Page 14 - Seniorstoday December 2023 Issue
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There were taps on every station and you
ran out to fill your water bottle or Surai.
They were large earthen pots (Matakas)
placed on the Railway station and you
could get free water in your own container.
Giving water to people was a pious deed.
Nobody thought of selling water.
Unlike today’s trolley luggage, passengers
in those days had to manage their own
luggage. Porters were available at railway
stations, ready to assist with the heavy
bags and trunks, yet the negotiations Vintage train tickets
were a process that one had to go through. In retrospect, traveling in India by train
Generally, the porter (Coolie) won. The in the 60’s was an adventure by itself. It
absence of modern amenities like trolleys was a period marked by the coexistence of
made the process more labour-intensive, tradition and modernisation, where steam
yet it added a personal touch to the travel locomotives shared tracks with diesel
experience. engines, and where the class divisions
The challenges of train travel in the in train compartments mirrored societal
60s, including manual ticket booking, structures. The challenge of transporting
overcrowded trains, and communication yourself from the narrow gauge to the
constraints, were offset by the unique broad gauge meant getting off one train
joys of the journey. The unhurried pace, and crossing over to another could mean
the scenic landscapes, and the social walking up the stairs, crossing the bridge
interactions contributed to an experience and getting to the other stations was a task.
that was both challenging and fulfilling. A good TT (Travelling Ticket Examiner)
Another aspect of travel in those days would hold the train till old Maaji would
was taking food for friends and relatives get into her compartment. Reservations
who were passing through your town. I were printed on a chart that was stuck
remember my grandmother would often outside the door of the compartment with
take a full lunch to the station. Trains often your name and seat number. The TT had
stopped in Jhansi for thirty minutes which its own chart that correlated with the
was enough to serve the meal and exchange names printed outside the compartment.
all the news, gossip of the family. In case For a little fee (Bakshis) he would allot
the timing was different, instead of lunch you a seat, a berth. In those days a TT
my grandma would take aloo ka parathas, was an important person in the clog of the
a khullad of Dahi and some mithai (a railways.
Khullad is a clay pot). Going to see someone The challenges of that era have given way
off the station was a ritual by itself. A little to a more streamlined and efficient system,
sobbing, hugging was a part of the rituals. but the memories of those journeys linger,
Sometimes a family of eight to ten would go etched in the collective consciousness of a
to see two people off. Similarly, going to the generation that experienced the magic of
station to receive family was mandatory. train travel in a bygone era.
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