Travelling Blues: Part Two - Of Tickets and Tatkals

If travelling from point A to point B – long distance – was a pain, then travelling back from point B to point A was an even bigger one. Starting with the logistics of reserving the tickets for the trip back home, till the time one got into the train only to realise that it was your worst nightmare come true; being homewards bound was no cause of joy, while en-route. 

There are certain things that the Indian governmental service is good for and there are certain services for which it is incomparable – for those like Dr. Sheldon Cooper, I am holding a sarcasm sign for this one. The railway ticket booking scheme is a long-winding process that calls for pre-planning one’s trip, months before in advance. And for those unable to pre-reserve their tickets, the railway transportation department runs what it refers to as a Tatkal service – Hindi for an impromptu, immediate service offering – which incidentally causes a few more headaches, than it alleviates. 

Not that the Tatkal service is bad. On the contrary, it’s one of the handiest instruments that the government has provided for the potential traveller’s benefit. But the problem is that of the dispensation of seats through the Tatkal mode. In a country where billions live and a possible potential thousands travel every day, a handful of seats allotted for the Tatkal service makes it difficult for people to book their tickets in case of emergencies. On top of this, since potential passengers can avail of tickets either by visiting the railway department’s website – for which one has to be a mastermind – or by physically staking claim on the queue, it becomes a matter of seconds before the tickets vanish out of hands’ reach. And even if one’s number happens to feature in the ‘waiting list’ quota, one cannot guarantee that the ticket will be confirmed till the 11^th hour which further compounds individuals’ problems. 

Thankfully, in my case, even though I managed to get a confirmed ticket back to my city of origin – feels sophisticated to use the term – the emotional hazard of travelling in Second Class Sleeper was too much too bear. First there was the fact that the railway canteen employees were ripping money off from passengers, as smoothly and professionally possible. Honest to God, transcribing a mental accounting of the money I spent on my trip, I realised that three-quarters of my money were spent on conveyance rather on my own self. And if the railway canteen fellows weren’t enough, the way the train kept slowing down was further annoying. Forget the stations where it had to halt, it kept stopping at really deserted locations, as abruptly as it could. Even the logical thought that there were no murderous dacoits way down in the South, could remove the sudden instilled fear that nothing was wrong and the train was keeping to time, as it needed to be. Every stop that it took unnecessarily – at least to me, it was – was agony. Not because I had pressing matters to attend once I came back home, but because it meant spending more time amidst people with whom I had nothing common. Where in the past long-distance train journeys promised excitement and thrill, the whole endeavour now seemed pointless and a huge waste of productive time. 

In India, where majority of the people use trains for long-distance commute, it’s a pity to watch the struggle one has to endure to travel by trains. It’s in fact an irony that trains being a mainstay in many parts of the country, the services offered aren’t more passenger-friendly with either more trains to ease discomfort or more berths and coaches to allow for more people to travel at their time of choice – without any compromises, whatsoever. 

Continued from...Part Uno