The dark underbelly of the Indian Railways

(This is not really the dark underbelly. Anyone who travels by a train will notice these things. It’s just that underbelly is such a cool word!)

1.       Waiting rooms- There are absolutely no waiting rooms at most stations. If you find a room, it’s either going to be full or stinking worse than a public restroom.

2.       The platforms- They couldn’t make waiting rooms.. okay. But at least clean the platforms once in a while so that sitting on them doesn’t feel like sitting on a pile of garbage!

3.       The police- For some reason, the police kept on asking people to not sit on the stairs. Umm.. Mr. Policeman, hoe exactly are people supposed to stand with so much luggage for hours waiting for their trains?

4.       The people- Once you’re inside your train, the people have no courtesy. They’ll come and wear your flip flops, sit on your seat, drop books at you. You get the idea right?

5.       The food- *Runs to the loo and pukes for 7 hours* The food is so disgusting. It bloody stinks. The soup tastes like acid, the rotis are so rubbery, the vegetables are plain disgusting, the curd they give is around 10 days old.. given it can be used in place of vinegar or lime juice. They also give raw onions as salad.. who here wants to eat one day old onions? The only good thing was the ice cream.

6.       The people (part II)- The people in the train actually finish up all the food. They then go and ask for extra rubber disks. Rotis, I mean. And what amused me the most was how they opted for the non vegetarian meals. Non vegetarian in  a train! One day old non vegetarian food! Kill me if I’m over reacting but that is drop dead weird.

7.       Sleep time- You’re reading a book in the train.. using that small yellow light by your side, you’re really into the book and suddenly your neighbour taps your shoulder several times asking you to switch off the light. Also, people will snore and fart. In a small train. No comments on that.. just the sheer happening of such things speak for themselves.

8.       The people (part III)- You can’t talk on the phone when in a train. People will eavesdrop their asses off and won’t even make a conscious effort of pretending like they’re doing something else. They’ll just stare at you.

9.       The train itself- It keeps on moving! Continuously. So much for vehicle alignment.

PS. I’m not being snobby. Either my train ride was exceptionally bad or I was too frustrated. I travelled by a train after so long and I do not intend to use the railways anytime soon now.  

Tushar K. Aggarwal