the 3 rickshaw ride to Bandra Terminus (the journey that began on Friday the 13th)

Since my tickets got confirmed, my packing went on in double speed. Recalling the last time when I had missed the same train, I decided to leave home one and a half hour before the departure time (04:55 pm) of the train, i.e. 03:30 pm. A rickshaw ride from my home to Bandra terminus (BT) without much traffic on road only takes half an hour, but equal time would be required for finding a rickshaw that would agree to take one there, especially when one is running late.

With ample amount of time in hand, it took me about 20 minutes to find a rickshaw. My first question to the rickshaw-wala, as I boarded, was about the time it would take to reach BT. In a slow north Indian tone, he replied “half an hour”. I was reassured by his answer that this time I wont miss the train. The feeling was short-lived. The rickshaw ran at such a slow speed that even a cyclist could easily overtake it! Annoyed, I asked, “how much more time will it take to reach BT?”.

He answered with a question, “what time is the departure?”

“04:55”

“wont make it”

“if you drive at this speed, I surely wont make it”, I was annoyed and irritated.

“you may higher a faster rickshaw if you want.”

Stunned, shocked, irritated, frustrated and angered at his audacious reply, I yelled, ”to hell with you, stop the rickshaw right now.”

Had I not been pressed for time, he would have surely faced some music. As I handed over three 10 rupees bills for a fare of Rs. 28, knowing I was in hurry, he shamelessly said “chutta nahin hae”.

A rush of adrenaline – a voice in head shouting “throw a punch at his disgusting face.” I, in some other situation, might have considered the suggestion, but right now I had more important things to tackle – finding another, faster rickshaw.  Same situation all over again. It was already 04:30 pm! In desperacy I stopped a cab. The driver was an old Sardar jee with a fairly white long beard – a wise look. He quoted Rs 150 fare. I bargained for Rs 100, only to be stuck at Rs 120. That, right there breaks all the stereotypes about Sardar-jokes. just a look at me and this man gauged my situation. No, I wont yield! Just then I spotted another rickshaw coming my way. Fingers crossed. As soon as he agreed, I threw my bag on the seat, jumped in and asked him to drive on full throttle. The driver was wearing earphones. Jokingly he replied,”it’s a rickshaw, not a jet but ill do what I can.”

Tho worried, I smiled. 

“how much time?”, I asked the same question.

“15 minutes.”

I had 20 minutes in hand. He drove, I prayed.

Keeping in tune to its start, the journey took another twist.  Something went wrong with the rickshaw and he had to stop it aside in a gully, somewhere in Bandra. The only good(?) news was that it would take 10 minutes on foot to reach BT, as per the rickshaw-wala. 10 minutes were all I had in hand. I paid the fare and rushed towards the station, with my eyes scanning the gully for a ride and soon found one. The driver was a middle aged man, with a thin-chiselled mustache, a typical Marathi Manus.

“Bandra Terminus?” the same question that I must have asked atleast about two dozen rickshaw-wallas by now. His facial expressions suggested that his answer wouldn’t be a positive one. Before he could speak anything, I explained him my whole situation, while still gasping for air. True to a Marathi Manus’ nature,tho unwillingly but considering my situation, he agreed. I jumped in. He manouvered his rickshaw through the narrow gullies of Bandra, and I on the back, seat bit my nails. as I got out of the rickshaw, finally at Bandra terminus, it was almost the departure time of the train. Rushing towards the station, I asked a coolie standing nearby about the platform where ‘Nizamuddin Ghareebrath’ had arrived.

“Ghareebrath isnt scheduled for Fridays. You must be looking for ‘Yuva Express’, its about to leave, hurry.” He answered, pointing out in the direction of the train.

In all the ruckus, I got confused with name fo the trains. I rechecked for the train’s name on the SMS that I received after booking the ticket. Coach J7, seat 29. I was running on the platform to find the coach, fearing the train would start any moment. A man standing on the platform shouted out in Gujrati, advising me to board the train first and then walk to my coach from inside. I nodded my head in thanks as I passed him, still running on the platform with my luggage. There it was! J7. I hopped in, gasping for air and the train moved.

“whew, I made it!” I sighed.

PS: next – the journey from Mumbai to Delhi in AC Chair Car.

how my tickets got confirmed (the journey that began on Friday the 13th)

Theres a lot of negative vibe associated with friday the 13th. So what should one expect out of a journey that begins on the same day? well, where others see danger, i smell adventure and till boarding the train, ive already tasted some, but at the same time, how can i forget that its Baisakhi as well as Tamil new year today! so let the westeners keep shivering with horror while I, an Indian, enjoys some adventure.

On the evening of 5th April, I was sitting in front of my desktop,surfing through random pages. it struck me that soon its gonna be my lil sis' b'day - 14th april. being my impulsive self, i decided to give her a surprise visit. without putting much thought into it, I booked my tickets from mumbai to delhi on 13th. since its april, all the trains were full. even in 'yuva' express' chair car , I could book the ticket with a waiting list of 281! with about a week's time in hand, I expected the ticket to be confirmed. as the days passed by, there was only a little progress in the status of the waiting list. till tuesday, I was yet tension free and was very positive but by night as i checked the the PNR status, my positivity started to disappear. the whole night i kept refreshing the page, only to see a very little change. by 11th (wed) evening panic took over, as I checked the status was still stuck at 260+. finally I decided to plead my travel agent (its necessasary to have one these days like its necessary to have a family doc.) for some help with the 'tatkaal' scheme. now assured of about the tickets, I dozed off only to wake up to to his cal,l telling me that the attempt was unsuccessful.

its strange how a man's plan are shaped by turn of events. I blamed it all on kismat and again retired to sleep (i sleep and eat a lot whenever i am depressed). waking up at 11, the first thing i did was checking the PNR status, again, which had dropped down to 139 now. tho this was a HUGE change but, given I had a little more than 24 hrs to board the train, was yet not very heartening. I had almost lost all hopes of the tickets getting confirmed. sitting in front of my PC with a cup of tea, checking facebook updates, my mind kept trying to figure out all the options I was left with. flight?...remember? I am a self-proclaimed miser...bus?..lets check out the details. so I started googling just to be enlightened with the fact that theres no direct bus service between Mumbai and Delhi. further, on a forum, i found 2 bus routes between the two capitals -

1: Mumbai-Ahemedabad-Udaipur-Delhi

2: Mumbai-Indore-Gwalior-Delhi.

now this would be too taxing, will take atleast 24 hrs and not at all economical. the other bizarre option that jumped in my mind was to ride a two wheeler all the way to Delhi. I remembered a friend 'Rajdeep' had done this on his pulsar. this idea was too adventurous to be dismissed so quickly. but after some r&d, I soon realized a few few facts -

• its 1430 km journey.
• Rajdeep rode a PULSAR, while I was planning this journey on a FLYTE, on which the journey would take more than 24 hrs even without a break, and the the lack of shock absorbers, by the time I'd reach Delhi, my back would have given up.
• and lets not even talk about the fuel consumption and the total expenditure.

Since last few days I had been talking to a few friends in Delhi and making plans to catch up and explore places around. a place called 'Sattal' had already been chosen since last Tuesday. with the enthusiasm of a dead sloth I called one of my travel companions and narrated her the whole situation. Also told her the possibility that I would again ask my travel agent for 'Tatkaal' tickets for 14th so that i'd reach Delhi on 15th. but then, as she rightly pointed out, whats the point of the trip! she suggested I board the train even if the tickets are not confirmed and then ask the TC for a FAVOR. a lot of people do that in desperate situations. I had never done this before. smells like an adventure! all of a sudden the dead sloth was transformed into a jumping Chimp.....well not exactly, but something like that. Even with all this in mind, I was yet praying for the tickets to be confirmed, refreshing the page frequently. Evening 05:42 pm - PNR status 118. the last update before I again dozed off was down to 108 - SHUBH ANK!

The day had arrived. as I got up, today surprisingly early - at 08:00 am. the PNR status was 101 - auspicious number for a Hindu, but not good enough, considering last 8 hrs before i take the journey. since i already decided to board the train, come what may, i thought it was better to book the return tickets and so I booked for thursday - 18th April from Delhi to Mumbai, again in a Chair Car. this time its Gareebrath. reluctantly I finished my workout and again refreshed the page at about 11:00 am and the PNR status was down to 79 - finally some hope, tho a distant one. keeping my fingers crossed, I started packing. with little hope, at 12:00 pm I refreshed the page again for the last time and then I refreshed again. was it some kind of an error or was I reading it wrong? no! and i jumped with joy on my chair, with my index fingers pointing towards the ceiling, shoulders shrugging in rhythm with the 'dhinka-chika-dhinka-chika' song that i was singing now. the tickets were confirmed! coach J7-seat 27.

my belief , that 13 is my lucky number is suddenly back! and the phrase "its not over, till its over" kept ringing in my head.

PS : next, how i almost missed my train.....damn the rickshaw-wallahs!