Hell of a Tour!!!

It all started on a Tuesday. I had just been back from a tiring tour for Indore and Bhopal 4 days back. And I was told that again from coming Monday I was  suppose to go back on tour, and that also to the same old places (Indore and Bhopal) with Jabalpur added. For all those people who haven’t heard abt any of these places, all of them are situated in the heart of India – Madhya Pradesh.

Last time when I went to Indore and Bhopal, I travelled by train to Indore first, did field work there, then went to Bhopal by bus and flew back to Ahmedabad from there. But this time around it was a bit different. Holiday season had started from the very same week and it was impossible to get confirmed train tickets. Moreover we only get air tickets if the journey is of more than 12 hours through train or road. So I planned my tour differently. Indore is 10 hrs by train but Bhopal is 13 hrs. So I decided to make Bhopal my arrival and departure points for tour, i.e. my tour would start and end with Bhopal. I planned out that on Monday I will work in Bhopal, then catch a train @ 1 am to Jabalpur which would reach there by 7 in the morning. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday I would work in Jabalpur and on Wednesday evening I would leave Jabalpur by 5:45 express to Bhopal. This train will reach Bhopal @ 12 am at night and from here I will catch a taxi to Indore which will take another 4 hrs or so. Then on Thursday and Friday I will work in Indore and Friday night I would come back to Bhopal. Saturday I would work in Bhopal and by 7 I would be flying back to Ahmedabad. I know all this time table thing sounds boring, but its important to narrate everything abt it.

So I booked Hotel and ticket according to this plan. But to my misfortune, the train ticket I was getting for Bhopal to Jabalpur in 3^rd AC was having 2 waiting, still I thought that it would get confirmed by the time I will travel and got them booked. And so I was all ready to set off the tour on. But on Sunday when I checked my ticket status of Bhopal to Jabalpur, it was still in waiting. Now I was in a fix. Jabalpur is around 400 kms from Bhopal, and I was told that by road it would take around 13 hrs to reach as the road conditions there is very bad. What to do now??? I called my area manager of Jabalpur and told him my about my problem. He told me to get Janshatabdi ticket booked. I checked the train on net and the timing was suiting me. The train left Bhopal @ 5:40 pm and reached Jabalpur by 11pm. But the only problem was that the available tickets were in 2^nd sitting!!! Now I have travelled in 2^nd sleeper but had no idea of how 2^nd sitting was going to be like. I visualized (from movie experiences) that it would be somewhat like wooden seats and people jam packed in every inch of the bogey. But I had no options and so I got the e-ticket booked.

I reached Bhopal at around 9:30am in the morning and started my work at around 10.30am. but I guess that day was cursed. Whichever doctor I went to meet, was either on leave or had finished his practice for the first half of the day. With many struggles we did call of Six doctors and when my colleague was coming me drop to my hotel, the bike tyre got punctured. I was getting late as I had a train to catch so I decided to hire and auto and reach my destination.

I reached station and the train was waiting at the platform. As expected by me the platform was swarming with people. But from inside the train was not that bad as I expected. It was definitely hot but the seats were much much more comfortable then what I had expected. The seats though were small, but were cushioned and not of wood. Moreover my seat was a window and not an aisle. The train was almost full when it departed from Bhopal. Its always a nice experience when u travel in 2^nd class, atleast for me. You get to see so many different variety of people, children enjoying in their own special way. You can be much more relaxed mentally as there are not artificial sophistication around you. The best part of travelling 2^nd class is you can really enjoy wind blowing through your hair and face (though the disadvantage is sand making out hair hard). And so with all the drama around me, I reached Jabalpur by 11pm. But the Hotel there which was booked for me disappointed me. It was the worst hotel I have ever been to. The room was so small that it had hardly any space left for walking. The toilet was not upto the mark and old. The A/C was of “baba aadam ke zamane ka.” It was making no difference in the room temperature. The food I ordered was all tasteless. Somehow I managed to spend the first night in that room as I was dead tired(as I was up that day from 4am).

Next morning the first thing I did was to get my roomed changed. Though the new room wasn’t that good, it wasn’t that bad either. The whole day’s work went on pretty coolly but one doctor I met was just plain “sanki” (without any brain). I went into his chamber and requested him for some knowledge. But he took it all wrong. He thought that I was trying to test him and was trying to act smart in front of him. He started screaming on me and I had to ask for forgiveness to make him calm again. Rest all the work went on smoothly. In the evening I went to a place called Beraghat where Dhuadar waterfall is situated. It’s a beautiful place with Narmada water flowing between the mountains of white, blue and black marbles. Overall was a nice experience. Though, one thing happened when I was going to Beraghat. These falls are situated some 30kms from Jabalpur. I went on there with one of my colleague on his bike. While we were driving through the small hills, suddenly the tyre of the bike slipped. We were on a bridge which was connecting 2 hills. And as we slipped I almost was thrown out of the bridge, thanks to the railing that saved me. The thing about your life flashing in front of your eyes is all rubbish. My mind was blank at that moment and for the next 15 minutes or so. I realized only after few minutes that I had escaped death!!! Phew…what a moment it was…

Rest of the working at Jabalpur the next day was good and I enjoyed it. But here comes the best part. I completed my working by 4pm as I had train to catch at quarter to 6. But when I reached station at 5, I was agitated to find that my train had got delayed by 5 ½ hrs. instead of leaving at 5:45pm, it was scheduled now to leave at 11:15!!! I was supposed to catch this train to reach to Bhopal and from there I was going to get a shared taxi to Indore. But now as the train had delayed, I had no option but to cancel my trip for Indore for the next day as I would reach very late. Instead I decided to work in Bhopal the next day and Indore the day after.

As I had checked out of the hotel, I thought there was no point in taking a room for just 5 hrs. so I decided to wait in the stations waiting room for A/C passengers. I thought that it would be better to sit in A/C for 5 hrs rather than wandering on station. But to my disappointment, when I reached the waiting room, I was shocked to find out that the waiting room was nothing of what I expected. There was no A/c, but in a room of about 30ft X 20fts, there was only one fan in the centre. Also the chairs were so uncomfortable, that one cant even sit on it properly, forget sleeping on it!!! But on one corner of the room laid two tables side by side. I decided to get my ‘Tashrif’ (i.e. Bum) there rather on the ugly chairs. The next four hrs were spent in agony and waiting. At 10:30pm I stood up and went to my platform were the train was scheduled to come. But I think my luck was not with me. The train was now scheduled to leave at 2am. So another 3 ½ hrs of waiting!!! But somehow I wasn’t irritated by all this. I wasn’t cursing or screaming from inside (in such situations I used to get irritated as I hate waiting). I was just smiling from inside and was taking everything positively. So I had my dinner at the station and again went back to that stupid waiting room. The next 3 hrs were spent listening to some old aged aunties(probably from Punjab) and their bitching and gossips. Finally the train came at 2 am. I left Jabalpur at 2.30am. I reached Bhopal at 9 in the morning, 9 hrs late from scheduled arrival time. I wasn’t able to sleep in the train as it was jam packed and my ticket was again of 2^nd class. Also it was too hot in there with so many people inside. When I reached my hotel at around 9.30am, I just went into my room and fell asleep as soon as I landed on my bed. Then at 11.30am I went for working with just 1 ½ hrs sleep. What a pathetic trip it was. Yet somehow I enjoyed it and ritenow I am enjoying riting about it. Its around 9pm and I still have slept for only 1 ½ hrs in last 36 hrs. Tomorrow morning I am leaving for Indore at 5 and would be returning back at around 11.30pm the same day(Indore is 4 hrs by bus from Bhopal). So another hectic day awaits. Lets see how it turns out to be and hope for the best!!!