOR that enabled us to avoid climbing the staircase and facilitated our progress to PF13.
> The poor country cousin of the Sealdah Rajdhani Express, the 12382 Poorva Express was berthed at PF 16.
> I deliberately chose the Sealdah Rajdhani because Sealdah was close to my office which I had planned to attend straightaway on arrival without going home. Secondly I wanted to gather first hand experience by way of a comparative study of the 2 Kolkata Rajdhanis and share my views on the site.
> The train was placed on the platform as late as 16.10 but departed right on time at 16.30. However, the journey up to Kanpur was extremely disappointing as it was have halted at least 10 times for want of signal. It was a repetitive drill of stop, start, accelerate to 120 kmph and then again stop at intervals of 20/30 mns . Tried to pore over the TAAG in an attempt to decipher the causes for the frequent hold-ups but that still remains a mystery. On Mondays, unlike other days, no other Rajdhani/SF train runs ahead of the SDAH Rajdhani. Maybe the 12034 Kanpur Shatabdi was obstructing our progress. No wonder, it reached Kanpur 40 mns late at 10.00 pm.
> There were no display boards or COACH MASTER CONSOLE boards unlike in the Howrah Rajdhani and passing time was a problem. However, the welcome drink of LIME JUICE, evening tea and snacks followed by tomato sauce and dinner helped to break the monotony of the journey. My wife again ordered egg curry and we were informed that unlike in the case of the Howrah Rajdhani, FISH FRY did not form part of the package deal. STRANGE that one Rajdhani offers more for dinner than the other. We were informed that Sealdah Rajdhani does not serve FISH FRY and BANANA in comparison to its Howrah counterpart.
> A minor mishap triggered panic buttons in our B6 coach 3AC coach. There was a huge contingent of about 25 pilgrims, including ladies and children, returning to Durgapur. As soon as evening tea was served, hot water while being poured by one of the ladies in the group fell from the flask on the body of her 3 year-old child. The baby’s chest was scalded as a result. But one of the male members in the group emptied a tube of tooth paste on the affected portion and the child stopped crying after a few minutes. I was quite surprised at this home remedy but it certainly proved to be very effective.
> During all my journeys I was in constant touch with one of our admins Tejas, and kept updating him of details through SMS. He was kind enough to keep you all informed of some of the information I passed on to him. My special thanks to him.
> The rest of the journey was uneventful except for a minor scare when Tejas coneyed the news to me that Maoists had blown up tracks near Dhanbad. That fortunately did not have a major impact as the train continued on its journey maintaining its late schedule of about 60 mns without further delay.
> Morning tea, breakfast, coffee followed by a goodbye lime juice followed one after the other at intervals of 30/40 mns and the train made up 25 mns on the last lap of our journey from Durgapur to Sealdah.
> Finally disembarked at PF9B of Sealdah Station at 10.50 am, 35 mns behind schedule. Availed a pre-paid taxi and my wife dropped me at my office at 11.30 on her way home to prepare a spartan lunch for us consisting of rasam, roasted pappadam and bolied spinach as ATONEMENT and PENANCE for the culinary indiscretions of the last few days.
> A last word by way of comparison between the Howrah and Sealdah Rajdhanis, a great topic of discussion on this forum. I am now convinced that the while the latter is a good train, the HWH Rajdhani is more prestigious than and superior to its Sealdah counterpart, be it in the quality of coaches, maintenance, upkeep and facilities. About 10 years ago the catering in the SDAH Rajdhani, entrusted to a private caterer then, was several notches higher. But now that both belong to the IRCTC stable, the HWH Rajdhani steals a march in both quality as well as quantity. The only area where the SDAH Rajdhani merits a higher score is with regard to punctuality. While by and large both tend to be on time, if they get delayed, the HWH Rajdhani tends to be more delayed than the Sealdah one.