Train, food and home

It was 6.30 in the evening when I was at the new Canara bank ATM in IIT Bombay, looking at a receipt which said "Unable to dispense cash. Transaction failed". I had exactly Rs. 260 in my wallet, and a 24hr journey ahead.

After a short auto ride to Kanjurmarg, and 20 minutes of waiting in the queue, I got a ticket to Dadar. The local train ensured that I was at Dadar in the next 20 minutes. At the entrance of platform 8, my luggage was inspected, and the policeman on duty spent almost 3 minutes playing with my Nokia 6300. He seemed to be particularly interested in the albums. I still wonder what he was looking for!

On to platform 8, and I bought a packet of chips (10 bucks, and barely 10 pieces of chips) and boarded the train. There was 1 hour before the train departed, and I busied myself with the chips and Jeffrey Archer.

As the train was reaching Kalyan, I bought a veg palao for dinner (Rs 40!), and I felt thoroughly cheated. The fact that I now had only Rs. 183 left didn't help the cause.

After 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep (even the TTE didn't turn up), I woke up near Belgaum, the land of VTU. I had 2 idlis and 2 vadas for breakfast (Rs. 20), and it was a pleasant break from the usual pav-bhaji - vada-pav of Mumbai. Even the chutney had just the right amount of spice.

By lunch time, I was in Dharwad. I must say, the menu on trains has improved considerably. I had 2 ಜೋಳದ ರೊಟ್ಟಿs, curry, rice, dal and buttermilk for lunch (Rs. 35 only). I started feeling more and more south indian :)

After 200 pages of Jeffrey Archer, the train neared Tumkur. The cool air was refreshing. For the first time in months, my shirt was not sticking to my body - I was dry! What a feeling!

Dad was waiting for me at the railway station. I wonder why home always feels sweet.

Side-Middle Berth!!!

Population is increasing. There's no space for more lines, we can't introduce new trains. So what do we do? Increase packing density :)