Personal dairy - the train journey

Indian Railways is the fourth-largest rail network in the world, covering over 65,000 kilometers. It’s also the largest employer in India, with more than 1.4 million employees across technical and non-technical roles.

My first encounter with Indian Railways was during a summer vacation trip to my late aunt’s house in Chennai. I remember the unique names of the trains from Bangalore—like the Lalbagh Express and Brindavan Express. The journey would take about five to six hours and always felt like an adventure.

Visiting my aunt was always special, and the train ride made it even more memorable. I still remember standing in long queues at the reservation counters to get a confirmed seat. Sometimes, our train would be scheduled early in the morning, so we’d pack our bags the night before and stay over at our uncle’s railway quarters near the Bangalore station—he worked with the railways, which felt like a privilege at the time.

One of my most unforgettable journeys was to Rameshwaram with my family. The highlight was crossing the iconic Pamban Bridge, which connects Rameshwaram to mainland Tamil Nadu. Another memorable trip was to Goa with my manager. The scenery near Castle Rock station was absolutely mesmerizing. I later took the same route with my friends from NCBS on a trip to the Dudhsagar Waterfalls—again, an experience to cherish.

My most recent train journey with my family was from Delhi to Katra, for a spiritual visit to the Mata Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu. We traveled via a special railway tour package, and it remains one of the most memorable trips of all.

Although I’ve flown a few times, nothing compares to the charm of traveling by train in India. Despite occasional delays and discomforts, the experience is unmatched in its ability to connect people, places, and memories.

A ride to remember....:)

Never had been through such a series of incidents, a travel which I ought to remember...

My brother got me a travel ticket which would take me and my brother to Chennai on a multi-axle bus owned by a travels company and the booking was done on RED-BUS website.

It was around 9.30 pm on 13/feb and cab was at our door steps.Within one hour, our cab reached the Majestic area where the bus was supposed to departure. Bus did arrive as per schedule to bus stop and we got into the bus after all other passengers from Chennai got down except some six members.

After identifying our seats..we got settled to have a good travel nap. And the next moment there was an argument between those six people who had not alighted the bus with the bus driver.

We thought it to be a minor issue and dint care much about the incident. Bus was suppose to depart at around 10.45pm and it was 11.15pm. Argument still continued without any signs of settlement and we were getting late. With no other choice, we need to go to the spot and enquire into the details. 

Six people were supposed to travel to Pune, are you wondering about their travel in the bus bound to bangalore? I have the answer, the guys booked the ticket to pune via redbus and due to some confusion or greed of the bus travels, these guys were assured of a connecting bus from bangalore to pune as soon as they dropped at bangalore. But to the bad luck of the bus travels , the other connecting bus left the place as it was fully booked.

And the pune guys were left sulking. I really admired the quick action taken by those guys who called the police and took the bus driver along with the bus and us to the police station to lodge a complaint against the owner of the bus. 

At last, the bus manager had to pay for the greed and refund the amount to those six travelers for the inconvenience.And we on the other end were busy complaining to the bus driver about the delay.

After much hush and rush, bus did depart at around 1.00am....:(

So dear friends and travelers,  pl do travel in buses operated by standard travel company when it is about long journey..and this turns out to be the moral of the story...