A Train Journey To Remember...

PurpleRoses · Nov 7, 2023

Those were the days when there were no vande Bharat express, no direct flights to catch or even if there, weren't quite affordable for a middle class family run entirely by only 1 person's earnings.
We used to live in North and there was only 1 train which would take us to south where our native place was.
Every summer vacation, parents used to take us to our native where we all cousins used to get together and play and enjoy grandma's handmade food and sleeping on the floor with just a blanket spread and a pillow on open terraces talking n giggling endlessly gazing at the twinkling stars and feeling the cool breeze and waking up with sunrise and chirping of birds along with mosquito bites.
Now to travel to the place, we had to board navjeevan express and the entire journey was of 2+ days.
We used to travel in sleeper class and I as a child always wanted to climb up and have my spot fixed on upper berth whole my mother with my baby brother occupied the lower berth and my dad always on the middle berth.
I still remember the long journey as a kid which used to excite me as I gazed through the window and was fascinated by the moving of the objects - the trees, the people, anything and everything and that too in the opposite direction of the train!.
Using the dirty wet Indian railway toilets for brushing teeth and for attending nature's call for 2+days was a harrowing experience to say the least. Still wonder how we survived those days!
My mother used to pack food to last for 2+says train journey in a really long long steel dabbas stacked on top of each other and secured with two side stand along with clips with yummy lemon rice, curd rice, avakaya rice and enough pooris with sugar as side dish(yes yes unhealthy but those days that was what mother's fed us!) Whole my parents relished pooris with pickles!.
Still I used to wait for the pantry catering services n demand my father to buy me veg cutlets...infact any train i board i wait for those veg cutlets ..so unhealthy wrapped in unhygienic newspaper heavily soiled with the oil of cutlets but somehow very tasty!

Recently I boarded vande Bharat express and it is very sophisticated well maintained with good services and food too but the olden times train journey remains a "souvenir nostalgique".

Viswamitra · Nov 7, 2023

@PurpleRoses,

Thank you for sharing your childhood experience of traveling by train. As a child, I have not traveled much by train and only once I traveled to Bangalore by train. When we lived in Pune and Mumbai, we traveled a few times by train to reach Chennai. There was a memorable trip to Delhi from Chennai which took 30 hours. These trips were mostly made during 1980s and 1990s. Only for my son who was a toddler at that time, we used to take him by train to give him train experience. He used to sit in the windows enjoying the breeze to his back. When he is tired of that, he used to sit in the window seat and enjoy the trees moving backwards to the train's direction. His questions never used to end and somehow it was hard to make him sleep despite feeding him multiple times. My parents also lived in Pune and Ahmedabad when I was young and they shared similar experience taking me as a child from Pune and Ahmedabad to Chennai.

Once my uncle visited us from Chennai to spend a month with us in Pune and my mother, father and I went to receive him. I was 3 years and was fascinated by the preparation they take before Deccan Queen leaves Pune for Bombay. At some state, I decided to take a peak inside the train. Luckily, one policeman watched me boarding unaccompanied by an adult and brought me down to the platform. The train left and my parents panicked and went to report to the Station Master only to find me sitting happily in his room.

My mother used to make fun of me even after I grew up that had the policeman not seen me boarding, I would have gone to Bombay and would have lived in Dharavi along with other Tamils. I used to respond that I would have worked as a cooli in the harbor area and would have become a God Father.

umaakumar · Nov 9, 2023

Dear Purpleroses,
Very nice snippet about train journeys.
Train journeys are indeed wonderful. Though in my childhood days, I have never been by train. My Dad loved driving and would drive us to our native. We lived in Bangalore and would travel to Pudukkottai. It use to be fun.
Like everything else, trains too have been modernised.
I recollect my father telling me about him going to Delhi in the late 1940. He said there were no vendors on the train. The train use to stop at a station for meals and everyone got down and had food and got in. When I hear these I am amazed at how much change has happened.
Regards
Uma

maalti · Nov 9, 2023

Hi @PurpleRoses,
Nice snippet beautifully brought out. Brought back all the old memories. we have also traveled by train to Delhi by GT and Surat by Navjeevan. But as you have rightly pointed out, though many sophisticated trains have been introduced, the olden times train journey remains a "souvenir nostalgique".
regards

joylokhi · Nov 9, 2023

@PurpleRoses , could very much relate to your post. We often look back to the times when we travelled with the whole family almost every two to three years, as my father was in govt service and transfers were a compulsory part of the job. There was no question of refusing to accept such transfers . Although all preparations were made for homemade food for the entire journey, (mainly due to it becoming more economical) , we used to wait for the last lap of the journey when we would be allowed to snack on different items being brought by the caterers. As we were 6 of us, parents and 4 siblings, we had almost an entire coupe at our disposal most times, and enjoyed playing board games, antakshari etc. Now, on hindsight i wonder how my parents managed to raise us with so many challenges of frequent change of schools, new set up of homes each time etc. After my father retired and I had just completed college education by then, i too joined the same central govt department. However, time and outlook had changed drastically. I was married with my eldest child around 2 years when I too started having the same pressure of transfer to different state on promotion. I had to give up my service of around 15 years at the time , although i really loved my job and was proud of the department. Fortunately i landed an equally satisfying position in a PSU and could continue to work for another 14 years, after which i resigned voluntarily. I found myself going down memory lane, thanks to your post

vidhyalakshmid · Nov 10, 2023

@PurpleRoses - nice nostalgic writeup. Last year we went on a train trip from southern california to Oregan, especially to provide the enjoyment of the train journey to my daughter. It was around 36 hours. But we enjoyed the vista and the scenery too.There was a Overview Deck for first class passengers with the seats facing the windows. First come first served. My daughter and me watching the pacific ocean, the mountains and the lakes. We have sighted different birds,animals and small creatures. It was not fast express, so we watched in a relaxed manner. It was an unforgettable experience ofcourse, but after the journey all were sick. May be because of the Common toilet in the train. That`s was the only downside. Regarding food, we managed to pack from home for 24 hours. The food provided in the train was of high price and not preferable to us.