This happened when I could not get reservation from Lucknow to come back to Nashik.
There were two trains – one was the Kushinagar Express, the other was the Pushpak Express. The problem was that while the timing of Pushpak was good, it did not have any scheduled halt at Nashik Road. It left Lucknow at 7.30pm and crossed Nashik Road at around 4.30pm next day. Since I traveled light with only a suitcase and an airbag, I had taken chances on a couple of occasions with Pushpak by alighting from the train when it slowed down at Manmad. This station was the one before Nashik Road and took two hours by bus from the station to come home.
Of course, on a second occasion, I was able to alight at Nashik Road itself while on a third occasion, I was taken on to Igatpuri – the next station from Nashik Road. It was a two hour journey back to Nashik Road and another one hour to my home.
The reason for opting for Pushpsak Express was that it originated at Lucknow itself and, hence, it was easy to get reservations unlike Kushingar for which Lucknow was a wayside station and, hence, reservation quota was limited.
Well – on this occasion, there was no reservation available in either of these trains and I was in a dilemma. When I discussed my predicament with my friends in the factory, one of them suggested that I go to the offices of Northern Railway and put in an application for getting a reservation from one of the special quota.
It seems some berths are kept aside for police, military, political leaders etcetera and these are released to wait-listed passengers at the last minute.
That is what I did. When I reached the offices, its employees were still arriving. I waited for the concerned gentleman to arrive and occupy his seat. Then I explained my position to him. He gave me a patient hearing and then asked me to put in an application which I did. He accepted my application and told me to check out the reservation chart. Well – my plan had succeeded. I had got a reservation by the Kushinagar Express. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.com)
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