On a fine day in 2020, when the world was still blissfully unaware of the impending lockdown, we got an invitation for a wedding at our friend's home, Jodhpur.
We made some last-minute plans and decided to book tickets as a connecting journey as direct trains weren't available. From AF-JP, we decided on the AF-AII ICE, and after a few hours of layover at JP, we were going to take the Mandore Express, where another friend was joining us from Delhi.
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I was busy with something, so another friend of mine booked the tickets, and I was surprised that we got CNF window seats at such short notice. Good for us. So, another trip to Rajasthan, what could go wrong. On the day of the journey, we reached Agra Fort, and we got to know what all could go wrong, something we didn't even slightly imagine.
We boarded the C1 and started placing our luggage on the luggage rack. It was the center seat, and we had ordered from Domino's. Pretty chill friends trip. Except for the fact that after a few minutes, a family boarded and told us that we were in their seats. No, ma'am, we have the tickets. Look at them. Yeah, C1, but same seats, same day. I, being the master of sweet talk, persuaded them to leave us alone and talk to the TTE about this discrepancy. Everything sorted out.
And then I asked my friend to show me the ticket. Nothing seemed wrong until I saw the month of travel. In haste, my friend had booked the tickets for 18th March, which was exactly a month ahead of the day we were sitting on the train. So, I told everyone to calm down and went to that family who were still beating their heads over their ticket. I told them that we didn't check the refreshed status of our tickets, and we were allotted seats in the C2 coach. Apologized to them for the discrepancy and deboarded the coach.
Outside, all three of us gave the scolding of a lifetime to our friend who booked the ticket. But there still was an issue, how to reach Jaipur. After all, all the shopping and makeovers shouldn't go to waste, right. They checked, and there weren't any trains taking us to Jaipur with enough buffer for Mandore. I asked everyone to calm down and let the expert do the work. I checked, and luckily, 4 seats got available in current in the 2S of same train.
What else could we do? Let it be 2S for a few hours. First disappointment, bench type seats, no issues, there wasn't much of a crowd. Then came the second disappointment after the train entered Rajasthan, 2S became the GS and we had to adjust a lot more people on our seats, because that's what good samaritans do, not that we had another choice. Only relief being that due to our lady friends, the crowd was much well behaved in our cubicle than rest of the coach.
Anyway, the journey went a lot better than expected, we got a lot of laughs over the incident that happened earlier that day, even my mother joked about it after the initial scoldings over the phone. Got to talk to a lot of Rajasthani people, and it was fun. We deboarded at JP and took a stroll through the Bazars of Jaipur. We also went inside to take a look at the interiors of JP Double Decker as it was our first time seeing a Double Decker train.
After a well-deserved rest, we went on the PFs to board our next train. Well, we were waiting on the PF when the HWH-JU arrived, and looking at the empty coaches, it struck our minds that we could've got CNF seats despite the WL during bookings. And as the train departed, like a wave of regret, a wave of water soaked me. Have I told that we took the journey in February, and it was still a chilly weather outside. Some lazy waterman left the pipe watering connected, and it came out with pressure when the train departed.
You may think that here ends the string of mishappenings. But lady luck still had a last mischief up her sleeves. This second ticket was booked by our friend who was coming from Delhi to have all the seats together. Just that he forgot to tell us a crucial piece of information. Since 3AC had WL status, he booked in SL because how could five college kids afford 2AC tickets that were available. As soon as the train moved, it felt as if we were traveling through Siberia.
No one had brought blankets, well, except for me. I brought two, and the perk of being 6 feet tall, my jackets could be used as blankets. Now, who is laughing for over-packing stuff. The rest of the journey was uneventful. We enjoyed an almost empty SL coach, a beautiful sunrise, and the scenic beauty Rajasthan has to offer.
After the celebrations, roaming around the streets of Jodhpur and a great hospitality, we returned. Yeah, you guessed it, in the JU-HWH Express. Although we had to book the tickets via the HQ quota, the onward journey experience was enough adventure for us. Needless to say, I slept all the way back and woke up only at ETW.
So, this was my journey to the blue city which had enough twists and turns to tell it apart from the plain, regular train journeys and give it a special place in the section called 'Travelogues'.
Kumud.
please wait...Translate to EnglishOn a beautiful day in 2020, when the world was still blissfully unaware of the impending lockdown, we received an invitation for a wedding at our friend's home in Jodhpur.
We made some last-minute plans and decided to book tickets as a connecting journey since direct trains weren't available. From AF-JP, we chose the AF-AII ICE, and after a few hours of layover at JP, we were going to take the Mandore Express, where another friend was joining us from Delhi.
I was busy with something, so another friend of mine booked the tickets, and I was surprised that we got CNF window seats at such short notice. Good for us. So, another trip to Rajasthan, what could go wrong. On the day of the journey, we reached Agra Fort, and we got to know what all could go wrong, something we didn't even slightly imagine.
We boarded the C1 and started placing our luggage on the luggage rack. It was the center seat, and we had ordered from Domino's. Pretty chill friends trip. Except for the fact that after a few minutes, a family boarded and told us that we were in their seats. No, ma'am, we have the tickets. Look at them. Yeah, C1, but same seats, same day. I, being the master of sweet talk, persuaded them to leave us alone and talk to the TTE about this discrepancy. Everything sorted out.
And then I asked my friend to show me the ticket. Nothing seemed wrong until I saw the month of travel. In haste, my friend had booked the tickets for 18th March, which was exactly a month ahead of the day we were sitting on the train. So, I told everyone to calm down and went to that family who were still beating their heads over their ticket. I told them that we didn't check the refreshed status of our tickets, and we were allotted seats in the C2 coach. Apologized to them for the discrepancy and deboarded the coach.
Outside, all three of us gave the scolding of a lifetime to our friend who booked the ticket. But there still was an issue, how to reach Jaipur. After all, all the shopping and makeovers shouldn't go to waste, right. They checked, and there weren't any trains taking us to Jaipur with enough buffer for Mandore. I asked everyone to calm down and let the expert do the work. I checked, and luckily, 4 seats got available in current in the 2S of the same train.
What else could we do? Let it be 2S for a few hours. First disappointment, bench type seats, no issues, there wasn't much of a crowd. Then came the second disappointment after the train entered Rajasthan, 2S became the GS and we had to adjust a lot more people on our seats, because that's what good samaritans do, not that we had another choice. Only relief being that due to our lady friends, the crowd was much well-behaved in our cubicle than rest of the coach.
Anyway, the journey went a lot better than expected, we got a lot of laughs over the incident that happened earlier that day, even my mother joked about it after the initial scoldings over the phone. Got to talk to a lot of Rajasthani people, and it was fun. We deboarded at JP and took a stroll through the Bazars of Jaipur. We also went inside to take a look at the interiors of JP Double Decker as it was our first time seeing a Double Decker train.
After a well-deserved rest, we went on the PFs to board our next train. Well, we were waiting on the PF when the HWH-JU arrived, and looking at the empty coaches, it struck our minds that we could've got CNF seats despite the WL during bookings. And as the train departed, like a wave of regret, a wave of water soaked me. Have I told that we took the journey in February, and it was still a chilly weather outside. Some lazy waterman left the pipe watering connected, and it came out with pressure when the train departed.
You may think that here ends the string of mishappenings. But lady luck still had a last mischief up her sleeves. This second ticket was booked by our friend who was coming from Delhi to have all the seats together. Just that he forgot to tell us a crucial piece of information. Since 3AC had
please wait...Translate to Hindi2020 mein ek achche din, jab duniya abhi lockdown ke baare mein bilkul bhi nahin jaanti thi, hamen apne dost ke ghar, Jodhpur mein shaadi ka invitation mila.
Humne kuchh last-minute plans banaye aur decide kiya ki tickets book karenge kyunki direct trains nahin thi. AF-JP se, humne AF-AII ICE ki ticket book ki, aur JP pe kuchh ghanton ke layover ke baad, hum Mandore Express lene ja rahe the, jahan Delhi se hamara ek aur dost hamare saath join karne wala tha.
Main kuchh kaam mein busy tha, toh mere ek dost ne tickets book ki, aur main surprised tha ki humein CNF window seats itni jaldi mil gaye. Accha hua. To, Rajasthan ki ek aur trip, kya ho sakta hai. Journey ke din, hum Agra Fort pahunche, aur humein pata chala ki kya-kya galat ho sakta hai, aisa kuchh bhi humne socha bhi nahin tha.
Humne C1 mein board kiya aur apna luggage luggage rack pe rakhna shuru kiya. Yeh center seat thi, aur humne Domino's se order kiya tha. Bahut chill friends trip tha. Bas ek baat chhodd kar, kuchh minutes baad, ek family board ki aur humein bola ki yeh unki seats hain. Nahin ma'am, hamare paas tickets hain. Dekhiye. Haan, C1, par same seats, same day. Main, jo sweet talk ka master hu, maine unhe manaya ki humko chup chala jane do aur TTE se baat karein is baare mein. Sab kuchh theek ho gaya.
Aur fir maine apne dost se kaha ki mujhe ticket dikhao. Kuchh bhi galat nahin laga jab tak maine travel ka month nahin dekha. Jaldi mein, mere dost ne 18 March ke liye tickets book ki thi, jo ki exactly ek month aage tha us din se jab hum train mein baithne wale the. To maine sabse kaha ki calm down karo aur us family ke paas gaya jo abhi bhi apni ticket pe dhakka laga rahe the. Maine unhe bataaya ki humne apni tickets ka refreshed status nahin dekha, aur humein C2 coach mein seats allocate ki gayi thi. Unse discrepancy ke liye maafangi maangi aur coach se utar gaya.
Bahar, hum teenon ne apne dost ko jindagi ki sabse badi dant deni shuru kar di jo ticket book kiya tha. Par abhi bhi ek issue tha, Jaipur kaise pahunche? Aakhir, sab shopping aur makeover waste nahin jaana chahiye, na? Unhone check kiya, aur Jaipur jaane wali koi train nahin thi jisme Mandore ke liye kaafi buffer ho. Maine sabse kaha ki calm down karo aur expert ko kaam karne do. Maine check kiya, aur luckily, 4 seats current mein 2S mein same train mein available thi.
Aur kya kar sakte the hum? Chalo, 2S mein kuchh ghanton ke liye. Pehla disappointment, bench type seats, koi issue nahin, zyada crowd nahin tha. Fir aaya dusra disappointment jab train Rajasthan mein enter hui, 2S ban gaya GS aur humein apni seats pe aur logon ko adjust karna pada, kyunki yeh achche samaritans ka kaam hai, aisa nahin hai ki hamare paas koi aur option tha. Bas rahat thi ki hamari lady friends ki wajah se, humari cubicle mein crowd bahut achche se behave kar raha tha, baaki coach ke mukable.
Waise, journey bahut achchhi rahi, humne us din hue incident par bahut hasi ki, meri maa ne bhi phone pe initial scoldings ke baad uske baare mein joke kiya. Bahut saare Rajasthani logo se baat ki, aur maza aaya. Humne JP pe utar ke Jaipur ke bazaron mein ghoomne gaye. Hum JP Double Decker ke andar bhi gaye, kyunki yeh pahli baar tha jab humne Double Decker train dekhi.
Achi tarah se aaram karne ke baad, hum PF pe gaye apni next train board karne ke liye. Waise, hum PF pe wait kar rahe the jab HWH-JU aaya, aur khali coaches dekh kar, hamare dimaag mein aaya ki humne booking ke time WL hone ke bawjood CNF seats le sakte the. Aur jaise train chali, regret ki ek lahar ki tarah, paani ki ek lahar ne mujhe bhig diya. Kya maine bataya ki humne February mein journey ki, aur bahar abhi bhi thanda tha. Koi aalsi waterman pipe watering connected chhod gaya, aur train jaise chali, pressure ke saath paani bahar nikla.
Aapko laga hoga ki yahaan mishappenings ki ladi khatam ho gayi. Par lady luck ke pass abhi bhi apni aakhri mischief thi. Yeh doosri ticket hamare dost ne book ki thi jo Delhi se a raha tha ki saari seats saath mein hon. Bas woh yeh batane bhul gaya ki ek important information. Kyunki 3AC mein...
