Europe by Eurail

 Mediterranean Blue.

I made two different trips of Europe by Eurail, and these are some pics from the French leg of those. Except the last pic, which is from Greece. You can actually travel overnight sleeping on the train, to cut hotel costs, bathe up at railway stations, and see a city a day across Europe- many countries are covered by a single pass for unlimited travel for a fixed number of days-I took a 14 day pass. This is a good way to backpack and get more bang for your Euros.

New Bombay or Navi Mumbai

I am in Belapur, new Mumbai for a teaching assignment at the IIM Indore campus. I can feel the difference in lifestyle here compared with the metropolis, the old Mumbai. There is a lot more space per square person (or even a round one), for one. The local train stations have platforms on both sides of the train, so it is easier to get in and out of them. In the older town, you have to remember which side the platform will appear, and the crowds are heavy.

The suburbs around here (I haven't seen many) seem a lot better planned, with a lot of flyovers in the right places, shops and gardens etc. in better shape and organised, and public facilities in better shape. Less crowded means more pleasant, of course. It's a pleasure, so far. The airport being far off is an inconvenience, of course, but you can't have it all, can you?

Rail Gaadi

There are a variety of songs that feature the train in Hindi films. The big disaster of a film featuring a train was 'The Burning Train', fashioned after the 70s Hollywood disaster films like The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure etc..

'Rail gaadi', sung by Ashok Kumar the actor, was a unique song, almost a precursor of the rap songs of recent times. 'Gaadi bula rahi hai', sung by Kishore Kumar and filmed on Dharmendra, was a nice anthem song in the movie Dost. 'Chalna hi zindagi hai, chalti hi jaa rahi hai' was the main line in it.

Romancing the train, I mean the heroine on the train, we had two classics that I can remember. One was Dev Anand singing 'Hai Apna Dil to Awara, Na Jaane Kis Pe Aayega' in Solva Saal, and Rajesh Khanna singing 'Mere Sapnon Ki Raani kab Aayegi tu', in Aradhana, to a coy Sharmila Tagore traveling in a train. Both songs featured a mouth organ/harmonica, if I am not mistaken. Parineeta also had a train song, whose words I forget.

Why this lapse into remembering train songs? The railway budget triggered the memories. Like many other things, India can do a lot more than it has with its railway trains, which have an enviable reach, and for the common man, it is a comfortable way to travel even today.

Mumbai Madness

Tried some exotic food and some non-exotic one too, this time in Mumbai. The occasions were varied. Exotic Flavours, a restaurant in Mulund, with some friends, offered a variety of sizzlers. The service was on a slow boil as it was a Sunday evening, but we managed to eat. Sizzlers with exotic veggies is their speciality, and it was pretty good. Another evening, with some KIAMS alumni, we met at Urban Tadka in R City Mall, Ghatkopar. Nice food, tandoori aloo, makke ki roti and Sarson da saag, but the live band baaja (dhol actually) was unnecessary, as there is enough noise in the maximum city anyways.

The local trains were less packed than usual, as it was a weekend, and also because there were some DC to AC conversions going on on Western Railway.

We were at some admission interviews for the coming year at IMT, and I also ran into friends at the centre, St. Xavier's. But the highlight for me was a trip to Khadi Bhandar in the Kala Ghoda area, where there are some really good khadi (hand-woven)shirts, sarees and various other dress materials. These guys can sell much more- the stuff is exquisite! They need a marketing consultant.

Walked around aimlessly to see a few stalls at the Kala Ghoda Festival of Arts in the area around Rhythm House one evening, and also saw a superb Odissi performance in which a niece was one of the performers. The troupe is called Smitalay, is headed by one Jhelum Paranjpe, who is a disciple of Kelucharan Mahapatra. Under the evening sky at Cross Maidan near Churchgate, the impact was even more magical. I had last watched Odissi a long time ago when in Bhubaneswar, so it was refreshing. 

Miskil above, and with Poornima and Jhelum, below