[jyotirmoy]

Before the early seventies in Kolkata, advance railway reservation was possible at the main ticket office of Northern railway near Esplanade & South eastern railway at the Fairly place. A few other outlets were there in the city but they had very limited quota & under the control of the local agents. So to secure our reservation for traveling during the Puja vacation a must for many many households in Kolkata we turned up in the evening & joined the queue at one of the main outlets. Many of us brought food and a thermos of tea or coffee. Made some friends there and as the night grew travel related chitchat started. A brave heart cautioned a weak heart & advised him to choose left hand side seats on the bus to Badrinath. A trekker told us about his encounter with a bear while returning to Govindghat from Ghangaria. “You must sprint in the down hill direction….” An experienced bear handler told us & his logic was that the bear feels uncomfortable going down hill as its hairs block the eyes! “Bears aren’t that bad, have you encountered a tiger any of you?…. Roared a person next to us. We very suspiciously looked at this person. Midnight isn’t a good time as maximum number of ghost sighting has been reported at this hour and very people came back alive after a social tete a tate  with a tiger. Soon we learned about the wayward bulls of Varanasi, mad dogs of Ujjain, slithery snakes of Ghatshila, merry monkeys of Hardwar station….A gourmet suggested trying the Pedas from the Mathura wale’s shop in Haridwar, a man of details pointed out that the real Mathura wale is the one next to the thanda kua in the bazaar. The hassles of Pandas (priests) at the Sakkhi Gopal station before Puri were discussed and dozens of ideas to tackle them were learnt. Hotels were suggested, hotels were denounced, tricks of the Bombay taxi wallas were thoroughly exposed, the declining quality of the Sitabhog at Burdwan station had us agitated, rapidly filling up of accommodation at various Kalibaris at various places caused anxiety, but the supreme anxiety was whether we will finally secure a confirmed berth or not. The night wore on & it was something like an all night travel chat session!
Soon the sky over the city started getting gray, a flock of pigeons took to the sky from the Fort William & soared the sky with cotton wool clouds. Faces took on different hue & colours in the light of day. A bit of scuffle often broke out & was in general settled soon. Chai wallas & “Biskoot” vendors came. Then at eight the window opened! You could get a whiff of air smelling of old papers & musty files when your turn came. Across the window on a high chair sat a bespectacled GOD. We reverently handed our reservation slip to GOD who would adjust his specks & look at your slip & reach out for a ledger kept on a pile next to GOD. Manna in the form of neatly stacked & tied by jute cords cardboard tickets were stored on a rack. Going thru his ledger GOD made a series of facial expressions, tilted the head this side to that side. Trying to follow these we fell from ecstasy to gloom & soared again. If we were lucky GOD drew out cardboard mannas a pair in fact, one for the journey & one for the reservation. GOD struck a line hither & thither on his ledger, wrote your names & some one with an initial of S. K would get reserved as Mrs. K in a ladies coupe. GOD will then apply these to a heavy machine to punch the date etc. The thuds of these machines were best sound we ever heard!

[Mercurie]

jyotirmoy, on Aug 3 2006, 09:24 AM, said:

Then at eight the window opened! You could get a whiff of air smelling of old papers & musty files when your turn came. Across the window on a high chair sat a bespectacled GOD. We reverently handed our reservation slip to GOD who would adjust his specks & look at your slip & reach out for a ledger kept on a pile next to GOD. Manna in the form of neatly stacked & tied by jute cords cardboard tickets were stored on a rack. Going thru his ledger GOD made a series of facial expressions, tilted the head this side to that side. Trying to follow these we fell from ecstasy to gloom & soared again. If we were lucky GOD drew out cardboard mannas a pair in fact, one for the journey & one for the reservation. GOD struck a line hither & thither on his ledger, wrote your names & some one with an initial of S. K would get reserved as Mrs. K in a ladies coupe. GOD will then apply these to a heavy machine to punch the date etc. The thuds of these machines were best sound we ever heard!

Excellent post!  This is very nostalgic for me as well.  Well written post and it reminded me of my old days as well, of course, not of early 70s but I would say early 80s, when the situation was the same even in Bombay.  

Thanks for this post Jyoti Da.

[jyotirmoy]

Thanks Mercurie. By eighties most probably you had more city counters I think.

[Mercurie]

jyotirmoy, on Aug 3 2006, 10:14 AM, said:

Thanks Mercurie. By eighties most probably you had more city counters I think.

Nope, only one in Bombay Central.

[Judi]

Soooooo descriptive, Jyoti.  You had me queueing there with you for a while      Thanks for that - I really loved reading it, and you transported me back to my beloved Kolkata for a few precious moments.

[YETI]

Sounds a lot more civilised than the rugby scrum or mental battle with a babu that I have every time I want a ticket these days!

Nice description, jyotirmoy. I would've loved to travel around India in the 70's.

[Judi]

Dr Funkenstein, on Aug 3 2006, 10:28 AM, said:

Nice description, jyotirmoy. I would've loved to travel around India in the 70's.

Dr F - are you listening to Book of the Week on radio 4 at the moment?  'Magic Bus'.  I'm finding it interesting and amusing (when I remember to listen, that is   )

[YETI]

No, never heard of that one, Judi.

(edit to add)

This the one?
Observer Review
Sounds pretty interesting.

I know this guy's doing the hippy trail now, but I've always wanted to read a good book from someone that did it in the 70's - anyone recommend one?

(Sorry, waaaaaay off topic here, as usual)

Edited by Dr Funkenstein, 03 August 2006 - 09:24 PM.

[Judi]

Yes, that's the one.  It's not just about the hippie trail now, though - he talks to lots of people who actually went on the bus in those days.

[YETI]

I think I'd quite like that, then. Might try and get a copy for the plane journey out.

Thanks for the recommendation.

[dzibead]

Wonderful post, jyoti!