[Eric R] Week 5

Apologies for the late post! I was traveling from Bangalore to Delhi (Yesvantpur Junction to Hazrat Nizamuddin) this past weekend (Friday-Sunday), and have been recuperating from the journey ever since… This post will be all about my journey, because that is all I can focus on at this moment.

To say the journey was easy is an understatement. India has a very well-developed train reservation scheme, where a series of waitlisted and “reserved against cancellation” (RAC) tickets are granted before you receive a confirmed ticket. As the departure date draws nearer, you usually move farther and farther up the queue. I purchased my train ticket a month before departure and received a WL-28 ticket, which I was told was a near guarantee of a confirmed seat, in the 2^nd AC class (which is quite comfortable!).

I arrived at the train station at 8p for my 10p train, and was WL-6, but the seating chart still hadn’t been prepared. This was good news. In addition to the “General Quota” of tickets (which I had purchased), the railways have many other quotas, including “Ladies,” “Tatkal” ( “at once/immediate”), “Defense,” “Handicapped,” “Parliament House,” and still others. The result is that usually when charts are prepared, all of the empty seats from those quotas are filled by people on the General Quota waitlist. So being WL-6 with the charts not prepared was a good sign. I waited just over an hour, and saw a ticket teller (TT) posting seating charts on the sides of train cars. I rushed to the ticket counter to check if I had gotten lucky. She scribbled on my ticket and passed it back to me with a forlorn look on her face and a curt “no ticket.” WL-5. I had only moved up one place, and because I was still on the waitlist, I couldn’t board the train.

With not many other options, I joined the line at the unreserved ticket counter, and purchased an unreserved second class ticket for just over a tenth of the price of 2^nd AC. Below are the comments from www.seat61.com, the reputed global train-travel information website.

The efficient reservation system means that you can safely forget any pictures you've seen of overcrowded Indian trains with people on the roof or hanging on the side.  These these photos show suburban [local] trains, or basic unreserved 2nd Class on long distance ones [my new ticket choice].  On fast long-distance trains in AC1, AC2, AC3, or AC Chair Class, all passengers have an assigned seat or sleeping berth so there's no overcrowding … On the other hand, Sleeper Class [of which I was jealous] gets much grubbier than the AC classes and unreserved passengers can sometimes enter the coaches making it crowded [ha].  2nd class unreserved can be [read: is] incredibly crowded.  Toilets in sleeper class or basic non-AC 2nd Class seats can leave a lot to be desired...

I could not put it any better. I sat on the floor near the two Indian-style bathrooms, on top of my backpack with my knees tucked against my chest, for the majority of the 36-hour journey. Not only did I need to lean out of the way every time somebody came to use the toilets, but whenever the door opened I got a nice waft of the smell. Around me where other kids about my age, and we each took turns stretching out on top of each other to “sleep” in 1-hour shifts. I think I maybe dozed off once. The car was designed to seat about 80 people; there were easily 200. Towards the end of the trip (after Gwalior), a fair number of people disembarked and I managed to snag a bit of bench space for the last 5 hours of the trip. Again, I didn’t catch any sleep, but it was a blessing to stretch out my legs when I wanted.

Those around me spoke about as much English as I do Hindi, so there were many interesting “conversations” had. There was a long debate between them regarding who I resembled more: Harry Potter, or Spiderman.  I wasn’t wearing red, and I didn’t know how to ask which Spiderman I reminded them of. I’m not sure where that idea came from, but the camps were evenly divided. Everyone was fascinated by the US $1 I had with me, and everyone wanted a picture with me on their phones.

I am certainly checking this box off my bucket list, and can say that I’ve ridden in the lowest-of-lows when it comes to measures of comfort. I am lethargic, achy, congested, and just coming down with my first serious bout of stomach-bowl sickness. Yet, I am blessed to have witnessed my GSI’s wedding last week (graduate student instructor), satisfied that I made it to Narayana Hrudayalaya for my project, and excited to be in a new city.

I look forward to posting next about the developments that will come with this new week!

-ericr