Hey, little train! Wait for me!

The thought of travelling by train has always brought out sheer joy in me. The longer the journey, the better it is. (No, that doesn’t mean delays. I refer here to the distance travelled) I have preferred trains to air journey, considering the fact that I have got bored with six flights alone (the journey seems so short then. It hardly makes me believe that I am already at a distance 1500 kilometres away!) Does that sound weird? Well, it does to me!

Time to confess: Even now, at the age of 20, the sight of a train sends out signals of excitement and joy from my mouth. I so long to enter the locomotive and engine the train for at least some kilometres- a top-priority on my bucket list!

Why I love train journeys is a mystery to me. No, I have no interest in observing the different kinds (sometimes they can be referred to as ‘breeds’ as well) of co-passengers I come across. Nor am I interested in doing a mechanical engineering in locomotive functioning. Not even in furniture or interior designing. Then what is it about the railway that fascinates me so much so as to make me love it more than even the privileged and luxurious mode of air-transport?

I have no clue.

I remember when I was introduced to the Harry Potter series and got to know that the students travelled to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 and three quarters that is accessible on entering a barrier between platforms 9 and 10 of King’s Cross station in London, I dreamt of getting my home connected to my school (merely 3 kilometres away) via a toy train that would ferry me to and from the school each day. I so wish this had been a reality! Harry you were so lucky! :D

I had been to Darjeeling at the turn of the new millennium and to my dismay, the toy-train journey I so looked forward to, had been cancelled due to a landslide. So we took a bus instead. Had we returned to Jalpaiguri we could have taken the toy train which had regained operation and I had already got pictures clicked with it at the Batasia Loop. But we had further plans for Gangtok and so, the toy train journey had to wait. Again, when I was in Class 9, my parents and relatives planned a roadtrip of Maharashtra. We went to Matheran, the smallest hill station of Asia. The curves that the Tata Sumo took on the way up the hill to Matheran were fiery. The toy-train journey would have been much safer and convenient. But, there had been some recent landslides that had brought down the tracks at many places and anyways, we were on a roadtrip!

So I still await a toy-train journey to a real hill station.

Over the last few years since my parents have considered my travelling ‘alone’ in trains was a safe bet, I have always preferred to have a Side Upper berth, so I can sit, eat, read and sleep all at the same time without having to get down from my seat for anything other than going for the emergency natural calls. Still, if I get the chance, I prefer taking a seat next to the window and stare out at the rushing landscapes. Movies like the Burning Train, the Polar Express and the Nightmail, have only increased by enthusiasm and anxiety to be a part of train journeys as often as possible.

A recent train journey from Delhi to my hometown and back was when I got this and some more ideas for blog entries. Yeah, that means there are going to be more entries regarding trains in the coming days! I hope you enjoy reading these.

About the title to this post, well it's a title which I came up with after a real-struggle! This post has been ready since last night, but I couldn't come up with a suitable title. The title is a line from Nick Cave's popular song O' Children. If you are wondering, how I, who never has an ear for English songs, came across this one? Well, isn't this the same song that plays on the radio when Harry and Hermione are dancing in the tent in Deathly Hallows Part 1 after Ron's departure? Hehe... :D

Have an experience or an entry to share about your journeys on the Indian Railways? Do leave your views/the link in the comment. :)