The ride atop AP Sampark Kranti from Tirupati
Had the railway personnel in Tirumala reservation centre guided me well i would taken a tatkal three AC ticket and secured a confirmed berth. Not just me even passengers, who wished to go to Howrah and other places, failed to get the right response. So with no answers on GT Express, Tamil Nadu Express and other trains leaving from Chennai and Bangalore, the right to secure a ticket was settled with AP Sampark Kranti heading towards New Delhi (Hazrat Nizamuddin is the final stop).
Friday morning after spending some time in temple and roundabout, at around 3:08 am i left Tirumala. Around four i was in Tirupati railway station. To my surprise the ticket with waiting list below 5 showed the final status as w/l 3. And here the chart showed that those with waiting list above 60 had seats confirmed in three AC. I was a fool to not secure a 3AC ticket and went to the waiting hall in Tirupati station. I was in a dilemma on whether to proceed or get a refund. THere a nun was waiting who had been deprived of her luggage and probably had a close shave. I could not figure out the entire story. All i could make out was one gentleman who was waiting in the hall with his family had offered her some help. I stepped out of the hall and decided to get a view from TTE or any other personnel. There a lady was sitting in the railway room and guided me to go the next room which are occupied by TTEs. I told the TTE that i came from a journalistic background and at the moment being an independent writer. Other passengers too came and sought the views of two TTEs present there. After going through the chart one finally told me to take any seat in any sleeper class coach and at eight in the morning they would try to inform me about the status.
At least with sleeper status i boarded the train where there were fewer and fewer passengers. Apprehensive about losing the baggage still i took a seat near the entrance/exit gate as TTE would be able to place me whenever he takes a round. The train which was supposed to depart from Tirupati just before six in the morning departed at 6.05 am. At Renigunta some pantry boys emerged and took seats adjacent to mine and some among them getting down to wash the utensil in which they stored and served tea. Here in Renigunta one gentleman took a seat. Hailing from insurance background he was leafing through papers and attending to some cell calls.At Cuddapah a family of five took seats next to mine. The Renigunta Insurance gentleman went for a shave and a partial bath and came out in new clothes. He got down at Yerraguntla and i wished him well .
Queries to TTE on my success in getting a confirmed seat were met with responses like senior tte has the power and he has deployed the junior tte to spread the message that first the waiting and RAC of the 3AC would be cleared and then and then only i can hope to get a seat. At Tadipatri station another gentleman came in; perhaps a priest and heading towards Secundarabad. After some time both this priest and a family of five had adjusted. The family of five had one mother, husband-wife duo and two daughters. By no means they looked unsettled but considering the youthful exuberance of the husband (maturity had yet to sink in), things may have to be controlled at a later stage. During this period i took an opportunity to have ice and the view outside was enticing enough in the sense that i could stay longer in the coach had there been no more additions. With more confirmed seatwallahs coming in, time was ripe to move to an upper berth and take a nap.
Just before one in the afternoon, the junior TTE informed me that senior TTE has been able to find a seat in 3AC. I went to him and he was mulling over how to hand me a seat with no benefits coming from my side. Finally he gave the seat with the considered view that no consideration would be considered. Here one needs to stress that passengers are to be blamed for ameliorated status of TTEs . And passengers should do a rethink before handing any consideration. I still consider myself lucky that somehow after a wait which on occasions endure and sometimes not leading to a furor i get a seat which others may not be lucky enough to secure. Still the best bet to travel is when you have a confirmed seat and nothing else to unravel.
The seat i got was in B1 5 and here one gentleman requested me to take 12 as he was in a group and heading towards SEcundarabad. I took seat 12 which had in its visible vicinity the mother-daughter duo, with some degree of reservations though not expressed by the mother on taking my seat. As i was about to take meals, the train attendant a young boy from the North showed his reflexes and sought my temerity to seek linen and bedroll when i am occupying another seat.. Meal was best to be given to a needy and i told that a complaint can be lodged. Though i would never like to do that but those meant to serve passengers need not be on a short fuse. When the train reached Secundarabad- there are umpteen number of local stations on the way- the group got down and in came a family probably residing in Mumbai.
From Secundarabad a new TTE had emerged trying to engage those who were running after him. Late in the night somehow he came to know that seat no. 5 had not been allotted and asked me to furnish the ticket. Satisfied that proper and due entry had been made he tried to reach out to those who were trying to reach seats that they hadn't been tried and tested. Conversations revealed the gentleman from Mumbai happen to do some business and the wife more clued to the net in the morning at home. He was able to gain some sleep only after two in the morning when the train left Nagpur. In Bhopal they got down along with another young boy who happened to visit them though his seat was somewhere else. All along the journey this boy had narratives on trying air and the fares that did not tear. Few would agree with that. More got down in Bhopal and in came Khurana who disclosed he too worked for the media. In Secundarabad another lad had taken this coach with the belief that the seat that would be handed out to him once he made the TTE speak to a gentleman stationed in Secundarabad Station which was by no means a den. Late in the night the two spoke and soaked in the benefits that accrue from those travelling with general clue.
When the train reached Gwalior this lad from SEcundarabad landed near us and tried to engage in a conversation that showed no stress. In Agra he got down and the parting shot conveyed that life is all about planting people at different destinations who try to portray the paper and its site creation. By now Khurana had completed his share of sleep and talking about Punjab and where politicos are never at the bottom of heap. Recently held polls and scenarios were discussed and the mediaman by no means looked to be puzzled. There was another old couple amidst us who happenn to hail from Tadipatri. The gentleman spoke about the cement factories and limestone deposits in Andhra. THe couple was heading towards Uttaranchal. In the evening AP Sampark Kranti reached Hazrat Nizamuddin.
THis odyssey to the South was memorable for the innumerable occasions i came across entities which were a picture of delight and discipline.
Had the railway personnel in Tirumala reservation centre guided me well i would taken a tatkal three AC ticket and secured a confirmed berth. Not just me even passengers, who wished to go to Howrah and other places, failed to get the right response. So with no answers on GT Express, Tamil Nadu Express and other trains leaving from Chennai and Bangalore, the right to secure a ticket was settled with AP Sampark Kranti heading towards New Delhi (Hazrat Nizamuddin is the final stop).
Friday morning after spending some time in temple and roundabout, at around 3:08 am i left Tirumala. Around four i was in Tirupati railway station. To my surprise the ticket with waiting list below 5 showed the final status as w/l 3. And here the chart showed that those with waiting list above 60 had seats confirmed in three AC. I was a fool to not secure a 3AC ticket and went to the waiting hall in Tirupati station. I was in a dilemma on whether to proceed or get a refund. THere a nun was waiting who had been deprived of her luggage and probably had a close shave. I could not figure out the entire story. All i could make out was one gentleman who was waiting in the hall with his family had offered her some help. I stepped out of the hall and decided to get a view from TTE or any other personnel. There a lady was sitting in the railway room and guided me to go the next room which are occupied by TTEs. I told the TTE that i came from a journalistic background and at the moment being an independent writer. Other passengers too came and sought the views of two TTEs present there. After going through the chart one finally told me to take any seat in any sleeper class coach and at eight in the morning they would try to inform me about the status.
At least with sleeper status i boarded the train where there were fewer and fewer passengers. Apprehensive about losing the baggage still i took a seat near the entrance/exit gate as TTE would be able to place me whenever he takes a round. The train which was supposed to depart from Tirupati just before six in the morning departed at 6.05 am. At Renigunta some pantry boys emerged and took seats adjacent to mine and some among them getting down to wash the utensil in which they stored and served tea. Here in Renigunta one gentleman took a seat. Hailing from insurance background he was leafing through papers and attending to some cell calls.At Cuddapah a family of five took seats next to mine. The Renigunta Insurance gentleman went for a shave and a partial bath and came out in new clothes. He got down at Yerraguntla and i wished him well .
Queries to TTE on my success in getting a confirmed seat were met with responses like senior tte has the power and he has deployed the junior tte to spread the message that first the waiting and RAC of the 3AC would be cleared and then and then only i can hope to get a seat. At Tadipatri station another gentleman came in; perhaps a priest and heading towards Secundarabad. After some time both this priest and a family of five had adjusted. The family of five had one mother, husband-wife duo and two daughters. By no means they looked unsettled but considering the youthful exuberance of the husband (maturity had yet to sink in), things may have to be controlled at a later stage. During this period i took an opportunity to have ice and the view outside was enticing enough in the sense that i could stay longer in the coach had there been no more additions. With more confirmed seatwallahs coming in, time was ripe to move to an upper berth and take a nap.
Just before one in the afternoon, the junior TTE informed me that senior TTE has been able to find a seat in 3AC. I went to him and he was mulling over how to hand me a seat with no benefits coming from my side. Finally he gave the seat with the considered view that no consideration would be considered. Here one needs to stress that passengers are to be blamed for ameliorated status of TTEs . And passengers should do a rethink before handing any consideration. I still consider myself lucky that somehow after a wait which on occasions endure and sometimes not leading to a furor i get a seat which others may not be lucky enough to secure. Still the best bet to travel is when you have a confirmed seat and nothing else to unravel.
The seat i got was in B1 5 and here one gentleman requested me to take 12 as he was in a group and heading towards SEcundarabad. I took seat 12 which had in its visible vicinity the mother-daughter duo, with some degree of reservations though not expressed by the mother on taking my seat. As i was about to take meals, the train attendant a young boy from the North showed his reflexes and sought my temerity to seek linen and bedroll when i am occupying another seat.. Meal was best to be given to a needy and i told that a complaint can be lodged. Though i would never like to do that but those meant to serve passengers need not be on a short fuse. When the train reached Secundarabad- there are umpteen number of local stations on the way- the group got down and in came a family probably residing in Mumbai.
From Secundarabad a new TTE had emerged trying to engage those who were running after him. Late in the night somehow he came to know that seat no. 5 had not been allotted and asked me to furnish the ticket. Satisfied that proper and due entry had been made he tried to reach out to those who were trying to reach seats that they hadn't been tried and tested. Conversations revealed the gentleman from Mumbai happen to do some business and the wife more clued to the net in the morning at home. He was able to gain some sleep only after two in the morning when the train left Nagpur. In Bhopal they got down along with another young boy who happened to visit them though his seat was somewhere else. All along the journey this boy had narratives on trying air and the fares that did not tear. Few would agree with that. More got down in Bhopal and in came Khurana who disclosed he too worked for the media. In Secundarabad another lad had taken this coach with the belief that the seat that would be handed out to him once he made the TTE speak to a gentleman stationed in Secundarabad Station which was by no means a den. Late in the night the two spoke and soaked in the benefits that accrue from those travelling with general clue.
When the train reached Gwalior this lad from SEcundarabad landed near us and tried to engage in a conversation that showed no stress. In Agra he got down and the parting shot conveyed that life is all about planting people at different destinations who try to portray the paper and its site creation. By now Khurana had completed his share of sleep and talking about Punjab and where politicos are never at the bottom of heap. Recently held polls and scenarios were discussed and the mediaman by no means looked to be puzzled. There was another old couple amidst us who happenn to hail from Tadipatri. The gentleman spoke about the cement factories and limestone deposits in Andhra. THe couple was heading towards Uttaranchal. In the evening AP Sampark Kranti reached Hazrat Nizamuddin.
THis odyssey to the South was memorable for the innumerable occasions i came across entities which were a picture of delight and discipline.
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