train journeys: a bellyful of tastes and flavours

there is something about train journeys that re-assures us that not all transport is at light speed, hurtling hapless humans into voids only to arrive at destination before they have even begun to adjust to the departure!

india being a railroaded country, most indians travel from one station to another for work, love, escape, holidays, marriage and all the myriad occasions that make up a typical indian experience. from toy trains to local trains to metro trains, the great indian train journey is an experience beyond compare! we ourselves have been part of this merry throng on countless occasions and the experience has always been exhilarating, though not always the most comfortable.

for us every train journey has been all about food [we don't care much for staring out of the window, especially when we are travelling 2nd class sleeper, non-AC across vast distances]. and the bombay-howrah geetanjali express, a 1,968 kilometre way of life [it just cannot be called a train journey] would rank high up on our list of favourites. it cuts a huge slice across the belly of the indian sub-continent, linking sea, hills, plains and rivers in one vast canvas of colour, smells, flavours and people! the journey is best divided in to meal times rather than departure and arrival times, else 31 hours will seem like a life time! from soggy omelettes to die for to crisp singhara with tea in clay pots to a chicken curry redolent of the empire origins of the railway, every morsel is a delight.

our school holidays were wrapped around the mandatory "visit to native", in our case to the far western town of jamnagar in kathaiwar. in those days, differences in gauges meant that the journey was divided in to two - bombay to ahmedabad and ahmedabad to jamnagar. with a 4 hour halt at ahmedabad [viramgam actually]. since the bby-abad journey was at night and the onward journey was during the day, breakfast was at viramgam and elevenses somewhere along the way. the traditional kathiawari cuisine has a lot going for it, especially its avoidance of sugary tastes, and the spice, tang and coarse flavours are ideal for a journey through the semi-arid region that is our home region!

european trains are of course a world apart in terms of speed, design, comfort and cleanliness. but then if they were to travel 1,968 kms west to east they would be kissing the russian border! we used to travel frequently between our work place in holland [hilversum] and amsterdam. a 55-min journey punctuated by copious quantities of saucijzenbroodjes [sausage rolls] and a large thee met melk [tea with milk]. all that a student budget would allow us.

we had wanted to do train journey in africa but when the tracks disappear into elephant grass midway you know that isn't the best way to reach point B from point A. one day we shall!

and yes, our journey bucket list includes london to edinburgh on the flying scotsman. we wonder if they have haggis on board. with a wee dram.

Change - the new normal

no we are not talking of loose change [we live after all in a plastic economy where change is passé]. we are returning to our blog after over a year [where did the time go?]. 2015 was a year of several changes, some minor, some tectonic, all refreshing.

first off, we changed house thrice in the space of 2 months. and in a move that tested our nerves, we moved to sharjah. apparently the culture capital of this country but currently the stationary-car-on-the-road capital. thankfully the spirits protecting this bedou heard his yelps of help and made him move back to dobuy [the sharjah place was shut down by the authorities in a fit of pique over unpaid dues]. we are now safely ensconced in noo dobuy.

then, we changed jobs. after 9 years in the job that got us to dobuy in the first place we finally gave up hope of getting rich through advertising and left the industry. neither the industry nor we seem to have missed each other - the ads are still as bad as ever and our BP is still normal. we moved into yet another start-up and so far its been good. our battered self-esteem is reviving although the bank balance is still under 6 fathoms.

third, we changed cars! we are now the proud owner of 'erbie - a 7-year old french lass who likes to go topless occasionally. barring some minor nips and tucks she is in good shape so far and has given us some good rides.

finally we changed our FB status. not something that we will talk about on this forum, for reasons of privacy.

so yes, its been a rather hectic few months. while we thrive on change, sometimes we do wish to pause, catch our breath and savour the present. c'est bon n'est-ce pas!?