Yesterday night (20th March) I reached Chennai by the Duronto Express from Delhi to attend the Central Executive Committee of the BSNLEU to be held from 22nd to 24th March 2011. Com. T.A.Biju, Office Secretary and my wife were along with me. Comrade Nagarajan and other comrades from the Chennai Circle received us and took to the IQ, after the parcels including CEC reports, bags etc. were taken from the luggage compartment.
We started at 1550 hours on 19th March from Delhi and reached Chennai by 2030 hours the next day ie. by about 31 hours. Duronto don’t stop anywhere, except for technical stops or for loading of meals etc. Tickets are issued only to the last point ie. Chennai. Since we were in AC-3 tier, we were provided with kambals, bed sheets, pillow etc. as also meals. Food was OK. In short, it was a comfortable journey.
While sitting in the train, my mind went back to the journeys I had to undertake to Delhi many times for attending meetings, dharnas, Parliament Marches etc. My Delhi journeys started from the 1960s.There was no direct train from Kerala at that time. We had to go to Madras (now Chennai) first and then catch G.T.Express, the only train going to Delhi from there. There was no question of getting any reservation at all. The only thing that could be done was to rush and occupy a seat in the general compartment as soon as the train reaches the platform.But that was also not so easy. Or if you give 4 annas to the coolie, he may somehow manage to get you a seat in the general compartment. Sometimes you will not be that fortunate. Then you have to stand till somebody vacates a seat. You will have to stand full day or more than that.
No food supply in the train. When the train reaches any big station, we rush to the water pipe in the Rly station, drink water and fill up in the bottle. No water bottle for sale as at present. Vijayawada was a station, where you can get the meal. The moment you reach Vijayawada, get down and run to the restaurant in the station. Take a meal ticket from the person standing at the door, sit in any of the table where food is already served, eat it fast and run back to the compartment before it starts. A bell in the restaurant will ring one minute before the departure of the train. Whether you have completely eaten the meal or not, you rush back to get in to the train.
It will take more than two days to reach Delhi. By the time you reach your destination, your dress will be completely black with the smoke of the train ( only coal engines were there). No chance to take any bath.
I still remember one such journey. Com. K.Bhaskaran Nair ( expired last year)senior leader of E.III Union, who was Kerala Circle President later, and myself were travelling by train to Delhi. Even after two days, we could not get a seat to sit. We were so tired so we thought we will get down, take a bath, and then proceed to Delhi. Since there was no reservation, we could use the ticket for the next train also. So, we got down at Jhansi station at the early morning by about 0500 hours or so, kept the bags in the cloak room and had a cup of tea. All of a sudden, we got the idea why can’t we visit the famous Jhansi Fort where somehow we can take a bath also. I took with me a small bag with the money in it, also with some oil and soap.
We hired a judka and asked the driver to take us to the Jhansi Fort. It was too early even to see the road clearly. The driver dropped us near an old fort, got his money and returned. We got down and walked to the fort. It was in a very dilapidated condition. The gates were broken, dirty water wa s flowing in the front side. Rooms were open and dirty clothes were seen inside. The atmosphere was very bad and we decided to return without waiting to see the rest of the fort. By the time we returned, we were surprised to see many people standing near the gate watching us angrily. A good look at them and we shuddered. They were lepers and the old fort was a lepers colony. They might have thought that we had come to rob them. Any way it was a dangerous situation. If they caught us and kept us their prisoners, no body will know. Our families will not know where we are lost. We were in great danger.
Then Com. Bhaskaran Nair told me the plan. Don’t be panicky. Appear normal. The moment we reach near the gate where they are standing, run for your life. Do’nt look back or wait for each other. Because they are lepers they can’t run and catch us. If they try to catch, push them and continue your running.
It was in fact a run for our life. They did not try to catch us. We ran past them for about a furlong and then only looked back. They were watching us curiously. We were safe.
We got another judka on the way. The driver told us that this is a very old fort and fort of Jhansi Rani is in another direction. He took us there. It was almost a military camp. We went inside the fort and found a small temple and tank down in the fort. We told the priest that we wanted to take bath and pray. He allowed.
While searching the bag for oil, I found that the oil had spilled while we ran and all the notes were soaked with oil. Com. Bhaskaran Nair told me not to worry. You put ash (bhasma) on the note and the notes will be ok.We returned to the Railway station, got in to the train and reached Delhi without any further difficulty.
Now we journey with all comforts in the train, AC, food, kambals, sheets etc.There are much to be improved, but comparing to the old times, it has drastically changed. Times change, we also change.
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