Back to home- 27th june 2008(Part 2)

It was 1 pm and i squinted at the nearby screen to check my status. At my second glance i observed no. 2203 which was the no. of train on which i was supposed to board. i wasn't able to note my platform no. as the message was replaced by other. Now my eyes stuck on that screen to get the platform no. of my train and fortunately i got that in a minute or so. ya the no. was 2203, garib rath express and suddenly by pupil got flared by the present status which indicated that train got cancelled and a terror of not getting another train struck me. i rushed to the reservation counter nearby to check if there is any vacant seats for today's trains like a man with a penny in his hand heading toward las vegas to become millionaire. I waited in line for 15 minutes and atlast i could see an obesed lady on the counter. she underlined one rule on my e-ticket that those tickets can't be cancelled on counter which even dumbest person on earth would have read. i don't know why these government officials are gifted with this type of inelegant, graceless nature which compell them to respond in rude manner before coustmers could say even one word. When i enquired her about any vacancies in trains from delhi to amritsar she gave me such a solid stare as if i asked wierdest question in this universe. I left immediately as i knew for sure that this will not work and now i have to search for another solution either bus or get one ticket in black. An agent offered me ticket of ac three tier at 1000 bucks which i refused without any bargain as bargain would end up price at 800-900 and i don't wanna pay such a huge amount just for the journey of 6 hours. With low spirit i collected my baggages and asked a lady assistant of waiting room, who was punjabi and might had some symathy toward me, about any train to amritsar and possibility of gettinng a seat. She told me that there is a train standing right now on platform no. 7 and will leaveto amritsar in sometime and i might end up with 1 seat if i could bribe TT of train. At this moment all your moral values against corruption fades away and you search for fastest way to reach home. By carrying three heavy baggages i reached platform no. 7 through stairs which rose my heartbeat to maximum one could ever achieve. Luckily there was a train standing over there but no trace of TT. I dragged my bags and my body to the end of train where i thought possibilty of TT was maximum. i encouter two TT and requested them for ticket but they told me that they were going on another train which made all my efforts in vain. Atlast i could spot one more TT and i thought he would be last to whom i am going to request so i asked him about vacancy as my train had been cancelled. He retorted that this will fetch me a fine of 200 buck and ticketof 120 rs. This was really cheap deal and i dragged my luggage on the seat no. which he gave me and the fine which he told me was just another term for bribe. now i was travelling in normal train which had its windows open to feel the outer beauty rather than just emotionless view which one encounter when one looks through glass of AC compartment. With fastmoving train my ideas started flowing fast which were related to humanity,GOD,religion etc.

Back to home -27th june 08

I landed my foot on land after 2 days and i was completely exhausted by jerks which one have to bear when travelling even on so called royal trains.I endeavoured to pull my three bags to platform 1 crossing the overhead bridge saving myself from collies who raided each coach to make some easy buck as they know most of passengers would be NRI or from aristocrat family. So now i have to hang on in delhi for 8 hours as i had next train at 2 pm. I took a local train from nizzamudin to delhi which was stopped in between the route many times to give way for any regular train.I was lucky that i travelled in morning and everyone had bath in morning, had it been noon i might got unconscious by others sweat but luckily i reached new delhi before noon. I placed myself on one new mettalic bench which relieved me from my fatigue in 20 min. As i became vigilant i was peeved by fly which was making flippant move from my one body part to other. I made up my mind that i have to move from that area as that fly was challenging my passive nature. So i searched on same platform and shocked to see one room carrying "upper class waiting room" tag and having 13 AC to cool that room. Now i was sure that i can spend my next waiting hours comfortably. I saw many guys were having bath in bathrooom nearby which boosted my hope to have bath of which i was deprieved from last 2 days. I made a quick inspection of that washroom which was better than what i hoped though one toilet was having unflussed shit while one wash-basin was acting like reservoir for stinky water.Now i desperately wanted to go for bath but as i was alone i had to be careful with my luaggage especially the bag which carried my laptop. In india especially at delhi railway station where i lost my shoes last time in the blink of eye, you need to be careful. So i decided to handover the bag to attendant lady who could take care of baggage until i finish bath. i waited in front of bathroom for about 10 minutes for my turn and person next to me was screaming on the guy for taking too much time.As soon as i got turn i understood that i have to do fast or others would not hesitate to break the door by smashing. I took minimum time and came out very soon but even then guy who was standing outside gave me peevish remark about taking so much time, i don't know what do they expect from other.Atlast i felt fresh like daisy and thanked that lady who took care of my bag. I was least worried about my other two bags because they were having only stenched clothed which i wore for two months without washing. now i was free from clutches of odour i decided to sit underneath AC hoping which might keep me cool which was a hypothesis as doors were opened permanently and exhaust fans were working in toilets with full speed to drive out any trace of colling done by these laborious machine giving a look like 90 yr old man whose every opinion gets rebuked in normal Indian family. With some luck i got one seat under AC so i started my laptop and resumed my saved playlist with noise reducing earphone infixed in my ears which was classical move to ignore blatant noise around. I just tried one wireless network and to my surprise i was connected to wi-fi but maximum i could open was registration page which demanded 50 bucks for 1 hour of usage. I didn't have credit card so restricted myself to song and GRE book which i thought to finish by the end of my vacation. A lady sat nearby me and i had no idea from how long she was talking to me but i realised only when i saw her pouting lips indicated that she was having some conversation with me. So i removed my earphone and heard that she was telling that how punjabis are hierarch than these delhi guys whom she pointed as mean.I gave her smile to approve her comment though she could never possibly convienced me with her pointless emotional tale.I wasn't in mood listen to her and her sorrows so with that short smile i plugged my earphone back and continued mystuff on laptop. As the rush increased newcomers tried to occupy even inch of floor which they could take for sitting by spreading thier blanket on floor. Now i must leave this blog to check my train's schedule.