I am not sure when I fell in love with trains, particularly Indian trains. I could recall my dad taking me to Erode junction when I was 3 to watch massive broad gauge steam engines loose shut coaches. It was his way of baby sitting. My train travels started even before I was born, 2 months before birth, my mother took the meter gauge train on the main line from the foot of the Western Ghats in Kallidaikurichi to Cauvery delta town of Sirkazhi. I would hear stories when flipping through my parents' wedding pictures, my parents and grand parents posing in the station with wooden boxes (call trunks) with loads of packaged food items for the journey. My first memorable train trip was with my uncles on a pilgrimage to Sabari Mala in Kerala. I was 4 and my parents quietly slipped me on Trivandrum mail after I fell asleep to avoid tamper tantrums at the station. When I woke up next morning from my middle berth in the 3 tier sleeper, the train was over a bridge on the backwaters and the tracks lined neatly by palm trees. I never missed my parents during that journey.
As an Indian loving trains is just normal. It touches most lives and trains were part of life. The 8am passenger train's steam hoot was a call to take a bath to be at school on time at 9am. The 6pm train was a reminder to get home after sunset. What makes me a train freak is that my first book and favorite to date is the railway time-table. My wife doesn't part with the camcorder when we are India. Instead of capturing relatives and friends we visit so rarely, I fill the tapes with trains , level crossings, bridges and engines. It even happened in Germany, tapes after tapes of train stations and engines.
What makes recollecting train travel experiences pleasant is the memories associated with it. Every trip has a story, a person who I met, relatives I traveled with and the food I ate at the stations. Most memorable one is the trip from Erode to New Delhi on Kerala express when I was 13, my brother 12 and my sister 8. Was a wonderful trip, first time crossing several states at a time. The people, language, food, geography and culture changes in front of ones eyes. The idlis at Tumkur, the Poori at Agra station, the vada at Vilupuram, the guava fruits on Vaigai express, omlette at Vijayawada junction, sandwiches on Dadar express just to name few. Travelling on trains brings back old memories and never fails to create new ones.
I have stories to tell, places to see, food to taste and people to meet. I am looking forward to my 'Around India in 18 trains' trip. Would be so much fun to be joined by train loving backpackers for new memories and some friends to relish old memories.
As an Indian loving trains is just normal. It touches most lives and trains were part of life. The 8am passenger train's steam hoot was a call to take a bath to be at school on time at 9am. The 6pm train was a reminder to get home after sunset. What makes me a train freak is that my first book and favorite to date is the railway time-table. My wife doesn't part with the camcorder when we are India. Instead of capturing relatives and friends we visit so rarely, I fill the tapes with trains , level crossings, bridges and engines. It even happened in Germany, tapes after tapes of train stations and engines.
What makes recollecting train travel experiences pleasant is the memories associated with it. Every trip has a story, a person who I met, relatives I traveled with and the food I ate at the stations. Most memorable one is the trip from Erode to New Delhi on Kerala express when I was 13, my brother 12 and my sister 8. Was a wonderful trip, first time crossing several states at a time. The people, language, food, geography and culture changes in front of ones eyes. The idlis at Tumkur, the Poori at Agra station, the vada at Vilupuram, the guava fruits on Vaigai express, omlette at Vijayawada junction, sandwiches on Dadar express just to name few. Travelling on trains brings back old memories and never fails to create new ones.
I have stories to tell, places to see, food to taste and people to meet. I am looking forward to my 'Around India in 18 trains' trip. Would be so much fun to be joined by train loving backpackers for new memories and some friends to relish old memories.
