Hop on and enjoy!!

The noise level around me was rising above the threshold of tolerance. It was confusion. It was chaos. It was the beginning of a journey. A journey like none other; a journey by Indian Railway locomotive.

Many have gone through this experience. Some of them who were talented writers have penned down their experiences. Some travellers who are not so good at writing, have poured ink into scores of pages in an attempt to describe them. Personally, I think both types have failed to recreate the experience. They cannot be faulted. Like bungee jumping or scuba diving, its something that is best experienced firsthand. You can read hundreds of books, but the experience will never be the same. No offense to all the famous authors out there, but nobody can capture the exact feel.

Smoke that curls up from the engine of a train, thick, black and sooty, touches the clean air and changes it irrevocably. It may not be evident, but the change is sure to have happened. The same way a journey in Indian Railways is sure to touch you.

If you want the real deal, the ideal choice would be an interstate train from a major station. Thanks to the varied culture across the states, you will get to see a lot of different stuff. From the language that swirls around you, the food that is sold in the train, the scenery, the people, dwellings, clothing. Its like a journey through a live-museum.

The stations where you embark on a journey is as entertaining as the journey. The noise level at the major stations are unbelievable.

Porters and vendors shouting. Luggage being bustled around. Long queues at the ticket counters and take-away counters. Announcements blaring at frequent intervals, in different languages. Mothers screaming at children, to keep them in control. Babies wailing at a high-pitch. And the cavernous station would seem like its trapping in all the noise.

You bump into people, individuals and groups of them. You will spill your coffee, drop your bags, stumble over people sleeping on the floor(yes, it does happen - you might even come across a make-shift kitchen), get sworn at by the porter for blocking his way and be jostled around by the crowd. The crowd is worse than at a carnival. You will be surprised to know only a quarter of the people who are at a station actually go on a journey. The rest are there to see off a loved one. Some people think that such a fuss is not necessary. But for some its a loving farewell, from their near and dear ones. The smells are as vivid as the sights.

Trains have a special smell. Its unique and indescribable. Its a mixture of the engine's smoke, metal frames and wooden berths. Smell of refuse is something common to all stations and trains. Smell of people getting ready for a journey and people arriving after long journeys. Trust me, you don't want to be around the second category.

Then there is the universal smell - the smell of coffee. Vendors shouting "Coffee, coffee" with big steel cans, hot coffee in paper cups and the smell wafting down the aisles. These are a part of everyone's memories of Indian Railways.

The shouts of vendors inside the compartments are sporadic. The noise levels of the passengers take a different curve. They peak at stations. At other times its a flat line. Not of silence, but of conversation amongst passengers and the ringtones of mobiles too. For a train that carries people coming from varying backgrounds, you will find it amusing that the passengers are friendly with each other. Though some are wary of socializing in trains, there are others who would give you their whole history with the least encouragement. There are some who are reluctant to ask the time of the day and some who don't mind asking really personal questions.

Come nightfall and the whole scene changes. Dinner packets torn open and shared(mostly home-packed meals). Confusion on berths sorted out. Sheets spread and pillows laid. Arguments on the window shutters (which one to be closed and to what height). Babies put to sleep after hours of cuddling and coaxing(cradles made out of sarees are a common sight). Meanwhile the children devise a game of climbing up and down the berths, intrigued by the novelty (in turn they stamp on your head and kick your back). All grandpas and grandmas turn in early and drift of to sleep easily. By the time the late-sleepers climb on they have trouble finding sleep amongst their snores. The lamps are switched on and off depending on whether a child is travelling(they need to go pee, then they need water and again they want to go pee..its an endless cycle).

Then there is the ruler on the travelling empire. The Travelling Ticket Examiner. Familiar to the passengers as TT. Adorned in black & white, he comes poking around to check tickets. Nine out of ten times, he will come after you have settled down to sleep. Cant blame him, because he has the difficult job of finding the illegally travelling ones. Fine them or shove them out, depending on his mood. Sort out odd complaints amongst passengers. Allot unoccupied seats to others in need. Deal with miscreants. Walk up and down whenever the train crosses a major station. Tough job.

During your journey, you will encounter children singing in different languages in the hope of earning money (if you actually know the language, you can make out that the lyrics are rubbish). Then the regular bunch of beggars - blind ones, ones with the yellow/pink/blue cards summarizing the tragedy that occurred in their life, invalid ones who sweep the train, young mothers with tiny, malnourished babies and many other heart-wrenching ones. Vendors are many and wares being sold on the train are innumerable - pirated CDs/DVDs, handbooks on everything under the sun(Internet made easy, Indian recipes, Exercise tips, Your stars and future, Lyrics of songs, Gardening, etc), homemade snacks, musical instruments, curios to attract children.

Passengers who travel on daily basis have a fraternity of their own. A friendship that was developed somewhere between their home-office shuttles. They look out for each other. Have woes and joys to share. They talk about matters regarding their office and their struggles at home. Some of them catch up on sleep during these journeys, while others cut vegetables or mend clothes. Students read up for tests in the morning and in the evening you can see their papers being evaluated by professors. On occasions that call for a celebration coffee and snacks are sponsored by the host. Such simple things bring joy to them. Break the monotony of their lives.

All these people, places, sights and noises makes the train journey on Indian Railways. And I love it. I admit, that there have been times when I wanted to tear out my hair. When couples decide to celebrate honeymoon in the midst of a packed train; when a passenger decide to become over-friendly and ask unnecessary questions; when men misbehave with lady travellers; when people brag about how things are different in US (aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!); when a loud-mouthed fellow decides to give a lecture to fellow passengers; when people ignore the rule of one person per ticket. And so many other instances too.

But more than these annoying incidents I like to recollect the nice memories of train journeys. The train journeys that excited me as a child, became a routine during my college life. Now I am a regular traveller to a neighboring state. Over the years I have had my share of experiences. I have travelled in compartments with AC and curtains that give you privacy. I have also travelled in general compartments where you cant get enough air to breathe.

Every journey was different. A concerned granny who asked if I had something to eat. A small boy who wanted to know if I had met his cousin on the way. A gang of friends enjoying the feeling of togetherness, singing into the wee hours of night. A baby pampered by his parents. A lady who fought for me against a huge crowd who was choking me. A sweet girl who was amused at meeting a new aunty (I have to confess, that I dint like the aunty part). A fellow-traveller(who was apparently from a foreign country) flustered at the sight of a group of young girls who were on a mehendi-applying spree.

Its not just me. I am sure everybody who has travelled in Indian Railways have their memories. Some bad, some good. I have read in newspapers about women giving birth on trains, passengers who were murdered, people who found their life partners during a journey, derailed trains resulting in loss of numerous lives. All those events are now memories in the minds of people who witnessed them.

In an abstract sense Indian Railways could be considered a representation of our country. A slow and steady development. Years ago it was born as a disconnected railway system, but now it is one amongst the world's largest rail networks. It provides employment to a large number of people, directly and indirectly. It provides a mode of transportation to all classes of people.

It is a mixture of the old and the new. The Indian Railways boasts of an on-line ticketing system(might not be the best, but a blessing for many of us) to book tickets on a network of rusted trains and dilapidated stations.

People come together everyday, contribute in small ways and with each passing day we are growing.

Welcome to Indian Railways. Hope you had a nice trip!!