My friends were gonna get off at allahabad and they had somehow managed to get a whole compartment and it was shared by 8 yatris who were all from NIT Allahabad. Their boggie was 2 boggies after the one in which I had RAC , so after a sleepless night I got to sleep at their top berth. It was a scene to watch the way all their luggage was dumped on the side upper berth. I got up in the evening and finally we had some discussion on the yatra. Everyone shared their view on the yatra. Though everyone did say they enjoyed. One thing I realised was that it was too early for people to form opinion on. Even I was not able to comprehend it well. Thing like who affected you the most, what kind of bonding was developed with fellow yatris, what i enjoyed the most, what I would miss, what I take back, future plans etc. etc. We had some evening snacks. I had something in my bag, so I went through the crowd and believe me I think I showed as much athleticism as I would have shown in a hurdle race. The area near the door as well as vestibule was jammed packed with luggage and people sitting on it. In around 20 mins I crossed two boggies and brought back my bag which had snacks.
My friend got off at Allahabad at around 10 pm clear indication that the train was late by atleast 2 hours. Many deboarded the train, but even more boarded again. I though of retaining the top bearth as no one would complain since many were without reservation. (Acting smart, eh?) Well, I just went help get off all the luggage the yatris were carrying and by the time I come back there were around 15 people sitting in every compartment, with another 8 sitting inthe upper berths. I some how managed to get some place to sit conveniently on the top berth. Then it was chatting time. I talked about the life in UP, and it somewhat less harmonious that what I had thought. Most of them were young (in mid 20s) and some were trying for public services. one thing I noticed was that they had a view about every thing but without much depth (May be it was an after effect of the yatris on me or of the yatra). As the talks warmed up the temperature kept falling and with just a windcheater on, I was literally shivering. No doubt no one had trouble with so many people sitting togeather in such a small space. Once Mirzapur came people with reserved seats started coming in and thus we had to vacate the seats. So I went back to my RAC seat and woke up the bugger and there was another inconvenient night like yesterday the exception being that it was colder. Thankfully the other person with whom i shared the seat was getting off at koderma that was scheduled to come at 4 in the morning. So atleast I would get a good sleep in the morning. With some nudging and budging and a bedsheet on top I went to sleep. The negotiation continue through the night.
