A Diwali Derailment...

I am Back Guys…. Not that I had gone any where, it was just a sabbatical from writing…. But I was not writing that regularly.
In the meanwhile have done some sightseeing in Phuket and Bangkok… Awesome places… More on that later.

Right now my thoughts are kind of derailed ….. That reminds of one derailment which happened eons ago and I was a passenger of that ill fated train.

This is a true incident.

I remember the day very clearly…but first some background

I was doing my MBA and was planning to take a much needed break in Diwali and Visit my Folks in My home town, I had reserved a seat which was RAC. ( Air travel was a dream …..)

Before I bought the ticket, I Kept on asking My Room mate about if he wants to come along. He was very categorical in denial and was very sure that he wanted to enjoy the festivities of Delhi this year.

The D day arrived and it was the previous evening of diwali and I had to catch the “ Magadh vikramshila express” at 7 in the evening, In the same afternoon , my roomie has a change of heart and he decided to accompany me after all, with a mission of surprising his Folks back home. Seeing all our enthu and bubbling energy a college mate of mine also joined in. So in the end we were 3 of us with one RAC ticket boarding the train. ( I hope airlines learns from this and offer this kind of privilege which only Indian railways offer) . Not to mention a certain fairer sex class mate of mine who had a Reserved AC seat…. And was traveling on the same train. (More on her later)

The scene inside the compartment was very festive and obviously there was no sense of seating, Reserved or not reserved this was first come first serve. So we all 3 got one seat and made a human pyramid.

Train started and we were home bound.

The Journey was indeed amusing, and we three, in spite of all the inconvenience were enjoying the environment to the fullest. The night faded in to day and we just crossed Mugal sarai. Train was packed to the capacity and suddenly my roomie had a Nostradamus attack and declared his very wild thought…. What I the train derails now….

As luck would have it, within 5 minutes of the incidence we were suddenly jolted and headed straight towards the field instead of the railway tracks.

The train derailed. That was a Diwali day

After the initial shock wore off, we suddenly realized that due to heavy rains for past week fields were muddy and train wheels got lodged in the slush and that acted as a cushion which softened the impact and there were no casualties.

Initial reaction was to rush to the door and get out immediately, so we did that , moment we went out, my college mate realized that he has left his half eaten packet of Britannia’s Milk Bikis inside the train. That brave soul again jumped back in the train and came out with a smile on face and Biscuits in hand. What a victory.

I obviously worried about the fairer sex class mate of mine who was in AC and as the situation is always, she was nowhere to be found. However Ac bogy was in pristine condition and she by then has moved out of the train and has gone to nearby station to board the relief train.
My roomie was heart broken though, my college mate almost collapsed, and ME….. Well I never gave her a ride on my Mobike again.

We however were undecided and without money (college days dude) and were contemplation various possibilities before deciding the correct course of action. (Remember I was doing my MBA)

Suddenly we saw Rakesh Mohan (Kaju Bhai) a Assistant commandant of BSF ( He is now no more with us, has laid down his life in the service of our country, May god rest his soul in peace. One of the bravest human I have ever met in my life)
Kaju bahi also was in the same train going home, along with one o his juniors.

Seeing him we were suddenly charged up, but he junior was little unhappy, I thought because of the accident, but his unhappiness was over a very different issue, it seems in the entire shakedown experience of accident, his bags fall from the top birth and some liquor bottles he was carrying to be used in festivities, were broken. I was surprised that he was not happy to be alive ( His bogy was the worst hit) then being sad for some broken liquor bottle, when I asked him this, his answer startled me.
“Its no big deal, I see Death every day (he was posted in Kashmir) and have learnt to come to terms with it.” He was sad because his plans for festivities have been nixed.

This was the feeling of a soldier.

Anyways, we all hired a Ambassador car and started for last 200 Km of the journey. I still remember it clearly, we all penniless guys, barely managed to pool in money to hire the car and were not even left with enough to have some refreshments later.

We reached our home town at around 6 on the Diwali day to the relief of our parents , who were really worried after hearing about the train accident and to the surprise of some very good friends who were already deciding on the menu of the after funeral party.

My roomies parent were most surprised. To find him first and to find him alive later.

That was a Diwali to remember and a Journey never to be forgotten..