I am going to Surat next week by train, and that reminded me of this post from June 2004 when I took the train from Delhi to Dehradhun. There is that romance that trains have that no planes or automobiles can match. I still remember the train journey I took across US from New York to California in 1992. I mention it to Abhishek often and one day, look forward to doing it with him.
Here is what I wrote in the June 2004 post:
…The magic of train journeys [is that] they help us make a connection with our own country in which other transportation modes just do not. They also keep us a little removed from the world outside so as to give time to think. It is a pity that as life gets faster, the shift from train to air also takes away a little of that child and dreamer in us.
Train journeys have a unique charm of their own. For me, this particular trip helped consolidate much of my thinking over the past few years and make it contextually relevant to what we need to do in India. Perhaps, the timing as well as the duration made the difference. Whatever it was, all I will say is that each of us at different times need to undertake our own train journey, connecting our past to the future.
