<p>Reaching railway station and boarding train are never uneventful events in an unfamiliar city. It was no different this time too. I settled down comfortably into my seat and waited for the TT to arrive and then on to begin my afternoon nap, for I did not want any rude awakening. He did arrive after a few stations passed by, and gave me the news of upgrade to AC class.<br /><br />I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming already! Upgrade is a term used (and looked forward to) by frequent-fliers! But to my surprise, TT insisted that my reservation had been upgraded by the Indian Railways! He even gave the new berth numbers.<br /><br />Normally the story would have ended here. But my run of luck seemed to continue. TT in the AC compartment accompanied me for the rest of the journey too. He turned out to be an extremely interesting person to travel with. He had a never-ending-cache of anecdotes, all based on the interesting personalities he encounters, all in a days’ (and nights’) work. He went on narrating his humorous anecdotes one after another, all with a straight face, making the journey really pleasant.<br /><br />He knew hygiene levels in pantries at various stations, and hence could authoritatively recommend specific snacks, well before we reached a station. He, of course, cautioned us against snacks to be avoided too. His presence ensured we were served only the best, with no upgrade in prices, which otherwise would have been the norm in AC class.<br /><br />In the evening, two rugged-looking army jawans checked into our compartment. Our affable TT managed to get into an argument with one of them. It was a simple case of a mis-spelt name, in the warrant. When situation seemed to be getting out of control, I intervened and pointed out the mistake. This cooled the frayed nerves, earned me a great deal of good will with our Jawan, and paid aromatic dividends.<br /><br />When I was about to settle down to be done with the formality of dinner, my new friend insisted that I share dinner with him. He would not take ‘No’ for an answer. The sight of mouth-watering parathas, chapatis, accompanied by red spicy chutney, made it difficult to refuse too. Just when I thought dinner was over, he opened a bag full of delicious sweets. <br /><br />As I thanked him and complimented him on really tasty food, he let the secret out! He was returning to his base after two months of leave, after re-union of the entire family. And the food was prepared by and peppered with a lot of love from his grandmother, mother, elder sisters, bhabis and last, but not the least, his newly wedded wife. No wonder the food tasted heavenly.<br /><br />After getting down at my destination, I kept thinking – it turned out to be an upgrade, in more ways than one.</p>
<p>Reaching railway station and boarding train are never uneventful events in an unfamiliar city. It was no different this time too. I settled down comfortably into my seat and waited for the TT to arrive and then on to begin my afternoon nap, for I did not want any rude awakening. He did arrive after a few stations passed by, and gave me the news of upgrade to AC class.<br /><br />I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming already! Upgrade is a term used (and looked forward to) by frequent-fliers! But to my surprise, TT insisted that my reservation had been upgraded by the Indian Railways! He even gave the new berth numbers.<br /><br />Normally the story would have ended here. But my run of luck seemed to continue. TT in the AC compartment accompanied me for the rest of the journey too. He turned out to be an extremely interesting person to travel with. He had a never-ending-cache of anecdotes, all based on the interesting personalities he encounters, all in a days’ (and nights’) work. He went on narrating his humorous anecdotes one after another, all with a straight face, making the journey really pleasant.<br /><br />He knew hygiene levels in pantries at various stations, and hence could authoritatively recommend specific snacks, well before we reached a station. He, of course, cautioned us against snacks to be avoided too. His presence ensured we were served only the best, with no upgrade in prices, which otherwise would have been the norm in AC class.<br /><br />In the evening, two rugged-looking army jawans checked into our compartment. Our affable TT managed to get into an argument with one of them. It was a simple case of a mis-spelt name, in the warrant. When situation seemed to be getting out of control, I intervened and pointed out the mistake. This cooled the frayed nerves, earned me a great deal of good will with our Jawan, and paid aromatic dividends.<br /><br />When I was about to settle down to be done with the formality of dinner, my new friend insisted that I share dinner with him. He would not take ‘No’ for an answer. The sight of mouth-watering parathas, chapatis, accompanied by red spicy chutney, made it difficult to refuse too. Just when I thought dinner was over, he opened a bag full of delicious sweets. <br /><br />As I thanked him and complimented him on really tasty food, he let the secret out! He was returning to his base after two months of leave, after re-union of the entire family. And the food was prepared by and peppered with a lot of love from his grandmother, mother, elder sisters, bhabis and last, but not the least, his newly wedded wife. No wonder the food tasted heavenly.<br /><br />After getting down at my destination, I kept thinking – it turned out to be an upgrade, in more ways than one.</p>
