I am back from my holidays or should I say I am back from the Delhi and Nangal episode of Survivor. It was nothing less than that especially for Manu who was hit the hardest by three nights in trains in one week.
The disadvantage of working in a city other than your hometown is that you don't get holidays. You do take leave from the office and you do travel but you mostly go back to your hometown visiting your friends and relatives. Although going back home is always a very pleasant experience but it can hardly be termed as relaxing since you have so many people top visit that you end up in a schedule more hectic than your routine.
During our recent visit, we traveled to Delhi and from there to Nangal and back. This was the first time I traveled in a train with Manu. The journey from Delhi to Nangal should have given us a hint about what we should do in future but I guess we were foolish enough to ignore it. We were traveling in 3AC and Manu was feeling claustrophobic in it and refused to lie down on the berth. He was scared and wanted to sleep hugging Mira.
Only three days later we were on a train again for out journey back to Delhi. This time the experience was even worse. On the way back too I had booked tickets for 3AC but we stepped in an oven. There was some fault in the generator of our coach and as a result the AC was not working. There was an "electrician" who was trying to find the fault but I guess the generator was way beyond his capabilities and he threw in the towel in about half an hour.
Then began the "go take a walk" attitude of the Indian Railway. They accommodated people in other coaches and the first few people in our coach were upgraded to the 2AC. Most people would have apologized and provided you something extra if they had screwed up but not Indian railways. They upgraded some people to 2AC but not before taking 185 bucks from each of them for the upgrade and that too in cash.
We, along with most of the people in that coach, were not so lucky and were downgraded to 3 tier non-AC coaches. After telling me where we would be moving, he told me that he would give me a slip that I can take for a refund.
“Won't you be paying me in cash?”
“No, how can I pay you in cash”
“Well you are charging the people you upgrade in cash and expect me to go to a booking counter at the Sabzi Mandi station and stand in a queue to get a refund?”
“Not subzi mandi, you will have to take the refund from Old Delhi station”
“I am getting off at Subzi Mandi, why can't I get a refund from there?”
“Your ticket is till Old Delhi and you will get the refund from there only.”
I was not very keen to go to all the way to Old Delhi station for 500 bucks but I didn't want to leave even a single penny with the nice, helpful and polite people of Indian Railways. I found out how to reach the station in a Metro and went there to get a refund. I was like a ball that was dribbled by almost all the players of hockey team, going from one window to another, from one room to another till I found the goal post. Once I got there, it was quite quick.
The miseries didn't end there. I guess we didn't gave enough time to Manu to prepare him for next journey that started with a vomit just when we got in the car to go to railway station. In the train, Manu played for some time and they after his dinner he got sick. He spent the night vomiting and crying dozing off in between for 5 - 10 minutes at a time. By the time we got back home, he looked so frail and week as he was living on just water for more than 24 hours.
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