"A visit to railway station" was one of the essay topics which would pop in the mind of every English teacher and we were left thinking and then writing hundreds of words of our most recent visit, the hubble bubble, people getting down the running train and hawkers trying to sell "petha", a 'chai waala' shouting 'chai chai garam chai' and what not.... and like all good stories the visit had a happy ending... but after years of leaving school and having become regular traveler yourself, its then one realizes that all visits are not all that happy.
In the last four months or so I was a weekly traveler from Delhi to Agra and back. Every weekend, in my case a Saturday I would come form Delhi to Agra... The story would begin by getting a ticket at the counters. Those who have visited the New Delhi Station would be knowing that it has almost 10 counters on each end i.e., Pahar Ganj and Ajmeri Gate, I would always go to the Ajmeri Gate end as its connected just next to New Delhi Metro. The minimum wait is half an hour and it was a rule and no exception that people would force themselves between the queue till shouted upon-at by the sincere followers of the queue system...Our friendly police waala could also be seen sometimes when the situation goes out of hand, like last time when a physical fight broke out between two young lads, one a protector of system and the other a breaker.
Well, that’s not the end of pains but just a starting. If you are traveling on a 'General Class' ticket you have 2 options, first one is that you either go in the general class, the option I never considered and, therefore, can’t elaborate on the perils of those traveling in those coaches or second one being you search the TTE, ask him to allot you a seat in reserved compartment and then you just have to pay the difference when he comes to check your ticket. Sounds good and certainly it is good only if you are able to find where the TTE is :-) . If lucky you'll find them soon and if not then keep running from one end to the other and you won't even catch his shadow... And it’s not easy to run on the platform... First of all you have your own luggage secondly there is hardly any space to keep your foot and to add to the troubles there are hawkers and loads of goods to be loaded in the pantry car all trying to find a way on the same narrow platform.
In Agra Cantt station the situation is not that bad, probably it handles a tenth of traffic what New Delhi Station does but it has problems of its own type. What I have observed is that there are more houseflies on the platform then anything else combined. Standing on the platform I always hoped if house flies confided themselves to their nomenclature and stayed in homes. Worst time is when the train enters the station, the dormant ones on the railway tracks sprout as if someone as opened a fountain.... and we talk of railways making a profit into crores when even basic sanitation is far far away.
Few years back, while waiting for a train I saw a German observing a dog walking on the railway track... after great bewilderment he asked, "why isn't someone doing something about it?" Even after years the question remains the same... If we can't make it as good as Germany lets make it at least good enough for India.... and now we even have a great system of Delhi Metro- convenience, safety, commuter friendly and even if you are a first timer you have no worries. It only proves that we can achieve the best where we want to but that ‘want’ is till now missing when it comes to making out stations a better place to be at.
Will it ever happen??? Like always ………Time will tell.
In the last four months or so I was a weekly traveler from Delhi to Agra and back. Every weekend, in my case a Saturday I would come form Delhi to Agra... The story would begin by getting a ticket at the counters. Those who have visited the New Delhi Station would be knowing that it has almost 10 counters on each end i.e., Pahar Ganj and Ajmeri Gate, I would always go to the Ajmeri Gate end as its connected just next to New Delhi Metro. The minimum wait is half an hour and it was a rule and no exception that people would force themselves between the queue till shouted upon-at by the sincere followers of the queue system...Our friendly police waala could also be seen sometimes when the situation goes out of hand, like last time when a physical fight broke out between two young lads, one a protector of system and the other a breaker.
Well, that’s not the end of pains but just a starting. If you are traveling on a 'General Class' ticket you have 2 options, first one is that you either go in the general class, the option I never considered and, therefore, can’t elaborate on the perils of those traveling in those coaches or second one being you search the TTE, ask him to allot you a seat in reserved compartment and then you just have to pay the difference when he comes to check your ticket. Sounds good and certainly it is good only if you are able to find where the TTE is :-) . If lucky you'll find them soon and if not then keep running from one end to the other and you won't even catch his shadow... And it’s not easy to run on the platform... First of all you have your own luggage secondly there is hardly any space to keep your foot and to add to the troubles there are hawkers and loads of goods to be loaded in the pantry car all trying to find a way on the same narrow platform.
In Agra Cantt station the situation is not that bad, probably it handles a tenth of traffic what New Delhi Station does but it has problems of its own type. What I have observed is that there are more houseflies on the platform then anything else combined. Standing on the platform I always hoped if house flies confided themselves to their nomenclature and stayed in homes. Worst time is when the train enters the station, the dormant ones on the railway tracks sprout as if someone as opened a fountain.... and we talk of railways making a profit into crores when even basic sanitation is far far away.
Few years back, while waiting for a train I saw a German observing a dog walking on the railway track... after great bewilderment he asked, "why isn't someone doing something about it?" Even after years the question remains the same... If we can't make it as good as Germany lets make it at least good enough for India.... and now we even have a great system of Delhi Metro- convenience, safety, commuter friendly and even if you are a first timer you have no worries. It only proves that we can achieve the best where we want to but that ‘want’ is till now missing when it comes to making out stations a better place to be at.
Will it ever happen??? Like always ………Time will tell.
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