Banasthali Prof BR Natarajan Mission with Passion Indian Railways Bharatiya Rail Garv Yatra

Trains have been the central theme of several all-time great books which include The Great Train Journey, Murder on the Orient Express, The Great Railway Bazar, The Railway Children, The Girl on the Train, Strangers on a Train, Around the World in 80 Trains, Mugby Junction, La Bete Humaine, Stories of the Railway and many many more. The first train journey for a boy or girl has been a truly unforgettable and stays lifelong as a part of many dreams.

For Natarajan (Nattu) born 1957 who belongs to Bikshandarkoil village near Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in Tamil Nadu, entire childhood is filled with train journeys to Manapparai, Karaikudi and Madurai apart from his daily shuttling by train to attend school from 1966-1973. When he got his admissions in 1974 to BITS Pilani, he was more thrilled about the train journey to Rajasthan than his higher education. He had one dream which was to do an All India journey only by trains.

Years rolled by and Natarajan presently is Professor at nearing 90 years young Banasthali Vidyapith a women's university near Jaipur in Rajasthan. He undertook the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Dekho Apna Desh challenge of visiting 15 tourist places within a month in India spread across Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi during May-June 2022 for which he was felicitated by the Ministry of Tourism Government of India. However this journey involved flights, cars, bikes and not much of trains.

Having been bitten by the train travel bug, Nattu planned a Bharatiya Rail Garv Yatra: Jaipur - Guwahati - Vijayawada - Chennai - Trivandrum - Kota - Jaipur 8000 kms during 01 May 2023 to 10 May 2023 crisscrossing 15 States of India Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh. This included 1 FULL day stay at Guwahati, HALF day at Chennai and 1 FULL day at Trivandrum.

It's a matter of pride that Natarajan's father Late Sri BN Ramaratnam and father in Law Sri Viswanathan Halasyam and younger brother BR Kartikeyan have had lifelong services with Indian Railways. With suggestion for an appropriate backpack from Arjun Natarajan, essentials to carry tips from Booma Natarajan and Pooja Natarajan, regular cheering up including a befitting T-Shirt by Sandeep Patel and welcome messages from batch mates, students and relatives, this dream of Bharatiya Rail Garv Yatra had no option but to happen.

The first leg of the yatra commenced on 01 May 2023 at 9.15 AM by boarding the Barmer Guwahati Express Train No 15631 Coach B4 (3A) Lower Berth 20 at Jaipur. Delicious Poori and Sabji packed by Mona Patel was had for breakfast and watched Bharatpur, Achhnera station pass by. My co passengers were impressed by my Rail yatra mission. When the train reached Agra Fort station, Banasthali Chemical student Dolly Aswani's mother and brother were waiting to give me a huge consignment of Sindhi Food to take care of lunch as well as dinner and a pack of pan embedded nariyal laddoos. The view of Taj Mahal when the train crosses the Yamuna river bridge just after Agra Fort station is beyond description.

The train zoomed through Tundla, Kanpur and reached at 9.30 PM Prayagraj (Allahabad) where dinner was had. The night and following day train ran through Pt DD Upadhyaya (Mughal Sarai), Patna, Bhaktiyarpur, Mokama (amazing view of River Ganga across the Rail Bridge), New Barauni, Khagaria, Naugachia, Katihar, Dalkhola, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri (NJP), New Cooch Behar, New Alipurduar, New Bongaogaon, Barpeta Road, Rangiya, Kamakya and reached Guwahti midnight on 02 May 2023. Phase 1 of yatra 1950 kms from Jaipur to Guwahati took 40 hours.

At Guwahati station Dilip Borah classmate of Nattu gave a royal welcome with the customary Assamese Gamcha. 03 May was spent visiting Rhinos at Pobitora Sanctuary, a talk at Assam Down Town University, chat session with another classmate Kalyan Das, Assam Heritage Centre, Mighty Brahmaputra River Front, Kamakya Temple, procuring a consignment of Assam Tea and ended the day with a BITS Alumni Meet which included Rajib Lochan Kalita, Hemanta Kumar Sarmah etal.

The second leg of the yatra commenced on 04 May 2023 at 6.20 AM by boarding the Guwahati Secunderabad Express Train No 12514 Coach B5 (3A) Lower Berth 41 at Guwahati to reach Vijayawada 2192 Kms distance in a span of about 38 hours. The train zoomed to New Jalpaiguri and reached Bhubaneshwar in Orissa on 05 May 2023 at 8 AM passing through Kishanganj, Barsoi, Malda, New Farakka (amazing train ride across the Farakka Barrage), Rampurhat, Bolpur Shantiniketan, Dankuni (very close to Howrah - Kolkata), Kharagpur, Balasore (Missile City), Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road and Cuttack. At Bhubaneshwar station, Nattu's student KP Rao had deputed his colleague Plaban Sahoo to handover a packet of Breakfast and Fruit Basket.

From Cuttack, after passing through Bhubaneshwar, Khurda Road, Balugaon (amazing view of Lake Chilka), Brahmaapur, Palasa, Srikakaula Road, Vizianagaram, the train hit Visakapatnam (Waltair) where BITS Alum KP Rao and Pradeep deputed by BITS Alum Serial Entrepreneur Bharat Kamma (MYZ-UNO and RAB) were waiting with a Huge Bouquet and a Huge pack of Food to cover Lunch and Dinner) and the bonhomie which happened at Vizag Railway Platform is truly unbelievable. The train reached Vijayawada around 10 PM on 05 May 2023 after passing through Rajahmundry (amazing view of River Godavari across the rail Bridge).

Same day midnight boarded Train No 12760 Charminar Express Coach B1 Berth 15 Side Lower Berth and reached Chennai Egmore 435 Kms Distance at 7 AM on 06 May passing through Tenali, Chirala, Ongole, Kavali, Nellore, Gudur, Nayudupeta and Sulurpeta. At Vadapalani Chennai met Hema Suresh, Sushma Reshma over a Hot Pongal breakfast and accompanied by a dear friend and fellow BITS Alum Seshasayee reached Besant Nagar to meet Krishna Rajagopal for a sumptuous lunch spread.

After a brief rest and chat with batch mate Nandakumar, the evening had a 74-75 alumni meet which included K Srinivasan, TS Bhaskaran, Jacab Mani etal. 06 may 2023 evening boarded at 8.10 PM Train No 16823 Ananthapuri Express Coach A1 (2A) Lower Berth 31 at Chennai Egmore to reach Trivandrum 798 Kms distance over 14 hours. The train zoomed through Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tiruchirapalli, Dindigul and reached Madurai 3.50 AM 07 May Morning.

Batch mate Kandaswamy who had come from USA was waiting at Madurai station platform to give me a hug after 45 years along with a delicious pack of Jilebi from the famous Sri Krishnaiyer Sweets of Dindigul. At Tirunelveli station 6.45 AM Nattu grabbed a pack of Halwa and a hot cup of Coffee for breakfast. From Tirunelveli to Nagercoil (very close to Kanyakumari) the train passes through a beautiful stretch of mountains and breathtaking arrays of gigantic Wind Mills.

Shortly after Nagercoil, the train entered God's own country Keral anad reached Thiruvananthapuram Station at 10.10 AM where a very dear friend fellow BITS Alum CR Thomas was waiting with an action plan for the day. 07 May 2023 accompanied by CR Thomas Nattu visited Parasuram Temple, Kovalam Beach, Vizhinjam Fishing harbor Adani International SeaPort, Christ the Redeemer Church, Vellayani Lake, Shankumugham beach, Veli Tourist Village, ISRO and rested for the night. On 08 May 2023 got up early and had a quick Dharshan at Padmanabhaswamy Temple and boarded Sampark Kranthi Express Train No 12217 Coach S5 (SL) Lower Berth 33 at 9.10 AM Kochuveli to reach Kota in Rajasthan 2685 Kms through a span of 39 hours travel.

The most beautiful of the train journey in Kerala is crisscrossing the backwaters with a gush of fresh air sweeping your face through Kollam, Kayamkulam, Alapuzha (Venice like) till Ernakulam. Zooming past Thrissur, the train reached Shoranur where classmate M Shankar was waiting with a bag full of delicious Kerala Sweets and Chips. At Kozikode (Calicut) station one gets so many varieties of mouth water harvesting Halwas. The train whizzed past Mahe (Puducherry) station en route to Kannur.

Another good friend and an expert in Oil industry Sasidharan PK was waiting at Kannur station with dinner pack and cherished Kerala gift items of decorated elephant and a Boat with Kathakali dance. Just a few minutes only spent at Kannur railway platform but lifelong memories. The train zoomed through Kasaragod, Mangaluru, Udupi and hit GoGo Goa past midnight where a hot cup of coffee and a plate of roasted cashew nuts was had instead of customary funny times with Feni.

Passing through the stations Ratnagiri and Panvel, the train bypassed Mumbai and stopped at Vasai Road where a dear friend and Proud Alumnus of BITS Pilani Mohan Raghavan actively involved in Computer Shiksha was waiting with a consignment of season's greetings alphonso mangoes. Ripping through Surat and Vadodara in Gujarat the train had a long nonstop run of about 7 hours across Madhya Pradesh to hit Kota in Rajasthan around midnight. From Kota, the last leg of the journey to reach Banasthali 174 kms was no big deal as one had the option of taking 14814 Bhopal Jaipur Express.

For Natarajan who derives his inspiration from books such as Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne and Adventures of Captain James Cook's Voyages, Tourism Geography has been of special interest as it deals with the study of travel and its impact on places. Geography is fundamental to the study of tourism, because tourism is geographical in nature. Nattu indeed made history with the Geography of India through his Bharatiya Rail Garv Yatra. Exploring India with Vandhe Bharat Trains shall be the next goal.

Prof BR Natarajan
Proud to be BITSian
Pilani Rajasthan India 333031
Phone: +91-9799476406
Email: brnatarajanbits@gmail.com
Website: https://www.bitsaa.org/

Pilani Chronicle covers news about happenings in Pilani including achievements of Proud to be BITSians who are alumni from institution of eminence BITS - Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani spread across all latitudes, longitudes and altitudes.

This release was published on openPR.