A not so pleasant journey
By Ashfaque Choudhury
Last week, I went to Sylhet, the place where I come from. The whole trip was a wonderful experience, except for the journey part. I consciously took a decision to travel by train. Thus, my wife and I went to Sylhet by train.
Our train was early in the morning, it was supposed to start was 6: 40 am. So, we woke up at 5am and started the horrid task of packing bags. That took us about an hour, and then with breakfast and everything else, the time was 6:10 am. We thought we will start round about 6:20 am, as it would not take more than 20 minutes to reach the station.
Thus, with the predetermined time, we set off exactly at 6:20 am. It took us exactly 20 minutes to reach the station and we were confident that we will get the train. Besides, we had this notion in our mind that trains in Bangladesh never leave on time, so we should be safe.
But the most interesting thing happened: as soon as we reached the platform, the train began moving away! And we frantically started running behind it. For some reason, we were excited as our predicament at the moment kind of resembled a scene from the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. So, we kept on running behind the train, but as there was no Shahrukh Khan in the compartment to come to our aid, we were left stranded on the platform. We stood there and watched silently as the train left us.
Dejected, we sat in the station and started to think of other ways to reach Sylhet. At first, we decided to rent a car for Sylhet. I called a car rental company and asked for the fare. Well, the fare he asked for was more than we had bargained for. So, feeling even more sad, we decided to go back home.
Then, suddenly, something clicked and we went to the ticket counter for tickets to the next train. We were pretty sure that we would never get tickets, but luck was on our side this time. We managed to get tickets for the next train that was due to leave at 12 noon. Happy, we returned home, took some rest and started for the train station again at 11 am (a good one hour before).
This time, we reached the station by 11:30am and we were happy that this time, at least, we wont miss the train. The train was waiting for us at the platform, so, we went inside and put our bags in place. Right at 12am, the train started moving. We were amazed that the train started exactly on time, and thus, we settled in comfortably, sure that we would be in Sylhet within five to six hours.
But, little did we guess that the journey would be something of a horror movie scripted to make us suffer each and every minute.
When the train reached the next station, it stopped for more than one hour. I went up to the conductor and asked him about the delay. He nonchalantly said: Janina (dont know). Wow! The way some people respond to a polite question!
Anyway, after an hour, the train started moving again. But then, after less than 10 minutes, it stopped again _ this time for half an hour. By then, we realised that the train would be late and we prayed, hoping that it would manage to reach out destination that very day.
After the 30-minute stop, the train started again, but this time, the whole compartment filled up with people, crowding the corridors and standing almost on our heads. The entire place began to reek of sweat and to top it all, beggars began pestering us for money. Slowly and steadily, I understood that this trip would be really painful for us.
The train started again, slowly; but then, it began to move with all its speed to cover for the lost time. The people standing in the crowded compartment began swaying from side to side, hitting whatever and whoever.
After three more hours, we reached Srimongol. We thought we were almost home, but home was still way too far. From there, it took us three more hours. We reached Sylhet round 11:30 at night, after a more than four-hour delay.
On the way back to Dhaka, we faced the same problems, we got on the train at 3 in the afternoon and reached the capital at 12:30 in the morning.
Now, I understand why people prefer to take the bus, even though there are so many road accidents. Its my humble request to the people connected with Bangladesh Railways: Please fix things. Otherwise, it wont be long when just empty compartments will ply the railroads.
