For the past few months, I've been shuttling between the two great South Indian cities, Bangalore and Chennai. They are so similar to each other yet they are different. Bangalore is famous for its London weather and Chennai is famous for its beaches and food. I currently live in Chennai because I am going to a college in Chennai. But since Bangalore has been my home, my only home, I have been going back home frequently. Wherever I go, I'm still tethered to my home. As I grow older, that tether grows longer but never breaks. Just like an Astronaut performing a space-walk, my tether stays until I'm safe back home.
I am not doing an Indian version of Charles Dickens' classic 'A tale of two cities', i merely write about the journey between these two cities. Even though the two cities are just 300 kms apart, travelling between these have been an adventure so far. One can achieve this by many methods. Travelling by train,bus,car,back of a truck,by foot(not recommended), by aeroplane or any other expensive means you can think of! But the most popular method used by the middle class is train or bus. I have tried and tested all the methods mentioned above(except travelling by foot).
Train travel is the easiest method but reserving your ticket for your journey is an arduous task. Take my word, securing admissions in Engineering colleges in India is an easier task as compared to reserving tickets in IRCTC. These two words, IRCTC and TATKAL are the two words which haunt the people who travel by train. Whenever I try to log in to the irctc website, I get greeted by a message saying 'Server has crashed'. The Ideal time to log on to the website is at 2:00 am, because at that time the 'older' people will be asleep. When I successfully log on to the site and search for trains between the two epic south Indian cities.
After carefully trying out different methods of transport and analyzing the pros and cons, I can safely conclude that train is the best method for travelling. A one-way journey takes exactly 6hrs(5 hrs in Shatabdi) and it is the safest means of transport. There are plenty of trains between Bangalore to Chennai and the fares are also sensible. The comfort of night train is better than day train. Although I never sleep in the night train, I prefer travelling in the night train. I get some "alone time" with which I can utilize to put my thoughts in order. Also, I get opportunities to pursue my favourite hobby, observing and studying people.
I know that it is a weird and a creepy hobby. But I find it entertaining to observe people and amuse myself on how different each one are. Sometimes, their flaws make me wonder, their behaviour makes me laugh, their language makes me impressed and their behaviour makes me angry. A night train journey is a perfect time for me to pursue my hobby.
Right now, I am sitting in my alloted side-lower berth, unable to sleep. I write this partly due to boredom and partly because I want to write. This post will be posted online on some other day because I don't have an internet connection. Now, as the train speeds up towards a familiar lands, I look out of the window. The air gives a hint of petrichor(a new word i learnt recently). Through the mist and darkness, I spot the name of a station which whizz by. I could decipher the word 'Devanagonthi'. That moment, I start to smile because the Devanagonthi is located in the outskirts of the city. It also shows that I am merely 30 minutes away. My happiness reaches new levels when the train speeds past whitefield. Now, no one can stop me and I am home. After toiling in a city like Chennai, it is indeed welcoming to come back to Bangalore. The familiar chillness of the air gives me a warm welcome. The clean atmosphere makes me nostalgic.
Before I get too emotional, let me wind up this long and endless rant. Another sleepless night spent in the train and another unproductive way of spending it. But it doesn't matter to me because I am finally home. I hope I haven't bored my imaginary readers. Bangaloreans living in hostels in another city can relate to this. If, by any minute chance, anyone reading this, please give a honest and critical feedback. I would love it.
I am not doing an Indian version of Charles Dickens' classic 'A tale of two cities', i merely write about the journey between these two cities. Even though the two cities are just 300 kms apart, travelling between these have been an adventure so far. One can achieve this by many methods. Travelling by train,bus,car,back of a truck,by foot(not recommended), by aeroplane or any other expensive means you can think of! But the most popular method used by the middle class is train or bus. I have tried and tested all the methods mentioned above(except travelling by foot).
Train travel is the easiest method but reserving your ticket for your journey is an arduous task. Take my word, securing admissions in Engineering colleges in India is an easier task as compared to reserving tickets in IRCTC. These two words, IRCTC and TATKAL are the two words which haunt the people who travel by train. Whenever I try to log in to the irctc website, I get greeted by a message saying 'Server has crashed'. The Ideal time to log on to the website is at 2:00 am, because at that time the 'older' people will be asleep. When I successfully log on to the site and search for trains between the two epic south Indian cities.
After carefully trying out different methods of transport and analyzing the pros and cons, I can safely conclude that train is the best method for travelling. A one-way journey takes exactly 6hrs(5 hrs in Shatabdi) and it is the safest means of transport. There are plenty of trains between Bangalore to Chennai and the fares are also sensible. The comfort of night train is better than day train. Although I never sleep in the night train, I prefer travelling in the night train. I get some "alone time" with which I can utilize to put my thoughts in order. Also, I get opportunities to pursue my favourite hobby, observing and studying people.
I know that it is a weird and a creepy hobby. But I find it entertaining to observe people and amuse myself on how different each one are. Sometimes, their flaws make me wonder, their behaviour makes me laugh, their language makes me impressed and their behaviour makes me angry. A night train journey is a perfect time for me to pursue my hobby.
Right now, I am sitting in my alloted side-lower berth, unable to sleep. I write this partly due to boredom and partly because I want to write. This post will be posted online on some other day because I don't have an internet connection. Now, as the train speeds up towards a familiar lands, I look out of the window. The air gives a hint of petrichor(a new word i learnt recently). Through the mist and darkness, I spot the name of a station which whizz by. I could decipher the word 'Devanagonthi'. That moment, I start to smile because the Devanagonthi is located in the outskirts of the city. It also shows that I am merely 30 minutes away. My happiness reaches new levels when the train speeds past whitefield. Now, no one can stop me and I am home. After toiling in a city like Chennai, it is indeed welcoming to come back to Bangalore. The familiar chillness of the air gives me a warm welcome. The clean atmosphere makes me nostalgic.
Before I get too emotional, let me wind up this long and endless rant. Another sleepless night spent in the train and another unproductive way of spending it. But it doesn't matter to me because I am finally home. I hope I haven't bored my imaginary readers. Bangaloreans living in hostels in another city can relate to this. If, by any minute chance, anyone reading this, please give a honest and critical feedback. I would love it.
Beautiful words, and interesting hobby. It gives you an insight into people, you can understand them better. As Nizam sir would say, it improves your emotional intelligence!
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