I.N.spired - Agony

03/01/09:

It was 5am when an announcement was made that our train had finally arrived. By then, the damage was done. For 2 hours, Faruq and I huddled on a bench on the platform, struggling to catch some much-needed rest. Unfortunately, the cold was unforgiving. It wasn’t until 3am that we managed to find shelter in awaiting room which was partially vacated when an earlier train arrived. So there we were, trudging our heavy load and feet to the platform to board the Marudhar Express in the dead of the morning, somewhat glad that Varanasi was within reach. But that hope should have came with a warning sign.

The thick fog made it almost impossible for the train to go ahead at full steam. It took the train 11 hours to reach Lucknow, the midway point between Agra and Varanasi. To make things worst, due to the gross delay, the train was cancelled for the night and we had to transfer to another carriage to make the rest of the trip. The confusion landed us in a seating cabin, together with Hugo and Marilyna, a French couple whom we met on board the Marudhar. Fatigued and shivering from the cold, we had to endure backaches and claustrophobia as the train chugged along for the rest of the journey. We finally disembarked at our destination at 2am the next morning.

To be fair, the bleakest hours after leaving Agra were occasionally sprinkled with moments of posterity. While onboard the Marudhar, I managed to catch some good rest in the sleeper cabin. What wasn’t as pleasant was my encounter with a guard who caught me smoking between carriages. In my defense, I had no idea that smoking was not allowed as 1. I did not see any no-smoking sign and 2. other foreigners did the same as well. It was a case of bad karma as I was smoking alone then. The guard threatened to slap me with a heavy fine or throw me into jail! Naturally, I was badly shaken, confronted by a rifle-slung burly Hindustani who spoke not a single word of English. I pleaded for leniency and innocence. To this, he tried to show me no-smoking signs pasted generously on the cabin walls, which could potentially ruin my argument, but luck was on my side as all the posters were badly defaced and he had to take me to no less than 3 carriages away before we came across a decent sign. By then, he figured that he would probably be at the loosing end and so referred me to a colleague who spoke some English. He explained that smoking on board carried a heavy penalty but after explaining my situation, he relented and I escaped scot-free. That was definitely a close call.

What was a God-bless was the dirt cheap street-side food. We were forewarned not to consume any anywhere in India but after at least 4 vegetable samosas and 3 cups of chai from traveling vendors, we wish to debunk that caution – yes you may enjoy local treats, but only with a serious doze of gungho and a generous sprinkle of humour.