Execution
Day 0:
I get into Punjab mail. I have some side lower seat in a second class compartment, adjacent to the compartment door. Something to generally cherish, but not n a second class compartment, coz any Indian train usually also is a general compartment, where people generally hop in for short distances, and pay the TT some petty bride to just sit there.
I discover my seat, and three people are already sitting on it, with one guy putting his chappals on the seat, I rudely ask him to take his feet down and not make my would-be bed dirty. During the night I discover that the dude and 7-8 along with him are part of MP's wrestling team, and had come to Mumbai for some inter state wrestling contest.
I exchange my seat with some other dude, who has a longer seat, where i might fit in, and get ready to sleep, only to discover that it is pretty cold, and I haven't brought any pull over sheet. The rest of the night is spent shivering, and trying to sleep. The wrestling company gets down at Khandwa, from there they will take a meter gauge train to Indore. The one I took the last time, on my way to Maheshwar.
Day 1:
I get down at Khirkiya around at 6:30 AM and walk into the station master's room. I discuss my plans of seeing the dam, some water and Harsud with him and his side kick.
Kya dekhna hai tumko, Paani? I nod in assent. I am given my options. For new Harsud, there is a bus every half an hour starting from 7-7:30. I may also take a train and get down at Chanera and go to Harsud. I discover in due course that Chanera is also New Harsud, my destination, but later. In my mind there still is only one Harsud left, the new one, but when I am being advised, they think I want to see the old Harsud, and advice me accordingly.
If you want to see water, you can go to Piplani in a share auto. I later discover Piplani is one amongst three stations which has drowned due to Indira Sagar Project.
For the Dam take the Kashi passenger in the reverse direction at 7 AM, get down at Talvariya and take a bus from there for Narmada Nagar.
But why the hell did you come to Khirkiya, In any case you should have got down at Khandawa. I did not have the heart to tell them that from Google Maps, Khirkiya, looked like a good option to start this trip.
I make my plans to go to Piplani, got into a shady lodge to freshen up, have a breakfast of Poha and chai, walk up to the share auto to go to Piplani, but then chang my mind and go back to the station to go to Talvariya. I royally miss the kashi passenger and sleep on the station bench for a couple of hours for the next passenger train. The train arrives at around 10, and reaches Talvariya some time later.I take a bus from there and work up a contact to find somebody in Naramada Nagar, when it occurs to me that an uncle actually has worked here for some time about 15 years back.
I get myself a government rest house, pretty shady and dirty, but with the one thing I badly want that day, a bed. I was told bluntly, there is no lunch, if you want to have a lunch, you have to walk down a couple of kilometers in the blistering Saturday afternoon. I watch some first few overs of the India Sri Lanka final and then go to sleep.
I wake up in the evening, see some 40 to 45 overs of Sri Lankan innings and go discover the Dam. The dudes have made a nice park for people to come visit the dam. For a lot of people, the dam usually is part of some pilgrimage, as if it is some sort of a temple. The CRPF dude informs me that the Musem in the park has been closed permanently because of the dehati people, who generally vandalize the properties.
I go back to the guest house, try to convince the khansama for some dinner, but he flatly refuses. So I walk down to the bus stand to have my dinner. I also watch bits and pieces of the match outside every shop on the road. A TV has sprung up mysteriously in all the shops, and everybody is watching the match. People in the colony on some big screen in the open air theater. I curse fate for making me walk 4-5 km for a dinner. Tomorrow, I will walk 6 KM at a brisk pace to try not missing my train. I come back to the guest house watch Dhoni move from 46 to 90 odd and win the Cup.
Tomorrow, I make plans for leaving for Harsud early in the morning. But before that I need to go the bridge downstream to the Dam and then take an early morning bus for Harsud. I will first have to go to Khandwa and from there to Harsud.
Day 0:
I get into Punjab mail. I have some side lower seat in a second class compartment, adjacent to the compartment door. Something to generally cherish, but not n a second class compartment, coz any Indian train usually also is a general compartment, where people generally hop in for short distances, and pay the TT some petty bride to just sit there.
I discover my seat, and three people are already sitting on it, with one guy putting his chappals on the seat, I rudely ask him to take his feet down and not make my would-be bed dirty. During the night I discover that the dude and 7-8 along with him are part of MP's wrestling team, and had come to Mumbai for some inter state wrestling contest.
I exchange my seat with some other dude, who has a longer seat, where i might fit in, and get ready to sleep, only to discover that it is pretty cold, and I haven't brought any pull over sheet. The rest of the night is spent shivering, and trying to sleep. The wrestling company gets down at Khandwa, from there they will take a meter gauge train to Indore. The one I took the last time, on my way to Maheshwar.
Day 1:
I get down at Khirkiya around at 6:30 AM and walk into the station master's room. I discuss my plans of seeing the dam, some water and Harsud with him and his side kick.
Kya dekhna hai tumko, Paani? I nod in assent. I am given my options. For new Harsud, there is a bus every half an hour starting from 7-7:30. I may also take a train and get down at Chanera and go to Harsud. I discover in due course that Chanera is also New Harsud, my destination, but later. In my mind there still is only one Harsud left, the new one, but when I am being advised, they think I want to see the old Harsud, and advice me accordingly.
If you want to see water, you can go to Piplani in a share auto. I later discover Piplani is one amongst three stations which has drowned due to Indira Sagar Project.
For the Dam take the Kashi passenger in the reverse direction at 7 AM, get down at Talvariya and take a bus from there for Narmada Nagar.
But why the hell did you come to Khirkiya, In any case you should have got down at Khandawa. I did not have the heart to tell them that from Google Maps, Khirkiya, looked like a good option to start this trip.
I make my plans to go to Piplani, got into a shady lodge to freshen up, have a breakfast of Poha and chai, walk up to the share auto to go to Piplani, but then chang my mind and go back to the station to go to Talvariya. I royally miss the kashi passenger and sleep on the station bench for a couple of hours for the next passenger train. The train arrives at around 10, and reaches Talvariya some time later.I take a bus from there and work up a contact to find somebody in Naramada Nagar, when it occurs to me that an uncle actually has worked here for some time about 15 years back.
I get myself a government rest house, pretty shady and dirty, but with the one thing I badly want that day, a bed. I was told bluntly, there is no lunch, if you want to have a lunch, you have to walk down a couple of kilometers in the blistering Saturday afternoon. I watch some first few overs of the India Sri Lanka final and then go to sleep.
I wake up in the evening, see some 40 to 45 overs of Sri Lankan innings and go discover the Dam. The dudes have made a nice park for people to come visit the dam. For a lot of people, the dam usually is part of some pilgrimage, as if it is some sort of a temple. The CRPF dude informs me that the Musem in the park has been closed permanently because of the dehati people, who generally vandalize the properties.
I go back to the guest house, try to convince the khansama for some dinner, but he flatly refuses. So I walk down to the bus stand to have my dinner. I also watch bits and pieces of the match outside every shop on the road. A TV has sprung up mysteriously in all the shops, and everybody is watching the match. People in the colony on some big screen in the open air theater. I curse fate for making me walk 4-5 km for a dinner. Tomorrow, I will walk 6 KM at a brisk pace to try not missing my train. I come back to the guest house watch Dhoni move from 46 to 90 odd and win the Cup.
Tomorrow, I make plans for leaving for Harsud early in the morning. But before that I need to go the bridge downstream to the Dam and then take an early morning bus for Harsud. I will first have to go to Khandwa and from there to Harsud.
