The Train...

Now here, a little about the train itself. 

I'll begin from the last compartment, which was a storage car. All our supplies etc were in there. This was a compartment u couldn't access from within. U had to go from outside. There was also a bathroom (!!!) in a similar compartment. Then was one compartment that was accessable from within the train which was a bathroom too... It was one of the most well designed innovations i'd seen!! It was a usual passenger train compartment. Each section of six seats was draped into a 'cubical' made of tenting cloth. And within it, between the two sets of seats was a plastic tank-turned-tub. We had to carry water from one of the storage tanks which was stationed in a combined space of two seating sections and one right at the end of the compartment and have a bath here... Only thing was... Yeah u guessed it... NO warm water!!!!!!!

Well, we got over that pretty soon.... Then was one compartment for the staff, and the security etc. Then were two girl's compartments, and then two a/c chair cars, these were the 'common rooms'. We met here for our discussions, presentations and spent a lot of our spare time here... There were these LCD screens in each compartment that showed us what was happening in the other compartment when we had our presentations. 

Then there were three a/c compartments where the team, media and others stayed. Then there were the three guy's compartments and then the pantry... 

About a billion times a day, we've pranced about the train, from one end to the other. By the end of the second day, we'd become experts in walking in jerking, moving wobbling floors!!!

Such was the expertise that for around a week after our return, we felt funny walking on unshakeable ground.... Wouldn't you say the yatra made us ready for unsteady grounds..?? In more ways than one, I'd say...

Getting Acquainted...

Date: 24th of dec, 2008

Time: 11.30 P.M. 

Place: Jagriti Yatra Express

The night we left behind Mumbai Central station, all on cloud 9, all excited, all with stars in our eyes and all set to take on the world....

I had been just a few hours since we'd all met for the first time at IIT Powai. Well, First time meaning first time physically. We'd been meeting up online for ages before we actually met that day. 

So there we were, as the dust settled and it really started sinking in, we started looking around the train compartments with new eyes. These berths, our room for the next 18 days.... these girls around me, my room mates... Wow.... I was on my way..... 

Then once the cheering had died down and the noise of the train, which was soon to become our companion started taking over, we looked at each other. Then began the "Hi, I'm So-and-So from XXX. " and the "Nice to meet you's ". It was amazing to watch everyone getting our of their shells and getting to know each others.  For some time, it was just the girls getting to know (or trying to remember) all the names around, settling on the berths, getting ready to change for the night, etc. It was later in the evening that we met in the 'common room' for our first session on the train... 

It was after this that we really started getting to know the team, the people around us and in all the chaos that errupted in our minds, a slight sense of order began to form. Within hours of meeting each others, we'd started understanding each others. Only time was to tell us how deep our bonds were gonna go.... and not till we left each other at the Mumbai Central Station 18 days later that we acknowledged that we'd tied ourselves in these inextricable, deep and marvelous bonds that were to last us a lifetime.....