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