No Train Stops for Long..........

Indian Railways, owner of one of the largest Rail-Networks in the world and employer of one of the largest workforces in the world, has always been an entity which has surprised me all along my life and given me a sense of tremendous joy and pride.

It has been a part of my life all the way from being a 3-4-year-old boy watching the 'shunting' of Steam Engines near Raipur Railway Station in mid 80s to an 18-year-old boy travelling to bigger cities for competitive exams in late 90s. It has carried me hundreds of times from and to different places irrespective of my professional or financial status. From a cramped 'General Class' of Tata-Nagpur Passenger to a Swanky 'Premium Class' of Tejas Express or 1st AC of Rajdhani Express, I have seen it all and I know 99 percent of Indian Population will be envious of my travelogues with Indian Railways.

One of my short journeys with Indian Railways in December 2016 is something which will always remain with me and it will be unfair to my daughter if I don’t preserve this in writing for her to read and cherish someday. This journey had nothing in special except from the Train being delayed due to fog in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, but it took me back in time by about 25 years to bring back lively memories of my father and taught me an important lesson in life.

So here we go...I, being engaged with an important responsibility on behalf of my organization L&T Infotech for an ambitious project of Indian Army, was having a responsibility to collect and transform the Data available in different forms from different agencies/depots of Indian Army.

There was a small Training and orientation task to be carried out at a depot of Indian Army in Kanpur, UP. The dates scheduled were 5th and 6th December 2016.I booked tickets in Train No 12314/New Delhi-Sealdah (Kolkata) Rajdhani which was supposed to start on 4th December 2016 at 04:25 pm from New Delhi and reach Kanpur Central at around 09:00 pm on the same day. So, it was supposed to be just a 5-hour ride with a tasty dinner on board.

Along with me I had Mr. Sumeet Gaikwad, a 29 years old bachelor who had spent just 2-3 years in our organization and was looking ahead for a bright and prosperous career. Although initially he was not very happy travelling to Kanpur, his commitment for his work and his eagerness to finish the task made him keen enough to undertake this task.

We started from our office to reach New Delhi Railway Station at least 30 minutes before the scheduled departure. We got stuck in traffic and were starting to believe that we were going to miss the Train when I got an SMS stating that the Train No 12314/New Delhi-Sealdah (Kolkata) Rajdhani had been delayed for 6 hours due to fog. It was not only frustrating, but also a bit boring to sit in a crowded Railway Station when we knew that we are not going anywhere for next 6-7 hours and, that the crowd was going to multiply many folds as almost all the Trains were running late. The growing pandemonium compelled us to just get out of the Station and take a stroll at nearby areas like Paharganj. We also thought of having some drinks and food as none was aware of the fate of Rajdhani Express and the dinner that was supposed to be served on board.

The first thing we did was to head straight to the Railway 'Cloak Room' which is a place where passengers can keep their baggage in the custody of Railway Staff and move around in a 'handsfree' mode. Things were normal for me until I found myself standing in front of the 'Cloak Room' at Platform No 1 at New Delhi Station. But as soon as I stood before the decades old iron gate, my mind was struck with a wind of memories. Suddenly I felt that life had a sort of 'flashback' and I was standing about 20 years back in past. A Railway 'Cloak Room' is an entity that had been an integral part of my life in mid and 90s. My father was in-charge of 'Cloak Room ‘at Raipur Railway Station for a long time along with working in the Railway 'Parcel office’. I had been to his office hundreds of times in those days, and today I was standing in front of a similar office in another city after about 2 decades. But nothing seems to have changed in all those years. These offices are beyond time and geographies. They all are same. I found myself in a very familiar environment unless I realized the harsh truth that everything was same expect that my father was not there. In fact, he was nowhere in this World anymore. Suddenly the 'Cloak Room' felt like most torturing place for me, and I somehow managed to get out of it after keeping the luggage.

We went to a small and cozy restaurant at Paharganj and ordered some drinks and food. My friend Sumeet was in multiplexing state of mind where he was going through lot of things is his life, starting from career to 'selection process' for his prospective marriage. He had lot of things to share and I was just in the listening mode as some part of my mind was still in the 'Cloak Room'. Then suddenly we found that a group of 'Gabru Jawans' from Delhi occupied the table next to us. They just shattered all the calmness and were talking on top of their voices as if they were in a stadium watching a World Cup Match. We decided to ignore and concentrate on our food and drinks. Then suddenly we heard a loud music and realized that there was an Orchestra going to be played there with a possibility of live singing.

A 22-24 years old girl nicely dressed if formal attire came with a microphone and started singing a song from 1980.She was just 4-5 feet away from the tables with no partition between her and the customer. The voices of 'Gabru Jawans' sitting beside us just got out of control. Some more people sitting at other tables too suddenly started cheering as if they have just witnessed Madonna or someone. Going the reputation of Delhi, I was a bit worried about the safety of that girl. In case some guy decides to jump on her, there were no means of protection for her. Also, I was not sure where was the nearest Police Post of Policeman there. As I was getting ready for a possible unpleasant experience, I was surprised that none of those Delhi guys came within 3 feet range of that girl. They were hooting/shouting and singing. But none of them tried to go near the girl. They were just enjoying among themselves without creating any trouble for anyone (except the noise pollution). I felt ashamed of myself a bit, for the perception I had created about those guys. Being loud doesn’t make anyone a potential criminal. The world is as good or as bad as you want to see it. 

After having food and strolling around, we reached the Station at about 9:30 PM. Sumeet was very kind to me as he got the luggage from the 'Cloak Room' where I didn’t want to go again. We waited on the designated platform for a long time and witnessed about 20 Trains departing one after the other when finally, our Train was placed on the platform at about 1 am.

We got up and just lied down on our seats as the 12314/New Delhi-Sealdah (Kolkata) Rajdhani started moving out of New Delhi Station. We hoped to reach Kanpur Central at about 8 am as the Train was supposed to move slowly due to fog. Almost everyone in the Train was blaming the Railways for the delay and some even went as far as blaming the Prime Minister Modi for the delay. Perhaps most of them didn’t know the efforts and pain put by hundreds of men and women working Railway to ensure the smooth and safe travel of one Train. The work gets more difficult when there is a battle with forces of nature like fog or heavy rains.

I don’t remember how much time it took for me to get into a sleep or how long did I actually sleep on my berth before I suddenly woke up abruptly without any specific reason. Almost everyone including Sumeet were asleep in the comfortable temperature maintained in the Rajdhani Express. it was not too late when I realized that the Train wasn’t moving and that it was not a halt on any Railway Station. The Train was halting at some unknown village or town of Uttar Pradesh, probably due to dense fog.

I always had a bad habit of not being able to sleep when a Train wasn't moving. Even today, my inquisitive behavior takes me to the gate of the Train compartment whenever I am stuck in a Train that halts anywhere outside a Railway Station. I slowly got down from my berth and moved towards the nearest gate after getting my shirt, belt and shoes in order. I slowly opened the door and felt the sudden chill in the environment. Nothing was visible except a blanket of fog and some signal lights besides the Railway Tracks. I stood there for some time alone and felt the emptiness all around before I heard some human voices outside the Train. The voices were coming nearer to me as if a group of 3-4 men were walking towards the gate where I was standing from the front part of the Train. Soon I realize that it was a group of 3 men from the Railways inspecting the brake mechanism and the couplings for all the bogies of the Train with help of torch lights and stick in their hands. As they got passed me, I got a feel that the train was not going to start for at least next 15 minutes or so. I just gained some sense of adventure and got down from the Train to get a feeling of the cold and fog standing on the ground. I didn’t have any sweater or jacket, but the excitement didn't make me feel any discomfort in the cold. After standing still and gazing towards the dim lights of some nearby houses, I started taking steps in the direction of the rear end of the Train where those 3 men had walked a few minutes back.

I walked about 20 feet I heard a loud whistle from the Train Guard followed by the loud horn. The train started slowly within 5 seconds and I had to really make a run to catch the Train again. Although there were 2 more gates nearer to me, those were locked from inside and I had no other option than boarding the same gate from where I had gone down. Thankfully, I was back in the Train with some moderate efforts before it got some speed.

It felt very funny as well as disgusting when I thought of the consequences if I had missed the Train or had just fallen in an attempt to catch it.

It was a situation which was always avoidable and which I had never witnessed before, neither intentionally nor accidentally. While trying to pacify my own mind, something

struck my mind. I somehow felt that it was not the first time I had been through this ordeal. It was a sense of 'Deja-Vu'. Maybe, I had done the same a few years back or decades back. Or maybe it was a past life experience.

As I was lying on my berth and trying to recall my possible previous experience, the Train stopped again. it ran for hardly 20 minutes after its last halt.I decided not to go down again and kept waiting idle for about 10 minutes or so before and unknown fascination again pulled me towards the gate and once againI was standing outside besides the Train. This time, I was very careful and didn’t venture anywhere out of 5 feet radius from the gate. I don’t know how long I stood there when suddenly I was thrown into a swift 'flashback'. 

Within a minute, I had the answer for my 'Deja-Vu'.It was 23-years back. 

It was 6th June 1993. 

It was a great day for me (11 years old), my younger brother (9 years old) and sister (7 years old) as we were supposed to catch Train No 8033/Ahmedabad-Howrah Express in the afternoon from Raipur and reach Kolkata next morning to attend a Marriage Ceremonyof one of our sweetest aunts called 'Mishti Pishi' (my father's paternal cousin) in Kolkata on 8th June 1993. My grandparents and my uncle's family had already reached and so did many other relatives. Marriage ceremonies in those days were a must visit affair for all the members of extended family. People didn’t have excuses like 'Yearly/Quarterly Closing' or 'Code Freeze/Go-Live'.

As we were ready to start for the Station, my father broke the unpleasant news that the train was running late by 8 hours due to some minor derailing near Vadodara.

The train was supposed to arrive only after 8 pm instead of 12 noon. We went to the Station at 8 pm and waited for about 3 hours when finally, the it made a slow arrival on Platform No 3 of Raipur Junction. All 5 of us boarded the Train with 2 big suitcases and some other small bags/baskets before the Train moved after consuming the 10minutes of its scheduled stop time. As we were making ourselves comfortable and figuring out the berths, a Gujarati gentleman came to my father and indicated that were trying to get into the berths reserved by him. Soon my father realized that we had boarded a wrong coach. We were in 'S-6' instead of 'S-5'.

Although the practice of connecting all coaches internally had just started, this Train No 8033/Ahmedabad-Howrah Express was still running with no coaches connected to each other. The only way to change a coach was to get down and board again. My father apologized to the Gujarati gentleman who was very accommodative and told us to feel comfortable until the train reached the upcoming Bilaspur Station which was 111-kms away and 2 hours run. The 10 minutes halt as Bilaspur was enough for changing the coach for us. As it was past 11 pm and almost everyone was feeling sleepy, my father came up with idea of changing the coach

at a small and insignificant Station named 'Bhatapara' which was just 45-kms away from Raipur and was a 45 minutes run.

The Train had 5 minutes of scheduled stoppage there. It was just about 34-40 minutes or so when we felt that the Train was slowing down. After watching from the

window, I realized that there was a low levelled Platform outside and the Train was going to make a halt there. Apparently, Train had arrived at Bhatapara!

A sense of happiness went into our minds as we were supposed to get down and then quickly get into 'S-5', which was the right coach where we had our confirmed berths.

My brother and I got down first with some small luggage followed by my mother holding my sister. My father was supposed to bring the 2 suitcases along with him to board the correct coach

in the end. a 5-minute stoppage was supposed to be enough as the distance from the 2 gates was kardly 15 feet. I boarded the gate of 'S-5' and pulled up the small luggage’s from my brother. As I was pulling my brother from the low levelled platform, we all were stunned as something very unexpected happened.

The Train Driver gave a loud horn! The same was followed by a shrill whistle from the Guard who was at the rear end of the Train. Within a fraction of second, while I pulled up my brother,

we felt that the Train had started to move. It was difficult to digest that 5-minutes was such a small duration of time.

My sister and mother were stranded besides the gates and my had just de-boarded from the gate of 'S-6' and his hands were on the 2 suitcases which were

lying on the footboard and were waiting to be pulled down by him.

Just a thought of that situation makes me go nervous even today. I was completely blank, and so was my mother. My brother and sister both had horror on their faces.

But my father quick in action before I could think of any way out. Without wasting a second, he came to my mother and just lifted my sister to us. Me and my brother pulled up her safely as the Train started accelerating a bit. Now we 3 were at the right coach, but our parents were on the Platform.

There was no way my mother could have made it, and there was no way my father was boarding without helping my mother first.

Again, before I could think of anything, we heard our father shouting repeatedly on top of his voice as 'GUARD SAHAB RUKIYE! GUARD SAHAB RUKIYE!'.

I realized that he had potted the Green Light waved by the Guard who was standing at the gate of his coach which was 7-8 coaches behind our coach.

I remember it very clearly now that the Guard didn’t stop his Green Signal. He just tilted the Light down towards the ground. As there were no Walkie-Talkies in those days, I don’t know what message the tilted Green Light conveyed to the Driver.

We felt that the acceleration of the Train had stopped, and it actually got its speed reduced a bit. Again, without wasting a second, my father pushed my mother and helped her board to 'S-5. I thought the horror was going to get over as I expected my father to quickly get up after my mother.

But again, before I could think of anything, I saw my father running back to the gate of 'S-6'. He didn’t forget the 2 suitcases lying there. Within these 10 seconds or so when the Train started to accelerate again, my father made 2 quick turnarounds between 'S-6' and 'S-5' and was finally onboard 'S-5' with those 2 suitcases before the Train gained a substantial speed.Before we could get out of the mental shock and get into our comfortable berths, we realized that the train was then actually entering Bhatpara. So, the Station where we got down was some unscheduled halt. Maybe it the Station named 'Tilda'.

My journey to the memory lane was cut short I was brought back to December 2016, standing outside 12314/New Delhi-Sealdah (Kolkata) Rajdhani at some insignificant place in UP, again by a loud horn. I didn’t want any more adventure and thus boarded the Train quickly and also locked the door before ensuring that none else was standing outside. The Train started, and I was lying on my berth thinking about that fateful night on June 1993.

Anything could have happened that night. I just can’t even dare to think of it now. But it didn’t happen as there was a short man of 5-feet 3-inch height who dared to take the challenge against all odds to pull out his family out of a potential catastrophe.

As my Train chugged slowly towards Kanpur, I found my mind going back and forth into innumerable memories of far and recent past.

I quickly summarized the following as teachings for rest of my life:

• No Train Stops for long at one Place
• Not every Govt Employee is a lazy creature. There are people who make our lives easy by relentlessly working in their respective fields like Railways, Postal Services, Fire Fighting and Emergency Services and of course, Police and Armed Forces etc.
• Not every person/family who is trying to board the train from wrong side or at wrong place is not doing it for fun.
• My father is nowhere in this world, but his deeds have made a difference to this world in some form or other, even if it’s on a very minute scale. People come and go, but the World keeps on moving ahead.
• Life is a continuous journey with ups and downs, successes and failures. The idea is to give one's best till the last breath and then pass on the responsibility to the next generation.