The train to Bihar

Have you ever travelled in a candlelit train compartment? Hey, I have had that privilege. Guess where? In Bihar, of course. It all happene...

Have you ever travelled in a candlelit train compartment? Hey, I have had that privilege. Guess where? In Bihar, of course. It all happened in the summer of 1996: for the first time, I was travelling in a passenger train. That8217;s what, non-Express trains are called in that part of the country.

The lights and fans went off a few minutes after the train entered the Bihar countryside bordering Orissa. For the rest of the guys in the train, the blackout seemed quite normal. It was just the way things had been in the past and were expected to be in the future.

In no time, some passengers casually produced candles from their luggage and put them atop the seats. The act would have seemed quite normal if I were home. But this was a train and we were in the middle of nowhere, almost. In no time, I found myself sitting in a candlelit compartment. To tell you the truth, I did not mind it at all.

But this was the only the beginning of a remarkable journey. One that I would remember all my life. Around 10 pm, the train halted at an unscheduled stop. The passengers dismissed it as a 8220;chain-pull.8221; 8220;These things are common here, buchi,8221; one of the passengers told me. I nodded. There were so many people around that I felt better staring at the darkness outside.

As I sat waiting for the train to move again, I could hear the faint strains of shehnai coming from a distance. Soon, it turned louder and guess what I saw. Believe it or not, a real-life Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;baaratAtilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3; was approaching our compartment. There was a bridegroom, his friends and relatives with lanterns in hand, all eager to travel to the next village, about 20km away, for the shaadi.

One of the passengers, who was a Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;barati,Atilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3; had pulled the chain so that the others could join in. 8220;We are going for the Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;shaadi,Atilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3;8221; informed a Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;baratiAtilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3;. 8220;We missed the last bus. So we decided to stop the train. We kind of know the driver as well.8221;

Well, contacts can get you anywhere, even on a train for your marriage. The bridegroom sat right next to me and I had the privilege of interacting with him. He was a 21-year-old lanky guy who was quite excited about the marriage. A huge man with a thick moustache sat beside him. He held a rifle and kept his foot on a small tin box. I asked the groom about the contents of the box and he warned not to get so curious or I would be in big trouble.

Story continues below this ad

Later the young groom whispered into my ears that the box contained jewels and sarees for his bride. And that it was important to guard the box. Hence, the rifle and the thick moustached man.

In two hours time, we reached the village of the Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;shaadiAtilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3; and the Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;baratiAtilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3; left the train. Some excitement on a train journey, I thought. But there was more to come. The next halt happened at 2 am. I was awake at that unearthly hour. Who could possibly sleep in a candlelit compartment spilling over with people?

This time, the train stopped not at a railway station but near a cluster of huts. The entire place was engulfed in darkness except a flickering lamp glowing in one of the huts. What now? I wondered.

Most of the passengers around me had dozed off. The candles had burnt out and the train was completely dark. If I had to go through this, I would, I decided. And that is exactly what I did. I sat still waiting for things to take their own turn.

Story continues below this ad

After about an hour, the train started off again. Around 8 am the next morning, I walked down to meet the train staff. It is then that I got the shock of my life.

The train had stopped around 2 am because the staff wanted to buy Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;taadi,Atilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3; that is, country liquor. Their favourite Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;taadiAtilde;sup2;f39Atilde;sup3; was sold in one of those huts where the train had an unscheduled stop at that unearthly hour. The staff had apparently got off to make their purchase.

Finally, when the train reached Patna, I heaved a sigh of relief. Before I purchased my return ticket at the Patna railway station, I made sure I bought a packet of candles!