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Showing posts from August, 2013

The Great Indian Tamasha of Indian Railways

by D. Dhanuraj After a long time, I was standing on the queue to book my Tatkal tickets. I was at the reservation counter of Chennai Central Railway Station Reservation counter to reserve my return journey ticket from Chennai to Ernakulam.  Luckily I had Tatkal booking forms with me, which I had taken along with me from Ernakulam to ensure that I can afford to be there at  the Tatkal counter at  9.50 am equipped with the filled Tatkal form.  It was not a long queue (I am surprised; may be off-peak season) and I was probably 6th or 7th in the queue. I could sense a kind of excitement and curiosity on everyone's face as the counter opens for Tatkal reservation at 10 am. There were chairs for 5 or 6 to sit and relax before the crucial booking starts. As the clock ticked 10, everyone stood up.  I was not able to see the booking agent (not sure what is the designation of the officer; officer, inspector or agent?) at the counter. As I was lurking at the window, the booking In