You do not have to ride the Darjeeling toy train or the Kalka to Shimla narrow gauge or not even the Konkan Rail to fall in love with the trains. Next time you are in Pune (or Mumbai), take the train to Nasik. On the map, Nasik lies vertically above Pune. But the train, leaving from Pune goes west through Lonavala, to the outskirts of Mumbai – Kalyan – and then meanders back east towards Nasik. Okay it takes about seven hours, almost twice if you drive from Pune to Nasik. But if you are in the mood to sit back and enjoy a train ride, then this is it. You are glad you did not take the offer of being chauffer driven to Nasik.
As you leave the concrete nightmare that Pune has become, the greenery pulls you away from the laptop screen to the train windows. Though Maharashtra has been reeling under the effects of scanty monsoon, Western Ghats seemed to have got their fair share of rains. Falling rain creates streams on the window glass. The rains have washed off all the grime and everything outside seems fresh. Dewy leaves glow in the intermittent sunlight. Expectant clouds hang low over the hills. Air is misty and fresh. You seem to have stepped out on the terrace of some fancy resort in Kerala. You wish you are treated to this view on your daily commute to office in Delhi.
The Picture Perfect Lush & Verdant Western Ghats
Western Ghats, home to the spectacular Jog Falls in Karnataka are breathtakingly scenic whether you are in Kerala, Karnataka or Maharashtra. They play a major role in the movement of monsoons over south India. I was told by an enthusiastic meteorologist in the making that the angle the monsoon clouds hit the hills of Western Ghats determines if the rain falls in Western Maharashtra or Vidarbha!
A train meandering through the hills provide you the perfect way to enjoy the scene unfolding outside. As opposed to roads, there are no trucks belching diesel fumes, your knuckles do not turn white negotiating that hairpin bend, you are not at the mercy of maniac Lewis Hamiltons every metre and no paralytic claustrophobia of a car. Train gives you your space: you can read, you can walk around, something even the biggest aeroplanes can’t provide. The seating arrangement helps you strike up a conversation with your co-passengers. If the scene outside turns out like it does now, you wish you never arrive at your destination. The journey becomes the goal.
The Train Journey is the Goal
My favourite travel author Paul Theroux says in the opening paragraph of ‘The Great Railway Bazaar’ – the best travel book ever written – “I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it”. One simple sentence summarizes the entire romance and mysticism around the trains. It conjures up the sights and sounds of unknown exotic destinations. It is as if you don’t care where the train goes; you only want to be someplace that is far and not seen before. Someplace where people look different, language you can’t understand but sounds musical; and food is an adventure everytime.
You want to spend a week in the tiny cabins on the hills
Meanwhile, the train chugs along several stations. It is the perfect weather to buy chikki in Lonavala and feast on hot vada paos. The taste brings back memories from the past. It seems as if the chikki and vada tastes have been standardized like McDonalds. You remember the taste from times long gone when you took the Madgaon Express from CST to Goa every month on the Konkan Railway Line.
The Western Ghats are lush, green and verdant. God bless UNESCO for giving heritage status to the Western Ghats. Now there will be no mining or ugly hotels built on the hills. The only sore point is when the train briefly enters Mumbai area. The local trains have changed colours from what you remember from a long time ago but you do not want to travel those trains ever again. No romance there. You can still feel the overpowering curtain-like muggy air that hit you when you entered the packed coach in Virar local on a sultry monsoon evening on your way back from office. No, you don’t want to do it even for nostalgia’s sake.
Another screaming entry into a tunnel
Mercifully, we are back climbing the Western Ghats. The train snakes its way through a succession of tunnels. Kids in the coach are coming alive and are getting into the act. As soon as the train enters a tunnel, a collective scream goes up resonating with the reverberating amplified sound of wheels. The leaching water from the hills above falls on the train. Tiny rivulets come alive with crystal clear water. The next instant the train is traipsing over a bridge. You can gaze down at the river deep below your feet. The scenery seems to be unending – one amazing frame to another. You do not know when you will be next treated to this view. Passengers in the train want to make the best of the opportunity. People in AC coach step out and hang on the doorways trying to capture tiny slivers of nature’s abundance and beauty on view. Now you can see the mist rolling around the hills. The mist has enveloped the top of the hills. You want to just step out of train, walk into one of the small cabins built on the hills and spend a week away from everything.
You want this to stay unchanged for another hundred years
The Railway Board is examining a proposal to build a new track away from the Western Ghats designed to bring you to Nasik in three hours flat. Ride the train before the romance goes out.