Jab I met the Cadburys bytes

Kareena missed her train twice in 'Jab we met'. I almost missed my train twice on 22nd Nov. kareena missed her train for Shahid. I almost missed my train for Cadburys Bytes.

The idea to restart my blog was suggested by PPP, when this incident happened. So here is the story from the horse's mouth and believe me, it’s a very long story. So bring out the popcorn and Pepsi and enjoy the tale of crazy train journey.

As Mickey says, ' Shuru se Shuru karte hain', so lets begin from the beginning. It all started when I could not have a proper lunch on 21st Nov. Then I missed the dinner too, as I was getting late for the train to Vizag. I was traveling with PPP and by the time we boarded the train, I found that we had forgotten to get the water bottles too. Hence stuck in the train without any food or water, the only option was to wait for the next station. Meanwhile we chatted about each other's crazy train journey experiences and little did I know that I was going to prove my tryst of bad luck with Indian Railways again that night.

So at last when the train stopped at the next station (Katapeddi, if I am not mistaken and I have no idea where it is on the world map) at around 1.30 AM on 22nd Nov, I got down from the train. Our compartment was on one end of the platform and the food stall was on the other end. I am fond of morning walk, but taking a walk at 2 AM with empty stomach is not the right fitness regime. Anyways after buying water, I found that the only food available was 2 packets of Cadburys bytes. I bought them, but lost quite a bit of time, which turned out to be critical in the end. In the mean time, the train had started moving and I had to make a dash.

I had to cover a distance of some 10 compartments (no idea in terms of meters), before I could reach mine. Running in the opposite direction of the train, the laws of physics were coming into my mind. By the time I reached the 6th compartment, it seemed the train had picked up a lot of speed due to the concept of relative velocity. So I decided I had to jump at that time. With 2 bottles & 2 packets in hand, it was impossible to jump. So I threw the bottles into the compartment and jumped. I went till the last sleeper compartment to find that there is a shutter between the AC coach and sleeper coach. I called up PPP and got to know that the next station will come in 10 mins. But it never came. After 15 mins of darkness in S8, a TT came and told me that next station will come in another 2 hrs. Just at that the train stopped in the middle of nowhere and I thought of trying my luck right then.

But still there were 2 obstructions. One was the unevenness of the track which was 5 feet below the train level and full of big stones. & the other was the door on B1. I had kept that open when I came out of the compartment, but some great man had closed it again. So after a torturous walk of 15 meters, finding the door closed was the last thing I wanted to see. At the same time the train again started moving. I again had to run and board it. This time it was even more difficult, as running on a floor full of stones the size of a cricket ball is difficult. Also the stakes were high, as if I had missed the train there, there was no way I could have got any help. Somehow I was successful in covering the distance and getting on the train again.

The TT said that the shutter was closed from the B1 side and it can be opened from that side. I called up PPP and asked her to open it up. The door was some 200 pounds and PPP barely reaching 100. So again we had to wait for some time before she could find someone. Neither the TT on B1 nor the attendant was ready to help and a good fellow came to our help. That guy was holding a pack of Chips and a bottle of water. He handed it over to PPP and opened the shutter. So when I entered into the compartment, I first saw PPP standing there with a water bottle and a pack of chips. Looking at that, my face must have resembled the look Dhoni had, when Sarat Pawar took all the credit for the 20-20 WC win. I mean this is the stuff for which I almost missed the train and here she was enjoying all that. But later it dawned on me that may be it was not hers. PPP had a looked at my face and understood what I was thinking and laughed. We then had a good laugh about the whole incident.

Like most stories this had a happy ending and I thank god for that. It all happened because of the Cadburys bytes packets and we had a great time eating them. I think I shall write about a similar story, which happened during my college days, in future if I find time.