A Railway Day

I grew up on the Indian Railways.  Some of my earliest memories are the long summer train rides in sleeper class down to Madras Central.  On arriving, we would then go over to Madras Egmore station to get the metre-gauge overnight train towards Madurai, getting off early in the morning at  Kodai Road station, where a bus would take us up to the coolness of the eucalyptus scented hills.

Other vague memories have me plastered to the open window, looking out ahead to see the steam engine pulling our train forward (!).  Needless to say, we were rather soot-stained dirty at the end of those trips.

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These last 6 months have seen us all use the railways a lot – but I think I have never had as many trips in as short a time… and it has been such a thrill to catch trains up and down the country.

Here is ‘a railway day’

It starts before dawn.  At countless railway stations across the nation. People are waiting for their trains.

Eventually, as time and tide pass, and as the sun starts to lighten the skies, the long-desired train trundles in...

Waiting, is of course one of our great Indian virtues.

And there are things that help make the wait bearable. Sometimes barely.

While many a station sells stale tea, there are of course many wonderful exceptions to start your day with.

At Chennai Central, you can get fresh frothy filter coffee

At Vishakaptanam, the idli-wada seller does great business as the travelers get their breakfast.

The savory treats are wrapped in newspaper and you get your coconut chutney and sambhar in seperate plastic bags to douse your breakfast with at your leisure.

"All aboard, Friends!  The train is about to leave!" (we hope…)

Once inside the story changes

Each train has a different vibe, a culture of its own.

Depending which 'class' you are in, you will see different slices of society.

Some a closer proximity than others of course.

.... and all through the journey the tea / coffee wallas walk through hawking their wares... crossing the various classes of bogies - seating car, unreserved (general), sleeper, 3rd AC, 2nd AC, AC chair car - the various combinations and permutations that each train will have

Each bogies has its unique mix of people...

All precious in His sight of course.  

As we sit and listen and talk (less now-a-days after alsmost everyone and his dog has a mobile device) we gather snippets of lives.

In the silence there are also wonderful opportunities to pray quiet blessings into the lives of others…

We now live amidst a wired generation…

Every train has a power outlet to charge our irreplaceable mobiles…

Sleep, especially in the heat – is always a sweet relief…

The best entertainment, however is not on a small screen (even if the Cricket world Cup is going on…)

You just have to gaze out of the windows for big-screen glory:

Some prefer to grab a seat at the base of an open door … with dizzying views down as you cross bridges and go up mountains..

And then you are rewarded with views like this - crossing central India in summer …

Or this scene just after the spring harvest in northern UP....

We live in a vast country… and what better way to get different glimpses of India's varied beauty

Such as crossing mighty rivers (here the Godavari at Rajamundry in Andhra Pradesh)....

And pray, when did you last see a woman carrying 7 pots of water on her head?  (southern Odisha)

Or see shepherds herding their flocks in the twilight?

Or gaze at “progress” in its various shapes… and forms...

All views, courtesy of windows (and maybe a door or two) of Indian railways, all the while taking you to your preferred destination!

Where will your next train ride take you?

The ride itself is worth the ticket price (which is so, so low for most of the trains we use...).

I love opening a door and looking out, watching the loco pull us along through the country side…

There is something magical about seeing the train snake ahead of you, being pulled to an infinite spot on the horizon..

The magical rails takes you up mountains, through gorges...

Or through city-scapes…

Our nation is girded with rails.  

And what a blessing to be able to move around 

And then there are the stations.....

The rustle and crush of getting in and out – especially when it only stops for 2 minutes!

Some stations are just a single platform and a bench or two....

Others are behemoths… places where thousands move forward and backward every day, a teeming mass of humanity that erupts out of trains that pause shortly for breath at their platforms.

Our nation is dotted with stations

The same basic features multiplied or minimal   

Rails. Platforms. Places to sit.  Food stalls (in some).  

The heavy clatter of trains passing through.   

The incessant updates being robo-announced “the inconvenience caused is deeply regretted”.

Some delightfully decorated with relics of ye olde days...

Some never sleep....

And some have the strangest sights in their waiting rooms…

Each station has a unique name

Some with faded signs...

Others fairly grand...

 Some stations are linked with metros and other forms of transportation

Every station having an infinite number of possibilities.   

You watch people and wonder.  

Who is going where?  Why are they dressed this way or that way?  

Who has come to see the person off – and who are the travelers?  

What dreams are being lived out, what hopes are in tatters?

People and luggage.  Hearts and homes.  Going somewhere, or coming from some place.

And our many stations are also dwelling places – some temporary, others semi-permanent – for so, so many.

Its the end of a railway day.

For those of us who are blessed to have one, it is a wonderful joy to come home after a long train ride.  

To see the familiar lights and streets that twinkle ‘welcome back’ to you.

 And finally the almost hesitant way that the train sidles into the final destination.

You see the grey of the platform streaming like a quiet river outside and you know that it's time to step out .

The trip is over. 

Your railway day is done.