Ahmedabad to Delhi:
I had reached back at Ahmedabad late night on 3/7 from Mumbai (actually Vasai road) after a tiring 17 hours journey on Double decker. Had a late night dinner and checked my PNR status of Ashram express. It was still RAC 8, but HO quota had many seats so without any doubt it was going to CNF. I got the message at 1430 hrs on 4/7 about CNFation and it said HA1, 4. It was a UB. That was enough to down my spirits and I slept for 2 hours more. Had it been SL/LB, I would have been searching on IRI ( also some other sites) for what to observe, eat, etc etc. After sleeping for around...
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90 mins, I got up at 4 pm. Had a bath, packed my bag and checked out of the hotel at 1745 hrs. It took 5 mins to reach ADI. Took the escalator connected to FOB and went to PF 7 where Ashram express was placed. My coach was at far end of the train and I was at the other end. I walked along the PF only to stop in between for buying a pair of samosas and a sandwich plus a bottle of Amul Kool for dinner. I boarded the train in HA1 which was super clean and a fresh aroma of air freshner welcomed the passengers. Almost all the seats were occupied. The lower berths below me had an elderly couple sitting on them. I kept my small bag on the UB and the trolley bag below seat no. 3. After locking my bag below the berth I went out to click some pics but the heavy presence of RPFs for manning the general coach passengers ensured that I don’t take out my mobile for snapping. I saw a tin plate in GS coach toilet put as jugaad. Okha Puri was waiting for its Loco to be attached on adjacent PF and a WDP 4 was doing rounds, probably being ready for its next duty. After some moments the RPF people went inside the GS coach and I got an opportunity. Mauka – Mauka, Mauka – Mauka. Quickly took out the phone and clicked the GS jugaad pic, a train TB of Ashram, a WAP 4 ready to haul Okha Puri and a WDP 4. That was enough memories and I put the mobile in my pocket just in time. The RPF personnels deboarded and were coming towards me, I thought they saw me. I imagined my pics being deleted. As my thought process continued, they walked past me and I was relieved. Now it was time to go inside. At sharp 1830 train departed. I wanted a side berth (anyone be it upper or lower) because I like the privacy it provides. But all the side berths had both the passengers on same PNR. Anyways I saw a SLB empty and for the time being I sat on that to witness the scenes outside as it was still daylight. The train slowly chugged out and we soon reached Sabarmati river bridge. Some repair works was going on the bridge with people busy with their work. I took some snaps. In the mean time TTE checked our ids ( no tickets only berth no. and id). As the darkness spread, I went on to my berth and had the samosas and sandwich which were nice. The cooling was more, so the elderly couple requested the attendant to increase the temperature which he obliged to smiling. The attendant was nice and softspoken. He took orders of food which was promised to deliver at Abu road. Some people ordered, some didn’t. I put on the reading light and started to read the book by IPS officer K Vijay Kumar – Veerappan. At 9:30 I decided to call it a day and after switching off the light slept. After waking up in the morning the first thing I noticed was derailment of Pooja express on IRI. The train was heavily delayed too and we were standing somewhere. I thought about my luck which was turning worse. In which ever direction I was going, something or the other interruption came on. Towards mumbai, bridge collapsed in andheri and here towards delhi, train derailed in Phulera. I thought will this train be too short terminated? Just as I was thinking, I got a call from my father, asking about my journey and told him about whole thing. He also said,”Kis muhurat mein nikle thhe ghar se?” Finally after a long stop of 90 mins we crawled forward only to stop again at next station. The elderly couple heard my conversation with dad and asked,”Kahan derailment huyi hai?” I informed them about the incident and the news spread. The passengers were like… Here also we stopped for almost 2 hours. Finally the train moved and gained MPS and we passed an intermediate station without stopping. We reached Phulera outers and stopped. They had made small makeshift tents for pointsman to show the flags to loco pilot. At every 100 mts or so there was a person holding the flag. The Jodhpur line had a red flag in middle of tracks. Finally after 30 mins . We slowly entered Phulera jn. And I searched for some food. Only puri subzi was available, that also had a long line. I also joined the queue but I was also worried about train departig as it was an unscheduled halt of a late running train. I waited for 10 min but without food returned back. After around 45 mins guard whistled but didn’t show flag. The LP waa waiving green but the guard was only whistling. He was alerting the passengers that train is departing. After 3 whistles he waived green and we chugged out. We crawled on the tracks with pointsmen waiving green at every few mts. I saw the coaches of NR hidden behind a freight and I knew it was derailed coaches of pooja express. After 45 min at around 2 pm, we were at Jaipur PF 1, and here I bought puri subji for rs 20. The food was OK but it felt like awesome as I was damn hungry. At jaipur, berth no. 5 &6 got empty and I shifted to the SLB. It had biscuit packets and tea cups tucked here and there. I took them out and put them in their place, the dustbin. People want cleanliness to be maintained in train but they cannot even walk 2 steps to the dustbin and then they would blame govt for unclean train. The train was criusing at speeds around 100 and we were accompanied by vehicles on Jaipur Agra road. As we departed Alwar and gained speed, the train stopped abruptly and a RPF personnel who boarded in Jaipur was quick enough to open the gate and jump outside. Soon the guard also arrived and they were checking below the train. I thought something had been run over by the train. But soon all disappeared and the train departed with a whistle. The police personnel warned the general passengers not to get down every time the train stops or he would fine them for pulling the chain. He warned them about the possible accidents while boarding a moving train from ground level. Finally he closed the HA1 door and went inside. After some furious running after Rewari we entered Gurgaon with high rise buildings at horizon. Here many unauthorised passengers boarded the coach. Also since our coach was beside a GS, our coach was their prime target. Some 10 people boarded but they stood at the gate. They didn’t go inside. We stopped at Palam for few seconds where some crowd got down and finally at 1915 hrs, I was at Delhi cantt. I deboarded and took a snap of 6the fading duronto liveried EOG which had the name “ASHRAM EXPRESS”.