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I was reminded of an old joke in which a passenger was surprised to see his train right on time, "Great! The Howrah Express is right on time." As he was about to board the train, the attendant checked him, "Don’t get overexcited. This is yesterday’s train which has arrived today." Things are different. Trains are running with greater efficiency while airports have become too crowded. During a recent trip to Mumbai from Chandigarh in the business class of the Indian Airlines, I found the tray table of my seat broken. At least, one more passenger had a similar problem. We were served food in our laps with extra grins from the airhostesses. I wondered if hawkers and pickpockets were allowed in the plane, people would have the same feeling as if they were travelling from Karnal to Hisar on a state roadways bus. "Khatti mithi goli le lo... Pankhe wallah pankhe walla....Akhbaar aee.... would be among the few sounds that would make you feel that you have access to all kinds of services aboard. I asked a rich transporter of Punjab, who has a fleet of private buses plying in the state, as to why didn’t he think of starting his own airlines. He said he was used to overcrowding of the buses and he was waiting for the right time. I asked him what did he mean by that. He said, "I am waiting for the day when the passengers will be allowed to be carried on top of the airbus."
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Last
Sunday, the Mumbai-New York flight was delayed by 23 hours. I was
reminded of the time when trains of the Indian Railways were rarely on
time. Timetables were printed to calculate how late a train was
running.