travel, trains and titbits...

Oops..one week since I blogged..
so I said u, didn’t I?? That am busy now after retirement;-)
Went to salem and Blore in the meantime and so not many interesting stuff..so some titbits below..

SR,travel and surprises..
(For the uninitiated - SR is Southern Railways.)
I got in to Cheran to go up to Salem and found the train surprisingly neat enof and as always the 2nd class compartment filled with diff characters – interesting, probing, intruding, snobish and all..but its always fun traveling in train with so many unsolicited views and updates..I for once was very keen for all updates (politrix and otherwise)..
BTW the surprise no:1 was the TT who came in to check the tickets! He threw a big smile and a loud “Good morning everybody” and was very nice and helpful to one and all..hey will u not pinch yourself to see where u are?? I did..and by then an old man from the next seat said – “very nice eh? We need more of such people…”
Cleanliness, hygiene are still an issue..chps..chpss..more on that later..

Central – updates
Madras central is a totally diff place now..for the better I mean..the most striking is the new food complex that’s in the central premises itself..u have Saravana Bhavan, Adyar Ananda Bhavan et al in there..who ever thought of that idea and implemented..let his family and heirs be blessed with saravanas sambhar all thru their life..(superscript matter here is the price saravanas charges.. but..)
Any way for those who miss it, don’t worry..esp in trains like cheran, brindavan, intercity from CBE to Blore etc the rly vendors keep coming..like Australian batsmen till the last, they keep coming on u..even if u don’t buy, the way they sell is a treat to watch!


Crazy eh???
I was listening to some songs on my MP3 (ya..strutting arnd in SR)..Raaga.com used to be my fav to listen to songs when I was there..and now as I was listening to the songs, I cud remember where all they used to barge in and say “you are listening to Raaga” in between the song..It seems to work..thats etched in to my memory that I knew exactly where they wud say “u r listening…”in Raaga..crazy, eh??

Blore
Am happy I need to type less here..only one word is enof infact – DISAPPOINTING
Finally
Thanks to all those who comment in this blog and to the 1000s (hmm..hmmm) of people who send pers mail appreciating (hmm..hmmm) and admonishing..its a pleasure to be in touch with friends..but this new mode thrills me still ..I do reply across to the comments there itself..(shall do so until I feel a better way comes up)