And miles to go...

As you probably know by now, trains have a special place with me. Sometimes they infuriate me. Sometimes I get a pleasant surprise. But they will always be there, as unshakable as the main building of Egmore station. And nearly as old :D (Chennai Egmore turned 100 this month)

Railway stations are a different matter, though. I'm always at my most philosophical mood when I'm in a railway station. Think about it. Unless you're in a tearing hurry to do something once you get to your destination, there's no need to worry while you wait for a train. And even if you do worry, there's nothing you can do. The train will arrive when it does. Your luggage is safe with you. And you probably won't fall sick because of that coffee you just bought from the vendor on the platform. So just sit back, relax and watch as the rest of the human race files past.

It's an attitude that helped me a lot when "disaster" struck last June. There was flooding in Bombay then (as there is every summer) and my train to go back home from Pune was held up between VT and Kalyan. There wasn't much news coming from the enquiry counter, it was raining and I had two big suitcases with me. So I couldn't go out, I couldn't move around freely and I had no bloody idea when the train would get there (7 hours later, as it turned out). And that's when a calm, laid back attitude helps.

But I digress. I've always had a special attachment to the station in Udumalaipettai (Udt from here on). Udt is my mum's hometown. The station there is one of those classic small town stations. Two platforms, concrete benches, an inadequate asbestos roof over the platforms.

And a metre gauge track. Yeah. That means trouble for the time being. The railways is on a drive to convert metre gauge tracks to broad gauge, and is going about it piecemeal, at it's own pace. The line on which this station stands used to have trains that went all the way to Rameswaram. Now Coimbatore is completely broad gauge, And I believe there's no metre gauge line between Dindigul and Madurai. So there's a small island of metre gauge track between Dindigul and Palghat. To make sense of what I'm talking about, look here. (the map's a little outdated, I think)

Since it's such a small stretch, there's very little traffic on this line. Only ten trains pass through Udt. Both directions put together. That's really sad. Trains here hardly ever run on time. Since they are so unreliable, most people don't bother taking a train. Why would they? The roads out of Udt are pretty decent. And even State Transport buses here have colour TVs and DVD players (to play cheesy Tamil flicks). There's no reason for anyone to take the train . And that means the railways has even less reason to be punctual or improve services. The only people who take these trains now are the ones who seek nostalgia or have a lot of luggage.

It doesn't even feel like a real railway station anymore. The signalling system is antiquated. People gather there in the evening like it's a park of some sort. And the track is rusting over. Really. There's a fine brown coat on top of the rails. You probably won't find a finer example of a living museum.

Yet, the station lives on. And I'll never forget it. Not least for its ability to throw up some of the most beautiful sunsets. Orange light, sculpted exquisitely,yet softened by layers of clouds. Lush green trees, mostly coconut palms, provide a fitting foreground. It's a sight worth killing for. And something a 2Mpx camera phone can never do justice to.