Once in a Shatabdi

  • Krishan Kalra
  • India
  • Jan 31, 2014

 

 

For a visit to Lucknow some years ago, I decided to try out the famous Shatabdi, if only to check whether it was really ‘the pride of Indian Railways’.  I had heard so much about its comforts and its convenient timing.  It would also give me time to clear my pile of pending ‘dak’ (mail). The train rolled out from New Delhi promptly at 0620 and my first pleasant surprise was to see an attendant bringing in newspapers – and even offering a choice. I slept through the ‘fruity’ service, looking forward to the promised ‘super’ breakfast.  However, when it came, I wasn’t quite ready for the shock treatment: an oil-soaked omelette with two greasy potatoes chips, a small stale bun, an apple that must’ve looked fresh a year ago, some masala wafers spread on the bare plastic tray, a paper napkin already oaked with oil in an aluminium foil tray, and miserable plastic crockery. Three foreigners sitting next to me wisely decided to skip the fare. The glutton that I am, l ate it… and soon felt sorry. The only good part was the tea service – with boiling hot water in a small flask, a tea bag, a cream powder sachet and a sugar pouch. If only the spoon wasn’t broken, it would have made a perfect cuppa. In fact the quantity of sugar and creamer were enough for three cups. I remember pointing this out to the attendant on an earlier journey to Bhopal − when the meals served were excellent − and was told that this was the only option they had.

Well, I thought, food is not the only important thing, and the air-conditioning was not too bad, so let me get down to some paper work.  While the rocking of the train posed no hinderance to my reading, I doubt if my notings made much sense to those who were to act on them. I took consolation in the fact that such remarks don’t make much sense anyway! It was time now to freshen up. The trip to the toilet brought further enlightenment. Indian Railways had run out of toilet paper, but some considerate passenger had thoughtfully left a copy of the Economic Times! My enquiries further revealed that all the attendants had left the train at Kanpur, and taken the keys to the ‘cupboard’ that held the reserve stock of the precious paper.

Why does this happen to most things Indian − especially those run by the government? Why do we start ventures with much fanfare and then allow them to go to seed? Why can’t we at least maintain some simple standards − of cleanliness, punctuality, service, food, efficiency? The same story is repeated in all walks of life - be it the airlines or telephones or power generation or tourism. In all fairness, there were some positive points to the journey too. There was much greenery on view and the bilingual recorded announcements on the PA system provided a wealth of information about all the towns enroute. As an added ‘attraction’, during a (deliberate?) stop at the ‘Kanpur Bridge left bank’, some urchins organized ‘action’ at the goat stud farm next to the tracks – supposedly a ‘regular beat’. The piece de resistance was to follow: as soon as the Train moved out of Kanpur − the locomotive change here takes 30 minutes − about half a dozen ‘khalasies’ invaded the Executive Class coach and made themselves comfortable on the now empty seats for a ‘well-earned siesta’. And all was well as it ended well - the showpiece of Northern Railway did zoom into Lucknow Station ten minutes ahead of time.

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