Sometimes we are so engrossed in our daily life matters that we think that taking a trivial decision is going to put a massive effect on our life.We fail to understand that our very existence is very miniscule if compared to the overall system of the World and it’s not always the divine powers who can just make everything go for a toss, but also the Government that can just stun everyone beyond imagination.
Those who have travelled to or from NDLS must agree with me that its one of the biggest pains in life while trying to get in or get out from"Paharganj Gate”. A glimpse of NDLS (from any gate or any platform or any angle) never gives us the impression that its actually the most important Railway Station in India with more than 100 Rajdhani/Shatabdi and other High-Profile Trains starting and terminating there every day.
NDLS neither has an iconic architecture
like Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai nor does it give a feeling of huge
rail complex standing on banks of iconic Ganges like Howrah Station of Kolkata.
In fact, NDLS doesn’t even match railway stations in some tier 2 n tier 3
cities in India and the "Paharganj Gate" makes the matters worse.
The first thing I did after getting down at "Ajmeri Gate" was to go to an ATM after realising that I just had Rs 800 in my wallet.I withdrew Rs 5000 in 2 swipes from the ATM which resulted in me having Rs 5800 in total with 9 currency notes of Rs 500 and 13 notes of Rs 100.
The Shree Shakti Express started at scheduled time at around 7 pm with me being allotted a side lower berth in AC 2 coach. I was supposed to get gown at Udhampur Railway Station at around 4:45 am (next day) while the train was to proceed further to Katra (Base for Vaishno Devi Temple).Although I was supposed to share the seat with the guy who had the side upper berth reserved for him until he didn’t want to sleep, the guy (a boy from Chennai in his early 20s) chose to climb up to his berth n lie down as soon as the train started. I too chose to stretch my legs and started reading something on my mobile.
It was about 7:30 pm when I noticed the other 4 passengers sitting on the 4 other berths of our compartment. There were 2 pairs of men traveling to Vaishno Devi with similar objectives but with strikingly different outlooks.The first pair was that of 2 traders from Haryana (in their mid-40s) who were going to join a religious program of "Nirankari Movement" which they claimed had changed their lives and had brought positive changes in their personal and business matters.
The other pair was that of 2 members of a renowned International Organization dedicated to "Krishna Bhakti". The was one “Senior Swami" (aged around 60) while the other guy in mid 20s was more like his attendant cum disciple.
As the train picked speed the "Swami" started preaching the 2 guys about the greatness of Lord Kishna and the mission of his organization while raising questions on the motive of movements like "Nirankari Movement" among others. Those 2 guys tried to be very polite and submissive during the whole episode while the "Swami" increased the intensity of his arguments. Although, he too never raised his voice, his sharp statements supposedly loaded with knowledge and logic was too difficult for the 2 traders to handle.
Their "discussion" continued for about 40 minutes with me showing no interest in joining them even listening to them until a point when the "Swami" made a statement with a big grinning smile that "Shiva and Parvati are also slaves of Lord Krishna". Although it was a bit of provocation for someone like me, I somehow decided to remain quiet as I saw the "Swami" stopping his preaching as no one was challenging his arguments anymore.A sense of victory was evident on his face combined with a sense of disappointment as the 2 trader guys didn’t change their plans about visiting the program from "Nirankari Movement" even after 40 minutes of preaching.
It was about 8:20 pm when another young disciple from 'Krisha Bhakti Group' came to our compartment and the "Swami" went away. The new guy was about 30 years old well-built man, but his voice was like a 15-year-old schoolboy. I realised that they were about 10-12 travelling together and had all their berths in the same coach. The "Swami" must have gone to some other compartment to make someone else realise the Greatness of Lord Krishna.Just when I thought that the useless and endless debate on Religion was over, the new kid-voiced guy tried to start it all over again.
While the "Swami" was mostly speaking in Hindi, this guy started preaching in English even when the 2 trader guys had no interest or intent of challenging anything about Lord Krishna while keeping their own faith intact on "Nirankari Movement".
The worst part just came at around 8:30 pm when the guy sleeping above me (guy from Chennai) joined the debate speaking in English with an awesome statement - "Humanity is the Best Religion". This was a new ammunition to the kid-voiced guy which made him speak nonstop for about 5 minutes about how their organization has been able to get the best manifestation of "Humanity". Just as the Chennai guy lost his words, the kid-voiced "Baby Swami" pointed towards me and asked my views on religion. This was for the first time that I was unnecessarily dragged in their obscure and useless debate with a straight question pointed towards me. When I refused to answer, the "Baby Swami" took it as my lack of understanding on English. He repeated his question in Hindi expecting to get an opportunity to preach again on whatever answer I was expected to come up with.
I was not in any mood to be preached by anyone on anything that time and that’s why I decided to make myself and rude and blunt as anyone could even imagine.
I gathered all my wit and replied - "I think Alcoholism is the best Religion as it makes you speak truth and makes you attempt extraordinary acts of courage.It makes you bring your original emotions and prevents you from faking anything. And most important thing is that it never teaches you to feel superior nor inferior to any other drunkard."
Although all 5 people were stunned at my reply, the expression on the face of "Baby Swami" was priceless. He must have realised that he had provoked a wrong guy and was going to be taken into unknown territories if he tried to continue the debate. The youngest guy (his companion) became restless. He started looking here and there with confusion. Just as when I thought that he was going to call the TTE or RPF guys to get my bag checked for alcohol, I realised that he was looking out for the “Senior Swami" who had shifted to some other berth and probably having his dinner that time.This young chap really wanted to get my thoughts purified by the great words of their Guru.
As I had already shot the bullet and there was no looking back, the next 30 minutes or so were supposed to be a blockbuster episode of debating which I had no option to skip now. I had made a very provocative and bold statement which was not at all acceptable. Even the "Nirankari" traders were not comfortable looking towards me. As the stage was set and everyone was waiting for the “Senior Swami", none of us had an idea that our Prime Minister was addressing the nation live on TV at the time when we were into the useless debate. It was around 8:50 when one of the trader guys received a call on his mobile and got some very shocking news. Before he could realise anything, the other guy too was stunned seeing WhatsApp messages on his phone. Soon another "Hare Krishna" disciple ran towards our compartment and broke the news to the 2 gentlemen who were waiting for their Guru.
As I was unable to make out anything about the sudden change in behaviour of everyone, I looked at my Phone which was on Silent Mode and realised that I had about 200 messages delivered in last 10 minutes or so. I took me about 5 minutes to digest what had happened.
Our Prime Minister had announced that the Currency Notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 were not going to be a "Legal Tender" after midnight. Practically, 85% of India's currency in circulation was going to be useless in just 3 hours or so.There was chaos everywhere in the train and off course everywhere else in the country as it was evident from the WhatsApp messages.
The guy from the Railway Pantry refused to take a Rs 500 note from me when I tried paying him Rs 240 for the dinner. When I pointed out that the notes were valid until midnight, he gave a polite reply that he had run 'out of change' as everyone paid him with Rs 500 notes.
The 1st call I picked was from my sister’s number from Bangalore and I realised that it has her husband who was on other side. He had just gone crazy with happiness on the decision of our PM. He explained me about the death of "Black Money" and Illegal "Benaami Deals" among others.He was confident about the "Rise of New India". When I expressed my apprehensions about rioting and law and order issues, he made me understand that we had a "Real Strong Government" on top with an "Ultra Popular PM" and nothing unpleasant was going to happen. Similar views were expressed by my brother and almost all intelligent friends.
My wife too seemed to be happy on the move and so were most of my school and college friends and colleagues in my organization.But the Krishna Bhakti guys in the train looked a bit disappointed. Organizing any religions or social program was obviously going to be tough without cash transactions. No one was talking about God or Religion or anything. In fact, no one in the whole coach was talking about anything except this stunning decision taken by our PM.
I was travelling to Udhampur to initiate data digitization at an Army Depot there as a part of my ongoing Project with Indian Army Ordnance. The respective in charge at the Depot was a Lady Officer (“Major" in rank) who had told me that she would pick me up from Udhampur Railway Station once I landed there and that she had arranged for my stay at Army Guest House.
Even as the whole country was going through a chaos, I was blank in my thoughts as I had a mission to start at Udhampur where I was going for first time. It was about 4:20 am when the train entered Platform 1 at Udhampur Railway Station. I saw a young lady in her early 30s dressed in Track Suit standing on the platform with 2 Army Jawans dressed in full combat attire. As soon as the train stopped, I realised that she was not the officer who had come to pick me up as she was there to receive her parents who got down from the coach just behind. There were about 8-10 more Army personnel on the platform who had come to receive someone or other, but sadly there was none who came to pick me. I decided against calling up the Lady Officer at 4:30 am and instead decided to move out of the Station thinking that she (or someone else) might be waiting for me outside the gate.
I realised that there was no one waiting
for me even outside and that the whole parking lot was empty. Probably there
were no trains for next hours or so while my train was still standing at the
platform. There were some auto-rickshaws standing there, but none of them had
any drivers. There were 2 ATMs at the parking lot, and both were beaming the
message of “Cash not available”. I realised that my Phone had just 2% of
battery life as I forgot to get it charged in the train, thanks to the chaos
created by currency ban. I decided to get back inside the station and get the
Phone charged at the Waiting Room for some time, but I was stopped by the Army
Security guys at the Station Gate. They didn’t allow me going in as I had
already completed my journey and was out from the Station. This was the first
time, I realised that things were really a bit different in the state of Jammu
& Kashmir.
Within 5 minutes, I realised that my Phone was ringing, but the call got disconnected as soon as I picked it. The battery was gone, and I had no other option than to wait at the parking lot outside Udhampur Station waiting for sunrise, which meant 2 hours to kill. In just 2 hours or so, India was to wake up in the morning of 09-November-2016 to witness 85% of its currency notes going useless, while I had to somehow figure out about reaching the designated Army Depot.
To be continued….