I am a man who has got his permanent residence at Pondicherry, and temporary residences all over the country. Thanks to the system of Serviced Apartments becoming popular across the country, with a day’s notice I can get a place to live for a few days or weeks anywhere in the country with just a few days notice. Since apperating in Harry Potter style and Teleportation for humans are things of the distant past and the distant future, we will have to use the transport systems that are open for general public today. Though in my fantasies I am a smarter wizard than Harry Potter and a better scientist than the head of Cern, Rolf-Dieter Heuer himself, in reality, I am just one among the public, and do not have options to fly in Mach 15 planes or be teleported.
A bus from Chennai to Goa would take 21 hours, and I hate buses. And there is only one train from Chennai to Goa, the MAS-Vasco express. I love planes, but I have a very strict policy on taking planes for non-profitable, expenses filled time out trips to places like Goa.
This January I did justify my flight to Goa as I had plans to make use of the Goan Govt. 50% subsidy to start a hotel. I had a budget of a crore, and with half of that as subsidy from the govt, I could raise 90% of the remaining half in bank loans, and get a personal loan for the remaining 10%. I somehow postponed that idea as Goa became less popular among the tourists after the serial rapes and bomb threats. I can’t pay off the debts if I don’t get business from the hotel.
Well, so now when I think its time for me to visit Goa again and take a chill in the sun, I don’t have a train from anywhere. There is one train from Chennai though, the Madras Vasco express, and it leaves Chennai every friday. Therefore it is fully booked ahead for atleast the next 6 months. Pondicherry is an odd place. It is like a server node standing out at the far end of the router, and Chennai being my router, and I need to go there for a train or a plane to anywhere in the country. Poor at money and poor at eye sight, I don’t have a car, and I hate buses. So I have to take a taxi to go to Chennai every time I want to travel somewhere. So when I go to Chennai, I find that it is not a well connected place either. It only has 1 direct flight to Goa 3 times a week, and that too is full most of the time and needs advanced booking. People say the best way to go to Goa is to go to Bangalore and take a bus from there. As Goa is only 6 hours from bangalore, a bus journey should not be that tiring. Then again, from Pondicherry to Bangalore will be a tough journey.
Given the rush in the Mas-Vasco, Hon’ble Minister of Railways Laalu ji should certainly consider putting a few more compartments on the tracks between Chennai and Goa, or atleast a few more 2 and 3 tier AC coaches above the 2 numbers each available now on the train. Otherwise how could people like me even imagine having a beer in peace at Goa on a weekend or possibly read netbooks in peace??
