*** Train No 6010.
There was this article in HINDU in its magazine section on Sunday, June 5, titled “Train No 6010.” This train, Chennai-Mumbai Mail, leaves Chennai at 2155 hours daily. It reaches a small station en route called Hosigi, very near Karnataka-Andhra border, by 1000 AM next morning.
The story starts at this station where a few women entered a sleeper coach with big baskets on their heads. Now, over to the author: “I felt myself besieged. How dare they get in? Did they have tickets? I did not know what to do. They would talk loudly, dirty the place, fight with the passengers.. I could picture a horrible scenario. The railways are doomed, I told myself, and so is the country.”
“In the meanwhile, the old woman in a torn green sari sat on the floor and started to uncover her basket. Would she spread her bed sheet and lie down there? Would she take out her food and eat it, and mess up the place? How long would this group be on board? How long would one have to tolerate this?”
“As she removed the sheets, a most delicious and delightful sight unfolded before my eyes. This woman was not going to lie down and sleep; nor would she eat her food and mess up the place. She was a fruit vendor, selling one of the most wonderful and delicious of fruits – tadgola; Tadgola in Hindi, NONGU in Tamil.”
“Big luscious fruits, really fresh, probably just plucked from the (palm) trees. I would be dishonest if I said that my mouth did not start to water. My concerns about this group vanished. And before I knew it I had made the first purchase (four Nongus for Rs 10/-) and what followed were 10 delicious minutes as I peeled the fruit and stuffed my mouth with the divine stuff.”
“There was a basket full of cucumber and carrot, a bhel-puri wala, there were groundnuts. And then there were extremely inviting chikoos (sapotas) – six chikoos for ten rupees. The sweetest and the best that I have ever eaten.” (There are large chikoo orchards south of Guntakal.)
“Thank God, I told myself, for these vendors who sell their wares on Indian Railways. Compare these with the staid, uniformly tasteless and uninspiring stuff dished out by the Rlys. I have bought and eaten a variety of foodstuffs on many a train journey. More memorable ones include, Parsi Dairy’s malai kulfi in Mumbai-Pune; an idli-kind of a preparation on the Bongaigaon-Gauhati route; jhal muri any train approaching Howrah.” ---- ---- ---- ----
*** End of the article (abridged).
I enjoyed reading this article, so I thought I would share my happiness with all of you.
I totally agree with the writer. Many of us have enjoyed similar delicious experiences. The “Lonavla Chikki” in the Pune-Mumbai section is quite famous. Ten kms away, in Karjat Station, women are selling big and delicious jamuns (nagapazham); and other products grown on the mountainside. At Vijayawada station, don’t forget to purchase the wonderful mango fruit jelly. Near Kodaikanal and Dindukkal you will get malai vazhai pazham and manapparai murukku. Are you nearing Villupuram / Panruti – you have to purchase the jackfruit (palaa chulai) ! In the Chennai-Mumbai route, at Nagari station, purchase saathukudi pazham. And koyya pazhams. At Nagpur? Oranges, of course. How about petas at Agra Station?
In the Chennai – Bangalore route, near Kuppam station, women “attack” you with freshest vegetables at throwaway prices. Very inviting vegetables. Their baskets will be emptied in no time. If you are traveling in bus to Tiruvannamalai, you will be bombarded with fresh cucumbers, and koyya pazhams, as I recently found out.
I call upon others, like Neeraja, Sugavanam, Jayaraman, Vasu, Jayshree, and others to share their experiences. Nice, delicious, sweet experiences they must have had during their travel.
Rajappa
15 Sept 2004
There was this article in HINDU in its magazine section on Sunday, June 5, titled “Train No 6010.” This train, Chennai-Mumbai Mail, leaves Chennai at 2155 hours daily. It reaches a small station en route called Hosigi, very near Karnataka-Andhra border, by 1000 AM next morning.
The story starts at this station where a few women entered a sleeper coach with big baskets on their heads. Now, over to the author: “I felt myself besieged. How dare they get in? Did they have tickets? I did not know what to do. They would talk loudly, dirty the place, fight with the passengers.. I could picture a horrible scenario. The railways are doomed, I told myself, and so is the country.”
“In the meanwhile, the old woman in a torn green sari sat on the floor and started to uncover her basket. Would she spread her bed sheet and lie down there? Would she take out her food and eat it, and mess up the place? How long would this group be on board? How long would one have to tolerate this?”
“As she removed the sheets, a most delicious and delightful sight unfolded before my eyes. This woman was not going to lie down and sleep; nor would she eat her food and mess up the place. She was a fruit vendor, selling one of the most wonderful and delicious of fruits – tadgola; Tadgola in Hindi, NONGU in Tamil.”
“Big luscious fruits, really fresh, probably just plucked from the (palm) trees. I would be dishonest if I said that my mouth did not start to water. My concerns about this group vanished. And before I knew it I had made the first purchase (four Nongus for Rs 10/-) and what followed were 10 delicious minutes as I peeled the fruit and stuffed my mouth with the divine stuff.”
“There was a basket full of cucumber and carrot, a bhel-puri wala, there were groundnuts. And then there were extremely inviting chikoos (sapotas) – six chikoos for ten rupees. The sweetest and the best that I have ever eaten.” (There are large chikoo orchards south of Guntakal.)
“Thank God, I told myself, for these vendors who sell their wares on Indian Railways. Compare these with the staid, uniformly tasteless and uninspiring stuff dished out by the Rlys. I have bought and eaten a variety of foodstuffs on many a train journey. More memorable ones include, Parsi Dairy’s malai kulfi in Mumbai-Pune; an idli-kind of a preparation on the Bongaigaon-Gauhati route; jhal muri any train approaching Howrah.” ---- ---- ---- ----
*** End of the article (abridged).
I enjoyed reading this article, so I thought I would share my happiness with all of you.
I totally agree with the writer. Many of us have enjoyed similar delicious experiences. The “Lonavla Chikki” in the Pune-Mumbai section is quite famous. Ten kms away, in Karjat Station, women are selling big and delicious jamuns (nagapazham); and other products grown on the mountainside. At Vijayawada station, don’t forget to purchase the wonderful mango fruit jelly. Near Kodaikanal and Dindukkal you will get malai vazhai pazham and manapparai murukku. Are you nearing Villupuram / Panruti – you have to purchase the jackfruit (palaa chulai) ! In the Chennai-Mumbai route, at Nagari station, purchase saathukudi pazham. And koyya pazhams. At Nagpur? Oranges, of course. How about petas at Agra Station?
In the Chennai – Bangalore route, near Kuppam station, women “attack” you with freshest vegetables at throwaway prices. Very inviting vegetables. Their baskets will be emptied in no time. If you are traveling in bus to Tiruvannamalai, you will be bombarded with fresh cucumbers, and koyya pazhams, as I recently found out.
I call upon others, like Neeraja, Sugavanam, Jayaraman, Vasu, Jayshree, and others to share their experiences. Nice, delicious, sweet experiences they must have had during their travel.
Rajappa
15 Sept 2004
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