AN ENCHANTING TALE OF OUR TOUR OF SOUTH INDIA-PART 5 of 20

OUR SOUTH INDIA TOUR IN 1975 (Episode 5 of 20)

A scary train journey and other stories:

 

Some incidents in the above tour are still etched in my memory. Writing them down is for me, like reliving the excitement of the tour. Sharing them with family and friends multiplies the joy of reminiscing the memories.

 

A Scary Train Journey:

 

Our first stop on the tour was Kanchipuram, the City of thousand temples. It is also home to the famous Kanchipuram silk sarees.

 

We boarded the Kanchipuram local at Madras on the evening of 19th May 1975. It was pretty much crowded, with office goers returning home. We didn’t get a seat till Chengalpattu, the next major junction after Chennai. So we kept standing for about 90 minutes watching the daily passengers playing cards, reading, having chit-chat, and all the other usual things that the daily office-going passengers do for passing time.

 

The train reached Chengalpattu at about 7 p.m. Then the drama started. Our coach was now empty except for the four of us. After about 10-15 minutes, the train started towards Kanchipuram. It was now being pulled by a steam engine, as the loop line to Kanchipuram was yet to be electrified, then. It was a rather neglected line.

 

The train started chugging slowly away from Chengalpattu. Kanchipuram was a 90-minute journey from there, and there were about 5-6 halts in between.

 

The coach was dark now, so much so that we couldn’t see each other’s faces. In those days, railway coaches were lit by incandescent light bulbs. The lights, which were burning bright till chengalpattu, were now a dull glow. The filaments in the lamps were like dying embers. But as the train picked up speed, the filaments started burning brightly. It must be running on the principle of the dynamo, I thought, like the headlights on bicycles, which burn brightly when you pedal fast.

 

Even the stations in between wore a dark deserted look. Nobody seemed to be getting off or boarding the train. There was no reassuring cry of vendors, too. And, during the halts, the filaments again turned to a dull glow. I was really scared. Any miscreant could have boarded the coach and robbed us or cut our throats, as there was nobody else travelling on that coach. I was imagining all sorts of nightmarish situations.

 

After about some time, my father looked at me and said, “If you want to use the washroom, now is the right time. Do not pester me to look out for one when we get down at Kanchipuram.”

 

I kept quiet. I didn’t want to go to the toilet alone, which was at one end of the coach. I dreaded the idea of walking down alone on the empty, not-so-well-lit corridors.

 

I heaved a sigh of big relief when, after 90 minutes, the scary journey came to an end. I usually like the train journeys to go on and on, as I like to stay glued to the windows, watching the outside scenery passing by. But this one was different. I didn’t exactly jump with joy at the end of the journey, but I was the first one to get down off the coach.

 

The Kanchipuram station was not a big affair. Dimly lit, with a single platform, it didn’t look like the gateway to the city boasting of thousand temples and the hub of a famous brand of silk sarees.

 

At the station, I saw only a few dozen passengers getting down from the other coaches. No wonder the line was so neglected, I pondered. Nowadays, I think the situation might have changed.

 

My maiden stay at a hotel room - a great disappointment:

 

Coming out of the station, we checked into a lodge nearby. It was a decent one. I was pretty much excited as this was my first stay in a hotel room. Till then, on our trips, we had put up at some relatives’ houses. But this trip was different. There were a lot of places we intended to visit where we had no relatives or friends.

 

The second thing that I was looking forward was, sleeping on a cot. At home, we did not have a cot. Rather, we slept on the floor.

 

But fate had a different idea. As we stepped into the room, the lights went out before I could even have a proper look at the room. I was sorely disappointed.

 

After a couple of minutes, the room boy came with some candles and a matchbox. In those days, lodges did not have standby generators.

 

He dourly announced that power will be back only after three hours or so. It was already past 9 p.m.

 

We had our packed dinner of idlis and chutney under candlelight. My father, to lighten the mood, said, “You know, in five-star hotels, they serve food under candlelight only. So, imagine that you are having dinner in a five-star restaurant.”

 

Mother and sister laughed, but I was in no mood, sorely disappointed in being robbed of an opportunity to enjoy my maiden stay in a hotel room.

 

My father continued, “You know why they serve under candle lights? Because it will be semi-dark and customers will not notice even if there is a fly or insect in the food.”

 

Now, even I couldn’t control my laughter.

 

After dinner, we went to sleep. We left the windows open as a cool breeze was blowing. Must be raining somewhere, I thought, as I fell asleep.

 

We got up very early the next morning, as we had a lot of sightseeing lined up for that day. So, although I wanted to relax on the soft bed for some more time and enjoy the cool breeze of the ceiling fan ( the power had come on at midnight, I was told) yet I was forced to get up and made to rush through the morning ablutions.

 

Thus was my maiden stay at a hotel room, a disappointment, no doubt.

 

But the sight of towering temples at Kanchipuram and their grandiose architecture made me forget my disappointment.

 

In the next episode, I shall narrate our experience of being locked up in a cage for more than six hours and other stories.