Off the Tour Package

‘Phortee(n),’ said the man behind the glass.
‘Forty?’
‘Phortee(n).’
I handed him 4 notes of 10 each.
‘Phourtee(n),’ he said, now sounding agitated, ‘One-Four.’
I had come prepared with change too and I handed it over to get myself a general class ticket to Mecheda, a small town in the eastern Indian state of Bengal.
‘Platform 7? That is way over on that side, walk to the end, then take that escalator, then...’
I knew this was not going to be easy. On hearing about how remote the venue was, all my co-travelers opted out. But where others saw inconvenience, I saw an opportunity of turning a dull trip into a memorable one.
Of the couple of routes listed online by hopefully well meaning gentlemen, one involved passage in a precarious sounding ‘water vessel’. All routes involved at least three crossovers.
I picked the route that started with the legendary Howrah station, a fitting venue for what promised to be an adventure, albeit a mild-mannered one.
When Mecheda arrived, a familiar question arose, which side to exit, east or west? I tried my luck with an old guard standing there in the heat. Thankfully, he was fluent in Hindi, albeit with an accent. The place I had to reach was Golden Retreat near ‘City Center’.
The Guard explained to me that there were two ways to get there, a normal road and a ‘High’ road. Further, there were choices of transportation available from special buses to non-special buses and taxis. My interruptions were cut-off by the guard who went on for complete 5 minutes. I thanked him and shook his hand. He made the trip feasible.
A Re. 20 ticket left me at City Center in the village of Haldia. A further 15 minute walk took me to ‘Golden Retreat’. Familiar faces greeted me inside, a strangely warm feeling in a foreign land.
I had travelled nearly two hundred kilometers in 3 hours via three different modes of transport in under 1 $. No guided tour can beat the satisfaction; trip successful and my confidence in the kindness of strangers resorted.