Unreserved (adjective) — not set apart for a particular purpose or booked in advance.

Reserved (adjective) — well, it’s just an antonym of unreserved! Simple!

These are not just words, but are keys to political success in India. They have the power to make or break any government at any time. They can even leave a country without internet for days (enough said!)

Deserving people in India are unable to reserve a train seat (due to slow internet speeds!) and must travel unreserved. Then there are those, like me, who are forced to travel without reservations on a daily basis due to a fixed reimbursement policy. But I had a motivating factor that provided me with a daily push. Notice period! Yes, I was on notice when I had to travel without reservations. “Bas have thodaak aj divas che” (there are only a few days left before I no longer have to travel without reservations!)

I used to wake up, get ready, drive my vehicle fast enough to overtake reckless and highly competitive auto drivers, park it like an action sequence from a highly fictional South Indian movie, throw a 10 rupee note on the keepers’ table, run through steps horizontally, and arrive at the railway station, or “Tasshion,” as it is popularly known in Gujarat.

But the struggle did not end there. I was forced to wait. I’ll wait my turn to purchase tickets. I felt like the last vannar (monkey) in the vannar sena, waiting for his turn to travel to Lanka. Half of the vannars in the queue were there as a precaution in case his/her partner in another line did not receive a ticket. Frustrated, I finally made it to the end of Rama Setu and purchased my ticket to Lanka. The real struggle began then!

I realised I had entered the Olympics and would have to compete in a hurdle race to catch the train. Sprinting as fast as I can with my laptop bag on my back and my shirt fully tucked in, jumping over people dozing on the platform (real life hurdles). I finally crossed the finish line, overjoyed and out of breath. But I couldn’t celebrate my small victory because I was being pushed through the compartment by a group of people looking for some space. I secretly wished the referee (TC) had disqualified them.

The Unreserved — Journey in a train’s general compartment Finding a place to stand. Credits: Faking News

I finally found a place to stand on one leg after pushing my way through smelly armpits and noisy kids. It was a period of intense discomfort and regret for not attending yoga classes. I managed to take off my laptop bag and place it on the rack above, accidentally brushing it against some faces and causing instant frowns. I heard a few guffaws from my compartment while I was pretending to relax. When I turned around, there were at least 20 people laughing their asses off in a compartment for six. Space administration! I reminded myself. They were laughing at jokes told by a middle-aged man with a typical tobacco-mouth! Mr. Bakul Patel, or “Bakul Kaka” as they called him, was later revealed to be his name. Bakul Kaka was a short man with drowsy eyes and grey hair. Because of his constant battle with tobacco, his teeth had maroon wounds and scars.

The Unreserved — Journey in a train’s general compartment The armpit army! Image source: Faking news

He was well-known for his witty one-liners and doubled up as a life and financial adviser for co-patriots. Obviously, he was the administrator of the majority of the train-related WhatsApp groups, which informed them of the train’s current location and whether it was delayed. Maximum resource utilisation! I made a mental note of it.

The Unreserved — Journey in a train’s general compartment Optimum utilisation of space as well. Image source: The Hindu

The other passengers I noticed were primary school teachers in nearby villages, working on a fix pay. They generally joked about how the other one embarrassed his students by avoiding questions from their students! Their topics of conversation ranged from cricket to politics to the latest Bollywood films to how today’s youth are dissatisfied. They also had their unique way of internal reservation. The reservation criteria were straightforward. You either are a regular or you bring snacks for everyone. It seemed fair! Equal reward scheme! I took note once more. They had a high level of trust, everyone knew each other’s online shopping passwords, and they also ordered items for others on a cash-on-delivery basis. Trust building, another lesson. In the midst of this, I had no idea when my station would arrive or how difficult it would be to stand there.

This became a routine for me. Eventually I ended up waiting for the next morning to get back into the same compartment and just fool around with these guys! I also earned a pet name and a place to sit within 15 days, arguably my biggest achievement till date. They not only made the stressful journey bearable, but they also taught me some valuable management lessons that no MBA program could have taught me. I used to wait for those witty one liners from Bakul Kaka. If a compartment is a password then Bakul Kaka was a special character without which a password is incomplete.

In the end, it makes me wonder whether trains are life line of people or people are life line of train!