The EMU from Sullurpetta just entered Chennai station, I couldn't wait for the train to come to a halt, I jumped off to the platform. A confirmed berth in some train to Kerala was all I had in my mind.
I rushed through the crowd of commuters with my baggage to reach for the current reservation counter. I took a reservation slip, scribbled my details & entered 2623 as the train number. The number 2623 has got much significance in the lives of space techies working in VSSC, who travel frequently to SHAR. It is the number of the last train leaving Chennai central to
The guy at the counter turned a sorry face on seeing my slip. He told that there are no seats available in any train going to Kerala today. The next day it was Onam in Kerala.
I wandered through the station like a geo stationary satellite which was ejected in the GTO but failed to reach the required apogee. What next? Was the question in my mind, but I was sure that it didn't have any logical answer.
Then came an announcement about a train to Allepey which will be leaving in a short while from Chennai station.
I rushed to the ticket counter to take a general ticket in the sole hope of finding a Ticket Examiner whom I could lure to allot me a berth in the train. It didn't take much time to realise that all my hopes were in vain as I found it difficult to bribe the Ticket examiner into getting a berth. People say that anything is possible in
Grabbing my baggage, I ran to the general compartment which I knew was my only way out of Chennai.
The view of the general compartment reminded me of the great train tragedy that we have learnt in history classes during our school days. People have filled the compartment as if sand in a jar. Every piece of space - seats, luggage racks, floor etc - in the compartment was occupied by passengers.
With not many options left, I squeezed into one of the general compartments.
There was acute shortage of three things inside the compartment - foot space, baggage space and breathing air. The atmosphere was so humid and the obnoxious smell of sweat was so intolerable, but it was just a trailer of the events that followed.
With great difficulty, I found some space to stand near the toilet corridor. The pungent smell of urea was so intolerable that I was cursing God for giving human kind these urinary skills - why the hell didn't he find out some better way to throw excess water out of our body.
After two hours into the journey, the rush subsided as the train reached the next station. Some free spaces started appearing on the floor and I rushed towards it. The torture that my legs and nostrils was subjected to was too much that I decided to sit on the floor, with my baggage on my lap, as it was pretty far from the toilets.
As the journey progressed, an old guy sitting near to me started a conversation with me. From his looks, it seemed that he was just out of some labour camp.
He enquired about my whereabouts and I replied that I am a scientist from ISRO and explained that I am back from SHAR after the launch campaign activities.
I could see his eyes propping out from his eye sockets. He was staring at me as if I was some uncouth, insane maniac trying to deceive him. I could understand his feelings as even I would have thought like this as you never expect to find a scientist from some premier institute sitting in the floor of general compartment while traveling on official duty.
It took me some time and lot of fundas to convince him that I was really a scientist. His expression of fear soon gave way to sympathy and he started abusing the government for treating us like this.
I explained to him that though we are eligible for traveling in flight, ISRO has decided not to do so to save money from the public exchequer. I went on to explain him that the campaign activities always coincided with some festival season like Christmas, Onam or Ramzan, so we end up traveling in general compartments.
The gyan that ISRO runs this big show in a shoe string budget was kind of relief for him as he thought tat all sarkari babu's waste tax payers money without any regret. He didn't hide his admiration towards ISRO for being sensitive towards taxpayer’s money.
Just as I settled down in the small floor space, I received natures call. In the fear that I may loose my sitting place, I tried to control myself. But as time passed, the pressure was building up in my bladders and I realised that if I am not going to go to the urinal now, the bladders are going to blast as in the big bang and I am going to live my rest of my life without them. Keeping my baggage as mortgage for the small piece of floor space that I got for resting my bum, I went to the bathroom.
The bathroom was in a state which was in no way different from the condition inside the compartment. To add to the filth and odour, it didn't have window glasses. From the instinct so typical of the Indian male, who can turn any roadside wall into a urinal, I released my pressure without worrying about the privacy that it had to offer. As I came out, I saw a lady waiting to go inside. As she opened the door and realised that it didn't have any window, she turned back. Poor lady, the price one has to pay for being the fairer sex. At that moment, I thanked god for creating me as a male.
As the train passed each station, the number of passengers kept doubling reminding me of the famous words of Intel founder " The number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years "
It was not just the passengers, but their baggage was also multiplying. Probably the baggage will be full of Onam gifts for their dear and near.
With great astonishment I noticed that people always found space inside the compartment no matter how.
Another ten hours of journey passed, without sleep, without getting a chance to stretch your legs, without having food. As the train approached Allepey station, I tried to getup and found that my whole body was aching due to the unconventional way in which it was folded and made to sit during the course of the journey. By the time I came out of the compartment, the odour of the compartment had transfused into my body. The dust from Chennai to Allepey had accumulated over my skin. I couldn't catch a glimpse of the new me as the compartment was devoid of the luxury of a mirror.
I walked to the taxi stand and tried to take a taxi back home, but the driver refused to take me in. The looks on his face made me realise that I have become an aam aadmi - the cattle class..yes a cattle class scientist...
No comments:
Post a Comment