Day 0: Friday, 4 June, 2010
Location: Delhi
Ranikhet express leaves from the Old Delhi Railway station at 10.40 pm. Do remember the words “Old Delhi” and “10.40 pm”. We will be revisiting them very soon.
It so happened that I had some work in Delhi on Thursday and Friday. My wife joined me on Friday evening, and we stayed at a friend’s place.
We headed off from Gurgaon at around 9 pm, leaving a sufficient (or so we thought) buffer. The first sign of trouble was when the cab driver asked us which railway station we wanted to go to. I saw my railway ticket, which innocently said Delhi. I googled the info, got “Old Delhi” as the answer, and instructed my driver accordingly. We reached a railway station that my driver claimed was the right one. However, inquiries around the station told us that this was not the correct station. I immediately called the driver and asked him to hold on (we had let him go by then) and let us get back in. The driver now took us to another railway station, which had “New Delhi” written in bold letters at the entry. Convinced that there cannot be more than 2 stations, we got down again. A ‘helpful’ coolie told us that Ranikhet express arrives on Platform No. 9. We reached the Platform, and there were no signs of Ranikhet express there.
We were now told that this is just another extension of the same station we were at before, and Ranikhet Express actually does arrive at Old Delhi itself. We rushed back, and asked a driver there to take us to Old Delhi. He said “Rs. 250”. I said “are you crazy, it can’t be more than 2 kms away”. He patiently told me that I am misinformed, and that the station is a good 8 kms. away. The clock was now showing 10.35 pm. I explained the situation to the driver, and asked him to do his best. The driver, obviously having seen the Monaco Grand Prix the previous weekend, sought to put his learning into practice. Horns were honked, pavements were tread upon, signals were broken, speed limits were exceeded and abuses were ignored. 10.50 pm, and we were at the Old Delhi railway station. Yes, the Ranikhet Express was at Platform No. 9 of this station, which the previous coolie had conveniently missed telling us. At the Old Delhi station, another of his brethren (the coolie, not the cab drivers) sought to blackmail us by asking for Rs. 100 to carry a bag 25 metres. Not one to get blackmailed so easily (it will help if you have forgotten by now that I paid the cabbie @ Rs. 31 per km), I ignored him and tried to lift 2 25 kg. bags in each hand, and promptly fell over myself. Thankfully, a couple of guys helped me carry the bags, and I didn’t have to succumb to the blackmail. More thanks as our compartment was right next to the foot overbridge we got down from. I put our bags below the seats, thinking finally things are fine.
No such luck. I reached for my blackberry to see what time it was. It wasn’t there. Not the time, but the phone. I did what the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy asks it’s reader not to do- DON’T PANIC! I did. I panicked. What about my contact numbers for the hotels? How will I access my email, which is going to be so crucial over the next week? I remembered that I had my phone in my shirt pocket, and promptly checked below the seat, after taking out my bag. There it was behind the bag. Phew! My co-passengers could no longer hold back their amusement. I duly warned them to be careful, since we haven’t been particularly lucky in our ‘vacation’ so far.
The train left the station at 10.55 pm. I was told the train normally leaves on time, but today was an exception. Well, ol’ boy, can’t think of a better day for the delay to happen! The next 3 hours of my vacation involved me downloading , reviewing and mailing back two 100-page legal documents on my laptop.
The objective of my trip was to get away from the stress and speed of city life, and just slow things down a bit. So far, Delhi was beating by routine Mumbai life hands down on the stress and speed scales.
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