Leh 2007 - part II - Of leaking vents and a bored freshie...

Day 2 - 13th July 2007 (Friday the thirteenth)

Nothing much to report about this day... we sat in the train, and sat in the train, and sat in the train - while Googie was in Bangalore, enjoying I guess. Lemme get my hands around his neck...

Paddy had sent an SMS the previous day - "Dude if u r awake at 5 am and ther is range gimme a call". Paddy had to catch the Rajdhani from Mangalore at 6 am, so I assumed that was supposed to be reminder of sorts. Being a man down already, I took this task seriously (like everything else hehe) and set a alarm for 5 am. So, I woke up at 5 am. But, no range! I just prayed that Paddy would be up and at the station... A little later, I did get range and called up Paddy, who confirmed that he was indeed up and about and on the way to the railway station.

At 6.07 am, I sighed a huge sigh of relief when I read another of Paddy status update SMS's - "Gulz the trains the boards! Clap clap! Kini nahi hu main!"

So, the next questionable characters were Kinimaam and V-the-M-the-K, lovingly called - Pyscho or weew-a-a-ake (depending on Ojha's frame of mind)

Rajdhani trains, have a habit of waking up people at 6 am to feed them some butt ugly tea and so, the entire compartment was up and running to the loo. Early early in the morning 60 odd people vying for 4 loos, hehehe..... This was one time, when I wondered how long Kookee would have lasted. Anyways, Paddy's alarm was good enough pressure for me, so I used the fabled Rajdhani loos. Luckily for me there was toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper on an Indian railways train! So, I did not have to worry about the mug not reaching the right place and you know... hehe...

That done, and waiting for breakfast while approaching the Hussian Sagar Lake, I got talking to the other "youngster" in our compartment. Shamboo was traveling to Delhi after attending his counseling at Manipal. Small world.

In the mean while Googie, after some amount of detective work, sent out an SMS - "Clap clap! Clap clap! Ojha's cell got stolen. Contact him through .... or at his home number ....". Things got more interesting huh...

We spent most of the day, boring the daylights out of the freshie from our Alma matter. We were doling out advice by the bucket loads, something I am sure he had enough and more of.
During the afternoon, we noticed a huge Indian Ocean near the toilet. Yes boys, we had named this one the Indian Ocean, days before we encountered them again :D... Apparently the AC of our bogie had developed a leak, and there was nothing the on board maintainence crew could do about it, so much for the Rajdhani tag. The train was so freaking rotten, I have not seen a more dilapidated and F-ed up train than this one.

Anyways after lunch, comprised of rubber rotis and uncooked paneer, we tried visiting la la land. But, our assault on the unsuspecting freshie was relentless... hehe...

Some time around 2.30 pm we received a message from Googie - "Oj's addr - .... Kalkaji he said he'll be coming to pick you yo at the stn". Reassuring. Ojha had left Bangalore in one piece and was in New Delhi, again in one piece... "Phew! The trip is still on", I thought to myself.

By evening, I think even Paddy was bored of the Rajdhani. We got a message from him - "Inside maharashtra, ratnagiri, jai konkan rly ! But rajdhani is sad , tea also we ve to only make !". The never ending train journey was getting on my nerves as was the infinite loop conversations making the rounds in the compartment. Then I guess, the loneliness of the journey got to Paddy. I got a concerned SMS from him - "Sus , oj in dilli or blore ? Did u speak to him ? Is he pickin u guys ?" After answering all his queries, we readied our selves for the gastronomical delight called dinner that is served by the great IRCTC, in Agri Gold sponsored trays on board the Rajdhani express.

Dinner, or whatever it is called, commences when a waiter in red uniform brings you a Styrofoam cup fillied with red liquid - soup. If you notice something spongy floating in the liquid, then you know you do not need to wait for the bread sticks and butter to arrive. After the soup, comes the main course - one sabji, invariably with Panner as an ingredient; one container of dal, which is half cooked; two rubbery roties; some dirty sliced vegetables pass off as salad; and some very very hard rice; and a bowl of very sour curd. All placed on a tray, that won't sit on you lap even if you join you legs at the knees. So, of course, things tend to jump about and fall on the floor, where it dilutes in the vast Indian Ocean... Anways, after a day and a half in this environment, I was an expert at eating, so this dinner was quite uneventful, except that I didn't get my spoons.

The first time I noticed I was without a spoon, I called out to our food guy... "Bhaiya... spoon dena"
"Ji... deta hun", he cried out from the other end of the bogie.
After what seemed like an eternity he returned with a bottle of water, "Saab aapne paani manga tha..."
I corrected him, "Tch tch... spoon boss spoon... chamach, vaise paani bhi de do.. lagega.:
"Acha ji.. abhi le aatha hun..."
Again, he disappeared for another eternity. When he did return, he had a packet of rubbry roties. "Yeh lejiye... do roti", he said thriumpantly.
As much as I hate to dampn peoples spirits, I had to remind my self that I had some rice to eat, so I gently broke the news to the waiter - I had asked for a chamach and not roties. The dejected waiter dejectedly agreed to bring me a spoon.
When I did get the spoon, the guy sheepishly said, "Ji, khatam ho gaye thae. Aap ke liye naya wala laya hun..."
True to his word, it look all new - with sticker and everything. Of course by this time, I was in no mood to eat any rice or curd or dal, but to stick to the code I accepted the spoon and took a courteous dig at the rice plate. The significance of the gesture was not lost on the waiter, who promptly asked, "Saab.... chai paani".
"Nahi nahi... abhi nahi chahiye".
"Nahi saab... khane ka chai paani".
"Han han.... vohi.. nahi chahiye".
"Jo maan mei aaye, de dijye saab", he said. And thats when it sank in my thick skull, the dude wanted tips!
"Kal subhe aa jao...", I said.
"Nahi saab, hum log abhi collect kar lethe hain..."
"Teek hai", I said (grumbling internally, why the F should I tip this lousy waiter...) and gave him 10 rupees.

We did some math, if these fellows made 3 trips in a week, then in a month, they'd make 12 trips a month. If in each trip he colleceted an average of 5 rupees from 60 passengers (in one bogie), then he'd make 3600 rupees per month over and above his salary from the railways...

Shortly later, at 10 pm, we were in Bhopal, and I calld up my parents to let them know that I could have been home, if they hadn't moved... hehe...

I decided to stay up a bit, and charge the cell phone... yes they have an outlet near the sink where only one phone may be charged at a time, that too trickle charged. So charging cell phones was like the Indian govt's 5 year plan... at around two am, I received two messages. The first from Paddy - "Kini vmk boarded"; the second from Kini - "We guys on de train..... sooparaashile"

"Cool... six birdies in the hand one to go", I thought and as curled as much as I could on the middle berth and drifted off to sleep all excited about the adventure we were about to embark upon. Paddy words - "Jai Khardung La!" was echoing in the sleepy brain....

Leh 2007 - part II - Of leaking vents and a bored freshie...