Romancing with Indian Railways- Part Two.
Day before yesterday, I was watching Gulzar's Classic "Ijaazat", a beautiful movie. It is story of Mahendra who loves an eccentric yet intense Maya… but circumstances force him to marry his childhood friend Sudha, a very mature and balanced human being. Mahendra is torn apart between them- he loves them both; he feels responsible towards both; And yet he has no idea as how to maturely handle both these relationships. His immaturity takes a toll of his marriage and Sudha leaves Mahendra, forever. Forever!!!! till they meet once again on a rainy night at a Railway station. When they realized that it was not they who failed the relationship, but the circumstances… but found out that it was too late to revive their relationship, once again.
Ijaazat will always remain one of the most sensitive movies I have ever seen. It would be blasphemous for some, to even compare it with Casablanca (the greatest movie ever made, by Hollywood)… but I felt the same intensity of emotions, same sense of loss- after watching it. The more important thing is that these two forlorn and estranged lovers met at a Railway station…
I am yet to forget the opening scene of "Dil Se" – a Shahrukh Khan starrer, in which he meets Manisha Koirala in a stormy night at a deserted North Eastern India's Railway station. Or the closing scene of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge… in which Kajol rushes towards Shahrukh Khan and joins him in a moving train. (Incidentally, when I used to work at a place called Patalganga- I came across a photo studio, where some impromptu photos of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol were displayed… I asked the photographer about them and was told that DDLJ's closing scene was shot at a place called Apta Railway station… some 6-7 kilometers from my workplace. The next day itself I went to see that place… and relished being there).
Bollywood therefore draws a very intense simile from the Indian Railways. You would never see it drawing similar such similies from a wonderfully endowed European train… (Barring an Aishwarya Rai starrer "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", in which Aishwarya and her husband come close for the first time, while on an European train… and despite the fact that Aishwarya loved somebody else, she is drawn towards her husband). European trains draw an emotion of wonderment and desire… Indian trains draw an emotion of longing and a wish…. There is a difference between a desire and a wish.
One of the most intense emotions that I have ever felt was when I used to come from Kanpur to Allahabad… those were the days when I was deep in my first love… and she lived in Allahabad. I used to take Kalka Mail that left Kanpur at 2 in the afternoon and rush to Allahabad… and used to board the General compartment of the train sitting often at the foot board of the fast moving train… (Incidentally my favourite Hindi movie till date- Shahrukh Khan Starrer "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" has similar such scene in reverse, in which the heroine is coming back to her home town and the hero is rushing towards the railway station to receive her and singing along)
That night in Karjat… reopened the chapter of my experiences with Indian Railways… I started feeling the magic again… of even those moments bygone- when I was too alienated from it all and thus could never appreciate the magic.
For instance, going to Dehradun… in 1989, when the train passed through the deep forests of Rajaji National Park, there were many moments when I wished that the train stopped here and I just hop down and walk through the wilds…
Or when while coming to Allahabad from Kanpur by a night train, our train stopped in a non-descript railway station of Rasoolabad for an entire night… it was a chilly December night and ahead on the track an accident had occured … having nowhere to go, everybody huddled inside the train for the entire night… but a few daring among us went to the station started a bonfire and spent a night under open sky. I too did the same.
Or when in the summers of 1998, having graduated out of the Engineering college- I decided to pay a visit to all my good friends… before pushing off to the big bad world of earning a livelihood. I went to Dehradun, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Ghaziabad and Lucknow during this journey. It was during an intense North Indian summers, while coming from Bareilly to Lucknow… I felt very very thirsty…. My water bottle had finished and even though I tried my best to procure a new water bottle- there was none available… finally, I decided and alighted at Hardoi Railway Station…. Searched for water and boarded the next train… to Lucknow, after 8 hours… for all this while I stayed and slept on the Railway platform.
Or when I traveled from Bombay to Allahabad in a general compartment sleeping on the floor… or when I took a passenger train from Allahabad to Lucknow, and covered 200 kilometers in 15 hours… and became very friendly with a school teacher, we exchanged our addresses to keep in touch and then forgot all about each other.
Or when I used to commute between Jamnagar and Bombay every other weekend to meet my friends in Bombay… stay back for a day in Bombay and then use to rush back… and then one day, I just said "to hell with it"…. Alighted at Surat, stayed there for a day… then went to Vadodara stayed there for another day, went to Ahemdabad… stayed there for another day, Rajkot another day and then reached Jamnagar and feigned an illness to save my skin (Hahahahaha)
Having visited Karjat, I could appreciate all these moments in retrospect…. They all were magical moments… they all touched my life in a special way… Indian Railways, I realized is not a passive mode of transport… but somehow, our entire lives have evolved around it. We always consider it as a part of our life…
I was now ready to experience the uniqueness of it all
Ijaazat will always remain one of the most sensitive movies I have ever seen. It would be blasphemous for some, to even compare it with Casablanca (the greatest movie ever made, by Hollywood)… but I felt the same intensity of emotions, same sense of loss- after watching it. The more important thing is that these two forlorn and estranged lovers met at a Railway station…
I am yet to forget the opening scene of "Dil Se" – a Shahrukh Khan starrer, in which he meets Manisha Koirala in a stormy night at a deserted North Eastern India's Railway station. Or the closing scene of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge… in which Kajol rushes towards Shahrukh Khan and joins him in a moving train. (Incidentally, when I used to work at a place called Patalganga- I came across a photo studio, where some impromptu photos of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol were displayed… I asked the photographer about them and was told that DDLJ's closing scene was shot at a place called Apta Railway station… some 6-7 kilometers from my workplace. The next day itself I went to see that place… and relished being there).
Bollywood therefore draws a very intense simile from the Indian Railways. You would never see it drawing similar such similies from a wonderfully endowed European train… (Barring an Aishwarya Rai starrer "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", in which Aishwarya and her husband come close for the first time, while on an European train… and despite the fact that Aishwarya loved somebody else, she is drawn towards her husband). European trains draw an emotion of wonderment and desire… Indian trains draw an emotion of longing and a wish…. There is a difference between a desire and a wish.
One of the most intense emotions that I have ever felt was when I used to come from Kanpur to Allahabad… those were the days when I was deep in my first love… and she lived in Allahabad. I used to take Kalka Mail that left Kanpur at 2 in the afternoon and rush to Allahabad… and used to board the General compartment of the train sitting often at the foot board of the fast moving train… (Incidentally my favourite Hindi movie till date- Shahrukh Khan Starrer "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" has similar such scene in reverse, in which the heroine is coming back to her home town and the hero is rushing towards the railway station to receive her and singing along)
That night in Karjat… reopened the chapter of my experiences with Indian Railways… I started feeling the magic again… of even those moments bygone- when I was too alienated from it all and thus could never appreciate the magic.
For instance, going to Dehradun… in 1989, when the train passed through the deep forests of Rajaji National Park, there were many moments when I wished that the train stopped here and I just hop down and walk through the wilds…
Or when while coming to Allahabad from Kanpur by a night train, our train stopped in a non-descript railway station of Rasoolabad for an entire night… it was a chilly December night and ahead on the track an accident had occured … having nowhere to go, everybody huddled inside the train for the entire night… but a few daring among us went to the station started a bonfire and spent a night under open sky. I too did the same.
Or when in the summers of 1998, having graduated out of the Engineering college- I decided to pay a visit to all my good friends… before pushing off to the big bad world of earning a livelihood. I went to Dehradun, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Ghaziabad and Lucknow during this journey. It was during an intense North Indian summers, while coming from Bareilly to Lucknow… I felt very very thirsty…. My water bottle had finished and even though I tried my best to procure a new water bottle- there was none available… finally, I decided and alighted at Hardoi Railway Station…. Searched for water and boarded the next train… to Lucknow, after 8 hours… for all this while I stayed and slept on the Railway platform.
Or when I traveled from Bombay to Allahabad in a general compartment sleeping on the floor… or when I took a passenger train from Allahabad to Lucknow, and covered 200 kilometers in 15 hours… and became very friendly with a school teacher, we exchanged our addresses to keep in touch and then forgot all about each other.
Or when I used to commute between Jamnagar and Bombay every other weekend to meet my friends in Bombay… stay back for a day in Bombay and then use to rush back… and then one day, I just said "to hell with it"…. Alighted at Surat, stayed there for a day… then went to Vadodara stayed there for another day, went to Ahemdabad… stayed there for another day, Rajkot another day and then reached Jamnagar and feigned an illness to save my skin (Hahahahaha)
Having visited Karjat, I could appreciate all these moments in retrospect…. They all were magical moments… they all touched my life in a special way… Indian Railways, I realized is not a passive mode of transport… but somehow, our entire lives have evolved around it. We always consider it as a part of our life…
I was now ready to experience the uniqueness of it all
3 comments:
I happen to travel from Raourkela to Sambalpur in a passenger train, and the train had to make a long unscheduled halt at a non descrptive station (not able to recall the name).There was no platform,just a small tribal village nearby.It was lunch time and the villagers,did sell their home cooked food to the hungry passengers at a throw away price. Water was served free.Food was served in plates made out of leaves.True tribal style.This was a unique experience.
I envy you Subrat
Reminds me of the time I traveled from Kanpur to Allahabad in Kalka and Chauri Chaura express
:-)
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