Railways.. A fascination!

Traveling in the railways has forever been my enthusiasm since my childhood. I remember my 1st train journey from Belgaum to Hyderabad. It was so fascinating. I was in 6th grade by then. I loved the journey ‘coz I was feeling as if I was exposed to the outer world which I never knew when I was staying in Belgaum. So, it was kinda learning experience for me & to this day, I’ll never forget it.
But the journey which was most unforgettable was the North India tour which I had undertaken a few months back. I was in the 2nd year of my engineering & by then I knew what India was like, how the people are. But I had never interacted with the North Indian natives. In India, the south Indian community is completely different from the North Indian community. We, as south Indians, differ a lot. Be it the language we speak, be it the dressing sense, be it the attitude towards the general public… It’s completely poles apart. And I realized it during my trip. I was heading to Delhi from Mumbai with 2 other friends. We were not in the same bogie due to some delay in the booking. I was alone at the other end & it kinda was “blessing in disguise” like. I met so many passionate personalities in my compartment. One personality was from Bihar & as like Biharis, he was praising his state, about Lalu Prasad. You see, Lalu is like an ICON in their state. Yu will never get a Bihari who doesn’t speak about either Lalu or his state itself. It’s like a pride for them if they speak about Lalu. And I quickly grasped that Bihar is seriously improving but under Nitish Kumar. And that unique personality never mentioned Nitish Kumar’s name. It was bizarre. I kept mum coz you never wanna get in any arguments with the Biharis. There was another distinctive person in the compartment. And he was heading to Kota. He was rather youthful. He sported a huge black moustache & the only thing he did in the train was eating. He jus ate & ate & ate. It was unreal! He never spoke a word & he dint have any opinion about the Bihar situation!
I met another guy & he was heading to Nainital (That was the place where I was heading too). He told me about the place, the chill factor at Delhi & much more informative stuff. He was a jovial person. He loved his state (Uttarakand) & he loved his place, Nainital. When I mentioned everyone that I was from Hubli, no one knew about the place. I told them that the place in Karnataka. Someone from the other compt asked is it near Belgaum. Thank God there was someone who knew about my state. I said YES! It’s a 2 hour drive from Belgaum. Then the conversation died as it was late in the night. I had to go the other bogie to have dinner with my friends. And there we met a Sardarji family who were traveling to Delhi. As everyone might be aware, a Sardarji brings color in your life. He was cheerful, happy-go-lucky kinda person. I loved his personality. He slept with his cute 3 year old daughter. I rushed back to my compt to hit the bed.
It was 8.30 when I woke up. We were nearer to Mathura & I saw that there was a college student in my bogie. He might have boarded the train from Kota. Kota is an educational hub of India. His name was Ansh. He was from Deharadun. We spoke about education, IIT, Uttarakand, Delhi. It was nice to speak with a student. I got down in every station the train stopped. Tea vendors, mithaiwalas, samosawala… Yu name it. It was a sea of people at every station. I had never ever seen such crazy people in my life. It was extraordinary. This is what I like about Indian railways. It unites people from every community. It’s a wonderful feeling when we meet citizens of different states, different background. Every other person in my compt was helpful. They took care of my luggage when I was not around. They shared their food with us, shared their thoughts. As they say, it happens only in INDIA! And I was feeling it this time.
I met some wonderful people on my way back & they were gr8 too. It was simply amazing to meet so many beautiful people. I think I was lucky to have these personalities amongst me. I loved North India a lot. They love to speak, speak about anything. And that’s what makes India a fabulous nation! And the one which connects the people is the railways.