Best wishes to my brothers and sisters in Orissa,
-Krishna Kumar.S
"Toma mora swarer milan srishti kare chalbochatano".
January 30th, 2010.
The alarm clock woke me up at 0315hrs and I was ready in 30 minutes for another trip. The climate wasn't chill and I managed to walk comfortably to Tank Number 8 in Sector 2(Salt Lake). The stray dogs followed me for a short distance and they were suspicious about my activities. But I didn't panic-I quietly walked to the nearby Taxi stand and took one to Howrah Railway station. I instructed the driver that it should be a reserved taxi and no one should be boarding it other than me. Within 30 minutes, I reached Howrah thanks to some real skillful driving. Compared to Chennai, rates were reasonable here. Even if the driver asked Rs.20 or Rs.30, I didn't mind. I proceeded towards a small restaurant in Howrah station and had two vadas and one pizza with tomato sauce.
I was taking 2821 Dhauli Express till Bhubaneshwar(BBS). My plan was to visit Puri and Konark for the weekend. Travelling to Orissa has been one of my dreams and I am happy that I got the time to do. As usual, like any other travel buff, I went to the front to find the power for the day. Santragachi WAP-4#22271 was at the helm. I boarded my coach D2 which was near the locomotive and my seat number was 19. It was a window seat facing guard.
Konark wheel. Pic taken by Krishna Kumar.S
My train started on time at 0605hrs. It gathered speed in no time and literally sailed through the sub-urbs. I was surprised as I expected my train to struggle at least till Mecheda due to EMU's. Kharagpur WDM-3A#16382 R was seen shunting small rakes near Howrah outer. As my train negotiated a curve, I looked towards the rear end and realized that my train was a long one. I am not sure whether it was a 23 coacher, but it should have been a 18 or 19 coacher. After crossing Mecheda, I got a window seat towards locomotive. The person in front of me was feeling cold and he asked me whether I would be interested in a swap. I gladly accepted it.
I have a funny habit! Whenever, I am travelling, I send SMS to one or two friends who in turn act as repeaters and forward it to nearly 30 to 40 people in their respective distribution lists who like reading travel SMS's. I use repeaters who repeat SMS to avoid the cost involved in sending an STD SMS to everyone in Tamilnadu. I take the help of a friend who is a railfan named Sriram Karthik and another friend in personal front whose task is to forward my messages whenever I send them. I also make it a point to share my travel stories in SMS to update them LIVE, as and when it happens.
My train reached Kharaghpur at 0745hrs. At around 0748hrs, Barabil Jan Shatabdi overtook my train Dhauli Express at Kharagpur(KGP). I couldn't believe this. When I took this train to Naomundi two months back, it struggled to reach KGP due to sub-urban traffic, but it has covered 114km in 80 minutes today. How could that be possible? My train started at 0605hrs, but how come Barabil JS starting at 0625hrs overtake my train? Was Barabil Jan Shatabdi-a real high-speed one?
Konark Temple horse, Orissa.
After Kharagpur, my train was really fast. I felt a lot of aggression in driving. No jerks, no unnecessary application of brakes but still aggressive. I felt as if I was flying in a supersonic airplane. My mobile received an SMS from AirTel at 0850hrs. It was as follows: "Airtel welcomes you to Orissa. We wish you a pleasant stay here. For assistance call 121". I also received a message from my friend Abhijit Das, "wishing" me a happy journey.
It was an emotional moment for me. When I was in class 3 or 4, I remember marking Puri, Konark, Orissa in maps during history classes and exams, but I really can't believe that I was actually in Orissa itself interacting with Oriya people. You know how much it means for me. It means a lot!
My train reached Jaleswar at 0855hrs. Not many people got down here. The next halt was Balasore at 0940hrs. WAP-4#22269 was spotted at Balasore with a passenger in the loop. The passenger train wasn't crowded much. Since I was sitting in the left, I couldn't see the train traffic going towards Howrah. I wish I had got a window seat on the right. Dhauli Express crossed Bahanagabazaar at a high speed and even the onlookers in the platforms were amazed at my train's speed. My train reached Bhadrak at 1030hrs.
Surya idol kept inside in an isolated place. Konark, Orissa.
After Bhadrak, Dhauli became a passenger literally. Lots of people with UR tickets(open tickets without reservation) boarded the train. As my train blasted through Manjuri Road, I had cutlets, bread and sauce. Orissa was amazingly beautiful with trees, small houses, huts, small mountains. It was a bit dusty too. The wayside stations were amazingly clean with long platforms. Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak.
The track sounds were amazing.
That's me at Konark Sun Temple, Orissa. Pic taken by Sanjeev Rao.
My train reached Jajpur at 1105hrs. After Jajpur, the train kept below 90kph for some unknown reason. We had an unscheduled halt of nearly 15 minutes at Kendarapara Road. The best moment was yet to come. After nearly 10 minutes, I heard a long honk. WAP-4 was coming with an express. I observed that at Kendarapara Road, the tracks curved towards the left. It was a real treat to watching her coming in the curve. The train blasted past Kendarapara Road at nearly 110kph. I was spell bound. It was amazing. Immediately, within a few minutes I spotted another train. It was a Rajdhani. GZB WAP-4#22569 was hauling Rajdhani Express towards New Delhi. The Rajdhani wasn't doing great speed as expected. VSKP WAM-4#20510 was spotted at Cuttack with a passenger. The weather was a bit hot and dry compared to West Bengal. My train reached Bhubaneshwar on time at 1245hrs.
-To be continued.
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