From here to anywhere in my train......

I envy my son for the exposure he gets .He wakes up to the background melodies of running trains!! Trains?? In Pachmarhi (Satpura ki rani hindustan ke dil mein), my birthplace.. a helicopter could come but no train :-(

Though,I shall always be indebted to Indian airlines for arranging my last minute travel to Udaipur so that I could attend my own wedding with a nut of 'Indiangoswami' species , my fascination for train travel dates back to my childhood in Pachmarhi.Two things would disturb me during my act of study there. 'Guddi Baby aam leke aaya hoon' and the cuckoo which would sing at my window to tell me .... holidays,mamaji ka ghar and train reservation . Did take my husband to Pachmarhi and we traveled by the same Amarkantak train from Durg to Pipariya. Pipariya ,the nearest railhead for Pachmarhi and my metro city of those times.... So many shops and a RAILWAY STATION !!! Had my first lesson of independence and the moment of pride at the age of 10 when i traveled alone to Pipariya railway station for reservations.

At 20,Bombay brought my love for trains and stations from heart to the skin.There were not just outgoing trains but local trains too... Wow!!
Also,my renedezvous with the first ever modern railway platforms of India . But despite my ocean deep respect for railways, due to my train crazy anxiety's application of projectile motion to my stupidy ,I had forgotten to purchase the nerul to vashi ticket only to get caught by a ticket checker. And all of this in front of the one,I had crush on !! uff...:-) Anyways....all said and done, it is the local train where lies the spirit of bombay,the story of the daily traveller,the marathi manus and the smell of seafish.

 Then came the toy train of Ooty,the skytrain of Bangkok,hill train of penang and underground,upperground trains of Europe in my life. I just need to practice a bit more to continously look at the same scientist from sheffield throughout my underground travel from paris to london, otherwise the hygiene,the comfort levels,the sophistication and the surrounding beauty do make one become an ardent fan of train travel, in europe.

Indian railway story is amusing too .The people,the bookstalls,the emotions and the FOOD with the FLIES. Even with my parents' level of 'hygiene quotient' I never had any stomach infection then, the best immunization that the platform food provides.Ironically,it was the ' palak pakoda chat' of Taj Indore which had invaded my stomach first. For the best quality immunization ,I can think of Gurgaon platform during summers ,on my journey to Rajasthan. Unfortunately the encounter with my son's paediatric who finds trains extremely infectious ,has encouraged the hypochondriac in me now .

Railway Stations are where I have let my thought kytoons go beyond the sky, courtsey indian train timings .They are, where i have screamed to the best of my vocal chord's ability in the name of songs with schoolfriends .Trains are where I've met the helpers,the advisors, the cockroaches, also the ones who read murder mystery when am the only one sitting across in AC 2nd Class of 'Sampark Kranti'..
And then, there comes the railway track where I have fallen with a schoolmate who tried to pull me up to get on to the platform.....Detest boys who can't manage the girl's weight !! Platforms are also the places where i've been practising to beat Preeja Sreedharan since last 1 year.

Travel experience would be drab & crude if one hasn't felt the love behind the emotional drama at the platforms ,tasted the aroma of 'nibu da achhar' that comes from food when opened by the '10 children family' & seen the sunrise through the window of an indian train.

In love with my 'Trainy identity'.....                       Signing off
                                                                            The Traveller

European delight in my desi way....

Thanks to my illusion of being a smart travel planner I chose November to go to the Alps in Switzerland. Even the skiing season was to start 7 days after I would've left.  Leukerbad...not one of those places popular in indian cinema.
It was already dark at 6pm in those snow scaped mountains with zero visibility due to fog,when I set my first foot. My imagination ran wild in negative direction & felt as if I was playing some role in a Sherlock Homes thriller.I was scared to death running here and there trying to find a single person or a well lit house for help with the directions as we were lost on the very road which led to our appartment 'les naturelles'. Could only hear the sounds of our suitcases being dragged on the snow. Wanted to curse my wild affair with Yash Raj movies which made the Swiss visit mandatory. Swiss people are really helpful if you get to find them in november nights of such places. 30 mins brain storming with my husband on the road and 3 min walk made us reach the place.
No one ...no one but an envelop at the reception with our room keys inside, was waiting for us.I wasn't excited,it was my third year of marriage and I just wanted to be alive the next day.Every door opened on its own as we entered .Hitech systems without a single soul seemed spooky to my desi heart. Anyways I had to give my adrenaline levels some rest so recited all the God mantras that i could remember and went off to sleep.Woke up in the middle of the night out of shock.... Gosh : ( Its the alarm (some german song ) .
6 am ,curtains set aside .....Eyes glowing!!

I knew I was in some part of heaven and very much alive. To my relief, I saw PEOPLE !!....& yes ,at the reception too.They said,'O its very safe here.,we leave everything open'. I did check, they have yet to visit India.
The next few days were wonderful with Pinot Noir,Coop and the Poshe Nage(some word that means the next destination)..in our minds.Traveled extensively to the best of our ability thanks to the wonderful Swiss transport system.Only issue is if you have a husband who is all the time thirsty,hungry,sleepy and forgets to carry his wollen cap the day he would need it due to the changed weather ,you do need to keep some extra time in hand when planning the places to visit.There are chances that you may promise to yourself that the next time you would find another one to visit Switzerland with ;-)
My next November was in UK & now I had to deal with my 10 month old as well who would cry at the top of his voice to wake even the earliest british visionaries up.My Optimism for english vision and traffic system that they boast of, made me plan the travel so aptly that we missed our bus from london to Birmingham . In london,processions can come up when you least expect them & traffic just wouldn't move when you're in a hurry ..Small country,narrow roads,cold weather but if you're in love with English ways and Shakespearian plays,the experience is worth.

The capital is one of the fashion cities and I love fashion. For me,its the coats and the boots...
My boot story goes far and wide,infact. For the first time in the history of 'palace of versailles' someone had fallen flat on its floors... and that was me.
I'm usually not that clumsy but had gone blind by the French beauty , I guess . Blame it on TLC which opened my eyes to the doors and windows of beauty & Fashion world .I didn't want to miss a thing... in Paris.
Ended up making two visits to the mandatory Louvre as our camera had to go haywire only when we reached 'Monalisa', on our first visit.This was the result of my husband's analytical bend to planning.

Museums,palaces and Seine river brings an artist out of a man,here.Haven't used the word romance ...we were with our 10 month old baby then:-) though paris beauty had improved my son's behavior considerably when compared to our Amsterdam visit . People would not spend as much time in the Zoo as we did , that too in Amsterdam. We were closest to the hot and happening street but as responsible parents,when crossing the street, we did close our son's eyes keeping ours wide open for the displays of all sizes,shapes and variety.

Amsterdam reminded me of my boss and ING,found everything open other than lions ,something wrong with the logo,I think. I do share my vision with ING guys hence I chose Amsterdam with the kid and Switzerland in November cold but in the process the old banker in me did make gains ........
in terms of loving and unforgetful happy moments!!