First things first, I must pat myself in the back for actually getting up early and managing to leave the house at a reasonable hour. I am not to be confused at any level with a morning person and so the 15 minutes I sacrificed in the morning is really intangible.
Anywhoo, I started out at around 6.55 and went to the main road to catch an auto. With my expert bargaining skills, a rate of Rs.90 was fixed. When I picked up my friend on the way, she clearly told me that it was like 20-30 bucks more than the current market rate. What really irked me more was the fact that the seats in the auto were quite torn and the apparition called the meter was skinned and the PCB was visible. I should have taken up my friend's offer of having her husband drop us at the station!
After we reached the station, we got the II Class tickets to our destination. We went to the platform and were greeted by the arrival of a train within a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, this one was going to stop at Tambaram, which meant that we would have had to alight and board the correct train from another platform. So we decided to wait for the next one scheduled to arrive in 10 minutes.
Frequent users of the EMU service would be aware of various signs on the platform which indicate where special compartments like I Class and the ones for Ladies would come up. We were actually standing near a sign that said Ladies. So my friend and I moved a bit farther down, hoping we would have a normal compartment stop in front of us.
But the driver who brought along that next train, had different ideas. I think he overshot his position and when the train stopped the ladies compartment was right in front of us. We also realised that the train was generally crowded and we had to board somewhere quickly. I asked my friend to board the Ladies compartment and I would go ahead with the next general one. But she decided to give me company and we headed to the general compartment.
Since we were running short of time, we decided to quickly board the first entrance we saw. As luck would have it, we entered the Vendors section. Even before we saw anything, there was this whiff of fresh air, I am sorry, fish air, that hit us. The bloody rake was filled with the morning's catch of all sorts of fish and the whole place STANK. I was actually afraid that I would lose all sense of smell henceforth and that I would start smelling like one and attract the attention of dogs and cats in my vicinity. So, at the 3rd station, we got out and boarded the next entrance.
This compartment too was quite smelly with BO, but in perspective, I felt like I had entered a lavender garden. While standing, I did experience quite a lot of pushing and shoving for people to move from place to place. Also, there was this constant feeling that someone was staring at me from close quarters and more often than not, my peripheral vision seemed to justify it.
We got seats after a few more stations and after that the travel was quite manageable. After we reached our destination, we got the return tickets as well, so that we wouldn't have to stand at the ticket counter that evening and considering the downpour in the evening, it was a brilliant move.
The evening trip started off quite auspiciously with a cloudy sky becoming a rainy sky during the time it took me to buy a pack of Good Day biscuits and a bar of Coffee Bite. I also got a broken umbrella in the Food Court and it practically ensured that I got wetter than would have been the case if I didn't have an umbrella.
The 10 minute wait at the platform was also a fairly wet one. Luckily a couple of more friends and an indirect boss of mine were all together and so the 10 minutes went by in just 600 seconds.
Once the train approached, all of us took up strategic positions and boarded the compartment nearest to us. Lo behold, this one was crowded already and we could only stand! The regular and frequent users were very perplexed with the situation and attributed it to "visitors" like me.
We were joined in the compartment by a group of migrant workers. One of the guys was in a totally wasted condition and actually smelt of varnish! He started smoking a beedi and when reprimanded, started hollering about the rich and poor and what not. Due to his inebriated state, none of what he said was coherent. Luckily, wiser counsel prevailed from his more sober wife who quietened him down.
But, I didn't get a seat for the whole trip and if it were not for the company I had, it would have been quite a boring trip. After we alighted at Guindy, my friends and I came out and booked an auto. Since they had better bargaining skills than yours truly, they managed to catch hold of an auto for Rs70 and the trip included a drop at Indra Nagar en route to Besant Nagar!
Tomorrow, I am going to travel by First Class at least one way and see how that section is going to impact my travel experience.
Costs:
Auto morning : Rs. 45.00 (shared)
Train ticket morning: Rs. 7.00
Train ticket evening: Rs. 7.00
Auto evening : Rs. 30.00 (shared)
Total = Rs. 89.00
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