A Lovely Journey

The weather here in India has taken on that mildly summer touch. Winter is far back into the past. We call this time ‘spring’. And I am only repeating well known facts. So I will not linger upon them any further. What I really wanted to say is that this is one of the two great times of the year to go out on a holiday. It isn’t too cold and yet not too hot. This is also the best time to go for a quiet steam ride. The few of the steam locomotive operated trains mentioned in the former articles are well running this time of the year. The great thing is that one wouldn’t need heated or air-conditioned coaches at this time. The mild weather is just perfect for an outing. In most steam loco powered trains, since they are rather expensive (ticket wise), the coaches are all air-conditioned. But that simply takes away the fun of steam travel. But it is a necessity nevertheless for the deathly chill of winter and burning heat of summer does not stop to think about anyone. Come to India at this time of the year, or try the last week of September onwards. These are the best times of the year to come. In the meantime I am wondering if the government really has any plans to begin operating steam trains geared at the middle class joy riders. I really can’t feel good about that fact that what is considered to be the backbone of the Indian economy – the middle class – is left out of this experience. I agree that steam locomotives are in reality garnered towards the foreign tourists. But hey apna dil bhi to karta hai.