That a train journey could be immensely enjoyable, had evaporated from my consciousness until very recently. It happened on a Friday evening when I decided to travel from Dehradun to Delhi by Shatabdi Express. Occupying the last window seat gave me a vantage position inside the coach, without the fear of being watched by anybody.
For company, there were families, kids and people of all ages happily talking and eating snacks, etc. As the train started moving, the nature’s bounty started unfolding outside. Soon there was this wonderful spectacle of the setting sun dancing behind the woods and its redness swiftly spreading over the horizon. It appeared as if the train was chasing the sun which looked equally enthusiastic about the game; the sun kept playing hide and seek behind the forested land area.
While I was enjoying this beautiful scene, my reverie was broken by a mother’s admonition to her child to open her mouth wider — how much wider I could not fathom, being seated behind, as was evident from the constant refrain — so that mom could force the food down the kid’s gullet. Parents, I guessed could be quite an annoying-lot at times, which I could gather from the poor child’s meek protestations. Meanwhile the lady’s father-in-law sitting in the next row had suddenly pushed the seat backward with a jerk and the child’s plate sitting on the folding table was jolted out, throwing some stuff on the kid and the mother too. The lady apparently was not amused and advised the old man not to behave like a child. But the latest ruckus brought me back to my own world beyond the window as I started getting a unique sensation from the goings on in the woods outside. The activities between the setting sun and the forest were getting frenetic. The sky had tuned into multiple bands of deep flaming orange; it looked surreal. Never been exposed to writing verses, but wonderstruck by the visual delight of this sky on fire, words started forming into my head and oozed out into a couplet:
“Shafq ki laali ko dekh kar hota hai ye guman/sajaa hai jaise mehboob ke rukhsaar pe sharm ka partov”.
It may be noted that these words, howsoever infirm, were captured not in appreciation of a feminine beauty in the tradition of Urdu ghazal, but in admiration of Mother Nature which had granted me all the glories of a very unusual evening. It was around this time that the train reached a station where I found large number of sadhus and religious looking people. Instinctively, I started looking for the name of the place and found it - Haridwar. So these were devotees who were travelling to and from the pilgrim city. By then it was dark and the view outside was getting impaired. The excitement having waned, I recoiled and tried to resurvey my surroundings. Though not in Gujarat, it was clear that business acumen had gripped UP walas as powerfully as many deals were being loudly settled over the cell phones across the coach by numerous anxious and at times harried voices. later, when the train pulled up at Muzaffarnagar station, many bearded persons were noticed sitting at the platform along with some burqa-clad women, waiting for trains. My mind, do not why, instantly registered the phrase - from Haridwar to Muzaffarnagar - perhaps, because it reflected the rich cultural diversity of our country. Getting to notice people from different social backgrounds at two nearby stations was an instructive experience.
Train journey across the country could definitely bring great experience to anybody who is interested in knowing about the social, physical, linguistic and cultural diversities of the country. Perhaps a more comprehensive and better experience would come by travelling in non-ac general compartment. Be that as it may, the fun and knowledge gained through this process cannot be matched with other modes of transport as people get to spend more time together. Even friendships are struck while travelling in long distance trains some of which survive a long time; something not possible in a flight. In fact in a long distance journey, after the initial tension of settling down people start unwinding and unfolding. This leads to sharing of experiences, discussion on social and political issues, exchange of eatables, playing cards and the like.
The social and cultural life of our country is regularly reflected in Hindi films. The train life is also captured on the celluloid from time-to-time in films like The Burning Train, Johar Mahmood in Goa and many more and recently inJab We Met. However, they mostly have been in the genre of a peripheral treatment of this wonderful mode of mass transport. Perhaps a creative director may envision a more gripping screenplay by attempting to weave an engaging story revolving around a long train journey, encapsulating the ‘Idea of India’ — the thread interlaced with the social mosaic of travellers, their joy & enjoyment, their trial & tribulations, their fears — all this captured in time & space along with a touchy human narrative. The plot can be made into an immensely watchable, exciting, romantic and emotional tale.