'53 Waiting List in North-East Express!' said the person at the ticket reservation counter and stared at me waiting for my reply. I was there reserving a ticket for my journey back home for the Summer Vacation. 'A confirm ticket on any train would be okay', I said.He was again busy with the railway reservation site looking for any seats left in any trains.
'huh..... 112 seats left in Sikkim Mahananda Express!'
I jumped off my feet in sheer joy. But wait..... did he just say 'SIKKIM' Mahananda Express?
'Which train?' I asked in disbelief.
'Sikkim Mahananda Express...'
I never knew that the full name of Mahananda Express was 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express. I had heard some second-hand news about Mahananda Express. Like, it is the slowest train in India, pregnant women gives birth to their child in the train itself, and so so. I don't remember the source of this information though. [I won't confirm the reality as I have already said, it was a second-hand news]
Two days later, I was at the Delhi railway station waiting for the train. Praying god that the rumour I heard about the train are just rumours and not real.
I walked towards platform No.11, where a big crowd of people had already gathered. I looked towards my right, there were people to the last corner of the platform, same condition in the left.
We put down our bags and sit there alert and concious as Indian Railway Stations are highly famed for thieves....
Then the announcement...'yatri kripaya dhyaan dey.... New Jalpaiguri hokey janey wali Sikkim Mahananda Express platform no. 11 par aa rahi hey...'
I hear the loud roar of engine and the swarm of people start pushing each other, stepping upon each others bag.... 'arrey bhai, hamey bhi jana hai.... rukegi train aaram se charo' I shout!!
Did anyone listen? haha... People start boarding the train while it is still moving. At one point I doubt, 'will train even stop?'
I look at the coaches of the so called 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express.... it looked as if it was attacked with cowdung and glasses most of it broken.
Ignoring all this, I pick up my bag and start looking for our coach. Pushing and pulling continues.... and I reach my seat. 'Arrey bhai rasta do' 'bhaiya saman toh rakhney do....' I argue.
Then I see the real situation of the so called 'Sikkim' Mahanganda Express. People start boarding the train with large big bags [which we call in nepali as 'bora'], not just one but many, as if they were taking their whole home to some other place. My friend looks at me and I smile.
Whistle blew and my friend took a deep breath. He seemed to be quite irritated by the loud sounds that the people on our coach were making. Some fighting over seats [luckily not us], some talking in mobile as if the person on the other side was deaf, some arguing with their wife and children and so so....
The train caught motion, I thought about our Newton Uncle's theory, 'An object on rest or motion continues to be in rest or motion until and unless acted upon by some external force.' I start thinking about the external force that brought the long train from rest into motion..... [pretending to be clever]
Meanwhile, we had covered a long distance and had left the Delhi Railway Station quite far away.... someone shaking me.... 'hah bhai! naasta?'
I point at my partner and leave the descision upto him. He, still seemed to be overcoming the irritation and frustation of the loud roars that the people in front of us were making and the big bags that were piled in front of us....
'Log kya kya lekar charte hain train mein?' he asks the person who had come for taking the order for breakfast.
'Bhai! ye MAHA-NANDA nani MAHA-GANDA train hein!' he replies....
'Hahahahaha.....' my friend laughs as if he was fully satisfied with the statement and the statement was what he wanted to hear, the frustation had vanished from his face. I smiled too.... supporting him!!
After a while I was again lost in the thougts.... but not about the Newton's Law this time. I was thinking about the name of the train. I couldn't find the reason why this train was called 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express.
Why is the name 'Sikkim' attached to Mahananda Express?
I have never found anyone in my life who have visited Sikkim at least once and ever complained about Sikkim. May it be in cleanliness, or about the behavior of the people out there [ignoring some taxi drivers over charging them] , or the peace that prevails in the hills.
If 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express isn't like Sikkim in anyway then why is the name of our beautiful state hanging there?
A feeling of hatred burns inside my heart for the one who thought of keeping the train's name as Sikkim Mahananda Express which isn't like Sikkim in any way.
Meanwhile after some nitty gritty experience and about 36 hours of journey, our Sikkim Mahananda Express had brought us to our destination. After getting out of the train and having a sip of tea in the station, I look back at the train as it starts it engine and thank it for bringing me home safely and I felt it smile and wave back at me.
I jumped off my feet in sheer joy. But wait..... did he just say 'SIKKIM' Mahananda Express?
'Which train?' I asked in disbelief.
'Sikkim Mahananda Express...'
I never knew that the full name of Mahananda Express was 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express. I had heard some second-hand news about Mahananda Express. Like, it is the slowest train in India, pregnant women gives birth to their child in the train itself, and so so. I don't remember the source of this information though. [I won't confirm the reality as I have already said, it was a second-hand news]
Two days later, I was at the Delhi railway station waiting for the train. Praying god that the rumour I heard about the train are just rumours and not real.
I walked towards platform No.11, where a big crowd of people had already gathered. I looked towards my right, there were people to the last corner of the platform, same condition in the left.
We put down our bags and sit there alert and concious as Indian Railway Stations are highly famed for thieves....
Then the announcement...'yatri kripaya dhyaan dey.... New Jalpaiguri hokey janey wali Sikkim Mahananda Express platform no. 11 par aa rahi hey...'
I hear the loud roar of engine and the swarm of people start pushing each other, stepping upon each others bag.... 'arrey bhai, hamey bhi jana hai.... rukegi train aaram se charo' I shout!!
Did anyone listen? haha... People start boarding the train while it is still moving. At one point I doubt, 'will train even stop?'
I look at the coaches of the so called 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express.... it looked as if it was attacked with cowdung and glasses most of it broken.
Ignoring all this, I pick up my bag and start looking for our coach. Pushing and pulling continues.... and I reach my seat. 'Arrey bhai rasta do' 'bhaiya saman toh rakhney do....' I argue.
Then I see the real situation of the so called 'Sikkim' Mahanganda Express. People start boarding the train with large big bags [which we call in nepali as 'bora'], not just one but many, as if they were taking their whole home to some other place. My friend looks at me and I smile.
Whistle blew and my friend took a deep breath. He seemed to be quite irritated by the loud sounds that the people on our coach were making. Some fighting over seats [luckily not us], some talking in mobile as if the person on the other side was deaf, some arguing with their wife and children and so so....
The train caught motion, I thought about our Newton Uncle's theory, 'An object on rest or motion continues to be in rest or motion until and unless acted upon by some external force.' I start thinking about the external force that brought the long train from rest into motion..... [pretending to be clever]
Meanwhile, we had covered a long distance and had left the Delhi Railway Station quite far away.... someone shaking me.... 'hah bhai! naasta?'
I point at my partner and leave the descision upto him. He, still seemed to be overcoming the irritation and frustation of the loud roars that the people in front of us were making and the big bags that were piled in front of us....
'Log kya kya lekar charte hain train mein?' he asks the person who had come for taking the order for breakfast.
'Bhai! ye MAHA-NANDA nani MAHA-GANDA train hein!' he replies....
'Hahahahaha.....' my friend laughs as if he was fully satisfied with the statement and the statement was what he wanted to hear, the frustation had vanished from his face. I smiled too.... supporting him!!
After a while I was again lost in the thougts.... but not about the Newton's Law this time. I was thinking about the name of the train. I couldn't find the reason why this train was called 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express.
Why is the name 'Sikkim' attached to Mahananda Express?
I have never found anyone in my life who have visited Sikkim at least once and ever complained about Sikkim. May it be in cleanliness, or about the behavior of the people out there [ignoring some taxi drivers over charging them] , or the peace that prevails in the hills.
If 'Sikkim' Mahananda Express isn't like Sikkim in anyway then why is the name of our beautiful state hanging there?
A feeling of hatred burns inside my heart for the one who thought of keeping the train's name as Sikkim Mahananda Express which isn't like Sikkim in any way.
Meanwhile after some nitty gritty experience and about 36 hours of journey, our Sikkim Mahananda Express had brought us to our destination. After getting out of the train and having a sip of tea in the station, I look back at the train as it starts it engine and thank it for bringing me home safely and I felt it smile and wave back at me.
[Note: Not meant to harm the sentiments of anyone. If so, is purely co-incidental and unintentional.]
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