The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana or the KVPY,as it is commonly called,is one of the most prestigious examinations for the Science students of +1 and +2 classes.So,it was not surprising that a large number of students applied for writing the exam from Visakhapatnam,hoping that they would clear it.
The exam,slated for the 27th of October was initially to be held at Vizag itself.However,as luck would have it,the examination centre was shifted to Bhubaneshwar,the capital of Odisha,
for fear of the ongoing Samaikyandhra agitation, only before 10-12 days of the date of the exam,leaving...
more... many students in the haywire,as they were confused whether to
write it or not.In the end,many of them dropped out,however,I was a part of a small portion of students who decided to write the exam.
And then,came the million dollar question---How would we go there?The trains were already deep in WL,not GNWL,but RLWL and nobody could expect that RLWL 30 in 3A
would confirm.I was personally disappointed that 11019/Konark had already gone into WL,as its early morning arrival at around 4:25 a.m. would have suited us perfectly.And flights were out of question,as the relatively small journey of around 25 min was being charged around Rs.3500/-, much higher than the expected Rs.2300.
So,after a lot of searching, the idea of booking tickets from Vizianagaram (VZM) struck my father's mind and we saw a train that would take us to our destination-
18438/Bhawanipatna Bhubaneswar Link Express.The sight of available tickets was rejoiced,however there was a catch.The train was to arrive at 8:25 a.m. and
my exam was scheduled at 9:00 a.m. We couldn't possibly take such a risk with IR and tickets were booked for the 26th of October,such that we would arrive on that
morning itself and by the end of the day,we had confirmed tickets in our hands.
Now came the question of the return journey..We were lucky to get confirmed reservation from BBS to VZM (again) in none other than 11020 /Konark Express,perhaps
the only neatly maintained train towards Vizag from Bhubaneswar. With tickets all set ,accommodation was arranged in Hotel Ginger,we started preparing in earnest for
the exam.
Then came the rains.For those who believe that Cyclone Phailin was bad,these rains were worse (atleast for us Vizagites,for which the effect of the cyclone was no more
than some random slight drizzles).We couldn't even get out from our houses as it was raining so heavily that all the roads were reduced to mini-aquariums.
The rainfall continued and battered the city continuously for almost 5 days,stopping in rather infrequent gaps of 30 min.In the news-SEVERAL TRAINS CANCELLED IN ODISHA,
AS HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUES.
The departure for 24th had been cancelled,however the one for 25th ran,albeit with a small delay.I had expected that my train would depart,however we were in for a
shock,our train had been cancelled.So,on the night of 25th,expecting 11019/Konark to run,we went to the railway station and bought general tickets upto BBS.To our surprise,
passengers were getting down in hordes,in rather large numbers and we got to know that the train was diverted via Rayagada,Sambhalpur and Angul.
The train had arrived with a 20 min delay at Visakhapatnam at 2120 instead of the scheduled 2100.In the meanwhile,we found the TTE and tickets were issued for 3A and
we sat down in our allotted seats B3 15,16 SU & SL.We didn't know yet that we were in for a hell of a ride,and I was mentally prepared for arriving there at around
10 am.
In the meanwhile we had our pre-packed dinners and were happily listening to songs(there were working chargers in our compartment).It was 2230,the train had been in
VSKP for almost an hour and showed no signs of departing anytime soon.We soon found out that someone had died in S7,and that it was the cause for the holdup.The already
diverted train which arrived around 20 min late,had racked up a delay of 1 hr 45 min,as the train slowly crept out of VSKP at 2305.FOllowing a sedate run to
Vizaiangaram with an arrival around 0015,we decided to call it a day and happily tucked into our berths.
In Andhra,the Intermediate education,or the 11th and 12th classes,are given the utmost priority,and corporate junior colleges rule the roost.The promise of a seat in
a good engineering college makes many people join their children in them resulting in cramped classes of 65-70 members.The timings: 8:00 in the morning to 7:30 in the
evening and we ar still expected to study around 2-3 hrs at home,leading many people to have dark circles under their eyes and hungry for sleep.
So,we literally slept like babies and it was around 10:30 am that we got up,a full 4 hrs of extra sleep,expecting to be in Bhubaneswar,only to find out to our dismay,
that we had only reached Sambhalpur.I knew that it would take around 6-7 hours from there and was disappointed at the prospect of spending almost a whole day in the
train.We had a quick breakfast (Bread-Omelette Rs.40/- a plate,felt like a ripoff),and soon started revising for the exam.
However the revision did not last for long,and we were back to listening to songs and playing games on our mobiles.In the meanwhile,we departed from Samobhalpur at around
1035.We soon started to run at around 70-75 kmph and after a non-stop run involving many slow-downs,in which at points,we were literally crawling,we reached Angul
hat around 1:45 in the afternoon.We stopped there for around 10 min and within no time,we came to a halt at Talcher Road for around 5 min and we soon tookoff from the station.For the entire journey,I do not think that the train ever reached MPS,however we were cruising steadily at 80-90 kmph,for long
stretches.In around 40-45 minutes we reached Dhenkanal where we halted for around 2 min.
I must say that Konark's pantry is one of the best I've ever seen on a train,as our lunch was delivered hot and for the first time,the rice was boiled properly.We had
ordered a Vegetarian Thali,which consisted of Rice,Rasam,Aloo curry,Dahi,Papad and a glass of mineral water.The last time I travelled in Konark,the food was even better,
and even though the standards had fallen,it was definitely way above average.
From Dhenkanal,we were getting a little bit restless,as there were no signs of reaching Bhunbaneswar soon.We continued to enjoy the scenery outside,as frankly,we had
nothing else to do.
Odisha is no doubt one of the most backward states in the country and the condition of its villages from the train was pitiable.There was signs of very much visible poverty
everywhere and I was appalled that even major stations didn't have refreshment stalls and we had not packed much snacks as we had initially expected an overnight
journey,resulting us in going a bit hungry.
Finally at 4:50 in the evening the train came to a halt at Bhubaneswar,onto PF#3,and we had a car waiting outside to take us to our hotel.What was supposed to be a
short and sweet 7 hr overnight journey,turned out to be an 18 hr journey,all around the state providing us glimpses of the real state.Bhubaneswar turned out to be very
different,like a different scene altogether from the towns and villages that we had come through.
Getting down the train, we hurried outside,bidding adieu to the empty rake which had carried us for over 18 hrs.
Overall,exept for the delay,the journey itself was nice and I forgot to mention,our coach was satisfactorily clean,except for a few baby cockroaches here and there..
Sorry for the long delay in posting this and also the long report..I do not particularly like noting down loco numbers and everything,so I have not taken anything
down...
Thank You!
