The statistics- 5-day trip, 712 passengers, 1 Chartered Train, 11 bogies, 20 buses, 2 Beach Resorts in Goa, 230 rooms - 1 family.... all belonging to L&T - ECC Division, Chennai.
The specially chartered L&T-ECC Expressbound for Vasco da Gama, chugged into platform 11 amidst thundering cheer ofover 700 passengers, visitors and the media-team that were gathered to record this epoch-making event.As it came to a calm and steady halt, the engine and the coaches were decorated with huge, colourful banners and bedecked with digitally printed vinyl panels. These proclaimed L&T - ECCs expertise across various business activities to visitors all along the over 2000 kms journey.The all-new painted and spruced up 11 bogiesa la 'decked-up bride', wouldsoon carry the seven hundred odd eager holidayers. Some of thesecoaches were to do their debutant run on the trackas it carriedthe date ofits manufacture/assembly as 29th Sept 2003!
We were already an hour late. People had a detailed Brochure that had every last details - of the bogie,the seat number,the place of train alighting, bus for onward travel and particulars of the resort for stay, includingone's ownroom number in advance! That was the extent of the organizational skill. (For people who build eleven-digit worth projects, this was a cakewalk). Every bogie had interesting names of flowers from Rose to Sunflower. Holidayers parked their baggages and got engaged in greeting andjoyous conversation with their bosom friends and their families!
Day 1 - The hot afternoon sun on October 1, 2003 fuelled their spirits as we all finally settled down in our places, looking forward to a fun-filled days ahead, till our return on the 5th October.
To mark the auspicious kick-off, the staff religiously received their Vishvakarma Pooja Prashad.The function had just concluded in theManapakkam HQ, some 20 kms away! After a souvenir photo session with the motorman, at 1.15 pm, the special chartered train departed with all fanfare. K V Rangaswamy and R Balasubramanian from L&T, along with V Sriram of ISRTC flagged off the train, while cameras flashed and the Aaj Tak anchorperson recorded the event fora live media round up.
The train was fully loaded (like the recent days fully loaded Accent or Ikon). Packed lunch for the entire team (including the motor men and the guard) had been arranged from the citys best restaurant. Water, biscuits, munchies were not in short supply. Dinner was tied up mid-way. There wereto be no predictable anxieties of any kind. But, as hours passed, and the gleeful hoo..haa.. settled down, it dawned on us that the Special train had NO special privileges in the Railway parlance! The Railways perhapsdifferentiate only between the Scheduled and Unscheduled trains. Unfortunately our Special was their'Unscheduled. The train began inching its way, running far behindtime-schedule.So much so, the afternoon tea came at 8.30pm and dinner at mid-night! Thanks to our friends from Tadipatri CementWorks whoexcitedly inundated us withgreat love, some tonnes of eateries and the bestof tea/coffee, and milk for the kids, wecould keep going if not the train. During the night, it was stationary for longer time than it moved on its wheels!
Day 2 - At daybreak on 2nd October, we realized that it was not yet time to alight our scheduled arrival was 7 am! Alas,we had barely entered Karnataka and had at least another six to seven hours of travel that too IF the train kept moving!
L&T-ites are not the ones to lose heart so easily. Always ready to look at the brighter side of things, we geared up to enjoy the ghat section of the route, which we would have otherwise missed during the night travel.At RockCastle, two more engines were added.After all, we were carrying a number of corporate heavy weights! As the three engines chugged ahead, it wastruly a beautiful stretch the winding tracks, the lush vegetation all around, a sudden rise here, a glimpse of a peacefulvalley there, the dark tunnels, and the huge waterfall at Dudhsagar which suddenly came upon us, so close to the track! The water came gushing down in a torrent, spreading and falling in a wide arch, the spray teasingly splashing then, all gone in a flash! As we settled down again after that breath-taking surprise, it suddenly reappeared into view on the other side, as the train took a turn of the mountain, tantalizingly appearing and disappearing again and again!
Eventually, at 12.45 pm, the train seemed to approach Madgoan - its first destination for the 350 odd who were to be put up at the Holiday Inn Resort at Cavelossim. Therewas a new cheer,hustle bustle amidst us.As alighters reached their climax,people were getting ready with their baggages.
But surprises never cease an anti-climax was in store for us. The train, which hadtill then been stopping at every signal, now sped past the first alighting point - Madgaon station! We were dazed for a few moments wondering if there could be another Margao station. (Goa is full of this dual names Panaji is also Panjim, like Madgaon is Margao). By this time,wehad overshot by 12 kms when one of the organizers managed to communicate with the guard as well as the driver, andsoon brought the train to a grinding halt in the middle of nowhere! There followed half-an-hour of confusion and heated discussion with the railway officials. It turned out that there had been some mis-communication between the Zonal Railways (or was it between the Divisions or even the Stations more the messier!). We were given to understand that the engine-man was new, and had instructions only to drive us straight from Calem to Vasco!We were driven nuts!!
As the rest of us waited patiently, some of the senior officers of L&T took the matter in their able hands and soon enough, found a workable solution.Have you heard of a 11-bogey train having to go on the reverse for 12 kms. You cannot! The train was made totravel ahead and halt at the very next station - Majorda Jn. Messages were sent out to divert the eleven buses waiting at Madgaontomove over Majorda Jn and fetch the stranded 350 odd.
The train had stopped on the mainline there was no platform to alight! There was no whimper of complaint as we got down on to the tracks. Elders, children and infants -across 70 years totoddlers - were a bit dull and fagged out due to heat and hunger. Volunteer groups got formed as they fetched and moved the luggage in a jiffy. It was a pleasant surprise whenour T S Venkateshtook over the PA system at the Majordas railwaystation andannounced thegiven situation and the POA. That drew wild cheer from one and all! True to L&T discipline and dcor, as the buses came, we formed a line, giving preference to families with little children. We were off at 1.45pm as we bid adieu to the remaining 350in the train who were headingto Vasco da Gama for their stay at the Bogmollo Resort.
On reaching the Holiday Inn Resort at 2.30, the queue snaked its way up to the reception desk while the red-tape formalities took time for the room-allocation.The hotel staff must have never seen such large numbers of check-in at one go!Our officers took over managing the formality and soon, things were different as they efficiently speeded up things!
Bath and freshening up preceded lunch, which was at 4 pm!Half-day was already lost on train delay and no-halt at Madgaon!And we had to make alternate plans to make thebest of the remaining time. The group boarded their allotted buses (again these 20 buses had the names of rivers from Ganga to the disputed Cauvery!) and left for Colva beach. Our tour guidePrameelareminded that this was the second largest beach in India afterChennai's own Marina. The sand is said to shine like silver in the sunlight; but we missed seeing - it was already sundown! The beach-sand was of very fine grain, very soft, liketalcum. The sea was truly calm and lookeddeceptively safe to venture. We spent a balmy and pleasant hour there.As we drove off Colva beach, the Olympian Suresh Singh was seen slugging his way to his title in the flyweight title at the Goa International Boxing Championship that was underway then.
It reflected that Goans were sport lovers boxing championship apart, we observedmany friendly football matchesbeing played.At every major teashop across villages and towns, a black boardalso carried information of the days fixtures.At 9 pm we returned to the hotel, to dinner and bed.
Day 3 - On Friday the 3rd October, the day saw us rise up and ready early for walk along the pristine beach and to ambitiously cover the rest of the sightseeing spots of Goa. We set off at 9.30 am. It was quite a long bus ride to each of these places, and as ever, we made the most of it by just being together and doing a lot of singing, clapping and laughing and joie de vivre. The Goan countryside can be mistaken for Ceylon or even Kerala it is so similar. The winding roads going up and down, the lush greenery, looking freshly washed by the monsoon, displaying myriad shades of green. Goa still retains the quiet, old world charm.Quaint cottages, with pillars, pediments and verandahs, typical red flooring and pyols, balconies with decorative balustrades, sloping roofs; in short, the architecture reminded one of the461 years of Portugal reign. While Christian homes typically had a large cross, the Hindu home had their courtyard feature a tulsi, on a decked-up pedestal. Here again, our guide Prameela corrected the perception of some of the tourists-- that Goa,of its 14 lac population has 60% hindus- a fact that is often skewed by the Bollywood producers.
Our first stop was the Mangeshi or Manguerishi temple. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, and there are separate sanctums for Ganpati, Devi, Lakshminarayan and the guardian deity. The structure itself was built later and is a mixture of Hindu, Christian and Muslim styles. The 75-year-old great Lata Mangeshkar is said to be from this town.
We moved next to the world-famous heritage monument the Basilica of Bom Jesus or Infant Jesus. It is about 400 years old and holds the mortal remains (relics) of St. Francis Xavier. It has five altars. The main altar is beautifully carved and plated with nearly 110 kgs of gold. The outer wall of the church is left unplastered to exhibit the original beauty of the structure.
We next reached the CalanguteBeach, which is the Queen of the 30 Beaches of Goa, and next in size to Colva. Here the sandis said to shine like gold (though we could not really perceive that!) and was of large granules. Though it was just past noon and the sun beat down on us, we did not feel the heat as we stood knee deep in the water. The sea was very rough and the waves came thrashing down.We were advised by the coast guards not toventure too far into the water. We learnt that two young lads who had come from Chennai had sadly got trapped and died only an hour earlier. Sobered by this bit of news we made our way to have lunch at Nizmar Resort, nearby.
Post lunch, we had a long ride to Panjim where we were to take the Royal Boat Cruise on Santa Monica. As we were early, we rode on to MiramarBeach and had enough time to view it from the bus. The FortAguada at the far end posed to be truly impressive. Driving past the Gymkana, the Football Stadium and the KalaAcademy as well as the poshlocality that also the home of Remo Fernandez, we headed for the boarding point. The hour-long cruise down the Mandovi took us to its mouth where the riverturbulently joins the sea. We were entertained with Goan music and dance by the Carlos Showline Artists during the ride. The heavens opened out and came pouring down to add to the merry-making! The view along the Arabian Sea and the city was breathtaking. Andquickly, the sun peeped out, putting up a show of its own, as the rainbow sparkled in therain-sprayed skyline.
After all the sightseeing, can we miss shopping? So, on to the shopping plaza of Panjim. The list was endless. From sarong, tofeni, cashews, andprecious stones. Latecomers back to the bus were traditionally booed.This helped people to be focused in their shopping spree and return in 30-minutes flat!
We headed back to the hotel with heavy downpour and broken wiper blade in the bus. Coming to the close of our holiday, a final get-together was organized at the hotel. With enthusiasm we were all back to enjoy the music, dance, drinks andto the delicious Goan food. Even here, our singers took to the stage, sang, compered exclusive dance competitions for children, girls, bachelors and couples. The merriment went on till well past midnight. We retired totally unwound and relaxed.
Day 4 - The next morning 4th October -we could afford to be lazy as we had the whole morning to ourselves. The beach right behind the hotel was most inviting and almost all of us made our way there and bathed in the sea. Here the waters were calm, the shore recedes gradually so we could venture out quite far out into the sea. Some gained a bag full of shell-collection. Others spent cool time in the pool with kids and family.
Having had our fill, it was noon time, and time to pack, lunch and leave. Once again, the L&T culture stood solid as we all lined up to board our buses to the station. This time it was a short ride to the well-maintained Madgaon Station, which we overshot on our arrival. Here we witnessed a real-size model of a Skybus Project, one that was built by L&T ECC, with Konkan Railways, to propose a new and less expensive concept in urban transportation. It came as a quick turnaround and low-cost option, which meant good to taxpayers and perhapsthat isnot good enough! It stood there as a silent testimony to a dream unfulfilled. After a short wait, the train laden with our 350 odd friends from Vasco chugged into the platform, on the dot at 3.30 pm. The apologetic railway officials had promised to make up for whatever time we had lost on the onward journey.
As the train left, the overcast skies of Goa bid us farewell with a heavy shower.We retraced the ghat section,and we were ready with our cameras to catch the waterfall on film this time! But nature had much more in store for us, as the clouds had descended even further down, and nestled on the crests of the hilltops. At one stretch, the fog was so thick that visibility was almost nil! That evening it was nostalgia time, and the air was rent with 5-hour long repeats of old melodies- Tamil and Hindi.Elsewhere, there were serious discussions on etiquette and behavior (which we had amply displayed).Children who had all by now become friends had their own sets of games. Throughout this journey, the sun remained hidden and we enjoyed a very pleasant trip back home.
Day 5 -5th October 7, 2003.Renigunta welcomed us with great morning cuppa and breakfast; we were riding on time till then. The day was cool, and the motorman perhaps also cooled off. We reached Chennai Central at 2.45 pm late by 1 hour and 45 minutes.Sango (alias Santana Gopalan) culminated the trip with a thanks giving Soora Thengai, breaking of a coconut, in the typical Tamilian custom.Everything had to come to an end. The epoch-making trip did come to an end on platform 1. It indeed was a number one trip of members of a number one company. The trip brought oneness, and fostered friendship. We would cherish this in our memory; revisit the photo album and video clips, time and again.
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