Railway Joyride

Travelling in trains during the rains is horrible. The local trains are full of mud and the Konkan Railway is full of water. As a rule, I try to avoid trains in Mansoon. In other times, I love the trains. The Roha- Diva train ride, at 5:00 Dawn remains my favorite ride. I recently experienced travelling in the Deccan Queen in the chilly mornings to Pune, and that is another wonderful experience. Also, the luxury of travelling in the Rajdhani Express is a whole different joy. Personally, I prefer the August Kranti, because that gives more train time. The railway bunks are the most pleasurable devices for sleeping, which is why I insisted on having a bunk bed in my room, when we moved to a new house. However, if anybody asks me to single out the best train journey I had, I would say that my favorite train ride was that one journey of the Mandovi Express.

The Mandovi Express

That summer after std. 5th, was my first summer camp. It was a four-day stay in the beautifully picturesque village of Tural, in Konkan. Since the association, Rustic Holidays was based in Mumbai, the train journey started in Mumbai at Dadar. But me staying in Roha, I boarded the train at Panvel, where the train (the camp director stated) halted for a full two minutes. The compartment I sat in had four other boys, three elder to me and one a little younger. As a kid, it isn’t difficult to make friends, and I did so quickly. I only remember the name of one boy from them, his name was Shubhankar. But I have no memory of his surname. We had a lot of fun during the journey, cracking jokes and as if we knew each other for years. We weren’t allowed to leave our compartment (rightly so) except if we had to go to the bathroom, in which case we had to be accompanied by a camp volunteer. The camp volunteers were also nice people, two boys and two girls but they had to look after the whole boxcar full of kids, so the five of us had no other option but to put up with each other. We were given wonderful food on the train, and those mutter cutlets remain the best I have ever had, though I barely remember what they tasted like. The guy who was younger to me, dropped his tiffin while eating. Even though he was soon given another, after an earful, the floor remained dirty and it was a sad sight. Joking about how it was poo on the floor, we shifted to the upper bunks, playing cards and name-place-animal-thing.

Each two compartments were separated by a metal wall. However adjoining the top bunks were just iron nets, you could easily see through and talk through them. Sitting on the other side was a girl, about my own age. While all the girls in her compartment were downstairs, she was sitting on the bunk, requesting if she could play Name-Place-Animal-Thing with us. When we agreed, she jumped like a cat on to the side bunk and came back with pen and paper in a moment. After a while, she made her way into our compartment, without any of the volunteers noticing, swinging on the bunk bars like a little monkey. Soon she was telling us dirty jokes and laughing louder than us, swinging back to her comp. when any of the volunteers came by. She wasn’t pretty or anything, but by the time we reached Sangameshwar, all the boys had taken a liking to her, as if she were one of our own.

Entrance to Mamacha Ghar

After reaching Sangameshwar, everybody was separated as per their given numbers and sent off in multiple number of buses to Tural, our destination. The camp “Mama chya gavala jauya” was based on the traditional theme of going to stay at your maternal uncle’s house in the holidays. All the elders there were refered to as ‘Maama’ ‘Maami’ and ‘Maushi’ while the younger volunteers were ‘Tai’ and ‘Dada’. We would gorge on traditional food and the delicious fruits of Konkan. Everyday there would be a new activity to do and learn, like bird watching, scaling the little hills and learning traditional games. The evening would be full of ground sports like Lagori, Cricket, Veet-Daandoo, as well as modern games like football and baseball. After returning ‘home’ we would have snacks and assemble in the Mandir inside the house, to learn and sing evening prayers. The ‘Aaji’ in the house would mesmerize us by stories from the ancient mythologies. Later there would be a delicious urban dinner in the front yard, by which the gaadya, would have been laid out in the “padvi”. The girls would sleep in the “maadi”.

Afternoon Hang Out, the Padvi and the backend.

The afternoons would be left free for us to enjoy. There were various boardgames, packs and packs of cards as well as loads of books to read. Sometimes, the volunteers would conduct games. On the first afternoon, I was sitting all along in the open Mandir part. Everybody comes to camps in twos or threes or groups. I had come here all alone. All the elder kids were sitting together and while the boys I had befriended on the train journey were among them, it is a scary deal for a little boy to advance a huge group of Big Boys. That morning, we had been visited by a man who enlightened us about Bird Watching. He was there to stay over-night as the next morning he was going to take us on a nature trail. With him was his daughter. And right then, she came and sat next to me.

“You want somebody to play with?”

At that age, girls seem very intimidating, especially girls older to us. I nodded.

“Come, let us play card. I’ll teach you.”

The actual house (visible: The Padvi and the Mandir)

She took me into the Padvi and sat down in front of me, laying out cards from the deck she had. She was half-way into teaching me, when I finally found the guts to tell her that I already knew the game. She had an a beautiful voice and an infectious laugh, and soon I was at ease playing with her. I do not remember her name or her face at all, but she seemed very beautiful to me back then. She must have been, because some games later, the group of elder boys had joined us and then a group of girls their age too. From then onwards, the boys took me under their wings and the girls pampered me like crazy. In the following days I also made friends with a lot of people my own age. It turned out to be the best camp of my life.

The backyard extends into a very green piece of land, full of tress. In this picture are the swings to the Left.

Bhavra

The last night was the campfire and everybody performed some or the other things. The next morning, we boys got our very own traditional Bhavras (tops with strings) and the girls got bangles. We set off in the afternoon. My mom and dad had told me that they would pick me off at Dadar this time and I was happy that I could be with these new friends till the very end of the journey. Those were the days when nobody owned cell-phones and internet or was on Orkut or Facebook. That meant that this journey were the last few hours I could spend with them. This time, I confidently fluttered among compartments and the volunteers let me. Promises were made of coming back to Tural next year. We were singing, laughing, shouting and dancing.

Nitin and Shilpa Karkar- Maama and Maami

However, my journey was cut-short an hour early. At the last moment, my parents decided to pick me at Panvel instead of Dadar. The camp leaders summoned my even half an hour before and told me to keep my bag ready. I was startled as I genuinely thought that they had mixed up the fact that I would Get On at Panvel and Get Down at Dadar. I was disappointed that I would have to say goodbye early. I was also terrified that the Camp people would let me out at Panvel, but my parents would be at Dadar and I would have to sleep on the station benches that night.

Turned out, my parents were indeed there at Panvel. In the final 20 minutes I made a journey inside the boxcar itself, saying goodbye to everybody and having to tell everyone that I was now getting down at Panvel instead. I was angry with my parents for a moment, but then the train started to move, and everyone was at the windows, waving me goodbye. Being the only one getting off at Panvel, I received a special farwell instead of just getting lost in the crowd of the 100 other kids at Dadar. Large heartedly, I decided to forgive my parents.

I said that best train journey I had was the one on Mandovi Express. But whether it was the one going to Sangameshwar, or the one returning home, I will never be able to decide…

Screen Transitions

20 years ago, Shah Rukh Khan entered the world of cinema after having worked for TV for 2 years. And after that he never looked back. 20 years later he is still the King of Bollywood, the ultimate superstars. In a nation of 1.2 billion, we have a population of approximately 56 million who dream of being Shah Rukh Khan and another 56 million, who dream of being with Shah Rukh Khan. Had Shah Rukh Khan not taken the leap across entertainment mediums 20 years ago, the face of Indian Entertainment would have been very  different from what it is today. SRK and Vidya Balan, who found a similar success in Bollywood after a stint in TV, is an inspiration for those countless TV actors who dream of making it large in Bollywood.

Every year, countless aspiring youngsters make a debut in television show with the hope that the small screen will be a stepping stone to the silver screen. Not many of them get such an opportunity though and are left playing mothers and grandfathers on the idiot box. We have a lot of exceptions to this though, right from R Madhavan, Prachi Desai, Rajeev Khandelwal, Ayushmaan Khurana and Yaami Gautam. Some like Mona Singh and Shruti Seth are left playing small roles, only to return to TV. Ram Kapoor is an actor who however, is having a string of successes in the film industry playing pivotal roles.

One actor, who has taken this leap of faith and has had a smooth landing, is the current Bollywood hotshot, Sushant Singh Rajput. After three years in the soapy Pavitra Rishta and a number of dance reality shows, he made the risky decision of quitting TV for greener pastures. One film old, he has already gathered a lot of praise in the industry. He wowed everybody with his performance in the earthy Kai Po Che, and went ahead to take over roles meant for Ranbir Kapoor (Peekay) and Shahid Kapoor (Shudhh Desi Romance). He also made headlines for not having taken any money for Peekay, because he did it solely for getting to work with Aamir Khan and Raju Hirani. And lined up is a major project “Fitoor”.

Yes, it’s confirmed. Sushant Singh Rajput is doing Abhishek Kapoor’s, his Kai Po Che director’s next “Fitoor”. It’s an adaption of the Charles Dickens classic “Great Expections” and stars none other than the number one actress of India, Katrina Kaif. Yes, the superstar who has been giving back to back movies with biggies Salman Khan, SRK, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan is going to star opposite newbie Sushant who is steadily climbing the ladders of superstardom. There had been reports of Katrina rejecting to work against the new Sushant, a deja vu of Kareena walking out of Ram Leela. But the flying rumors have settled and Sushant has indeed been cast against the dream girl.

 

Very clear similarities can be seen between Rajput and Shah Rukh Khan. Both have become the nation’s heartthrobs after winning performances on television. While Shah Rukh was already married before his movie debut, Sushant Singh Rajput is in a serious relationship with Ankita Lokhande. Both have unconventional looks and come from non-filmy backgrounds. The latter has won over film critics and audiences alike with his debut performance just like the former. And hopefully in coming years Sushant Singh Rajput will taste and maintain the same success like Shah Rukh Khan

And seeing his rise in just one year, that doesn't seem far than distant.

The Girl From Vapi

It was 5:53 in the evening. I was leaving college, the other day, and trying to get a rickshaw home. The Mumbai Rickshawallas are a vicious breed, and the folktale is still untold, of what revenge they take out on us common folk. “Andheri Station!” a girl begged to the rickshawalla. He paid no need, as if she was something better ignored.  “Coaldongri?” I asked him. He jerked his head towards the backseat, like a king doing a favour to a begger. I sat in and the Rick accelerated when I asked him to halt it. Rickshaws that come to Andheri are very rare. Very very rare.  I pulled my head out of the small door., and leaned towards the girl. “Andheri station? I am going there, should I drop you?”  “Yeah!” she said eagerly, and ran towards the rick, with a quick good bye to her friend.

“I am not going to go to the station? Only Coaldongri.”. The rickshawalla grumbled as was his habit.

“Ae Bhai!” I was physically hating the khaki-coated driver now. “Coaldongari matlab station ki taraf hi jaana hai.” And then in a sweet voice to the girl, “My house is a little before the station. It’s a walking distance till there.” She was beautiful from what I saw of the corner of my eye.

“Hi, I am.” She said. “F.Y.BBA, Mithibai.” I introduced myself

“Umm.. walking distance, as in, how much? I have a train at 5:20” she sounded worried.

“umm… till the signal.” In Mumbai, people are always thinking of catching trains.  Trains come on go, but people still fuss about catching a particular train. I then realized that I was heading to Andheri East while she was thinking of Andheri West.

“Where do you live?” I asked, trying to figure out which side would be better for her.

“Vapi.” She said. The central line of railway has stations I have never heard of. “Central line, or Harbour?” I asked.

“Umm.. Gujarat actually.” Okay, so this girl was not from Mumbai.

“No, uh.. I mean, where in Mumbai?”

“I am still searching for a hostel.. umm..” So she was new here. “Yeah, but you’ll catch a Western train, right?” I asked as a rickshaw took a right turn towards the jammed bridge of Parle East.

“No, I am going to Vapi right now.” She said. I was dumbstruck. The next moment my brain was whizzing like a horse. She was going to Gujarat, right now. She couldn’t possibly miss that train, she didn’t have a hostel…. “You need to get out!”

“You need to catch another rickshaw. This mile-long traffic will take time. Cross the road and take another rick. Okay?” I ended kindly, as she look bewildered.  “Okay,” she said meekly as she got out, and then, “Should I pay you or something?”

“No No!” I rushed her. ”You’ll easily get a rickshaw from here.”

As I saw still amazed at the girl who came to college and then left for Vapi, I saw here get into a rickshaw next to mine. Shit. As my rickshaw moved ahead an inch, I stuck my face in her rickshaw. “You’ll never get to your train in this traffic. Go to the other side of the road and catch one from there.” I pointed vigorously, as she nodded once more and left that rickshaw too. My rickshaw moved even ahead, as I saw her cross S.V. road safely, and then she was out of sight.

Out of mind? Not for a while. I kept thinking she must have thought that I was crazy to ask her to leave the rickshaw or was she so dumb? Or maybe, she was just naïve. She was new in the city, had absolutely no idea of the roads, and even lesser of the Traffic Jams here. There was so little chance of her getting a rick from Mithibai to Andheri station to reach in less than 20 minutes. If I hadn’t asked her to jump into mine, she would have missed her train. Now, on S.V. road, there was more chance of her making it. But she didn’t know that. She had been at ease with her friend.  I felt like a fool, but I also felt good. If she got to her train in time, she would probably be thankful to me. Or probably, she would be cursing me ignorantly for wasting her time. In any case, I was feeling good about myself. She had easily agreed to share a rick with a completely unknown person in a new city. She was probably unaware of all the dangers around, or was brave enough to take on them.

You know, that’s why I have such a grudge against Rickshawallas. They never pay heed to people who hail them, instead pass by them by dirt. I am particularly agonized thinking of people who really need a rickshaw, but are unsuccessful in getting one. Like a person who has had a bad news and need to rush, or a girl who needs to get home before it gets dark. I wonder how much bad will these annoying rickshaw people gather during thee day, and I wonder how much it is going to screw them up. Why doesn’t Karma fuck up them all at once? And above all, they are frequently striking to increase the fares.

And the girl, I would never know if she made it. I don’t remember her name, and I probably won’t recognize her.  But the question will always nibble at me. Did she make it? Did she go home? While the incident was actually quite meaning less, I will always remember the girl from Vapi