Embarrassed & Disoriented at New Delhi Train Station

Joyce and I had quite the experience this Saturday. After planning a weekend away in Amritsar, we woke up at 5am to make it to our 7:20am train. In preparation for the six hour train ride ahead of us, we packed away snacks, IPods, books, etc to keep us entertained. By 6:05am, we were ready with our minimalist style "luggage" (three purses and a backpack),  to head out the door to take the metro to the railroad station. About 9 stops, and 20 minutes later, we arrived at the train station and waiting patiently for someone to announce the platform our train would leave from. 

Once it was announced that we'd leave from Platform 1, the one that was most distant from our current location, we made our way through "security", which really only consisted of hurried luggage scan, and headed to our destination. When we arrived to Platform 1, we checked our tickets to figure out which compartment we would sit in and then made it past the crowded platform to the right car.

Once we arrived there, we began to relax. We were pretty tired of carrying around our bags, minimalist as they might have been, so we were looking forward to sitting down and enjoying our long train ride north. However, when we came to our seat numbers, we found that two young tourists were occupying them. Nervous that the Tourist Bureau had double booked our ticket, we asked the two to double check their tickets and showed us their. We four looked around quizzically until we made eye contact with a worker, and motioned for him to come over and help us.

The worker started at our tickets confused for a while, and called a coworker over to take another look at the tickets. At this point, other passengers were starting to stare curiously at us. The second worker let our a sigh of relief finally and pointed to the date. Joyce and I stared in disbelief at the date. 10-10-12. Joyce looked terrified as she asked me, "Isn't today the 10th?" As stunned as I imagine she must have felt, I quickly checked my wristwatch, and it dutifully revealed the truth: today was October 6th. Neither of us had been alarmed by the date when we bought our tickets, convinced that since we requested the next Saturday, this was the date they would give us. Not so. Our ticket was booked for the upcoming WEDNESDAY!

We hurried out of the train towards a Ticket Certification Booth. There, the worker told us to go to another booth to cancel and get a refund on our ticket. There was no hope of making it on that morning's train. At the next booth, they told us to go back to the Tourist Bureau on the opposite side of the train station. Tired, frustrated and confused, Joyce and I sat on the dusty steps of Platform 1 and allowed ourselves a break. By the time we made it back to the Tourist Bureau, it was 7:30, so we had to wait another 30 minutes and fight the urge to go sit down at the Lounge and eat the breakfast we had packed away because there was already a line forming outside the Bureau.

For the second time, we visited this location. We were becoming quite the expert on train travel for tourists at this point since we had to come here before to book the tickets. In fact, we ended up helping three or four other people waiting in line to fill out their forms since they clearly spoke no English...They all assumed Joyce and I were from a different part of India because we spoke no Hindi, but clearly looked India. Little did they know I was from Brazil, and Joyce, my Malayali roommate whose family originated from Kerala, had grown up in New York.

When we finally made it to the counter, we canceled our ticket and rescheduled for the next weekend (and quadruple checked all the information on the tickets before leaving the counter). However, since that weekend will be considerably busier in Amritsar, we could not find any available spots on the same express, air conditioned train on the way back to New Delhi. So, our return trip is on an 8 hour train, with no air conditioning. On the bright side, we saved about 600 rupees each buying a cheaper ticket since the cheaper option was only 200 rupees as compared to the 750 rupees of the other train. So we'll be roughing it India style next weekend. The guy helping us at the counter just laughed and laughed, though he assured us it should be perfect safe.

Outside the museum in the gardens.

Clay likeness of Gandhi ji and his wife.

One of the things I love most about Gandhiji is his ability to see the good in all people and in all religions. He praised the Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim alike for the wonderful things about their beliefs. He worked to unite them under a common cause, pointing that religion is not a force that divides us, but rather should be seen as one that unites all of us. This is a remarkable approach to faith and an amazing example of love. No matter what forces of society divide humanity, there are similar goals that all mankind shares. It's definitely an example that I hope to mirror throughout my life: a love and respect for all people, no matter what may divide us and set us apart.

Monument in the gardens outside the Museum.

So, Joyce and I came back to the apartment with our tails between our legs. Haha. We ended up catching up on emailing, other intern assignments and visiting the Gandhi Museum, which turned out to be really cool, even though it wasn't our original plan. Not a bad weekend, and now we're a little wiser.

 

Gandhi's last steps and cremation sight.