To Rajdhani in Rajdhani

The name Rajdhani (a passenger train service connecting the capitals of states with national capital) evokes a sense of pride and a journey of a life time for Indians including Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). As Indians we say “Rajdhani mein ek baar toh safar karna zaroori hai”. If you haven’t experienced the journey, then you are really missing something. And I was one amongst the many who were bombarded with, you must experience Rajdhani. And this gave rise to my determination to have a firsthand experience of what Rajdhani is all about.

Roger in New Delhi

On 22^nd September 2014, International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) announced that Rafael Nadal has pulled out due to injury and Roger Federer will replace him at Micromax Indian Aces (one of the four franchises in the league). The Indian leg of the tournament scheduled for 6^th – 8^th December, will be played in New Delhi. Along with the opportunity to see Roger live in action (I am an ardent Roger Federer fan) it was also apt for me to undertake a Rajdhani journey from Mumbai to New Delhi. And thus along with three of my colleagues, I stitched a plan to travel to national capital in Rajdhani. We booked tickets in August Kranti Rajdhani Express for 5^th December to be in time for the matches scheduled beginning 6^th. 

First Brush

Finally my Rajdhani moment came on the evening of 5^th (the train departs from Mumbai at 17.40 hours) and the first impression on entering the train was “wow” Indian trains can also be clean. We quickly got into our seats (they were settled, luckily all of us in the same compartment though) and slid our luggage under the seats. Even before we got comfortable in our seats, in came the steward with our linens for our journey. It included spotless white napkins, two white bed sheets (the date printed on them was April 2014 and September 2014, signaling the time since they are in use), a pillow and a beige colour blanket. The train started at the appointed hour and within a few minutes started the generous hospitality which everyone raves about. The refreshments included a cheese sandwich, a Punjabi samosa, gulab jamun, a mango juice, masala nuts, both wet and regular tissues and tea / coffee. If asked for, there was a second serving of tea / coffee as well. Though I didn’t have gulab jamun and mango juice, but it failed to appease the taste buds of my colleagues who tried it. A thought, why not serve healthy food? Instead of white use brown bread, baked rather than fried, dried nuts for sweets, etc. etc. (hope I am not expecting too much. But it’s high time we Indians inculcate some healthy lifestyle).

Relocating, Charging Dilemma and Soothing Soup

Post our snacks, we got into trying to exchange seats and make sure all three of us are together. We call it Jugaad (You can read my review of the book Jugaad Innovation – the very first post on my blog). Of the total 54 seats in the compartment, our seat numbers were 6, 46, & 48. While 6 & 48 were side upper berth, 46 was regular upper berth. Finally after some trying, we all moved to seats 2, 4 & 6. In the meanwhile, I noticed that there is no charging point on either of the side berths and there were two for the regular four berths. Railways should immediately rectify this flaw (it causes inconvenience to all the passengers. I overheard few passengers discussing this issue as well). I raised this query with the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) but he dodged it with a big smile and said speak to Mr. XXX, who was never to be found.

While in the midst of all this, the central audio system of the train started playing the live news from All India Radio (AIR). This was definitely a first for me. While we were listening to the news, the staff served hot tomato soup and bread sticks with butter. It was tasty and crunchy. Once the soup trays were taken back, hygiene staff mobbed the floor with disinfectant cleaner to make it hygienic for dinner. Also, the staff made sure that washrooms are clean, there is running water and hand wash available. Though the washroom had some stench.

Over to Supper

By the time our soup was over, dinner was about to be served. Already having eaten too much, I requested the kitchen staff, if they can postpone our dinner. They said they are time bound but they will serve us after serving everyone so that we get additional time. Luckily we got enough time and were ready for dinner. The meal has salad, vegetable, chapatti, rice, pickle, dal and curd. I requested for an additional cup of curd and the staff happily obliged. The meal was piping hot and tasty. Packed well with very little or no spill over. Post dinner it was the turn of vanilla ice-cream to be served. With stomach brimming to maximum capacity, it was time to switch off the lights and call it a day. While trying hard to sleep, I noticed the ceiling joints were very dirty (full of dust, about to fall out from it) and light panels were coming off. The most uncomfortable thing was the location of air conditioner vents over the side upper berth. Once you lie down the air would be directly hitting your chest (irrespective of which side your head is) making it difficult to sleep. There was no provision to change the direction of air flow. This needs to be addressed.

While we were asleep, and train running at a decent place, the leveling of tracks in some part of Gujarat seemed uneven and the shock absorbers were unable to reduce the jerks felt within the cabin. We need better of both these things for a smoother ride.

New Light, Same Service

 As is the case with railways, morning berth tea is served by 07.00 hours. The continuous shouts of tea, coffee are bound to wake you. By 08.00 hours the breakfast is served. It included an egg omlette for non-vegetarians and patty and upma for the vegetarians. The common factors were bread slices, sachet of jam, butter and the serving of tea / coffee. Again the staff shared when asked for additional slices of bread and upma and patty both under vegetarian option. Same was with multiple servings of tea. With this the food hospitality drew to a close and it was time for linens to be collected back and be ready for the arrival at Hazrat Nizamuddin station, drawing the journey to a close.

Happy Ending

Must admit, the hospitality was generous, staff was courteous and always wore a smile on their face (along with their designated clean uniforms), hygienic food, gangways and washrooms were the norm. If plug point issue, ac vents, shock absorbers / tracks and stench is taken care of, then the experience of travelling in a Rajdhani will definitely multiply many times.

Khate peete safar ka pata nahi chala aur hum manzil ko pahuch gaye.