The Chronicles of Chaos Part 1 - The introduction

Three railfans from Bengaluru sat on a park bench in Koramangala one warm afternoon, planning their itinerary to the Northeast. The sylvan NFR zone, hitherto untouched by overhanging wires, a diesel haven and the amazing scenery it has to offer – a temptation too difficult to resist. Three became four, soon four became five and the group was all set for an enchanting voyage across NFR. One of them snapped from the group and made a quick trip leaving the remaining four to hatch an exhaustive plan, covering as much of NFR as possible.

Insanity levels went to such an extent that 11 tickets were booked for the journey at the PRS counter, tempting fate and beckoning that sultry mistress who offers a thrill for those she chooses to accompany – Ms. Adventure. Looking back, this Ms. Adventure almost became a misadventure for us as the chaos began right from Day 1 of this epic expedition.

Throughout this journey, delays, riots, shutdowns, fog and chaos were the only constants, with everything else a big "x" as the mathematicians would like to say, where x is a variable.

Let me begin by giving a quick background of the preceding events that were to define what held in store for us for the 8 days we had planned to be on the road, eh, rails. As the eventful week began, a certain Bill that was soon to become an Act passed by the Indian Parliament held the blueprints for all our future plans. As the political fallout began to take an ominous turn for the worse, we all started praying fervently for some respite from the turmoil. Frantic calls were made to all and sundry, WhatsApp chats were exchanged with SMEs as also amongst our group of four. All seemed to have the same piece of advice - call off the trip. Family too suggested the same. Needless to say, the advice was not heeded to and we bravely flew into Kolkata on a cold Saturday morning, to face the adventures (perils?) and to embark on what could be termed as a trip of a lifetime. 

One of the four bravehearts had reached Kolkata a day early, on Friday, to catch up with some local railfans and of course, railfanning. The mass of metal, capable of doing 130 Kmph, and which serves as the fastest connection between the City of Joy and the gateway to the Northeast, the NJP Shatabdi, was captured in full glory behind the lenses by our hero and his friend. Elsewhere at around the same time on the line towards Chennai and Mumbai, things had flared up what with the Coromandel Express being stoned, Uluberia station being damaged while at our planned destination, the Northeast, trains were getting cancelled by the minute. The stage was set for a nail-biting grand finale.

 

...to be continued.