We had our exams in March 2024, and my sister’s exam got postponed twice, making it on April 1st. It came with a shorter notice, so we couldn’t get a reserved ticket.
It stuck on PQWL 9 and 10
We only knew earlier that it wouldn’t get confirmed, and our experience travelling with a waiting ticket was very bad. Also, most of the time, when our tickets were confirmed, we would also see the condition of those with a waiting ticket.
We had that tension in mind. Now, whatever the situation might be, we couldn’t skip it as it was my sister’s exam.
To initiate, we took a passenger train from Bettiah and came all the way to Muzaffarpur ( Our train was from Muzaffarpur )
After devouring rice and vegetables and a big bowl of maggi at Muzaffarpur Junction, I was set to commence on the journey.
I then tried to get some info from the TT, who were also to board Pawan Express, about whether they could manage even a single seat for both of us or seats between two stations. Our attempts failed, as they said it’s even difficult to sit on a waiting list.
One of them asked for ₹500 in bribe to do something that obviously we weren’t going to do. Also, despite it being a waiting ticket, we had paid the full amount of the ticket, so giving an additional ₹500 is a big no. If we had to do the same, we could get a general ticket and then bribe.
We got only ₹1500 as our budget, and bribing ⅓ of your budget isn’t a wise choice.
The train came on time, but this time something was different. This time, we didn’t have a class to get into. So we got into S4 as it came in front of us. We got in, and after a bit of hassle, we got seats to sit in.
We were still not sure about the night. At night, my sister adjusted with a girl, and I took out a folding polythene and deployed it on the floor of the train and started to sleep.
I could only sleep for 3 hours before a Marathi family came and took everything on fire, ruining my whole sleep.
But what happened during those 3 hours of sleep was more interesting. I was constantly bitten by mosquitos. Yeah, even in moving trains. I am 6 feet tall, and I had to adjust to around 3–4 feet. I couldn’t stretch my legs. I had to fold it here and there. People were coming and going, crushing the bottle in my bag. They were also destroying the thing on which I slept. Many times they put their shoes on my hands and legs, and it really hurted. In addition, the IRCTC hawkers were a pain in the ass; they added a lot to this discomfort. I was sleeping on something like the below.
At 12 am, a Marathi family disturbed my sleep. I got up, put the folding in my bag, and started to listen to music when the idea of writing about this experience came into my mind.
After that, I changed my position a lot of times, jumping from one seat to another. Sitting and sleeping on my bag kept on my lap. After 7 a.m., we deboarded the Pawan Express train at Maihar Station.
What I learned was that when I have the reserved ticket, I am the boss, but there is a life for the people with waiting tickets, and I must be compassionate for them too. They have paid the same or even more for the ticket.I remember I hated when I boarded the train and saw people sleeping on the train floor because it caused inconvenience in moving us and our stuff. I don’t know if there is a solution to this, but I believe that I must ask them politely to move.
I should also be sharing seats if it doesn’t cause any inconvenience to me. Also, at least I must allow them to sit and put their bags on my seat.
Thanks for reading.
This is Navneet signing off from today’s blog.
Peace 🕊️