JALANDHAR Nostalgic Notes

Nostalgic Notes

While working in Siwan Bihar I opted for STC was selected and posted to Jalandhar to open a new STC

My landing in Jalandhar with my family and belongings itself was a thrilling experience
I had confirmed reservation from Chennai to Delhi and from Delhi to Jal. Household articles were booked in the train we were to travel.

No problem up to Delhi .We was waiting for the connecting train to Jal.

Then came the announcement about cancellation of all trains due to Bharath Bandh .Next announcement was that train service may be resumed at any moment.

So the clear message was that we have to wait in the station itself  for next announcement
We  got ourselves lodged in a comfortable place in the waiting room .The station was kept very neat and canteen food was reasonably good. We could see a cross section of India in Delhi station .  Time passed very pleasantly.

A train passing through Jal will depart from Delhi around 10 pm which will reach Jal 6 in the morning and it will stop in Jal. for a couple of minutes.

We boarded the first class compartment and loaded the house hold articles in the same compartment.
There was no much crowd. So we felt comfortable. 
The train departed and then came the TTE. He objected to loading so much luggage in the compartment as it may cause inconvenience to other passengers. I tried to explain the situation and reason for loading the luggage. Moreover there was no any other passenger in the compartment But he was adamant  in his stand.

Then I did something which I have not tried in my life.
I just flashed a ten rupee note  yes just ten bucks. And the situation changed miraculously. The TTE become very friendly and offered me tea.He also ptomised to help us in off loading the luggage in Jalandhar

We had a pleasant sleep and arrived at Jalandhar around 6 am. The TTE true to his words helped in offloading the luggage by calling some porters.
I tried to fix a mini lorry to transport the luggage to the quarters ay Guru Jeyapal Nagar. The fare demanded was very much on the higher side..One cycle rickshaw wallah offered to take us and the luggage for less than half of the demand..l agreed and he loaded the articles in

7 rickshaws and we boarded the 8th one.
Like a small procession we passed through the roads and arrived home safely.

In the evening We went to Model Town, a good shopping area with many eateries. We heard some unusual sounds and we inferred that miscreants have shot dead 2 public people
Enough for the first day in a strange place where we were not at all familiar with the local language Punjabi or even Hindi

Notes will continue next week.

blog address 

sherfuddinp.blogspot.com

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