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Weekened travellers can
stop battling with their twenty year old car, (unwilling to declare
it vintage) and the heavy vehicles on the highway, with the coming of
the Shatabdi. I have actually been enjoying the Shatabadi quite a
bit. Though it was introduced s early as 1989 and I was invited on
its first trail run, I did not pay much attention because the travel
bug had not bitten me then. A few years later, my sister was visiting
us and she wanted to see the Taj Mahal. As the had of the house, I
was expected to provide a luxury car or some such thing and my wife
looked at me challengingly while my sister took it or granted. Both
the reactions disturbed me and I went for a walk.
One sleepless night and
many a promise later, the possibility of traveling by the Shatabdi
occurred to me. Quietly, without disclosing the idea, I decided to
find out more about it. It cost Rs.390/- by airconditioned chair car
and we could get breakfast on the train. It left the New Delhi
railway station at 6 a.m. in the morning and reached Agra cantonment
two hours late. I could not have found something better. I quickly
did some arithmetic and found it was not so much more expensive than
road travel and definitely more comfortable than having to drive my
doge but rather outdated car and listen to my wife telling my sister
on how we planned to change the car so many times over and this
Shatabdi was actually heading towards Bhopal. It reached Bhopal at
two in the afternoon. I got a brilliant idea. Why not we travel to
Agra the first day, go to Bhopal the next on the same Shatabdi and on
our return break our journey at Gwalior. This way I would have taken
my sister, and of course my wife, to three destinations and would be
able to pack it all into four days. And most importantly with no risk
to my male-ness as I would not have to drive long hours and yet show
no signs of fatigue!
When I made the
announcement at home, my wife looked at me as though to say it was a
good idea that Eve tempted Adam to bite into the apple. I became
nervous all over again and studied my aging shoes. A prayer moved my
lips and a worry ate my insides, how would we travel within Agra or
Bhopal?
Anyway my wife and sister
were too busy packing their yellow suits that would look, just deadly
in Mughal Agra and the snacks just in case they feel hungry, to worry
about their onward travel.
The train was dot on
time. It was a wonderful journey. Shatabdi was really super fast. The
next day when I congratulated the train driver at Bhopal, he told me
it traveled at 110 km per hour. Having never traveled in the
Superfast trains of Japan or the TGV of France, this was a nice
experience for me (and saw the birth of the desire to travel in
faster trains!)
But coming back to our
holiday to see Shahjahan’s signature of love, there are tourism
agents in the Shatabdi itself who ask you how you would like to
travel within the city you are heading for. I booked a taxi in Agra,
even while in the train. We were five of us and so it was fine. But
if you are on or two, remember the taxi will not leave unless it
collects five or even six travellers. If you want it to ply just for
you, then the charges are high. Since we were a good number, it
worked out well for us. The problem when I say that you may have to
wait for co-travellers is tat often one has to wait for the Taj
Express that arrives almost one and a half hours later. Most buses
depart only after that and so the extra time that you have gained is
wasted. So check before you book a bus ticket or a seat in the taxi
as to when it plans to lave the station.
If you want to return the
same day from Agra, I would definitely recommend the Shatabdi for the
return journey too. It leaves at 6.25 p.m. and it is tough to finish
your sight seeing within the hours at your disposal, but the benefits
are greater. The biggest gain is that you get your dinner on the
train, so there is no problem after you reach home close to midnight
(the train reaches New Delhi station at 10.30 p.m.) to look for or
worse pitch in, while the wife wears the harassed look and dishes out
something. Secondly you get tired anyway, after all that walking in
the fort and at the Mahal, so either leave the next day or return by
the Shatabdi the same night.
That piece of advice
given, let me get on with my story. The next day morning we boarded
the same Shatabdi and went on to Bhopal. We had an aunt in Bhopal and
my family was thrilled to meet her. The following day we left at 2.40
p.m. for Gwalior. That cost us Rs.545 per ticket. I am skipping the
details of our stay in Gwalior and describing the gorgeous fort
there. The next day we left Gwalior at about seven in the evening and
reached Delhi an hour before midnight.
My sister decided to ask
for another trip and I know for certain it was my wife who had egged
her on. We left for Jaipur the next weekend. We left early in the
morning and after a four hour journey reached the Pink City. It was
a lovely trip, untiring, short and comfortable. But we made one
mistake. Id did not check up on the return Shatabdi and found to our
dismay that the Shatabdi does not operate on Sundays on this route.
So that is factor one should always check up. Not all Shatabdis
operate on all days. The one to Bhopal operates everyday.
After this experience, I
have traveled on almost every Shatabdi. Yes, indeed, the wife too
goes with me and she in fact almost believes that I started the
Shatabdi service. Some things are better left the way they are and I
do not get into an argument with her on that.
With Delhi as our base we
have traveled to many places nearby like Hardwar, Lucknow and
Chandigarh. Journeys to hill stations have become very comfortable
because the Shatabdi takes you to the base and from there you can
hire a taxi. For instance, we went to Kalka and from there took the
toy train to Shimla. We have stopped going to the holy cities of
Hardwar and Rishikesh by car, we only take this train and it costs
less than Rs.500 per person.
With Ahmedabad as our
base, we have gone to Surat, the capital of textiles, Vadodara,
Anand, the city of dairy products and Baruch and Vapi. With Mumbai as
the base we have gone to Lonavala and Pune. With Chennai as the base
we have gone to Bangalore and Coimbatore. From Coimbatore we went
onwards to the Nilgiri hills on the Blue Mountain toy train.
I could go on of our
sojourns from Calcutta too, but the editor would perhaps then hand
you a time table next time and not ask me to do a piece!
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