TICKET TRAVAILS

I have announced it in all of my family that this brain drain going on should immediately checked and at least one of my cousins must get selected in India Civil Services or Defence Services. This isn’t because my patriotism has increased. In fact I have come to this deduction that if we have to survive in India, to get Reservations in trains one of the family members should be G.M. Railways as he has a Coach for his own. Secondly, Rank one officer in Defence services are usually never denied Reservations.

Don’t take my words lightly as they are pearls of wisdom of a very frequent traveller. You might be tempted to suggest getting the reservations done beforehand. Yes I do most of the time. But I tell you there are various trains where you won’t get the required seats or class even if you apply beforehand i.e. even 3 months prior to the date. Don’t know where they go.

You might also suggest getting a plane ticket, which is relatively easier. But dear, there are lot of cities where planes don’t land and then again you got to be a minister to have a charter plane.

 During emergencies and festive rush I have applied all sorts of quotas, unsuccessfully to mention Headquarters Quota i.e. from Rashtrapati Bhawan, Ministry of Railways Quota, Press Quota, Quota for IRCTC and Railway employees, various agents, Tatkaal and what-not.

Getting a Tatkaal ticket is even a more prised possession. I share a recently discovered tip that if you have relatives abroad with internet connection, they can get you a confirmed Tatkaal ticket online. Eureka ! you got it now. It may be due to better net speed or you took IRCTC server by surprise from abroad, there are 90% chances of getting confirmed Ticket. Otherwise the IRCTC server doesn’t budge after 10:00 am. And if you intend to get one from a counter you must reach there by 5:00 or 6:00 am. Some agents claimed that they wait at counters from even mid-night in their night clothes.

I have faced TTE’s acting like high and mighty Zamindaars of yesteryears and felt before them like a petty villager when I had to request for a seat with a waitlisted ticket. You realise their position when caught in such sticky situations. Waiting on a platform, once with a waitlisted ticket, I asked a TTE to please attend a call from Chief Ministers Home. He flatly refused saying whoever wants to talk should call on my cell. His comment pissed me off and left me fuming. I wanted to call him all the “f” words and grab his collar to say who you think you are. But my HR-friends guidance on Emotional Intelligence made me say “please Sir ! my ticket is waitlisted, help me out,” that too with a spot-on face of a damsel in distress. And on that day, thankfully it worked.

KUMBH MAGIC

My mother always teases me how I used to react when I was called Allahabadi when I was a kid. I hated that word and always said that when I grow up I will run to England and live there for 10 years and then no one will know that I am an Allahabadi. Anyone listening to my logics would burst into laughter.

Little did I know History and importance of my city at that time. My recent visit to the Kumbh city made me wonder. I was amazed to see the religious fervor of the city and the crowd. Waiting at the platform, which was packed by devotees from all segments of India, I was left to watch the crowd. There were all types of people, of all ages and you could listen to all possible languages spoken in India.

Usually I am averse to any kind of religious exhibition but there was one gentleman who really left me thinking for long. He was a South Indian and he was as expressive with religion as one can be, as evident from his pic alongside. From his appearance he was one of those I detest the most. He seemed illiterate from the way he was talking to fellow passengers.

It was the day after the Shahi snan and I was wondering that all these Holy men must have purified themselves. This person was standing on the platform when the seat behind me was vacated. He quickly walked towards me to grab the empty space on bench. I looked at him with disgust written all over my face. But the decency with which he sat and his mannerism made me think about the etiquettes of all the educated ones around me.

There was a woman carrying a wailing child in her arm. I was watching her requesting for a seat. As soon as this person saw her he sprang on his feet and gave her place to sit. I tell you, to give your seat to someone unknown was an act of greatest sacrifice at that moment. I kept observing him from then on and all I could see a nice human being helping people there.

I had always thought that people who dressed religiously were zealots and no good could expect from them except vacuous religious discourses. I don’t know whether it was my city and its water that had done magic on this person or it was his nature. It’s my pray and request to everyone who are coming to gain from Maha Kumbh, that if all the politicians, movie stars and commoners purify their hearts also, world will be a much better place to live.