Firstly, it was the State government that gave a nod for the fest after much dilly-dallying. Now, it is the turn of Department of Railways which has reportedly refused to give concessions to the travelling artists from outside the State.

About 40 artists from Jharkhand, 24 from Manipur, 18 from Assam and 15 from Bodoland including artists from Madhya Pradesh had to shell out huge amount of money since their respective Railway offices refused to honour the letter sent by Sangeet Natak Academy via fax.

Rangayana director Chidambara Rao Jambe was appalled to hear this from the artists. “They have paid huge money (even up to Rs 28,000) to reach Mysore. Actually, with a letter or fax from Sangeet Natak Academy, artists are allowed 50 per cent concession all over the country. If a fax is not accepted, then I wonder what should we produce to convince the officers,” he says.

Artists undertook the long journey under dire conditions, like sleeping on the floor and sometimes even sitting next to the bathrooms since berths were not allotted to them. “This is nothing but pure callousness on part of the officials. Which country do they work in?,” an angry Jambe wondered.

The 13 artists from Manipur and nine from Assam who landed in Mysore travelled to Dharwad to participate in Bahuroopi held there as well. “Mysore officials didn’t create any problems and they gave due concession to the artists based on the fax copy of Academy letter,” Jambe said.

After their performance in Dharwad, they travelled to Hubli, from where they had to catch a train to Bangalore and board a connecting train to Mysore since reservations on a direct train could not be made beforehand.

A bad note was already set for their return journey with Hubli Railways Office rejecting the Academy letter.

However, they travelled to Bangalore paying up full sum of the ticket and caught another early Tuesday morning train to Mysore and slept wherever they found space.

Pay fine or get jail

They were later woken up by a Railways Official who told them that they were not entitled to travel by the bogey they had occupied and that the offense would attract six months imprisonment or a fine of Rs 4, 500. Thoroughly shaken by the incident, artists opted for the latter and paid the fine. 

When contacted, sources within the department said, the reason could be attributed to the delayed planning and booking of tickets. Besides, the zonal offices which are entitled to give concession may not have received any communication from their respective head offices, they added.

“As far as the Bangalore Mysore train incident is concerned, today being a holiday, we cannot comment unless the matter has been investigated. This will be taken up subsequently,” the sources said. Now, about 64 people who are set to make a return journey are already having nightmarish dreams.