I reached Bhopal early morning today. Am here for work and will be here until Friday evening.
Traveled in a train which originates from Jaipur and goes upto Coimbatore. The distance between Jaipur and Coimbatore is 2682 kms and the train takes some 48 hours to complete this route, one way. Traveling for so many hours, I mean days to reach a destination is simply commendable but for me it would be pure torture. I enjoy train journeys but this fanaticism for cleanliness does not gel well with long train travel. I prefer overnight journeys. I know, I am a bit fussy about certain things.
My co-passengers were a South Indian couple (let’s call them C1) and another young couple (C2 for our reference) with a small kid.
C1 had a bag full of food all stored in large containers. They had melamine plates and bowls along with 3 to 4 serving spoons (but no spoons) too. And I liked the fact that they had a complete meal consisting of a vegetable, 2 types of rice, chutney, dal and chapati too. The guy washed his hands in the plate after the meal, and this made me feel like kicking myself for observing even that. Truly a yuckky feeling. Then he precariously carried the water filled plate to the basin at the end of the coach.
The C2 had a very bubbly and restless 3-year old. She brought smiles all around with her sweet and cute talks. But her mother was not amused. She must have said, ‘I will slap you’ a hundred times in the 3 hours that we were awake and she started it all over again in the morning. I know, kids have this flair of getting on your nerves, but there is a way of handling them.
I am staying at the campus of the L&D Centre of a company which also has a school for kids. So, we are having our meals with the kids. It is so much fun observing these little ones enjoying school with friends. Seeing them reminded me of Aaryan and his friends and the wonderful time they are having at their boarding school. The dining area is so huge and everyday meals are cooked for over 2500 kids and employees. The place is so neat and clean and the food is simple, homely and delicious.
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We love train journey in India because here we don’t travel by train. In India, we travel by AC First Class (when available). But we cannot stand the filty bathrooms (yes, even in AC First).
Oh! We all travel by AC only. Guess, travelling by general class was abandoned decades ago. Agree whether it is first or second or third AC, the state of washrooms us terrible everywhere. 😐
I have observed many guys in Tamilnadu wash their hands on the plate after a meal. The wife is supposed to take the plate and wash. Yuck.
Ohk. So it is a custom. But a very bad one at that. Incidentally, the guy only carried it and washed it too.
Yes, my in-laws too have this habit of washing their hands in their plates! I’m glad he didn’t spill while carrying the plate! 😀 48 hours would have been torture for me too, mainly because I hate using the train toilets!!
The school canteen looks lovely! So clean and neat!
Looks like it is a custom in South India to wash hands in a plate… but seriously, it should be abandoned now! I use train toilets in rarest of rare cases and that is why I prefer overnight journeys!
The canteen food was tasty as well, though the cleanliness freak in me could spot some lapses too 😀
I haven’t done train journey in ages and my daughter never sat in train…
I don’t have to travel for work and all short distance for outing are covered by car and very long by air…
I really want to travel long distance in train now with family 🙂
Canteen is nice and its good to start morning with kids 🙂
Oh you must experience a train journey… especially with kids… I short one, I would recommend 😉
I enjoyed watching these kids pray, eat, talk… some were so cute and naughty too. 🙂
A nice experience it was 🙂
Stayed 9years in Bhopal. Love the place. 🙂
9 years! Cool. I loved the rains there!! 🙂
I love trains and am always happy if I get an opportunity for train journey, but I rarely get it ..
Washing hands in plate is a tradition in Tamilnadu I suppose, I have seen many Tamilians do that and also in many Tamil movies. But I feel they should at least avoid doing that in public places..
The L & D centre canteen looks very clean… hope you are having a really good time there 🙂
May you get to enjoy a train journey soon… plan for it!
After reading the comments here, I guess, yes, it is a tradition in South India. 😛
Had a good time at Bhopal. Thanks Seena 🙂
I love eating at home with my fingers ( i call it flexi spoon) but outside home i need a spoon. That too definitely on a train journey. These days you cannot travel outside without a sanitizer especially if you are a cleanliness freak like me.
The dining room reminds of the show Highway on my plate – school special. A Boarding school in Kodai makes its own cheese and grows their own organic fruits and vegetables. these are tended by the school children with help from organic farmers. The kitchen, the dining area was not modern but the place was spic and span just like in this photo. i think it is @sholayil in kodai….not sure.
KG eats with hand at home, but I dont get the satisfaction of eating when I do so. So, it is spoon for me always. Cleanliness freaks like us are a minority. Majority of the people are just not bothered or even aware of the lengths we go to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. And hygiene practiced by co-passengers or the vendors selling food items is zero. In Shatabdi etc the pantry guys wear gloves, but what’s the point when they used the gloved hands to open doors and touch seats etc. Can you relate to this or is this my OCD at its peak? 😀
Growing their own fruits/veges is simply awesome. Wow! A nice learning experience for the kids too 🙂
Your fault that u were observing so acutely!!! I to take out my book and forget everything else….but that too is a luxury now thanks to the brat!
Yeah, it is my fault! Coz I was greedy enough to gather material for a blog post! Actually, I was multi-tasking… I was reading and commenting on blogs through phone as well, at the same time.
I can take train journey only to the pplaces where Shatabadi takes us.At best it is 6 hrs(Amritsar) which tolerable and has the executive class.
Some how,i am not comfortable sitting next anyone who eating,no spoons,no Tissue paper.I dont mean to run anyone down.
Shatabdi is way better than others. I love travel by Duronto as well. Very neat and clean and beautiful too. I can relate to what you have mentioned!
Train journey is very exciting.I have not travelled in a train for the last 25 years. Before that we travelled to south in a train,which used to take 52 hours. It used to be great fun . Now we go places in a car or by air.
The dining area looks very majestic!
52 hours!! Wow!! 🙂
i love travelling by train.. I’ve often seen the gujjus and marwaris carry tons of food, their food basket is enormous and they enjoying their eating sessions, replete with not just the regular food but also snacks, sweets , chanch and what not!!
btw, clean dining area, squeaky clean plates..kya baat hai! such places are far and few isn’t it?
That’s true… Gujjus and marwaris are forever eating something or the other!
Oh yes, such neat and clean places to eat are so rare, sadly!
Hey Shilpi,
That act of washing hands wouldve made me be a bit of an idiot and tell the person, not to do it in public.. I need to learn tact.. Sigh!
I usually Love train journeys.. Talk to strangers.. and then plan pranks with kids when their parents are asleep and see the reactions when Mommies wake up 😛
Of course..none of this can be pulled off post a certain age *grin*
Mess pic is beautiful..It is fun staying with friends on a campus.. reminded me of my college days few yrs back..
Wow, you are awesome. I wouldn’t be able to say that to anybody ever!
Pranks with kids would surely make the journey interesting. And what about cranky, crying kids? 😉
It was a beautiful campus indeed.
Oh, this place you are at is gorgeous!!
I use to love trains as a kid – that’s when we least cared about the hygiene and the noise. It is a very different story now. Growing up has its drawbacks!
You are bang on. We get all these quirks as we grow old. As a child, hygiene and all that jazz rarely crossed our mind.
That must have been one hell of a train journey for you. But I personally like trains and train journeys as long as I don’t have to use the dirty stinky toilets. 😛
And that canteen. Amazing. To keep it that clean and organized when you have 2500 little monsters running around must be a lot of work. Nice. Have a great time there 🙂
True, train journeys minus the toilets is great. 😀
Yeah, there are so many men and women working in the canteen so that it functions smoothly for 2500 little monsters as you mentioned! 😀
Hmm, thank goodness , thank your luck that your travel was overnight. And mercifully the fellow confined to washing his hands in to the plate.
Train travel in India in what ever class is an experience. You got to bite the bullet and stay.
Thank God! I had to witness only that!! *Shivers at the mere thought of seeing something more gross than that*
Interesting observations of your co travelers. Hats off to you for that epic train journey. How did you pass the time?
I was reading blogs and commenting from my phone! 😀
This campus looks fabulous. Thanks for the pics.
I also wonder why people wash their hands on plates. Truly yucky.
I believe, it is a custom!! O-o
You’ve been travelling a lot lately, havent you? As always enjoyed reading your observations :). Namnam has a plate exactly similar to the ones you have shared above of the campus kids 🙂
Yeah, too much travel in a short time. Thankfully it is peaceful in the coming days! Even Aaryan had one like that! 😀
Train journeys are the best because we get to meet all sorts of interesting sorts !
You bet… all new and interesting characters, all the time. Actually, there is never a dull moment when in a train! 😀
I haven’t travelled in a train since a long time. I love train travel especially when I am in a group. It makes travelling so much fun. About the toilets in the train the less said the better.
Looks you are enjoying yourself in Bhopal. Have a good trip.
Traveling with a group is simply fun. But when I am traveling alone, all I think of is cleanliness and hygiene!
Thanks… Bhopal trip and stay was cool 🙂
Have a nice trip, Shilpa. I liked your description of the train journey you made.
About the woman who wanted to slap the child a hundred times…guess she just deserves to be troubled by her child, then 😛
LOL 😀 The child was so sweet. You know, a vendor was taking requests for dinner. This little one, tugged at his shirt and said, “Uncle, pls speak to my father” (about dinner, she meant). While everybody around smiled at her gesture. Her mother had only one thing to say, “I’ll give you a slap!”
I don’t want to say anything about the washing hand in the plate thing …. I hate it..
Train journeys are my fav.. I will be blogging about it tomm as a part of my ‘travel theme’… please please read it ok 🙂 🙂
and those are canteen plates? really? this is the first time i have seen something so clean in a canteen O_O
I abhor it too! 🙁
I read about your fab train journey. You have traveled the best of places, Sunita! Awesome 🙂
My thoughts exactly… such sparkling clean plates in a canteen is a rarity!
I have never traveled by train but you have given me a great glimpse of what it is like here. Thank you!
Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
😛
I love travelling in train.. when I was young, we used to travel for almost 3 days from North to South India every summer holidays.. it was so much fun 🙂
3 days!! OMG!! As a child it would be fun though now as an adult, it would be a nightmarish journey! 😛
Journeys are fun Shilpa but sometimes very long travel can really irritate you, esp if you lack company of loved ones… The picture of the school canteen brought back hostel memories, sigh!! I miss the chaos but certainly not the food 😛
Travel with family and friends is always fun. Solo short journeys are still ok, but long ones are tiring and irritating!
Your comment reminded me of the food in our hostel, too… it was pathetic! 😀
I miss train journeys, the packed food.. chai at different stations!! bliss!! 😀
and those plates – I want!! I love compartment plates !! 😀
The home made packed food is awesome. KG believes that homemade aloo and puri tastes bests in a train. 😀
You should be able to get these compartment plates… dont know abt the steel variety but in Melamine and plastic there is a lot of variety at any kiddy store 😀
this washing of hands business gets to me as well. And the kids on trains get to my husband 😀
you staying in a nice place man, the picture you shared seems the centre is very well equipped. Wow so you are blogging on the go. This is quite nice. I rem the agra station post as well 🙂
I can empathize with your husband. Crying, shouting, wailing kids gets on my nerves too! 😀
The campus where we stayed is very modern and has all amenities. Loved the place.
I love live blogging. Have done many posts from various stations, buses, trains etc 😀
Train journeys are always so exciting! and the place you r dining is so amazing! enjoy your stay and keep the posts pouring 🙂
Thanks Apala. I had a good time 🙂
Enjoy your trip Shilpa. A train journey in India is an experience not to be missed.
Oh yeah, there is always a lot of action happening all around 😉
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