The journey begins !

Fill up the reservation form... look at the train numbers, plan your start and end or midway points and refill the form

Stand in line at the reservation counter hoping to get the tickets for the train which is your first choice

Those 10 minutes at the counter talking to the person at the other end getting the best route

The lack of change... how on earth am I supposed to get the three 10 rupee notes, and the two 5 rupee ones, and the other change !

Anyway, the ticket is in my hand now ! The white grey dot-matrix printed Indian Railways ticket ! Hey, but I cannot read it properly... what time is my train? and from?

oh wait, it has been printed on the line just above !! OK, well, the information is there... Coach S4, Seat 30 (wonder who would be sitting next to me)

I wish its a beautiful girl :) and without her parents or the boyfriend!

Last minute Auto rush !!! and the bugger is driving so slowly that I could walk faster to the station.

Anyway, I am here now... which platform? The board is not working, hey, the Kuli ! Let me ask him... they always know !!! Yes sir I am right... its platform 12, darn, the other side of the station !!! Run !!!

Sir ji, late hai train !!!

Oh thank Gawd !!!

take it easy !!!

A nice stroll up the stairs, on the overbridge, with people and more people and some more in the space left... walking, looking around, rushing for their platforms, anxious because they are late, or early or excited about meeting someone, or just being...

But hey, where is the train?

Oh, they are still shunting the bogies... will be here in a few minutes... and there it is !!!

A1, A2, .....A4, S14... what the fkk... now run !!! S4 S4 S4 S4 S4... uncle sambhal kar zara...

S4 S4... haan yehi hai s8... peeche likha hai...

S4 S4 S4... saali itni lambi train...

S4... kaash ye wala S4 hota.. this group of girls would be sitting somewhere near me then...

S4... arre auntie jaane do...




phew !!!

The reservation chart finally....

So lets see.. how many girls in my compartment today...

F
F
F
F
F
ah !!! F - 56 --- darn !!!

F
F
F
F F6... sweet...

F
F
F
F
23.. ah... Vaijanti Devi !!! crap !!!

F F
F
F
F
24 Kalpana Arora... hmm...
M27 Aakash Arora... inki to !!!

F
F
F
F
F...

uff.. sabse sada hua dibba mera !!!! CRAP !!!!

anyway !!!

Lets just get on the train !!!


Auntiji ye meri seat hai !!!
Oh !!!

Wahan baith jaoge beta?
umm... ji...

Mera bag hata do wahan se... idhar de do.. aaram se baith jao !!!
ji auntiji

bleddy hell... inko kaise bolun I wanted the window seat !!!! I WANTED THE WINDOW SEAT !!!


anyway... that probably means I will sleep better at night.. the top berth is not that bad afterall !

So the bags are sett, the walkman is out !!! the tapes are out too ! what do we listen to? Wait... save the battery !! aise hi baitha reh abhi...

Magazine !!! haan.. get some !!!

Chai? haan ek cup wo bhi ho jaye!!!


Auntiji main abhi aaya...
haan beta

ok... , chacha chauhdhary, billu, pinky, archies, apna bhavishya badlein, kismat aapke haath mein, competition success review, manorama, sarita, manohar kahaniya, limca book of records, reiki kaise karen, phew.. too many... just pick up a few random ones...

oh.. paani ki bottle... ek wo bhi... aur biscuit? haan parle ji... do packet...

chalo beta bhago before auntiji calls the police thinking you left a few bombs in the train !!!

back on the seat... all set with magazines, food, music, a lost window seat, people...

A Journey Begins....

MP Diaries : Bhopal to Ujjain

We had slept pretty late last night, and were not sure what was in store for us today... so the mood was lazy, and the conversations slow..

but at the back of our minds we knew there was much to see, and much to go to... so we kinda picked up some pace and go ready around 1130 hrs and had our breakfast at a Haldiram types restaurant just outside our hotel !!!

Oh, yes ! I am back to finishing off my MP travelogue :)

Here are the first few parts if you have missed them :

Delhi - Kanha
Kanha and around
Kanha to Bhopal

We wanted to go to Bhojpur, had heard nice things about it, a 1000 year old incomplete temple, world's tallest Shivling etc etc and we also wanted to go to Ujjain... ok I wanted to go to Ujjain (I feel some connection with Shiva and hence all the Jyotirlings come into the list of places I feel good about; and the Shivling @ Ujjain happens to be called MahaKaal too)

Talked to a few people and found out that there was an intercity express to Ujjain from Bhopal at 1700 hrs and will take 4 hours to reach Ujjain...

Now this made perfect sense, we could take an auto, go to Bhojpur come back, pack our bags and leave for Ujjain... come back to Bhopal tomorrow and take it from there... super..

So after talking to a few Autowallahs, and doing some bit of not to successfull bargaining we agreed to give the guy 270 bucks to take us to Bhojpur ( around 25 kms away from Bhopal) and bring us back...

The drive was fine, the sun not too strong and once we were out of the city between the farms it actually became must pleasent !!! I realised how much Wheat MP must be producing looking at the wast span of the golden fields all around !!! lovely view it was... Did stop at a few places to enjoy the calm and finally reached Bhojpur...

The Sprinklers for Wheat Fields...

The temple is massive, and was my second stop next to the river Betwa (The first being Orccha), and we were surprised at the size of the Shivling too... no wonder !

A Kiddo who was there with his parents for a Pooja...

Renovation work in progress at the Bhojpur Temple...

We spent a good couple of hours at the temple before we decided to move back to Bhopal and catch the train !!!

Aro at Bhojpur

A Local Musician at Bhojpur...

The return journey was equally nice and we did manage to reach the station on time too, rather before time... I remember buying the tickets and then coming out of the station to eat something... how could we not...

So this time... we had rasmalai, some other local mithai, some tea, and some cold drinks, not in this order though :)

Soon enough the train journey started again, this time a different flavor... General Coach, Wooden Benches, not too crowded though :)

A Passenger in the Intercity Express from Bhopal to Ujjain

did take us close to about 4 hours, but enjoyed every minute of it... talked to people, took pictures, got a small lesson on gun management from a Railway Policeman too :)

Catching Hope :)

Sunset from the Train...

We reached Ujjain around 2100 hrs and checked into a hotel near the station only... Learnt that the Bhasm Aarti starts at 0500 hrs in the morning and we should be in the temple by 0400 hrs to get a decent view !!!

Arobindo in the train...

The General Compartment we were in...

Now this meant a quick dinner and sleeping without much talking !!! And that happened too !!!

More to follow...

B/W Newspaper Colorful News :)

Some Data now..

Bhopal - Bhojpur : 25 kms
Auto fare : about 250-350 bucks depending on how you bargain...
What to do in Bhojpur : Nothing :) just sit back and relax
Train for Ujjain from Bhopal : Intercity Express @ 1700 hrs everyday
Fare : 50 rs. for the General Class, You can take that ticket and enter the reserved compartment too where the ticket can be upgraded for about Rs. 17 for that coach... the difference is better seats only !!!