Pit Stops

However,in a particularly mellow mood,some of us may have looked out of the window and noticed the station we have stopped at. We may have stepped out even,choosing to separate this one from the blur of yellow signposts,wooden benches and magazine stalls that whiz by. But a ten-minute stop couldn’t possibly whet the sort of wanderlust that Kareena’s Geet so effortlessly describes as she walks the streets of Ratlam in Jab We Met. Sadly,Itarsi,Mughal Sarai,Guntu end up being little more than signposts to many,but Biswanath Ghosh decided that he was not content with perfunctory tenminute samplings of these places.

There years ago,as he sat gulping down sweet,milky tea from an earthen cup at the Itarsi,he made a decision. A few minutes before that Ghosh had got down at the station to stretch his legs and buy some magazines. “I wanted to know more about the place. I had passed by this station probably a number of times,but knew nothing about the place,” says Ghosh.

A moment of chai-fuelled epiphany gave birth to Chai,chai: Travels in Places Where You Stop But Never Get Off. A book which,as the title suggests,talks about important railway junctions which end up being just names for most of us. Towns such as Mughal Sarai,Jhansi,Itarsi,Guntakal,Jolarpettai,Arakkonam and Shoranur,which surely have life beyond the station yard? “Of course they do.

Mughal Sarai,for instance has the best tea stalls in the world.

They make the best tea there,” insists Ghosh. Mughal Sarai is also famous for being a happy hunting ground for muggers,but Ghosh decided to ignore that when he stationed himself there for three days,“getting the feel of the place”. “I spent at least three days in all these places. I got talking with people around,checked out the markets and realized that these mofussil towns aren’t much different from the Kanpur (the city where he spent his childhood) from two decades ago.

There are quintessential Bata shops and market places which end up being the nerve centres of the town,” says Ghosh.

In most cases,the station ends up being the single most important building of the town. “The economy of these places depends on the station.

The Itarsi station for instance,is the hangout joint for the youths of the town,” says Ghosh.

Ghosh clearly delineates the two words,the small town India and the urban India of concrete abominations. “For me these towns denote real India rather than the sameness of malls,multiplexes and airports of the big cities of our country. Each of these places retain their native charm yet are so wonderfully receptive of change,” signs off Ghosh.