A La casablanca effect !! ( An ode to the First Class (non ac) travel by trains in India !) I have summed up my experience in travelling by First class, non Ac (FC) by train in India. FC has become rare in Indian railways !! ( I have posted this earlier in IRFCA website) A la Casablanca Effect !! Well, Bertie Higgins would have been in a more fraily framework at those times, and yours truly would have been a school boy with childish enthusiasm in the early 1980s, when, my fascination with travel by trains and especially in First class travel ( the non AC version) began. Well, CASABLANCA, still remains as arguably the most popular melody number interspersed over a span of many decades,for many aficionados inspite of momentary blushing to limelight from the likes of George Michael, Bryan Adams et al and further to add, MJs, Britneys...to the list. As a stark coincidence, Berties Casablanca & First class travel became my heartthrobs more or less at the same time. Countless, it would have been if one were to reckon the number of times, I had played Casablanca ( of course, was my Dads favourite and he had got a cassette of such golden collections) in our tape recorder which was the popular gadget that times, for listening to music when the gramaphones became outmoded and the CD players and online youtube stuffs were yet to foray. I miserably failed to get the lyrics by heart in full & yet, I tried harder for such was the fascination, I had with that magical melody embellished with captivating striking of the mellifluous guitar genius. Though, my romancing with first class travel was with equal fetish, I could not do it frequently, but I never missed when a chance beckoned me and I grabbed those opportunites of travel by FC, thanks to my dad whose service offered FC travel (non AC) atleast once a year for him & family during vacations. The Blue Mountain express a.k.a. Nilgiri express from MTP to MAS was the one which offered the boon of FC travel for me those days and I remember this train had a consist of all category of coaches (including the exclusive red liveried RMS coach !) putting it into a unique category of trains which had all possible coaches which railways could offer in its platter. Add to it Blue had the luxury of being hauled by the star studded, steam magic of big black boy WP till early 80s, if my memory serves me right. All such magical concoctions had cast a spell over me which still fails to move out of my thoughts. I understand that with the advent of modern CBC coach rake which has been offered to Nilgiri express by railways has had a casualty in form of stripping off the FC coach it earlier had, as they cannot be part of integral rake consist of CBC coaches as explained by technical experts,.. A bitter pill to be swallowed. Well, advent of new technology in railways, one has to construe, comes in form of a package deal and it has robbed many of the charms of yesteryears and this FC coaches can be very much part of the list of victims of implementation of modern technology in Indian railways. With a cabin accomodating 4 of us in our family, I did not have the chance of minimum of quarrel with my brother for the coveted window seat, which would normally happen during our other stints of train travel and my eyes would be glued to the happenings outside in wayside stations, through the wide FC window, even though travel by Blue mountain would be mostly an all night affair as our travel experts in IRFCA would say some trains do very little day time travel ! My dads efforts in making his incorrigible son to close the window and making him retire to bed for the day, would end futile and he would put off his reading lights and go fast asleep for we had engagements stacked up for the next day in Madras where we were headed to. All this became history, and I was longing for the opportunity as to when lady luck would smile upon me, with the boon of FC travel from Coimbatore to Chennai. My dream was largely becoming a mirage as Blue mountain lost its first class and there was no way one could travel by FC overnight between these two places. It was on 28th October this year, when, the golden opportunity beckoned upon me as I had my FC ticket by Alleppey express got confirmed from Coimbatore to Chennai. I had the prized possession of FC ticket in my hands and walked into Coimbatore jn with my baggage. A group of travellers from a distant northerly location had reached Coimbatore in search of greener pastures to eke out a livelihood by sweating it out in the industries of the city. Undeterred by their barging on to me while I was ascending my way to the Platform, I showed minimum of discomfiture, when I had almost dropped my baggage in this melee, for I had bigger things to accomplish !! Yes, my FC travel after long, long years.... That fascination had relegated such problems to secondary or even tertiary things. I was in Platform 4, well past 2200 hrs, when the announcement was made heralding entry of Alleppey express bound for Chennai at Coimbatore jn. In the absence of proper working of digital indicators, I sought the help of a vendor for identifying the location of my F 1 coach, who looked at me up and down and ensured that I had not mispronounced S 1 as F 1 !!!! Well, he could easily locate me coaches like S 1, S2 and the likes and even the air conditioned ones, But, he had not heard of any thing existing with name F 1 !!! It made me realize that First class coaches, have really become Endangered species facing extinction !! At last the moment came and I could board my FC coach and ticket examiner verified my details and showed my cabin. My fellow folks in the cabin were in slumber leaving me the lone man to enjoy the magical moment & party. I ventured watching out by opening the door of my first class as my train gathered momentum after departure. A whiff of cold air started hitting my face with increasing velocity as the locomotive started working with vigour after departure and the train started gobbling up kilometres in fast pace as if it had a ravenous appetite to consume distances. I came to my cabin after some time and sat on my berth, with big window panes of FC wide open, bringing me my nostalgic moments decades back... I wish & pray that the Endangered species of FC in trains in Indian railways are engendered by its clientele & bosses !! Wishful thinking ? I know, but cant stop from yearning for it. As I retired for the day, the verses of CASABLANCA, lingered in my thoughts.. I love you more and more each day as time goes by.. Thanks Bertie for the verses ( whose voice is even more charming as you can see this 2009 rendition of Casablanca) & thanks FC !!! May both live long.... youtube/watch?v=Blx9lHMivQs youtube/watch?v=JNL337qKC5s bye & cheers, ravi
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 08:22:30 +0000
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