Incredible India - Aam Aadmi boards a train!

This is a post that I thought I would write, first thing I reached back after my trip to Goa. But due to various reasons ( read laziness), it got delayed by a week. Better late than never! So here we go.

I was travelling long distance in a train after a span of more than two and half years. Since I joined the bank, I've been putting in six day weeks and I'd little time for travels. This was my first lengthy leave after getting a job. Though the decision to take this sabbatical was planned, the idea to travel to Bengaluru and to Goa from there was taken on an impulse during the last minute.

Since I booked tickets during the last minute, I'd to settle for sleeper class tickets. Not that I'm one of the Babu Log who always travels by A/C. I had my own reasons - One, I'm someone who likes a lot of freedom and privacy when travelling and the uncrowded A/C coaches are always a blessing in this case. Two, as an employee of the bank, I'm entitled to travels by second class a/c and all my official trips are in the air conditioned coaches. Thirdly and most importantly, they are cleaner! I'm not a cleanliness freak who screams at a spot on the floor, but I prefer things clean and definitely, without odours!

The train was Yeshvantpur - Vasco Express and I was travelling the full distance. So, here I was, sitting by the window, staring at the rushing landscapes on an overclouded evening. It had been a couple of hours since I boarded the train. Suddenly, a man comes with a pet bottle filled with a strange coloured liquid and begins to spray it on the floor. The first thing that ran in my mind was "Oh!!! all of us are going to faint and he is going to rob us of our belongings!!!" But then, I began to smell lemon grass. He took a mop that was resting against the next seat and began mopping the floor. Soon enough, the floor was clean. I was fairly impressed. Indian Railways improved, I thought.

The train didn't have a pantry car since it was a short distance one. As the train pulled into Tiptur, I bought a cup of coffee. I took one sip and decided to correct my earlier thought. Even after all these years, the quality of food hadn't changed. If at all it had, it was for worse. I somehow managed to finished the brew. By that time, the train had already left the station. I crushed the Styrofoam cup well (lest they wash it and reuse it! How thoughtful of me!) and moved to the end of the compartment. I had two reasons for that - One, I had to dispose of the used cup. Second, a girl aged 23 was supposed to board the train from Tiptur and she was alone and was travelling all the way to Vasco!!! But to my great disappointment, there was no waste-bin underneath the washbasin unlike a/c coaches. The words waste-bin was clearly written on the panel beneath the sink but it was well nailed to its place.

I found the man who had cleaned the train a while earlier standing in the next compartment. I went there and asked in Hindi why there was no dustbin. He obviously didn't speak much Hindi but from the crushed cup in my hand and the word waste-bin, he clearly understood what I was saying. After all, languages are for the simple purpose of communicating, aren't they?! He replied in Kindi ( that could be summed as a mix of Kannada and Hindi, more of the former) and from what I gathered, he told me that there were no waste-bins in sleeper coaches. That's available only in the a/c coaches. You can throw the cup outside. YES, he definitely told me to throw the cup outside onto the tracks!!! I didn't do it. I walked back to my seat with the cup still in my hand.

Oh and by the way, the girl was obese!!!

As the train stopped at Arsikere Junction half an hour later, I got down and began the hunt for a dustbin on the platform. But I couldn't find one! On a major station, on its platform number two, I couldn't find a goddamn dustbin! In the end, I ended up walking 6 compartments length in the drizzle to find a dustbin and finally revealed myself of the albatross that came as a brownish hot, stale fluid worth five bucks!

Now for the twist in the kahani. A little time afterwards, another man comes with a yellow slip book with him. He paused for a moment near the seat shared by me and three other people, a family from Tamil Nadu. He then made way for himself among the outstretched legs of others and shoved the book and a pen towards me. I took a quick glance at what was written in it. It was a questionnaire on various aspects of the train compartment and the cleaning process. The Railways was definitely trying to get a genuine feedback since the questionnaire required you to fill details like your seat number and the PNR number. No cheating this time unless you rip of the reservation chart and fill up the book by yourself. But I wonder if anyone ever analyses the data so obtained.

Coming back to the yellow questionnaire, I began to read the questions. I was supposed to award points to each on a scale of 5. Some of the questions made me smile. There was one particular one which interested me. It inquired whether separate disposal bags were kept for degradable and plastic waste! After answering the questionnaire and pouring my heart out in the comments section, I asked the seemingly superior officer in charge of the cleanliness of the train about the question regarding waste disposal. He answered politely in broken Hindi that it was for the Babu Log in the a/c coaches! I asked him politely, in return, what I was supposed to do with the waste 'generated' by Aam Aadmis. Throw it outside, pat came the reply. Nothing more to add. I quickly gave back his book and pen and returned my gaze to the view outside.

I couldn't blame him. In a country where a particular queen bee called Didi, who has recently been churning out soap operas that would put Ekta Kapoor to shame, sacked one of her drones because he showed the guts to increase railway ticket prices after many years of the so called populist budgets and a sinking Railways. A man who wanted to save the Indian Railways, the world's biggest organisation and implement measures like Bio-Toilets and safety features in trains was shown his way out by an intolerant, power monger who had no qualms in mixing economics with politics! Now all those Abala Naaris out there, who frequently crib about the male dominance in our society, what do you have to say about this?

FootNote: If Didi sues me for this post or calls me a Maoist, I'm definitely going to turn into one!

ToeNote: I'm thinking of blogging on socially relevant topics once in a while under the title Incredible India. What say?

NailNote: Today is the last day on my sabbatical. It's back to office from Saturday. Sob sob.