Visiting Delhi Cantt. Station; deboarding at Palam
In a space of 12 days have had the opportunity to visit Delhi Cantt. Railway station on two different occasions. The DTC bus i took and the breakneck speed at which it ran showed utter disregard for traffic rules. Given the VIP movement in the city it took a route that is rarely taken and overtaking different set of vehicles that is not always experienced the ride to the station was completed in a record time. Mind you, majority of Orange colour buses which run under DTC scheme too believe in fast ride and these traffic violators deserve a thumbs-down, not traffic adherents. Reaching in a record time we would have abhorred given the least regard for traffic rules. A faulty air conditioning that it had not been able to set it right over a period of time showed the haste at which these air conditioned vehicles were procured.
The first visit to the station coincided with sighting of passengers bound for Rewari in Haryana. There were some making queries about a train coming from Jaisalmer and heading towards Howrah. The passengers for Howrah bound train were few and far. There are at the most three platforms at the station and except for platform one all were a deserted look given the limited arrivals and departures. At no point of time puddles of water could be found in the station premises as is seen in some of the major and local stations of the city.
The tea that was sought and the tea that was secured, there was a world of difference. A black tea could not be gained given the water that was boiled already had milk added to it. Came across a guy taking coaching for a medical seat. Held once a year the All India Pre Medical Test is a national level exam for admission to 2200 MBBS and 300 BDS seats at over 100 government medical and 30 dental colleges. It tests the calibre of students and only dedicated and serious ones can find mention in the list of those who got it through. As for his chances this guy believed steady coaching can help him to cross the barrier. Came across a father-son duo headed towards Ahmedabad. The son was of the opinion that doing a degree course from a college in the North would be a prudent move. They were residents of Gandhinagar which has large stretches of greenery.
The second visit saw me make a query about a train bound for Sarai Rohilla. After a wait of few minutes i board a local train coming from Rewari and headed towards Old Delhi. I came across two guys hailing from Bihar settled in Palam and trying to gain access to Old Delhi area. The two spoke about slew of news channel and how appropriate or inappropriate were the news they beam. Those who joined the conversation agreed that high decibel debate did not cut much ice and what was left to pore over was nothing but a tale of high sounding men and women participants.
I deboarded at Sarai Rohilla and headed to a tea centre outside the railway station. Later i returned to the railway station and saw the platform teeming with passengers headed towards Rajasthan and Gujarat. With a general ticket in hand i waited for a local train as the ride in a sleeper coach would have meant a penalty of no less than 500rs. There was a gentleman born and brought up in Gurgaon who time and again reminded me to try my luck in a sleeper coach as the ride to Gurgaon station was not a long journey. Still it would have taken over 40 minutes and I disagreed with him and so did others. This gentleman from Gurgaon has a sprawling 1000 sq yard plot with him and asserted that in 80's Gurgaon had large swathe of land not dedicated to construction and connivance.
Reports in the newspapers suggested water shortage was an issue in Gurgaon but this gentleman beg to disagree. I told him about the pictures appearing in newspapers about people washing their cars in their backyards and this was a punishable offence. He had no such knowledge. He asserted water was in plenty in Gurgaon and roundabout. The local which i took and the intermittent delays it was subjected to i deboarded at Palam with no patience to go all the way to Gurgaon.
Here in Palam the counter from where i took the general ticket for return journey to Delhi Cantt. station the man who had the responsibility to disburse the tickets seem to be least interested in attending to customers given the secure environs he worked in. Here in platform one there were some passengers with their helmets and some without them trying to bring down my anxiety by stating that the ride from here to Delhi Cantt. station was a little over seven minutes. The general coach was not bursting at the seams and i boarded it so did Mr K D Singh. Mr Singh, a resident of Palam was headed towards Old Delhi area. Mr K D Singh told me that water in Palam comes for two to three hours in the morning and in the evening the supply is for a longer duration. A brief interaction with him revealed Mr K D Singh to be a very down to earth person. When i reached Delhi Cantt it was already half past three in the afternoon and the search for cyber cafes to do a story did not yield much.
On another day i came across students of Manipur in a Post office who have been in the city for long with a desire to get the much-coveted belongingness crown.
In a space of 12 days have had the opportunity to visit Delhi Cantt. Railway station on two different occasions. The DTC bus i took and the breakneck speed at which it ran showed utter disregard for traffic rules. Given the VIP movement in the city it took a route that is rarely taken and overtaking different set of vehicles that is not always experienced the ride to the station was completed in a record time. Mind you, majority of Orange colour buses which run under DTC scheme too believe in fast ride and these traffic violators deserve a thumbs-down, not traffic adherents. Reaching in a record time we would have abhorred given the least regard for traffic rules. A faulty air conditioning that it had not been able to set it right over a period of time showed the haste at which these air conditioned vehicles were procured.
The first visit to the station coincided with sighting of passengers bound for Rewari in Haryana. There were some making queries about a train coming from Jaisalmer and heading towards Howrah. The passengers for Howrah bound train were few and far. There are at the most three platforms at the station and except for platform one all were a deserted look given the limited arrivals and departures. At no point of time puddles of water could be found in the station premises as is seen in some of the major and local stations of the city.
The tea that was sought and the tea that was secured, there was a world of difference. A black tea could not be gained given the water that was boiled already had milk added to it. Came across a guy taking coaching for a medical seat. Held once a year the All India Pre Medical Test is a national level exam for admission to 2200 MBBS and 300 BDS seats at over 100 government medical and 30 dental colleges. It tests the calibre of students and only dedicated and serious ones can find mention in the list of those who got it through. As for his chances this guy believed steady coaching can help him to cross the barrier. Came across a father-son duo headed towards Ahmedabad. The son was of the opinion that doing a degree course from a college in the North would be a prudent move. They were residents of Gandhinagar which has large stretches of greenery.
The second visit saw me make a query about a train bound for Sarai Rohilla. After a wait of few minutes i board a local train coming from Rewari and headed towards Old Delhi. I came across two guys hailing from Bihar settled in Palam and trying to gain access to Old Delhi area. The two spoke about slew of news channel and how appropriate or inappropriate were the news they beam. Those who joined the conversation agreed that high decibel debate did not cut much ice and what was left to pore over was nothing but a tale of high sounding men and women participants.
I deboarded at Sarai Rohilla and headed to a tea centre outside the railway station. Later i returned to the railway station and saw the platform teeming with passengers headed towards Rajasthan and Gujarat. With a general ticket in hand i waited for a local train as the ride in a sleeper coach would have meant a penalty of no less than 500rs. There was a gentleman born and brought up in Gurgaon who time and again reminded me to try my luck in a sleeper coach as the ride to Gurgaon station was not a long journey. Still it would have taken over 40 minutes and I disagreed with him and so did others. This gentleman from Gurgaon has a sprawling 1000 sq yard plot with him and asserted that in 80's Gurgaon had large swathe of land not dedicated to construction and connivance.
Reports in the newspapers suggested water shortage was an issue in Gurgaon but this gentleman beg to disagree. I told him about the pictures appearing in newspapers about people washing their cars in their backyards and this was a punishable offence. He had no such knowledge. He asserted water was in plenty in Gurgaon and roundabout. The local which i took and the intermittent delays it was subjected to i deboarded at Palam with no patience to go all the way to Gurgaon.
Here in Palam the counter from where i took the general ticket for return journey to Delhi Cantt. station the man who had the responsibility to disburse the tickets seem to be least interested in attending to customers given the secure environs he worked in. Here in platform one there were some passengers with their helmets and some without them trying to bring down my anxiety by stating that the ride from here to Delhi Cantt. station was a little over seven minutes. The general coach was not bursting at the seams and i boarded it so did Mr K D Singh. Mr Singh, a resident of Palam was headed towards Old Delhi area. Mr K D Singh told me that water in Palam comes for two to three hours in the morning and in the evening the supply is for a longer duration. A brief interaction with him revealed Mr K D Singh to be a very down to earth person. When i reached Delhi Cantt it was already half past three in the afternoon and the search for cyber cafes to do a story did not yield much.
On another day i came across students of Manipur in a Post office who have been in the city for long with a desire to get the much-coveted belongingness crown.
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