Azad Hind Express Journey: The “superslow” chronicles.

It was my 2nd journey to Pune by train for training purposes from Howrah. There is only one train run daily from Howrah to Pune at 10 pm. If you have some emergency, you have to go by flight or in case, you come under the bottom 50% and hold just 13% of total national income in 2021, according to the World Inequality Report 2022, then you have no option other than taking this train or dying here or on the train.

Booking the Ticket
I booked my train ticket one month before the trip, the ticket was on the 15-no. waiting list and it was confirmed after 15 days. My train was on 30th April, at the same time mentioned earlier. I left my location with my mates at 2 pm to reach Howrah on time and it was too hot outside around 44-45 degrees and my lovely fellow Vibha was the only person by my side throughout.

The Journey Begins
Though the train was not crowded, we sat near the window What we thought would be cool air breezing in through the windows, we were met with utter disappointment with the overwhelming presence of hot air blowing directly at our faces. In desperate times calls for desperate measures. My brain went into overdrive, and I immediately thought of a solution to combat the heat. Armed with my purple chaddar, I waited patiently for the train to stop at the next station waiting to see any sign of water taps. As soon as the train slowed down, I saw my glimmer of hope, the communal drinking water taps! I quickly sprinted out to the station submerged my chaddar in the cool water and wrung out the excess water. And just in the nick of time, the moment I set foot on the train, it departed from the station. We were able to cool down from the heat with the help of my smart thinking. Others, looking at my innovative solution, took to replicate the same. It was quite hilarious actually, but I could feel their desperation.

The Rescheduled Train
As we cooled down, my phone beeped, and upon opening it, another surprise… da da da da… train to Pune, the “Azad Hind Express” rescheduled to the next day morning at 8 AM. The mix of relief from the heat and the frustration of the delay made for a memorable journey.

Our immediate concern was finding a place to stay for the night. Finally, we decided to stay at a relative’s house nearby, reaching there by 9 PM. Although it wasn’t very close, I managed to sleep early and woke up at 5 AM to ensure I arrived at Howrah Station before 8 AM. As planned, we reached the station around 7:10 AM and reunited with Vibha, eagerly sharing stories about the previous night’s experience. Vibha introduced me to her sister, who is a professor at a university and has been living in Kolkata for over ten years. I was surprised by her fluent Bengali; for a moment, I didn’t even realize she was Malayali. She offered us Kolkata’s famous doi, and we chatted away, losing track of time. Despite our eyes being tired, we kept looking for our train on the board.

Boarding the Train
By 8 AM, there was still no announcement. Finally, at 8:10 AM, the board lit up, indicating that our train would arrive at platform 15. We rushed towards the platform and reached our coach, but the train wasn’t there yet. Frustration grew, and we mentally cursed the train authorities. At exactly 8:25 AM, the train finally arrived at its designated platform. We boarded and found our seats, but the wait still wasn’t over. The people who came to see off their relatives had probably already reached home by the time the train’s whistle blew, and it started moving towards its destination exactly at 8:50 AM.

Passing the Time
Nights pass easily while sleeping, but now it was daytime, and we had no idea how to kill time. Fortunately, we had pre-downloaded movies, series, books, and music on our devices since getting a network connection on the train is quite challenging. We started engaging in our respective interests to pass the time. However, everyone was a bit frustrated. Someone nearby fell asleep in their seat and started snoring so loudly that it was impossible to concentrate on anything else. Then, a child began crying, and a group of people nearby were either listening to music at full volume or scrolling through loud reels on their phones. The noise was overwhelming, and we couldn’t figure out what to do, nor could we ask anyone to be quiet. Amid our conversations, the chai vendor came through, shouting “Chai.. chai.. chai.. ” and we were compelled to buy a cup of tea. I was determined not to get bored under any circumstances, so I opened my bag of tricks and decided to do something with Vibha’s beautiful long hair. I started styling her hair, and you can see the results in the photo.

Lunch and More Waiting

Hunger struck, and we enjoyed a delicious homemade meal prepared by Vibha’s sister. After setting up our beds, we tried to rest but were constantly disturbed by vendors. The journey from Howrah to Pune typically takes two days and 33 hours, but for us, it was two days and two nights. We managed the first day with our downloaded content, exhausted by midnight.

The Second Day
The next morning, at 7 AM, I woke up to the chai vendor’s call at Tumsar Road Junction. The train was running 8 to 12 hours late. Relieved that we had time before reaching Pune, I happily went back to sleep, feeling that despite the delays, we might still reach our destination soon.

We heard a chai vendor shouting “kharab chai” while selling his tea. At first, we thought we misheard due to our tiredness, but when he made another round, we confirmed it. Curious, we tried his tea, expecting it to taste bad, but it was just as good as the others.

Vibha and I managed our breakfast with some dry snacks, but lunch was a different challenge. We tried ordering online, hoping for pizza and lava cake, but no station offered that. We called nearby stores, but they declined to deliver to the station. Utterly disappointed, we finally decided on something and placed our order.

New Friends and Unexpected Delays
We made some friends during the journey. They were young boys from rural areas heading to Pune for hotel jobs, surprisingly all below 18. One of them shared his dream of becoming a cricketer, but due to financial and family conditions, he was taking this job, hoping to continue playing cricket if given the chance.

By 2 PM, we were hungry. We ordered food to be delivered at Bhusaval Junction, where the train was supposed to arrive by 2 PM, but it got delayed to 3 PM. When we arrived, our order hadn’t come. The app showed it had been canceled due to some issues. We bought some vada and bananas from the station to curb our hunger. Later, we ordered Chinese food from a restaurant, which thankfully arrived on time for dinner.

Finally, Arrival at Pune
With this memorable journey filled with surprises and delays, we finally reached Pune in the middle of the night, around 1 AM. Saying our goodbyes, everyone departed for their respective destinations. This journey taught me patience and quick thinking and left me with unforgettable memories.

Hope you enjoyed my story and my journey. As this blog gets published, I have been on quite a few journeys since then, and some very long ones as well. Stay tuned for more interesting nuggets of realisation soon!