Journey to Chennai

It was a fine saturday. I was getting ready for a ride from my hometown paramakudi to ‘singara chennai’. Initially when I booked the ticket, the booking status was W/L 54 and it finally boiled down to RAC when the chart was prepared.

I entered the station at 18.20. Except for the new reservation building, the station reminded me of Stone Age. A short toot was heard at 18.40 signalling the arrival of 16702 behind ERS WDM3A 16295R. A casual perusal indicated the booking domination by KKDI and PDKT. We started cruising through after a brief stay of 2 minutes. The ride was superb and our next scheduled halt was ‘POT city’ when the time was 19.00.The junction status of Manamadurai attracted a 10 minutes halt. Simultaneous arrival of the 56721 MDU-RMM pass powered by GOC WDP3A 15516. We then deviated from the Madurai line and proceeded towards trichy. In the meantime, TTE came and checked my ticket. I asked him about the availability of berth,if any but he politely asked me to wait till pudukkottai. In the next 25 minutes, we entered the fort of ‘Marudhu brothers’. Left sivaganga sharply at 19.37.

The beauty of train journey resides in the fact that it carries not only passengers but also personalities - a dejected waitlisted passenger, a huge family which brings dinner for everyone in their group in large voluminous vessels, an old couple in search of a lower berth, a vendor who is uncertain of selling his items, a doubtful passenger about the train’s punctuality, an employee who is averse of ‘Monday’, a pitiable other state passenger who doesn’t know the local language, friends who bring temporary jubilation and annoyance to the compartment, a mother who gives advice to her child about the journey and future. Huh, the list is certainly not exhaustive.

As there was plethora of stops between SVGA and PDKT, the ride was not that much impressive. We then reached kallal at 20.00 where 18495 BBS-RMM exp was waiting for us with 17674 WDM2 leading from the front. Then Devakottai road at 20.15 and karaikudi – the land of ‘karai veedu’ at 20.30. A considerable crowd boarded the train here and a VIP of this area joined us as elections were over. Our next halt was chettinad- the homeland of palatial, opulent bungalows of nagarathaar community at 20.50. It was quite evident that the train wasn’t able to gather momentum because of frequent halts. Next we stopped at pudukottai which still houses the remnants of some of the oldest architectural marvels of south india. Time was 21.20.

The blessings of lady luck didn’t last long as a family in the next bay asked us( myself and the other person sharing the lower berth) to exchange the LB for two UBs as some people in their group didn’t turn up. The deal looked quite lucrative but I wasn’t wholeheartedly accepting it as I’ve to miss the fortune of enjoying the journey in my own way.

It’s the human nature not to oppose when someone is pleading and to combat when someone is threatening us. I accepted the offer.

But it’s the Indian mindset to neglect someone who’s beseeching and to surrender when someone is bullying us – in colloquial tamil we say ’kenjunaa minjuradhu,minjunaa kenjuradhu’. The other person refused to accept the deal. But the group took a little time to vacate the person from the lower berth.

I then started to doorplate for some time and the absence of patrol also helped me. The gentle breeze waving across the face can’t overcome this summer heat even at night even in the wildest of wild dreams but somehow it was comfortable. We were then made to wait in the vicinity of TPJ station probably for want of platform. ERS WDM3A 17968 was traversing back into the glittering yard. After few minutes, we were given the signal to move ahead and we sneaked into PF1 of TPJ when the clock was ticking 22.30.Meanwhile, PA was declaring the arrival of 16713 sethu in PF5. GOC WDM2 16880 and GOC WDP3A 15501 were lying idle in the adjacent siding. I refreshed myself here with some cool stuffs. As usual, the platform looked quite clean. We then bid adieu to the ‘rockfort city’ at 22.40 and headed towards Mainline. We slowed down before tiruverumbur and made an unscheduled halt there. I was wondering about the pause while a goods train led by WDGx cleared my doubts. By this time, RPF’s incessant vigilance coupled with my slumberous mood made me to hit the turf. It was a dream world then.

When I woke up, the time was 20 minutes past 5 in the morning and we were thundering through the outskirts of Chennai. Tambaram was reached in the next 10 minutes. The parade of EMUs started here – a 12 car EMU to CGL at TBM and Pallavaram, a 9 car EMU to MSB at St.peter’s mount and a 12 car EMU to TBM at Kodambakkam.

The epilogue of the long journey was finally scribbled in the PF4 of Chennai Egmore at 06.25. That meant, we were bang on time. The empty rake of Pandian was stationed in the next platform.