The mode of long-distance travelling has undergone several changes. Now that most cities are connected by flights, and the fare is not much more than that of higher class train journeys if seats are booked well in advance, many people prefer it. A journey that used to take days now takes only a few hours. Sometimes one spends more than the travel time at the airports to comply with formalities.
There was a time when trains were the usual mode of long journeys. They were pulled by steam engines that used coal as fuel. By the time a four-day journey was completed, the passengers would be covered with coal soot. Those who wanted to appear civilized took a bath and changed to a fresh set of clothes before detraining.
I remember my journeys in the early 1960s from Indore in Madhya Pradesh to Chengannur, the nearest railway station to my hometown in Kerala. Trains had to be changed at three places: Bhopal, Madras (now Chennai) and Cochin (now Kochi). The waiting period for the connecting train was enormous. As reserved compartments were few and one had to spend hours at the railway stations to reserve berths or seats, most passengers travelled in general coaches. The luggage was carried in a steel trunk. Getting into an overcrowded third-class compartment was a herculean task. As windows had no bars, they were used by athletic passengers to enter and exit the compartment.
Over-crowding was no deterrent to ticket examiners, hawkers and beggars who sang the latest filmy songs. Hawkers would target children and move away only after the parents bought something. The innovative passengers created space to play cards to while away their time. Passengers would run towards water taps at main stations and fill their glass bottles, cans and even small earthen pots with drinking water.
Unlike the air travellers of today who can see nothing but a thick carpet of clouds below them and have glimpses of villages and towns at times, nature lovers had a field day when trains slowly chugged through forests, mountain passes, and bridges over rivers and canals. Sometimes the whole valley would be aglow with fireflies at night. As the train passed through different States, one could taste the local food at stations. Passengers in unfamiliar costumes, talking strange languages entered and exited the compartments.
Scattered houses with thatched or tiled roofs, large stretches of recently harvested rice fields with cattle grazing lazily, and people on the platforms in colourful lungis or white dhotis would tell you that you had reached your home state. The tediousness of the long journey would melt away suddenly, filling one with new energy. Stalls preparing tea in the traditional Kerala style with their almirahs displaying idlis, dosas, vadas, and such items that you had not come across for a long time would prompt you to rush to the stalls. Vendors selling newspapers and magazines in Malayalam were another attraction.
Unlike the air passengers occupying the seats next to you, keeping their eyes glued to their cell phones, never even looking at you, the co-passengers in a railway compartment became your life-long friends by the end of the journey.
