"I m going home todaaaay i am going home todaaayy" sundari screams as I get into my shuttle to reach office.. Its the last working day before the long weekend of 3 days... and she is all excited to be going to her hometown.. to Chennai from Bangalore by the Chennai mail.. The last time she went home was..ummm... last weekend! 4 days ago!!.. yet she seems as excited about it as she would be if she were a sailor returning home after years at sea... I reach office and at breakfast table.. its the same story! "I m going home todaaay I am going home todaaay"... :) Most people are discussing what train/bus they are catching and what they are doing over the long weekend...
For sundari and the hundreds like her... there's absolutely no substitute for home sweet home... They are the bunch who consider it worth spending 2/7 days of the week in the upper berth.. or worse stifled in the side middle berth ...with noisy children and snoring adults... and close to 6hrs of travel either to / from the station in a span of 2 days!!All activities - even visiting the parlour or going to the movies are planned at home..
Here 's a look at how life's is like.. for these shuttlers..
For the meticulous type....
The year begins with getting hold of the calendar as fast as possible..comparing it with the office calendar and making an "X" on the holidays and weekends.. The next few minutes are spent putting an "O" around all the fridays, sundays and days preceding long weekends... then comes booking the tickets for the next 3 months... weekends.. holidays.. whatever...
Next an outlook recurring reminder/ a mobile 'to do list'... for the next set to be booked...and lo.. they are done for the year!
For the not so meticulous type....
option a: a meticulous dad/mom/sibling repeats step 1) above
else... Wake up one fine morning.. realise you need to go home next weekend and you dont have tickets.. go to irctc.co.in and find a W/L 145 and wait for the Sunday! The tatkal day... but tatkal costs more!!! who cares!??..An alarm for sunday and tuesday... 7 50 am... and that weekend is done.. what if the alarm doesnt ring? Well..bus is always there...
There's yet another clan..
Who dont know what train they are travelling in.. and which berth ..until they get to the station .. One of the gang members would have booked the tickets.. and invariably would be the last person to arrive.. They apparently like the thrill..
A look at how the week's spent... Some quotable quotes...
Mon morning...
" yaaaaaaaaaaaaawnnnn... "
"Dint sleep properly di... che.. one kid was crying all night... "
"Hey .. i met him this weekend:) We went to a movie after almost 3 months!"
"I slept only at 2:( forgot my ID proof and had to argue with the TC till 2"
"I hate Monday mornings.....grrr"
Monday afternoon 2: In a boring meeting..
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Tue :
8 o clock.. "Book book boook... "
"Hello.. hey the site isnt opening for me.. can u see whats happening"
Wed, Thu... mail/phone-
" Hey what plans for the weekend?? "
Fri :
"I'm going home todaaay I m going home todaay"
" Hey i am going by mail.. u ?"
"Cya at the station at 9 30 then.. byeeee"
"Hey we having a get together this weekend... "
"Helooo... amma i 'm coming by mail tomo.. make paruppu usili tomo ma.. "
Sat :
well..
Sun:
8 o clock...."Hey hey next friday tatkal.. mail.. book book boook..."
"Hey getting late for the train.. "
":( Tomo office...."
"Bye sweetheart.. see you next week...:)"
Having been on those weekend trains myself... I can definitely say that there is truly something special... that keeps u undeterred...that makes all travelling and stress weekend after weekend worth it...A Friday evening at the station definitely enables you to catch up with all your friends living in different parts of the city... definitely the best time to update yourself with all the latest gossip.. meet seniors.. juniors.. friends.. chat away till the train arrives.. As for the singles.. there's definitely this inspiring story of two fri-sun regulars getting married after having met in the train every weekend!! And of course.. nothing.. nothing beats waking up Sunday morning to mom's bed coffee and delicious lunch...:)
Here's to the tatkal generation!!
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6 comments:
Hey awesome blog..toooo relevant!!
Very nice post! it brings back old memories!
You have inspired me to put up an article on my blog on the same topic.
your tatkal generation thrives on the fact that the travel takes a mere 6 hours.... i know wat it is when u r 18 or 30 hours away :(
ll the next gen travel between any metros in less than an overnight's journey.... that ll be the real tatkal :P
Great post! B to C and C to B every weekend is such a hard thing.Although I'm sure the journeys on the train every weekend must have been great!Now that your going to IIM B, the journey continues,although I think its gonna be less often..All the best dude! Rock on!
hey..nice post... used to do a lot of train ticket booking for all my friends when i was working.. and yes, i was type 1 :).. and of course, there was one set who would actuall fly to chennai (can u even imagine?... )... when they couldn't get either train or bus tickets... ;) .. keep posting
Stumbled on your post.. Gr8 reading.. Very true :)
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