Travel Mixups

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GRR was a wonderfully sportive employee of IIT KGP. He had gone to his in-law's place at Waltair (Vizagh) and was to return to KGP by the 3 Up Madras-Howrah Mail boarding post-lunch at 2 PM.

Having had a hectic and tiring schedule at Waltair, he slept off as soon as he settled down in the side-upper berth #32 in the S-4 Sleeper Coach. After a couple of hours he was woken up by an irate passenger who claimed that GRR was occupying the berth reserved for him. And GRR got angry and asked him to get lost. Eventually the TTE was brought in by the irate customer. TTE asked GRR to show him his ticket. GRR fished it out of his back pocket, threw it on the TTE's face, and turned the other side.

TTE then burst out laughing and said: "You better get down quick before the train leaves Samalkot".

GRR jumped down and asked TTE: "Is this not Srikakulam?"

And rushed down to verify it was not. And he scrambled and got down and returned to Waltair by the next train and landed up at his in-law's place at midnight. And, after the door opened he growled: "Food and Bed!".

Next morning he narrated his tale of woe how he thought he boarded 3 Up while what he in fact boarded turned out to be 4 Dn Howrah-Madras Mail...the Up and Dn trains arrive and leave Waltair around the same time...

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When I narrated this tale to Kedar, he wasn't surprised.

Apparently Kedar was going home to Bombay by the Gitanjali Express in the evening after his 7th Semester Exams. And he was late and rushed into his S3 compartment, settled down in his upper berth, wondering but not inquiring why it was rather unusually empty. And slept off dreaming of whatever IITian students dream after their 7th Sem Exams. After a couple of hours, he was rudely woken up by the Railway Sweeper asking him to get down before the train leaves for the Loco Shed at Santragachi.

Kedar boarded the wrong Gitanjali and had to return to Bombay without reservation in a General Compartment, reaching home after 3 good days and looking, as he said, like one of those singers singing: "eh raath bhigi bhigi..", and asking for 'compensation', declining anything less than a whole rupee coin.

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My friend Tyagi, a clone of Thurber's Walter Mitty, the one who tried to enter New Empire thrice looking for Lighthouse, had a far better time. See below, where he was labeled Dr B (3-in-1):

http://gpsastry.blogspot.com/2011/04/dr-b.html

During the 1960s, when the only Airline plying in India was the IA, air travel was the prestigious prerogative of the forbiddingly rich...it was so costly that only folks on Government Duty and the filthy rich could afford it. And there was no quick way to reach Far-East India except by air. IIT JEE had an exam center at Gauhati. And the Faculty Member chosen to go there carrying the Question Papers and Answer Scripts in a doubly sealed steel trunk had the unique privilege of flying there by IA at IIT expense.

And so there was a terrific rush for the job. Since Tyagi was an IITian (ME, NH), he managed to get chosen once. And he reached Dum Dum airport just in time, booked the steel trunk to Gauhati, ran into the tarmac and boarded the flight just as it was preparing to take off, wondering why the Dum Dum-Gauhati carrier that day was small and almost empty. But happy to get the exclusive attention of the comely air-hostess for an hour (he was as cute as Cupid).

And when he was escorted to the ladder he asked her how best to go to the Gauhati University.

And she swooned and got up after a good 2 minutes and said that they had arrived at Bagdogra, the gateway Airport to Darjeeling.

Since it was as much her mistake as his,Tyagi was given free lunch and drinks at the airport and put back at Dum Dum by the return flight and forwarded from there to Gauhati with an escort to see that he boards the right flight this time around.

The steel trunk reached Gauhati safe before he did...

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What's that again?

For the last six months our local Supermarket here didn't bother to have allocated trays for various vegetables and customers had to hunt where aloo is and where banana; and there were complaints to organize it better. Today, the Manager woke up and stuck big, bold, and beautiful stickers naming all the various vegetables on strictly allotted trays. The long one that I wanted badly was spelled:

SNACK GUARD

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