Waterlogged trip to Lucknow during the monsoons

That was a trip to HAL Lucknow that I will never forget. It was during the monsoon season and a colleague was accompanying me. When we boarded the Kushinagar Express at Nashik Road, we did not know what the future had in store for us. The trouble began shortly after the train left Bhopal. The train came to a standstill and no one knew the reason for the sudden holdup.

After an hour or so, the train began to roll but it was not picking up speed – it was moving as if it was doing so with reluctance. By that time we realized that the route of the train was being diverted because of waterlogging of the tracks. There had been heavy rainfall in the surrounding regions and, hence, the train would crawl to its destination.
Well – the pantry car put u its hands. There was no food, not even tea and snacks. The wayside stations were no solutions and we had to just keep waiting till a big station came up – and, when it finally came, it was Lucknow.
The scheduled time of arrival of Kushinagar Express at Lucknow was 4am, we had arrived at 8pm. Once the train stopped, my colleague and I made a beeline for the refreshment room, ordered a cup of strong tea and then a plate of bread-butter sandwich and omelet. Realizing that we would not get dinner at the Guest House, we ordered a second round of sandwich-omelet. After that, we took a cycle rickshaw to the Guest House. (to be continued …)

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