Durontos of Railways

As Duronto left the Capital of the South, some in the train secured sms wishing them well for their long journey. The journey that would have taken close to 36 hrs and for some more than that to their final destination which went beyond the National Capital. The access to the paper suggested that the previous day was a scorcher and most stayed indoors. The residents had begun to live with this - and not moving out appeared to be the most appropriate response.
The Duronto was halting and gaining speed at close intervals and made me believe that Vijaywada may not be bang on target. As Vijaywada was in the vicinity the thoughts on meals looked to be justified and complete. Post meals, two Tamil boys posted themselves next to the place where meal boys were putting the meals on tray and discussed threadbare the meals they had and how limited it was. From the Tamil they spoke and what i could make out was on the rice quantity and how inappropriate it was to their tummy's demands. Their tummy that had no fill since morning as they left home when half of the city was on bed. The tamil boys, barely 10, could not help from elaborating that they looked forward to a complete snack failing which they would be forced to skip the night meals. Fast-unto-death wasn't the idea up their sleeves and what they intended to do was to lodge a formal protest. Protest, formal or informal, i could not keep a tab on, and this story of simmering discontent from the boys of South had a premature greying.
As i didn't leave my seat for the next six hours, the response to snacks served in the evening could not be ascertained.
As Duronto was making technical halts, no one dare get inside and no one dare venture out for long was the assumption that one carried with. Similar faces with similar demands, i noticed another gentleman hailing from the South repeatedly talking about travelling enticements (lollipops)being sent by travelling companies and how it looked not to be hurting their budget estimates. I, for one, wasn't keen and completed the day by hitting the bed early as the tummy could not afford to have any extra fill.
The next morning the family hailing from KKRI spoke about their 10-day-long sojourn in the North and how the hills of the South was an old chapter. Still the boss in the family was apprehensive about the package tour they had taken, knowing fully well that all commitments are not kept in entirety. THe first hurdle seem to be the taxi that was supposed to pick them up and with the train having reached the destination it was nowhere in sight. The plight, they were hopeful to get out of sooner than later. I wished them well and moved ahead.
As far as Duronto is concerned, it is something good to happen to the Indian Railways. First the waste in the the form of tea bags, milk/sugar pouch doesn't happen here as in the case of Rajdhanis/Shatabdis. As the train begins its journey, the tea is served much after the breakfast and that too in eco-friendly cups. One is comfortable with the meals in the afternoon and snacks in the evening and that is enough for one to skip the dinner. A suggestion for passengers and they need to bear this in mind: "If one's tummy is not demanding and is full, then one should avoid taking meals as they leave more than 50 per cent of food served go waste. PLease desist from doing this." Perhaps those looking for mini meals should be served instantly instead of letting them waste the entire food.
As for Duronto, the toilets need to be kept clean (if asking for squeaky cleanliness is too much) as the morning period sees most of them overflowing with the waste that the passengers leave. With taps running dry, the waste fails to get cleared. THere were enough people making rounds of the toilet time and again; some saddled with excessive hope and making rounds of the same toilet three times in a space of 30 minutes. Perhaps the sight of the human waste was too overwhelming for them.
Hope the water in the coaches are enough to not let this sight happen again. Some believe that there is a deliberate attempt to derail the Durontos. Never let this happen as it is the best mode to do Metro-hopping.