It was a sunny Monday. The Tiruchirappalli Junction was bustling with robust activity. The fragrance of the fresh jasmine flowers from the vendors wafted in the air, and mingled with a cup of masala chai I was holding in my hand. The Rockfort express had arrived at the station an hour ago from Chennai, but the station was crowded with passengers still trying to find their way out. I still had a good 45 minutes of wait time before my train, the Vande Bharat express arrived, so I sat there watching the people pass by, feeling nostalgic. I was making a train journey after 12 years. The passengers who had disembarked were quite a myriad group of people, from far away places. Many of them were devotees on their way to Sabarimala, a famous pilgrimage centre in Kerala. One could not mistake them, the Ayyappan kootam, as they would say in the town. Their attire of black dhoti and angavastram, with vibhuti on their forehead and rudraksha beads around their necks chanting - Sammiye Sharanam Ayappa drew everybody’s attention, as they made their way to Srirangam, (much to the chagrin of people there) to have a darshan of Ranganathaswamy and Jambukeshwara in Thiruvanaikovil. Then, a group from Rajasthan stood nearby, looking uncertain. One of them from the group approached me hesitatingly , and asked me “Aap Hindi Bolte ho?” Their faces lit up when I nodded. They were searching for directions to Sesh Narayan temple in Srirangam. I glanced at my watch, I still had 15 minutes to spare, so I walked them outside to the bus stop and asked them to take the No 1 bus to Srirangam to reach the Temple and returned to the station just as the Vande Bharat express to Chennai glided on to the platform.
The crowd was impatient to get into the train and get on with their journey, so within minutes , all of us who were waiting on the platform boarded the train. Settling down took us time. I sat down in my cosy, ink blue seat, half hoping that the other one near me would be empty. But no, a young lady, perhaps 19 or 20, dressed in jeans and a casual shirt top took the seat next to me and said “HI!” I was surprised as I did not expect a stranger, let alone a youngster to start a conversation. I smiled, as she settled down and the train set off. I was taking in the atmosphere. The train was different. It had changed. It was nothing like the mail coach I used to travel in during my childhood. I, almost for a moment felt I was back in Europe. It was a high speed, modern air conditioned coach, sleek and chic. But then the muted murmur in Tamil, conversations in Hindi, Malayalam , and some English here and there brought me back to reality. This was India, changing yet so familiar. I smiled , taking out the book Ticking Along Swiss and began reading. Some half an hour went by, when the lady nearby asked me
“Is that a book about Switzerland?”
I said “yes “and continued reading.
After a few minutes, she interrupted me again. Are you going to visit Switzerland, anytime soon ?
I hesitated to respond at this point, but the lady soon sensed that and before I could answer, she said, “It's always been my dream to visit the Alps”
I was amused and so what began as a casual conversation became very engaging.
The lady’s name was Sujata or Suja, as she preferred. Originally from Nagaland, she was a science student studying in Shastra University, Tanjore. She was on her way to Chennai for a dance performance in the Margazhi season and then from thereon to Pune, to her parent’s house for Vacation. As we chatted, she mentioned that she and her friends had been planning a trip to Switzerland after graduation.
“Why Switzerland?” I asked, curious .
She smiled. “I visited Kashmir last year with my uncle and aunt and was dazzled by the beauty of those mountains. My uncle and aunt live in the USA and had toured Switzerland a few years ago and they told me that if I loved Kashmir, I must tour the Alps”.
“Kashmir!”, I said! “ Wow! I wish I could visit Kashmir.”
“Is it safe now?”, I asked.
She said, “You know many people from India have started travelling there again. In 2022 and 2023, tourism picked up in Kashmir.”
To me, hearing that was surreal. I thought I was dreaming of this conversation, but Suja added, “living in Switzerland must be something else Aunty…”
After a moment I said, “Yes, when you are between the Black Forest and the Alps, near the foothills of Birs, it certainly is. When everything is pristine, clean and clear, one definitely feels just lucky to be there”. I assured her that she will love Switzerland. And then after a thoughtful pause I added, “maybe, just maybe in a few years, we might be able to say that about Kashmir too!”
We were an hour away from Chennai at this point. I did not want to read anymore. She took out her phone, a virtual world on its own, and began texting. I thought to myself, I had almost encountered or heard about people from Kashmir to Kerala on a trip to Chennai from Tiruchirappalli . Where else but in India would this happen. Some 40 minutes later, the train arrived at Egmore, Chennai. I wished Suja good luck and got down from the train. As I glanced back, I realised that Vande Bharat was not just a train, but a peek into Modern India, with fantastic tales to unfold.