There is a huge difference between travelling by rail and that by air. It is not that we save upon precious time. Time… Suddenly all of us seem to be hard pressed for this universal commodity. We tend to forget that the hands of the clock moved in the same way, even in the past. It’s just that our rat race urges all of us to defeat the movement of clocks.

Journeys by train have become just a memory. So many acquaintances were made just by travelling by the railways. Some of them withstood the test of time, while some others were forgotten just as soon as the journeys ended. People of all kinds – vendors, merchants, men and women of all shapes and sizes and ages, jostled past each other within the compartments of a train. In the later years, we traveled in the air-conditioned coaches. But there had been a time when we had also traveled by ordinary non – AC coaches. Travelling by the Rajdhani Express was a luxury to many at one point of time. Today travelling by air is the most ‘in’ thing for the middle class gentlemen. Does that mean that yesteryears had a more laid back attitude to life? An attitude that made us take things easily, cozily and at its own pace? Have we become such social animals that we have bartered our time for social banter in order to gain the precious lure of the lucre? Have we turned into just ‘animals’ then? Have we all left behind fellow-feelings and empathy for others as an extra baggage, as a relic of by gone years?

Air travel doesn’t have, or rather can never aspire to have, the same amount of fun as that of travel by railways, especially Indian Railways. I have heard that British Rail offers a memorable and enjoyable experience. But even though I visited England once, I did not get or avail the opportunity to be on- board. To me, our very own Indian Railways – granted that it’s left behind better days – still affords a sense of utter and uncanny déjà vu. Nowhere else do we find comfort and care at a more affordable price during travel. Seeing the greenery outside rushing past, through the latticed windows of a train compartment, listening to the lullaby-like sound of the engine as it passes rugged terrains through the darkness of the night, and finally finding the waving arm of a loved one – waiting for long – at the destination platform, provided us with a sense of undefinable happiness.

Air travel has become more common and the most endorsed and practiced mode of commuting, than ever before. Flights are more preferrable than train journeys now. Airports have suddenly become crowded with teeming groups of people, hustled in corners. The blaring announcements of the schedules of aircrafts reminds me of the previous era when the same announcements used to be made for outgoing or incoming trains. Tea in earthen cups, milky white or black with just a dash of lemon, were consumed while waiting for the arrival of trains in the designated platforms. Passengers also consumed these concoctions from the vendors, while sitting inside the compartment cubicles. The inane banter with co-passengers blended well with the rhythmic movement of these trains. Luggage which are now extra-secured in and during air travel, were placed under the seats of the train compartments. The security of these luggage rested with the passengers themselves. There was always the possibility of the theft of one’s luggage in passenger trains. As against the journey and travails of local trains, passenger trains ran and still run, long distances and the Indian Railway Board shoulders the mountain of responsibility in this regard.

Extremely long distances are traversed by air crafts. Trains are becoming obsolete slowly as a means of travel. Those who can afford the airfare, are opting for air travel because – to repeat the same phrase – it saves upon precious time. But as soon as time becomes a commodity, it can begin to be bartered for a pittance. We all are hard pressed for time now-a-days. But like the value of gold, old memories get more valuable and sweeter with the passage of time itself. All of us, except perhaps the present generation of teenagers and toddlers, have travelled by trains. Some have lain awake while some others dozed away as these speedy trains whizzed past and ran through the darkness of the night. In a plane journey, there is hardly any scope to see the scenic beauty of the greenery outside. All we see – if we get a window seat that is – are the clouds and their rapid movement.

Train journeys are the stuff of many exciting, memorable and entertaining short stories, novels and films. Ruskin Bond, the master storyteller who just turned ninety years young, has one – The Night Train at Deoli. Satyajit Ray made his film, Nayak (Hero), starring the then-reigning matinee idol Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore. The entire film was shot inside a train. Sharmila Tagore played the role of a journalist who interviews the actor. Uttam Kumar, Ray had directed, had just to be himself. Reading books lighting on the reading lamp above, is a very enjoyable experience associated with train journeys. I remember I had purchased a pirated edition of my favorite writer Amitav Ghosh’s book, The Calcutta Chromosome, aboard the Santiniketan Express which begins its journey from Howrah and, after around three hours, touches its final destination – the Bolpur railway station.

Compared to the number of private companies who fly aircrafts, in an ordeal to master and govern us, we are really beginning to believe in the age-old truism: The sky is the limit. But when rail transport is concerned, there’s just one governing body. That’s the Indian Railways. Travelling by Indian Railways is only a memory now – sweet, nostalgic and a bit searing.

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