Jayeeta Majumdar Singhee

I don’t claim to be a train lover…someone who can go on and on about how she loves traveling by train and all. But one can never really be an Indian (belonging to my generation) and not have fond memories of traveling by train. Air traveling was much more than luxury then and parents (both rich and the middle class ones) never really indulged themselves and their kids to such fantasies.

We traveled by train last month after a long long time, our first one with Ishaan. Infact I think only the second one after we got married, the first one being from Hyderabad to Warangal. It was not really a joyous occasion as such; Sanjay had lost his maternal grandmom and we were traveling for the 13th day function.

The overnight trip was quite a nice one though. The 2 tiers are in general clean; but this time, I realized they have automatic room fresheners installed somewhere, though I didn't manage to locate them. They need to do something for the nights though, the smell gets claustrophobic.

Ishaan was thrilled from the word go. One could see his excitement right from the time we reached the station. He sat on the baggage, went around with me and kept waving out to people he didn’t know in his characteristic style. He clung to me in fright as soon as a train’s looming engine came close with that long bellowing horn. Nevertheless, he learnt quick. He just placed his fingers into his ears the next time our train came lumbering into the platform.

Fifteen minutes in the train, and he wanted to go home. He had just assumed that this was one of those toy train rides that would end in five minutes. The IPod came in handy, with both tv addicts (father-son duo) watching one of the many many movies that I had loaded, especially for them. The KURKURE packet being the other savior of the day.

As we passed the different stations, cows, dogs, fields (not sure of what), small water bodies, people….I suddenly remembered all the lovely times Simi and I had as kids, when we traveled to Calcutta with our parents. We were never allowed to stand near the compartment doors, so cant think of romantic moments like that…but just watching the train curve and getting a view of the engine was good enough for the two of us. I always carried a book, and as I grew older…was allowed to buy books or magazines from the station. What a treat!

Once we got down at Aurangabad station, Ishaan was treated too…with an exorbitantly priced yellow colored binoculars. We even got to freshen up at the VIP Lounge as Sanjay’s cousin hadn’t reached the station yet. The room was neat and clean, with well-maintained bathrooms.

The trip back from Aurangabad was better, with a lot more of us, including Ishaan’s six-year-old cousin Trisha. They freaked out, traveling between two the tier and three tier bogies, as we could not get tickets together.

The only thing I missed in the trip was buying things at each and every station and eating the train canteen food. My father-in-law was traveling with us both times, and they always always carry home cooked food. We also had lots and lots of munchies with us. This is great since we were traveling with kids, but somehow I would have just loved to indulge in train khana and also the chutter-butter that comes calling every five minutes. Even thinking about those canteen plates with different sections makes me nostalgic.

All in all, our train travel was a wonderful experience, one of the coolest ways to spend time together as a family in our fast-paced lives. And as we get ready to travel again this weekend to Nagpur, I am sure looking forward to having a good time. Cheeku, Shweta and Sid...I am counting on you guys to keep my chotu entertained.

Update 1: One thing that I learnt this time is that sleeping on the same berth with the kid is a trick which women manage best, and no matter how thin the man is….they can never deal with it.