Planned in the 1830s and finally in 1844, Lord Hardinge, the then Governor General of India allowed private entrepreneurs to operate trains. The first train to roll out was a freight train and that was in Roorkee in North India.
The Indian Railway System has come a” long way “since then and has evolved into one of the biggest networks in the world. After the US, Russia and China, India leads the rest! Having been employed as a Salesman at the age of 22, my job was to visit customers and generate orders for the huge conveyor systems used in mines, fertilizer and cement factories. Since such factories use a lot of space, they are normally situated at remote locations, far from towns or cities and more nearer to the raw- material mines.
Head-quartered in Chennai, my job entailed travelling for at least 15 to 20 days in a month and this brought me closer to the Indian Railway System. Being young and able, it suited me to travel by night and work by day, with not much of rest needed. I can never forget the events on that fateful day, when I was “run over” not once, but twice, at the railroad!
It was about 3 p.m in Chennai and I was busy at work at my table in my Office at Chennai Beach. My Director, VB, called me to his room. I was thrilled! He was a great man, highly placed and full of energy for his 45 years of age and I was just half his age and almost a novice at work!! I walked up to his cabin and he waved me in. He said” Sridhar, I want you to catch the GT to NTPC Ramagundam. There is a Tender-Opening scheduled for tomorrow”. Somebody had goofed and it was noticed only today. “The quotations are worth a fortune! Attend the Tender- Opening and get me the rates of our competitors! I want you back in Office the next day to give me a face-to face report and we will send somebody to negotiate wherever possible!! Now, get started, all the best!!”
The GT is the abbreviation for Grant Trunk Express which connects the Indian Capital – Delhi to India’s southern most metropolis- Chennai. Ramagundam is an 11 hour journey from Chennai on the GT route. The GT starts at around 7 p.m every day from Chennai. There is a down-train from Delhi to Chennai also, everyday. Ramagundam is an ancient town dating back to pre-history and is located on the Southern bank of the River Godavari. Huge deposits of coal found near Ramagundam had prompted a flurry of industrial activity in the area. The Indian Government had put up a coal-fired power plant at Ramagundam due to the availability of coal and water in the area and it was called National Thermal Power Corporation, Ramagundam and that was where I was heading.
It was 4 p.m when I shelved my other responsibilities to my co-workers. I called my travel agent to book a berth for me on the GT that day. I was advised to meet him at the Higginbothams Counter at Central Railway Station at 6.30 p.m. I packed the quotations we had provided to NTPC along with a lot of blank sheets to collect the rates of our competitors. I swept into the accountant’s room to draw my Travel Advance and emerged with Rs. 800.00. Saluting VB, I rushed home 20 km away to pack a few clothes and travelled another 20 km to reach the Central just in time to collect my ticket and board the train.
From 3.00 p.m to 7.00 p.m, it had been a harrowing time! A lot of thought and decisions and travel had made up the 4 hours and I was exhausted but relieved that I had made it to the GT. I grabbed some eatables at the Central and finished my brief supper while I waited for the Ticket Checker to arrive and clear my ticket. He arrived and I requested him to alert me just before Ramagundam, for me to alight. The scheduled arrival was at 5.30 a.m and the stoppage was just for 2 minutes. Happy that the Checker had assured his assistance, I lay down on my berth and went into a “coma”. That was the most evident fact of my youthful days! My work would be breathtaking in quality and quantity and my periods of rest would be comatose! My work and rest would take place without break and it was not easy to disturb me!
I woke up suddenly and found the train pulling out of Ramagundam Railway Station and it was raining heavily! I grabbed my briefcase and suitcase and rushed to the door but simply could not jump out with luggage in both hands, not with the pouring rain outside! Groggy from my fitful sleep, I saw the Ticket Checker walking towards me. He said reassuringly,” Don’t worry Sir, There is a station just 5 minutes from Ramagundam and you can alight there and come back to Ramagundam!”
That was some solace to me and I waited. The train never gathered speed. It made sense to me! Why would the train accelerate when it had to stop in 5 minutes! Then suddenly came the rumble…. the sound of the train crossing a bridge. I looked through the door and indeed the train was negotiating a bridge. The Checker told me it was the River Godavari and the next station was on the other side of the river. So, the next station was very near to Ramagundam and I was going to be fine!! In exactly 5 minutes, the train stopped at Mancherial for 2 minutes. The Checker had a word to say to the Station Master about my plight and he waved to me as the train pulled out.
Greatly reassured by the Checker’s gesture, I enquired with the Station Master about the train which would get me back to Ramagundam. “ Ramagundam train 11 o' clock” said he in broken English with a bright smile on his face!! My shock knew no bounds! I had a tender-opening to attend at Ramagundam at 10 a.m! And my boss was waiting to hear from me! My endurance got the better of my shock and I continued,” Sir, I have to be at NTPC at 9.30 a.m and could you suggest a more timely transport…. maybe a taxi …or a bus…” He said,” No road bridge across Godavari…. only bridge far away.. eleven hours by road to Ramagundam”
Dismay hit me below the belt. Had I woken up a few minutes earlier… had the Checker woken me up…I did not have the heart to stay in the Railway Station, the Railway establishment had let me down badly…
I could feel the GT running me over!!
Distraught, I walked out and spoke with a local who said I could take a ferry across the Godavari to reach NTPC on the other side.
Hope!
I took an auto rickshaw to the river bank and literally slithered down the slippery slope to the improvised boat house with no roof! I stood in the pouring rain for an hour and a half, boarded a contraption of a boat along with other passengers who were taking their morning ferry to reach their work-spot at NTPC. Having reached the other bank, I scrambled on all fours up the embankment with my luggage in both hands. The effort was not lost on me. I reached the top with both my sandals torn and both my suitcases covered in mud. I limped over to the Guest House and managed to win the sympathy of the care-taker and was given a room to freshen up.
I managed to attend the Tender- Opening and had all the rates in a spread-sheet, safely inside my briefcase. Being the proverbial workaholic, I spent the rest of the day meeting my contacts and following up on payments for supplies made earlier. Satisfied with the day’s work, I signed the Security Register at the main gate and waited for an auto to take me back to the Ramagundam Railway Station.
The down-train GT was due at 6.00 p.m. It was 5.30 p.m when I found place as the 10 th occupant of an auto designed to carry three! A “male angel” perched on the top of the auto held on to my luggage and I held on for dear life to one of the rods which supported the roof, with the tip of my left shoe finding toe-hold on the boarding step! And you are right! My right foot did not know what my left foot was doing and was hanging pathetically, poised to take my weight if I landed on the road…
I reached the Station at 5.55 p.m, 5 minutes before the scheduled arrival of the GT! I rushed towards the desolate Ticket Counter and pulled out my purse. “One ticket to Chennai!” I said. The clerk replied” No train to Chennai!”
I was shocked!! I looked hard at the dusty timetable hanging against the wall, found the GT arrival time to be 6.00 p.m and departure time to be 6.02 p.m., checked my watch again and found the time to be 5.59p.m, checked the Victorian clock hanging inside the Clerk’s cabin and found the Railway Time to be 6.00 p.m!!
“But Sir, I was going to catch the GT and it is scheduled at 6.00 p.m” I said condescendingly, poor guy, did not know the schedules, but never mind!
“GT left 10 minutes ago”, said the clerk. I was astonished and shocked, all at the same time!! You have to experience it to believe what that means! Still, the “never say die” attitude of my youth mustered up enough bravado to let him know that trains should not leave stations before their scheduled departure, and do you know what his reply was?
“That was yesterday’s train running late by 24 hours; today’s GT to Chennai will come tomorrow!!”
The GT thundered over me the second time in a day!
Jwala
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