Home ›› 27 Feb 2023 ›› Opinion
Several times I have journeyed from Bangladesh to Kolkata by train but within India only once I went to Santiniketan in Bolpur from Howrah Railway Station by a chair coach train. I am used to sitting on chair during travel – be it a bus or a train. But this time I experienced something new in my life. I had never ever traveled by a sleeper train. It was February 15 when I was traveling to Patna of Bihar from Kolkata.
We were going to attend a seminar in Patna. It was an eight-member team – seven from Bangladesh and one from Kolkata. There were others but they left Kolkata during daytime. We were left behind as our tickets couldn’t be confirmed. So we were compelled to set off our journey at night by a sleeper coach train. I didn’t have even the slightest idea about how we were going to spend the night. During night journey I always doze on and off until I reach my destination. And I enjoy it the most. Always after a certain period of time when the bus comes to a stop for refreshment it is a kind of release from an imprisonment making it more enjoyable.
But we can’t do so when it is a train journey. I was given the idea that we were going to Patna by a sleeper coach where we could sleep if we wanted to do so. I seemed to be a bit stupid having no idea about a sleeper train. The train was on time. As we boarded our designated carriage of the train, to my surprise, I found no chair to sit on. A milling crowd of passengers began to move inside the carriage along the narrow corridor. A cacophony of confused instructions of the seat allotments made it more uncomfortable for me. I was taking time to understand who was saying what. I was trying to understand where my seat was. After the train began to rumble forward with chugga chugga choo choo I flopped down in a corner of the bottom bunk where someone had already started snoring.
By the time the TT (traveling ticket examiner) came and he settled the problem. I stood up to see around only to find not even an inch where I could sit or stand alone to relax. It was an air-conditioned carriage – not bad at all for those we can sleep as soon as they find a place to lie down. But for me it became a prison cell. Out of the eight of us some have already preparing to get a good night’s sleep. The carriage probably had six to seven bays. Each bay has six bunk beds. On either side there were three bunk beds – one over the other. There are two more bunk beds along the narrow strip of the corridor.
I kept standing in the corridor. The night seemed much longer than any ordinary one. My team member couldn’t sleep because of my tenacity. I was drained and exhausted after two days of journey from Bangladesh to Kolkata and again from Kolkata to Patna. My legs began to betray. I could no longer hold on. Finally I gave in. My bunk was the middle one. There was a little ladder attached to the bunks from the side of the corridor. Now I would have to climb up the ladder to reach my bed. Little did I know how time did fly! By now it was about 3am. I clumsily climbed up the ladder on all my fours and somehow crumpled myself on to the bunk bed. The headroom was not enough to sit comfortably. Only one option was there and that was to lie down. Being helpless I lay down and huddled under the blanket provided by the train authorities as it was shivering cold inside because of powerful air conditioner.
As the train moved on, I fell into a trance amid whistle, rumble and squeal. After a while a deafening silence descended upon the carriage. I fell fast asleep for almost two and a half an hour to the rhythmic sound of the moving train. I was up with a startle when one of my teammate woke me up. I thought it was the end of the nightmare. But still there was more in store for me. After a three-day stay in Patna I decided not to go to Kolkata by sleeper train. As I was adamant the organizers of the seminar bought me a bus ticket saying it would be a comfortable journey but with a little bit more time. Now I know they also don’t have much idea about the bus journey from Patana to Kolkata as they mostly make their journey by train. To my utter frustration, this time too I boarded a sleeper bus instead of a sleeper train. The ordeal I had to go through was much more than I experienced in the train. Before I boarded the bus I heard it would take 14 hours while the train took nine hours. But in reality the bus took long 16 hours. It was like I was thrown into a fire out of the frying pan.
When I got off the bus at Babughat in Kolkata I thought I got a new lease of life. After a tea I began to trudge along the Kolkata streets towards New Market area for my bus ticket for Bangladesh. As I was shuffling forward finally it dawned upon me that train in Kolkata is popular for mainly two reasons – it’s cheaper and takes less time than bus. It was a bad experience for me but for those who have to shuttle between two provinces of India several times a month is much more comfortable both in terms of money and time.
Finally, as I compared the two ways of communications I liked the train journey. In our country we are installing metro rail in the capital but if we can develop a railway network across the country it will be a lot easier and cheaper for people to go from one place to another, especially for the poor section of people. We need to put more focus on waterways and railways rather than the bus route that always charges people much more than railways.
The writer is a journalist. He can be contacted at maksud.i.rahaman@gmail.com
