Nashik, 8th April, 2021.
The date takes me back 42 years! This day, way back in 1979, proved to be a red-letter day in my life. It is etched in my memory and I recall with nostalgia, a few of the events of that day, as if they had occurred yesterday! Let's turn the clock back.
It is Sunday. I'm at A2/13, M.I.G. Colony, Bandra East, Mumbai. My cousin Ajay, two years older than me, has come home and we are playing our favourite indoor game - Carrom cricket! Our uncle, whom we call Prabhakar kaka, arrives early afternoon, carrying with him a copy of our favourite magazine, Sportsweek's 'World of Cricket'. The cover has the giant West Indian Joel Garner in pink attire, a color made famous by Kerry Packer's rebel World Series Cricket. Ajay and I promptly abandon our game and start leafing through the illustrated glossy. Time passes swiftly and at 14:30, the true excitement begins. In a short while, I shall be undertaking what would prove to be a landmark journey; a journey that would sow the seeds for an undying love for the Western Railway and North India. By 15:00, we are ready to leave. 'We' meaning my dad, mom, Ajay, my aunt Shalini and myself; the last two being the actual travellers while the remaining three comprised the mandatory 'seeing-off' party!
After the customary 'ta-tas' we set off for Bombay Central station by taxi. We reach the magnificently constructed colonial-era station by 16:00 and make our way to the platform where India's fastest train is docked - the 151 Down Rajdhani Express to New Delhi!
I am fascinated by trains and the Rajdhani in its unique cream-and-red livery is outstanding! We find our chair car coach C1 and board it. An immediate disappointment comes over me as I find that the seats are facing the opposite direction to the train's journey. However, I am suitably impressed with the interior of the coach, with its pleasing decor, carpetted aisle, curtained windows and the comfort of the A.C. A second disappointment awaits me as I locate our seats, nos. 60 and 61; aisle and middle, respectively! Seat no. 62, the prized window seat, has eluded me on my very first journey on India's most prestigeous train. I resignedly occupy seat no. 61, hoping that the person in 62 would be kind enough to exchange his seat with an enthusiastic sixteen year-old. My hopes are dashed when, within minutes, a lean, bald, bespectacled, stern-looking 'gentleman' looms up in the aisle and with a dead-pan expression, mutters, "62." Without even attempting to request him for a change, Shali Atya and I merely make way for him to occupy his rightful throne.
The clock strikes 4:30 and the Express begins to move! Initially I feel claustrophobic, as it is my first time travelling in a closed environment, the A.C. notwithstanding. As the train picks up speed and readies to exit the corporation limits of Greater Bombay, I feel better and my spirits are lifted by the sight of the bustling bearers, readying to serve tea and snacks.
Savouring the tea with snack, I start feeling enthusiastic and inquisitive about the stations we are passing. This being my first journey on the Western Railway, I am eager to catch the names of the wayside stations. We pass Umergam, Bilimora Jn., Vapi, etc. and towards dusk, the train thunders through Surat Jn. I am now enjoying every moment of my journey, eyeing my co-passengers, the uniformed catering staff and the suited ticket-checking staff. Once it is dark outside, I am unable to see anything outside the train, as the closed windows only reflect the coach's interior. I feel a strange thrill when the examiner goes through our tickets, which are like airplane tickets; and returns them to us after putting a huge tick mark on each. We are bonafide passengers and will complete the journey without incident!
A little after dinner - that included a cup of Kwality icecream - the news is broadcast over the bogie's speakers and the main lights are switched off at 10:00. They are replaced by soft night lights, which remain on throughout the night, casting an orange glow over the compartment. I have a disturbed sleep, which is only to be expected given my enthusiasm and the fact that the reclining chair-car seat is not exactly conducive to a deep sleep.
Sometime in the middle of the night I notice a series of bright lights outside the window. The train is travelling at a modest speed and the lights make very mysterious and intriguing viewing! I suppose there must be a huge factory or a refinery that we are passing. I make a mental note to find out the source of these bright lights on my return journey, assuming that we would pass that site during daytime. (Cut to the present, that is 8th April 2021, to confess that till date, I have been unsuccessful in ascertaining the exact source and location of those lights, though I subsequently travelled that route a number of times. All I can say with a certain degree of certainty that those lights were somewhere in proximity to Kota. Now the enthusiasm for train travel and that too within India has waned, so perhaps the lights will remain a mystery.)
The gentle sunlight streaming in through the coach's window breaks my sleep and I am immediately keen on knowing our location. I do not have to wait long for the answer, as the train, moving at an amicable speed, passes a railway cabin on which is printed in bold and black, 'BHARATPUR JN.' So, we are passing Bharatpur, I say to myself. I have heard of this place from Ajay, who had spent a few days of his winter vacation there as the guest of one of his relatives, called Avinash Bhaoji, a couple of years ago.
Bharatpur's bird sanctuary is famous too, I muse. With these thoughts in mind, I rummage through my handbag and finding my toothbrush and tooth paste, head for the toilet at one end of the compartment - the end closer to my seat. There is a short queue and I have to wait, with the added task of trying to maintain my balance near the vestibule, where the bogie is jerking with the train having picked up speed. I observe other passengers, among them a cute young chick standing by the toilet of the adjoining bogie, awaiting her turn. Eventually I finish my brushing and return to my seat, to find a green coloured thermos perched on the sliding 'table'. 'Bed-tea!'
Tea is soon followed by breakfast and I relish the vegetable cutlets cooked inside the Rajdhani's pantry. I busy myself once again, trying to catch the names of the wayside stations of North India. There is an announcement on the intercom that the train will halt for two minutes at Mathura Jn., lord Krishna's playground. It does so soon enough, but not at a platform. It is a technical halt. The train is on some centre track, without a platform on either side, so stepping off at Mathura is ruled out. The platforms are huge, with red colour dominating. There is not much of a crowd and I spot a couple drinking tea out of clay pots, a speciality of Mathura!
Within five minutes, the express starts moving and after Mathura, seems to run at a break-neck speed. I struggle to catch the names of the wayside halts . Somehow, I manage to read 'Chhata', 'Ajhai', 'Hodal' and 'Palwal'; and a little later, the Rajdhani starts d ecelerating, indicating that it is nearing the capital. After Hazrat Nizamuddin, I get my first views of New Delhi and seem to like what I see. We crawl past Tilak Bridge, Minto Bridge, which offer good views of the metro city; and finally pull into New Delhi station.
We disembark and are immediately hit by the famous Delhi heat, even though it is just 09:00 on an April morning. Thus ends a very memorable journey, but now begins a love and hunger for North India!
Cut back to 2021. The love and hunger for North India lingered for three and a half decades, till they were replaced by a new love - Europe, in May 2014. But, that's another story!