A cup of tea and a bowl of words- A day in Chaalukya.

It was the first monsoon train journey of this year. I sat with my friend Rakesh, enjoying the beautiful lonely railway stations. It was almost an hour we had traveled on Chalukya express and I had slipped into my world of thoughts. Slowly and rhythmically it begins "Chai Chai Chai" and the intensity increased as the man approached us. I woke up to senses with this Chaiwala's call. Me and Raki bought each a cup of "Chai “and sipped slowly. As we sipped, a fellow traveler was agitated and was complaining of the dirty water that was flowing from some one's container. People walked on it and made it dirtier. We heard him but kept quiet without involving in any conversation. After some time he seemed to be okay. By then I had finished my cup of tea and held it in my hand waiting to throw it in a dustbin. As I looked out of the window I could read a board “AMMASANDRA”. That is another beautiful railway station we can see while we travel towards shimoga. But Chalukya express won’t stop at this railway station and I could not throw the cup. The fellow traveler who sat beside us was around late forties and was looking to start a conversation. He looked at my hand and told me “Haath me kyun pakda hai? Phenko na baahar??”. I replied “Nahi uncle ji, Desh badal raha hai, hum bi badlenge!! Sahi  hai na ” . He was happy and appreciated us “ accha baath hai beta, sab log yehi karna hai” . I kept quiet and looked forward to have a conversation with him and he initiated it “Kya badal raha hai beta, ek saal Modi aaya aur kya ho raha hai , kuch nahi bas wo desh goom raha hai aur ambani ko paisa mil raha hai”. I smiled at him and tried to put my point “sir, desh badlne ke liye ek saal kaafi nahi hoga , bahut din lagega lekin ye baat to sahi hai ki chota chota badlaav to aa raha hai”. He instantly replied “System teek nahi hai beta, ye Modi bas goomke aayega to kya hoga, aap bolo wo chota badlav kaisa aa raha hai?’’. The water that was flowing from the container had almost touched his feet and he was getting frustrated every second blaming the system. It was my turn now to explain the changes now!! Before I wanted to explain, I asked him “Uncle aapko badlaav kaisa ho raha hai nahi pata hai to teek hai lekin aapko ye kaisa pata hai ki ambaani ko paisa mil raha hai modi se??” He replied “Arrey mai daily news padta hun aur TV dekta hun”. Oh thank you dear Indian media, thanks a lot !!!!!, and I started to explain but then something unexpected happened and I stopped. An Indian railway employee entered our coach with a mop in his hand. He started mopping neat from the corner. He came near us and cleaned the dirty place and continued. When this was happening I didn’t speak but kept looking at my fellow traveler. He spoke again “To kya huva bas aisa kuch karke nikal gaya , aur kuch nahi hone waal hai idar”. I just nodded and didn’t respond. Two minutes later another employee came with a bottle of floor cleaner and started spraying on the floor of the coach. The old man couldn’t look at me now but just kept looking at the man who was spraying. He took the mop again and started cleaning the floor, this time even neat and better. In another five minutes he cleaned everything and left the coach. The old man was amazed at this incident and he looked at me. His expression was like “Teek hai beta, mey abhi maan tha hun ki thodi badlaav ho raha hai” and he just smiled. For the first time in my experience of any train journey that someone from railways came and cleaned the coaches in between our travel. I observed another sticker on the coach which read. “Now send and SMS with your PRN and Coach to get your coach cleaned in 15 minutes, while I write this I mention that there is a mobile app coming to help the users to request the cleaning of your coaches. May be this is not a great parameter to say that India has developed and there is so much to be done yet but definitely you can see the change if you have the heart to see.

                                                                                                                        By the time all this happened, we had traveled further reaching Arasikere station and Raki was about to get down in Kadur which is his native. Pre-monsoon showers have been good this time making the country side more beautiful so we thought of standing in the door to enjoy the country side.

On the way towards kadur in Chalukya express

As we reached Kadur, I bid good bye to Raki and continued my journey. I was alone now and thought of reading a book to continue the rest of my journey. I traveled another three hours with utter silence and thoughtful read. I could sense that Hubli was another 50 kms far, so I got down from the seat to walk to the door. As I walked to the door, I saw a monk standing in the door. I said Namsthe and he replied me politely. I offered him a cup of tea and he happily accepted it. The next word he spoke to me is “Kalyaana aagu magu, ninge olledaagutte” (Get married son, U will do good in life). I asked him why is that so? He said “See, Life is very plain and simple until you get married but once you marry you taste both sweet and sourness. People often tend to be afraid of getting married but one can experience true life only when they get married. Always keep in mind, do things simple or at least make them look simpler. Be a champion who would see happiness in losing and be a champion who wins back after losing. God bless you and meet me when you visit Ukkadagaatri”. Ukkadagaatri is another place where he lives in. This is what happens when you socialize and talk to people. You get to hear so many good things with a cup of tea. He got down at Hubli and I got back to my seat to continue reading. As I traveled, sun was setting down and I could witness some of the spectacular places in the evening light. I could not resist but capture some of them in my phone. 

Plain lands and the passing clouds near by Hubli

Beautiful sunset so far yet so near.

After another forty odd minutes I reached Dharwad and got down. Dharwad is a beautiful old city known for its education. People here are really cool headed when they have to guide someone. Everyone would take an extra care when you ask for some information.  They will give you more than what you would ask for and I am so thankful to the people here for helping me to find the places so easily than I had imagined. And I must mention that the language they speak is really awesome and it’s a song, its a rhythm. You keep hearing them and they would keep singing. It’s absolutely fantastic and I have always loved their language their slang and their kindness. What impressed me more is, I could see most of the city bus conductors to be women. I have heard a lot about how reserved the women in this part of land are but I could see the effort to improve this and I found the women to be more easy and great communicators. After-all this is the land of kitturu raani chennamma and her sacrifice speaks the volume of her bravery than I explain. She is a brave queen who fought for her kingdom and a martyr who died fighting for her people. Over all this was a great trip which taught me so many things, gave me memorable experiences and introduced me to some of the great people of north Karnataka. For now I would conclude this write-up, until next good bye.


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