AC Chair Car

When I was living at Ahmedabad, occasionally I used to travel to Mumbai for job interviews or for visiting my relatives.  All these journeys were by second / sleeper class train.  I had never travelled by an air-conditioned coach.  I always had a strong desire to travel by an AC coach, which was costly.  Once I managed to save enough for a Mumbai-Ahmedabad AC ticket.  During my next visit to Mumbai, I reserved AC Chair Car ticket by Karnatavi Express for the return journey.  Karnavati Express is a day train connecting Ahmedabad to Mumbai.  It leaves Ahmedabad early in the morning, reaches Mumbai by noon and returns to Ahmedabad the same night.

I was eagerly looking forward to the journey.  On the day of journey, I reached Mumbai Central Station well in advance.  I was really excited that I was about to travel by an air-conditioned coach.  I was wearing the best dress I had.  I bought Times of India and few English magazines.  After all, I was travelling by an AC coach, and I had to match the level of that class!  As I was entering the station, I heard an announcement, ‘Kind attention of the passengers travelling to Ahmedabad by Karnavati Express.  Due to some technical reason, AC Chair Car coach number C3 is not attached to the train today.  Instead, a second-class sitting coach, S15, has been attached.  Passengers travelling by C3 may please collect the fare difference from counter no.10.  The inconvenience is regretted’.  I pulled out my ticket - Yes, my reservation was in C3!  With a fallen face, I collected the fare difference and moved towards the second-class coach.  With lot of jealousy, I looked at those getting into the other two AC coaches – C1 and C2.  Meanwhile, the railway authorities were repeating the announcement in Hindi as well as Marathi!

Few months later I had to visit Mumbai again for attending a written test.  Again, I reserved the return ticket by AC Chair Car on Karnavati Express.  Since my ticket from Ahmedabad to Mumbai on the previous night was not confirmed, I had to travel the whole night by sitting, which was very uncomfortable.  I reached Mumbai in the morning and went straight to the test centre.  Due to some reason, the test got delayed.  When I came out, I barely had time to reach the railway station.  I quickly jumped into a taxi and asked him to rush me to Mumbai Central.  Wading through Mumbai’s traffic, when he dropped me in front of the station, it was almost the time for the train to depart.  I ran into the station.  From a distance itself I could see - there was no train on the platform.  I thought I had missed the train.  But the platform was full of people.  When I reached the platform, to my relief, I came to know that the train coming from Ahmedabad had not reached yet.  All trains from Ahmedabad were delayed due to derailment of a goods train near Vadodara.  Karnavati Express would arrive by 4.30 pm, I was told.  I had three more hours at my disposal.  So, I enjoyed a sumptuous lunch at a nearby restaurant.  The heavy meal and previous night’s lack of sleep made me slumberous.  I bought that day’s Times of India.  (No, this time it was not for reading in the train!) I moved to a relatively silent corner of the platform, spread the paper, and slept off.  After a while, I was awakened by the siren of a train.  It was not my train anyway.  Finally, Karnavati Express arrived at 5.30 pm.  Yes, the AC coach was very much there.  I jumped into the train and made myself comfortable on the cushioned seat, that too a window seat!  But, within few minutes of the train departing, the comfort of air-conditioning made it difficult for me to keep my eyes open.  I slept through almost the entire journey.  Past midnight when I got down at Ahmedabad Junction, though I didn’t enjoy it fully, one of my long-standing desires was fulfilled!

Roomies!

In September 1996 I moved from Kochi to Ahmedabad to join IIM. Throughout my school/college days I was a day scholar. So, I had never lived away from home till then. Initially I stayed with my cousin at Ahmedabad for a week. He was working for Airports Authority and was living at Sardar Nagar, near Ahmedabad Airport, which was far from IIM. So, I kept searching for accommodation near the campus. One day Chinnam Reddy, a colleague at IIM, told me that one of his room mates had vacated and I could join them. He took me to his place and showed around. It was a two-room accommodation on the first floor of a building near Vijay Char Rasta. There was a small balcony and a terrace. Along with Chinnam, two more were living there – Venkatraman, an officer at Corporation Bank and Pankaj Nautiyal, an executive in a private firm. I liked the place and told him that I would move the next weekend.

As planned, I reached the place with my luggage on Sunday morning. Chinnam introduced me to Venkat and Pankaj. I was not sure how I would adjust to the new circumstances. I told them I had some work in the city and left the place. I didn’t have anything specific to due. It was the initial difficulty of adjusting in a new place and the apprehensions of living away from home that made me come out. I moved around the city the whole day and returned by evening. To my surprise, all the three were waiting for me to take me out for a dinner as a welcome gesture! I was really touched by this. I told them I would be ready in fifteen minutes. Venkar Bhai (that’s how we called him as he was the eldest in the group) asked Chinnam and Pankaj to leave immediately to the restaurant and he waited for me to get ready. I didn’t know why those two had to go early. When we reached Topaz, a popular restaurant at Panjrapole, I realised why the two had left early. There was a big crowd in front of the restaurant waiting for their turn. There was a tall fat man standing at the entrance with a writing pad in his hand. People were supposed to reserve seats with him and as the tables got empty, he would call people inside! We had a sumptuous dinner that night. It was just the beginning of a wonderful camaraderie that lasted for almost two years.

We used to head to our workplaces in the morning and hardly got anytime to talk to each other in the mornings. It was in the evenings that we used to spend time together. We used to search for new food joints for dinner. We went straight to the terrace after the dinner with a small transistor radio. ‘Vividhbharti’ was our favorite station and the legendary Ameen Sayani, our favorite anchor. Sunday was meant for cleaning. Mostly we used to have only tea and biscuits on Sunday mornings from a nearby ‘chaiwala’. After cleaning the house and washing clothes, we used to head for a heavy lunch, followed by a siesta!

We represented various parts of this country – Chinnam Reddy from Hyderabad, Venkat Bhai from Chennai, Pankaj from Himachal, and I from Kochi. A mixture of Telugu, Tamil, Pahari, and Malayalam! So, we spoke mostly in Hindi or English. Disproving all my apprehensions, I thoroughly enjoyed their company. The two years that I had spent with them remains fresh in my memory. Unfortunately, I lost contact with Venkat Bhai and Pankaj after I moved out of Ahmedabad. Chinnam is in touch with me.

Forget mobile phones, none of us even had a still camera. So, I don’t have even a single picture of those days. A small idol of Ganesha gifted by Venkat Bhai adorns my pooja room even today and a pocket dictionary gifted by them on my birthday continues to be on my office table!