Gandhiji is known to have said, one sees the true India when one travels the countrin a train as he did on the instruction of Gopalkrishna Gokhale. How true is it, no one is there to confirm for sure, but it is as Prof Varadesh often says - the quote may not be a Gandhian principle... But it surely is Gandhian in principle.
I left off last night at Samartha and how we got to talking having broken the ice through the Jagriti Yatra. We had a lot in common and got along quite well. Actually there are a lot of people who I met in the run up to the Yatra, who have become good friends over time.
One such individual, is Neeraj Pandey, an IAS Aspirant who was part of the 2010 Yatra who I met in Takshashila. To be honest it was his advice that went a long way in getting me the scholarship for the Yatra.
"You're the champion of last minute work... You will do it," Shobha madam had commenter on my exasperation of not having packed... Might as well. I came back home after having published Day 1's blog and started packing.
Every time I pack, I am reminded of Jerome K Jerome's "Packing for a Picnic", and much like the protagonists of that story, I end up unpacking the whole damn thing twice before I finalize everything I want to carry.
My ticket that was RAC got confirmed and upgraded to Sleeper 2 hours before the journey, and off I was... dressed in Red and Black, with the same colour code extending to my luggage! I would have liked to say I didn't plan it, but you and I would both know I was lying!
The Udupi Railway Station is one of those stations that usually has more dogs than people. Probably because Mangalore is quite close and more trains stop / start from there or because despite Udupi being quite small, has 3 railway stations in the district... But this afternoon, it was packed! There was barely any place to stand! The train was a tad bit late, though... Typical. My brother came to see me off and after my luggage was snugly packed onto the train, took his leave.
The journey to the journey, had begun!
Fortunately, or unfortunately, my co passengers in my compartment were Mr. Kamath and his family - Wife and two children. I don't know his name, but he was famous for being the owner of the Kamath Bicycle Repair shop, one that he inherited from the Kamath before him. It was a place you could find all the Kadiyali-Paniyadi boys together!
Why I crib about having to share compartments with acquaintances, is that then you're supposed to be on your best behavior, not eat a lot of junk, be obliged to eat what they offer you, even if you don't want to because they know your parents, indulge in needless chit-chat and not seem to distant and uninterested in conversation. Not that I would even otherwise, I am a proud champion safeguarding the Upadhyaya reputation, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to.
They were travelling to Mumbai as well, getting off at Kurla. It was a pleasant journey and I had a stream of well wishers wishing me the best for the Yatra and a thousand thoughts were racing in my head. I was overrun and overwhelmed with excitement!
I tried very hard; couldn't sleep. I had my dinner from RailYatri.in 'coz why not? I wanted to try everything... The night was spent partly listening to music and partly reading more content about the Yatra and being tensed about the train that lost a lot of time in transit making it up.
When in a train, expect the unexpected, and enroute the Yatra, expect it even more as I would come to learn the next day!
One such individual, is Neeraj Pandey, an IAS Aspirant who was part of the 2010 Yatra who I met in Takshashila. To be honest it was his advice that went a long way in getting me the scholarship for the Yatra.
"You're the champion of last minute work... You will do it," Shobha madam had commenter on my exasperation of not having packed... Might as well. I came back home after having published Day 1's blog and started packing.
Every time I pack, I am reminded of Jerome K Jerome's "Packing for a Picnic", and much like the protagonists of that story, I end up unpacking the whole damn thing twice before I finalize everything I want to carry.
My ticket that was RAC got confirmed and upgraded to Sleeper 2 hours before the journey, and off I was... dressed in Red and Black, with the same colour code extending to my luggage! I would have liked to say I didn't plan it, but you and I would both know I was lying!
The Udupi Railway Station is one of those stations that usually has more dogs than people. Probably because Mangalore is quite close and more trains stop / start from there or because despite Udupi being quite small, has 3 railway stations in the district... But this afternoon, it was packed! There was barely any place to stand! The train was a tad bit late, though... Typical. My brother came to see me off and after my luggage was snugly packed onto the train, took his leave.
The journey to the journey, had begun!
Fortunately, or unfortunately, my co passengers in my compartment were Mr. Kamath and his family - Wife and two children. I don't know his name, but he was famous for being the owner of the Kamath Bicycle Repair shop, one that he inherited from the Kamath before him. It was a place you could find all the Kadiyali-Paniyadi boys together!
Why I crib about having to share compartments with acquaintances, is that then you're supposed to be on your best behavior, not eat a lot of junk, be obliged to eat what they offer you, even if you don't want to because they know your parents, indulge in needless chit-chat and not seem to distant and uninterested in conversation. Not that I would even otherwise, I am a proud champion safeguarding the Upadhyaya reputation, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to.
They were travelling to Mumbai as well, getting off at Kurla. It was a pleasant journey and I had a stream of well wishers wishing me the best for the Yatra and a thousand thoughts were racing in my head. I was overrun and overwhelmed with excitement!
I tried very hard; couldn't sleep. I had my dinner from RailYatri.in 'coz why not? I wanted to try everything... The night was spent partly listening to music and partly reading more content about the Yatra and being tensed about the train that lost a lot of time in transit making it up.
When in a train, expect the unexpected, and enroute the Yatra, expect it even more as I would come to learn the next day!