It was a smashing train journey this time from Hyderabad to Madras on the Hyderabad Express. Much of this happened during the sleeper class journey from Hyderabad. And before I get into the travails, it’ll be a crime if I don’t mention IRCTC, which has made most of my journeys happy and sound. The online booking is a fantastic boon for lazy bums like me who considers even visiting a website by typing the URL and logging in is a waste of time! But yes, I take the pain to do that because that’s the only pain in the whole process of booking tickets. I always print the e-tickets because I don’t have to worry about losing the tickets as I can print them again whenever I need. The only concern I have with IRCTC is that it’ll book the tickets even if I don’t get my preferred berth, which nowadays is usually side lower.
Alright, let’s come back to my journey. The start of the journey itself was fantastic because as soon as the train started moving from the Secunderabad station, one middle-aged thin dude started pulling the chain to stop the train. When we co-passengers asked him why he was doing that, he replied saying, “inkaa maavaaru kondharu raalEdhandi.” (Meaning someone else is yet to join him – in Telugu). Whew, this was the first time I’m seeing someone pull the chain. The thought of pulling a railway chain is orgasmic! It gives immense power – that of being able to stop a mass of moving metal that weighs more than a few hundred tones. The poor hapless soul was not able to pull it completely, I reckon. I wanted to help him but was scared of the “up to 6 months imprisonment for pulling the chain without proper reason” thing. The trained seemed to slow down for a while but started picking up the pace soon after. And the man was not to be found after that!
After a little while two guys on their way to Guntur got into my compartment/aisle. They had already watched the movie Shivaji in Telugu. The conversation between them and the TTE (Train Ticket Examiner) soon turned to Shivaji. The TTE was apparently pissed off with Rajini’s remarks on the current political system in Andhra Pradesh and how he wanted to change it. He was apparently annoyed that Rajinikanth said those things when a powerful hero like Pavan Kalyan didn’t say like that! What, Pavan kalyan is a mass hero? That should be news to me (He happens to be the younger brother of Chiranjeevi and his looks/personality are, well, yuck). But I kept mum and just kept smiling at the developments!J Soon, one of the two guys going to Guntur told the TTE that I’m a Chennai-gaadu and that the TTE should be a bit careful about throwing tantrums on Rajinikanth. TTE turned to me and immediately changed his locus standi. He acknowledged Rajini is a good actor and that 2 songs – godaavari teeram and sunlight – are really good! Well, so far so good. The TTE again started accusing Rajini’s colour and compared it with the co-starrer, Shriya. Well, the whole world knows about Rajini’s colour, which is one of his attractions. I told them that I’m visiting Madras to watch the movie in Tamil. They were a bit shocked and the TTE moved away for a long while! J Whoa, good fun. (It’s an entirely different story that I still didn’t manage to get tickets to watch the movie of my lifetime – which could change if Rajinikanth acts in one more movie).
The train approached Nalgonda and an old man in his late 50s got in to the train. It turned out that he had booked his tickets from Hyderabad but got in only at Nalgonda about 70-80 kilometres away. When the TTE enquired, he replied saying that he missed his train and that he drove down to Nalgonda in a car and boarded the train; and he sported a winning smile while saying that. This is crazy, at best!
It was raining buckets the whole journey back to Madras. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that stepping into Madras is not really such a bad experience (which is usually the case due to the horrible weather). Singaarach Chennai was great – the phrase really fit the city this time!
And now, I’m leaving back for Hyderabad in a 2nd AC coach. Though the linen, pillows, AC, etc make my journey comfortable, I miss the sheer variety of people and the stinking toilets. The toilets are so clean in this coach integrated with First Class, I don’t feel like I’m travelling in a train in India.
