.... the train was moving at snail’s pace, time on my wrist watch showed 14.15 hrs… we were heaving a sigh of relief as the Vadodara station was
approaching………
It was a very exhausting and horrible
experience, awake all night,
.. getting down at all the
stations wherever the train stopped,
helped us to relax our body, as this was a chance to sit and get some
fresh air…….
Countless KULLADH (mud cups) of
tea, almost at every stop, helped us
keep going…..
As we were moving down towards South-Western
part of India during June Month, we started getting the feel of approaching monsoons , light rains had created cool weather in some
stretches, which was providing a very pleasant & soothing.
With every kulladh tea we had at different stations while traveling
down, started revealing the changing topography , ..
people in different costumes, particular to their regions, ..
the changing dialects with every
passing station, ..
the different approaches of
the REHADIWALLAS (cart vendors) for selling their wares……
all were changing,
EVEN the tea we were sipping at each stop was
changing, in HUE (color), Shapes &
sizes (kulladh), and flavour (smell) ….
BUT one thing seemed consistent …everytime we were sipping the hot drink we have to scratch our taste buds to extract its
taste……
IT was around 15:00 hrs, we were trying to
locate a PCO, on arrival at Vadodara station, located one at platform 1, waited
for our turn, as there was a queue of
around 5 people… we wanted to speak with the contact person Mr GHAGh ( SM- HR and Admn) in Company
Mumbai Office, informing our reaching
Vadodara, and wanted to reconfirm our Hotel RUBY details,
as we would be reaching Mumbai Late at night that day
….. It was already ten time I have dialled
the office number… but was not getting
connected…..I gave up !! told Suji to
try…. He also tried again and again,
without success…. The PCO incharge sitting outside, started wondering, what
these three chaps doing inside the PCO booth…for the last 10-15 minutes,,
fortunately, there was no one waiting outside to make call, we kept on trying,
PCO incharge was wondering but did not POKE to come out……seeing our efforts going in vain, we asked dudeja ji,
now you try, you being senior may be phone could be more docile, and can let us get through the connection….
Dudeja ji with his seniority at stake started trying….. but gave up after 5
minutes…. We all three got out from the Booth, leaving it to fate… on our
arrival at Mumbai.. … PCO incharge was staring at us, our 15-20 minutes struggle inside Booth did
not generate even a single rupee revenue for him...
We decided, we should go and eat something as our stomach were grumbling in hunger and find
our next connection to Mumbai. Checked
at Ticket counters, got the advice take general
ticket, board next train leaving for Mumbai central at around 16:25 hrs,
then try your luck with TC for reservation on board, as there was not much
rush, chances were that TC will do the reservation on Board. Bought out
tickets, went to railway restaurant… where we got introduced with BATATA WADAs,
WADA PAVs and PAV BHAJI…. had some tea.,
enjoyed the lazy ambiance of the large
spaced restaurant…full of square tables
surrounded with chairs.. But not
many customers.
Back to platform 1, decided to try calling Mumbai office once
again, thinking phone lines must have improved by now, went to PCO again. PCO
incharge smiled on seeing us back, since there was no one calling, we went
inside the booth and dialled the office number…. To our pleasant surprise …the
phone on other side was ringing………
Hello…. Hello….
Please connect to Mr Ghagh…. Listen
to Music while operator connected the line…
Hello…
Hello, Mr Ghagh, I am k..calling
from Vadodara….. we are three MTs directed by Delhi office to reach Mumbai for
joining…has reached Vadodara, and will be taking connecting train shortly,
which will arrive late at night.. we just wanted to inform you our present
position and wanted to reconfirm our hotel details….
Ok..Good, Good , You called !!
said Mr Ghagh, … There is a slight
change in your hotel… Now the Hotel booking is done in another hotel- HOTEL
NAGINA…. Take down the details….. Take
rest on arrival and reach office tomorrow around 10-10:30AM, for further directions.
..Thank you sir…. Saying, I put the phone down.
Jotted the hotel details,
thanking our stars….had we not managed to get
through the phone line, it could have been another unimaginable scene at a
Brand new place for us, reaching hotel where we did not have any booking… that
too in the middle of night……..
Boarded train to Mumbai, in a reserved compartment, after speaking with a TC. It was a while
after Train leaving the Vadodara station, TC came to our compartment, issued
the reservation slips, many seats
were unoccupied….. extremely exhausted from the general
compartment travel, we lay down on our respective seats and in no minutes were wandering in the world of
dreams.
Waken up by a commotion, lifted my head to see outside window, it was
getting dark, seemed many hours passed
after train left Vadodara, some people entered the compartment rushing ,
started shoving our legs to the inner
side of the seat, and occupying the space thus created. We were in the state of
dizziness half sleep and half awake…… we
again went on the sleeping mode, with the noises of people sitting, chatting
and playing cards, kept striking our
ears. (Later on realised that those people were regular
travellers, commuting daily between Mumbai, Vapi and Valsad).
The train entered the Mumbai central station, at platform 3. It
was around 22:45 hrs, coming to halt with a loud screeching noise. Half of the travellers has already alighted
in earlier stops at Borivali and Dadar. Picking our belongings, we moved
towards the exit. Coming out of the
station exit , searched for a yellow
top, black body taxi (Fiat make) which
are the most visible taxis in Mumbai. The taxi driver took around 25-30 minutes to drop us from Mumbai central
station to our Hotel Nagina in Bhaykhala, charging us around Rs70/- (a
substantial amount during those days) . which we later came to realise that the
taximan took us on RIDE circling around the deserted night roads simply to jack
up his meter bill, probably he read on our face that we are NEW FOLKS IN TOWN
and can be TAKEN FOR RIDE, and that what he did !!
Completing hotel formalities , we checked in, asked at reception, what we can
get to eat, person at reception politely said, restaurant is closed at this
hour. Since we were absolutely hungary and tired, we made begging requested, at least check your kitchen, help us get whatever could be
managed, after getting assurance, that something will be delivered at the room,
we retired to our room. By the time we freshened
ourselves, door bell rang, and we have our dinner coming in….
Yellow Daal, Rotis
, cut onions, lemons, and some pickles……
.............Stuffed ourselves with this
delicacies, we went to sleep..............\
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