One of the nicest things in my experience of travelling around India, is going on the train. I remember a last minute 1998 trip from Amritsar (where I had gone to see the Sikh's holiest Golden Temple) to Delhi, where I just assumed I could hop on the first class carriage after standing in the "Ladies Only" line. It was around 5 a.m. that crisp Spring morning when I made my way to the train station, after having spent the night in the Temple's open air veranda known as the Ladies Quarters, and having had a marriage proposal by a self-appointed tour guide who had led me around the Temple grounds (having clued into my NRI and foreign citizen status). My new Lonely Planet guidebook had neglected to mention that single women were not allowed to rent a room! But it was a nice experience even if I did not get much sleep for fear I would oversleep the next morning – they did not do wake-up calls on the veranda.
I was surprised to find that they were one carriage short in first class, so I had to take the 3d class carriage as 2d class was sold out too. Even though the train was several hours delayed along the way, it was my first solo real Indian experience. Had I travelled in my protected AC first class carriage as planned, I would have missed out on the up-close and personal aspects of the trip with my fellow Punjabis. Garish coloured Indian suits and packed lunches and tiffins surrounded me as I sat with my stomach growling, clearly looking like someone who would normally travel in 1st class and an obvious NRI despite my Indian clothes. But it was an experience that made me feel more like a real Indian because it really was just my clothes and luck of being born abroad to a comfortable family that separated me from them. Scrunched up close to one another, we all just jostled along, for the all day journey. It was only once I reached back to Delhi and heard all the worry in my Mum's demeanour that I realized it could have been a horrid ordeal, but it hadn't been at all.
Today, as I am travelling today on the Shatabdi from Jalandhar to Punjab, I am reminded of my favourite Amritsar trip as this train originated in Amritsar before coming to us. Even the regular AC class is wonderful. A little more cramped and a different crowd from the privileged Executive Class folk, but perfectly fine for anyone. As soon as you board, you are provided with your litre of "Rail Neer" labelled water and paper cup and Jumpin mango juice. And minutes after we leave the station the snack tray is given, full of your tea kit, toffees, fresh ghee sweet barrfi, hot vegetable samosa and salty namkeen packet. The first time I took this express train I did not expect any more food! Now I know not to devour it all, as this really just is the appetizer. Dinner is a tray full of goodies... rice, cholay, shahi paneer, dahi, salad, pickle and paratha. Quite a veritable feast. Followed by vanilla ice-cream. After that everyone is pretty much dozing off as it is 9:30 p.m. and we have probably all eaten too much to be awake for long.
My other favourite train journey was in 2003, when we went from Delhi to Hazur Sahib, a pilgrimage to fulfil my 86 year-old maternal grandmother's wish to visit there before she died. All the family members thought she was too old, but I thought, "why not?!" So Bibi, Mum, Aunty Kirpal and myself bought the train tickets and off we went. The 26 hour train ride expanded to about a 35 hour journey but still it was fun. So many interesting people on the train, all the basic comforts, and all the food-sellers coming thru all the time. One thing about being on a train in India is you never go hungry. It's non-stop food offerings all the journey: "coo-cumbar, coo-cumbar" (peeled, sliced lengthways, peppered and juicy), "noodles, Maggi noodles," "chai, chai, garam garam chai," "cutlet, cutlet," "tikki, aloo tikki," "omelette, omelette," "paratha, paratha" and many more mouth-watering, digestive-effecting selections. It's impossible to resist them all.
The Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi is equally comfortable but the journey is only about 3 hours. It's used by many as a commuter train since it's so convenient. It makes getting from the capitol Delhi to my mum's hometown of Chandigarh a breeze and an absolute pleasure. It's not a place visited so often by tourists eager to sample India's highlights, but for me it's always home as that's where we went with Mum growing up. I remember visiting when her Dad was ill, in around 1973, and I would have been about 5. My brother Mitch and I were probably a nuisance, he would have been about 7, so we were put into Guru Nanak Public School – Mum knew Principal Sarai luckily . He still runs a school in Chandigarh. I remember going to school on the bus, and using a razor to sharpen my pencils.I associate one of my favourite fruits, chickoo, with that trip so I imagine we ate lots of them. I also remember the teachers were very strict. Once, after Aunty Bholly's wedding, I was in trouble for having nail polish on as it was not allowed. I remember going to the Rock Garden and Rose Garden and a general sense of a beautiful city with lots of parks. It was later I realized it had been designed by the world-famous Le Corbusier. He designed this City with a master plan that is still being followed today with the different Phases of development and green belts being maintained. It is not like other Indian cities in layout or feel. If ever I was to live in India, it would probably be here in Chandigarh.#
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