Chai,Chai - Travels in places you stop but never get off

When I walk into landmark or any book store, the last thing that I would buy is a travel book.Why would I read a travel book when Discovery Channel or Nat Geo showed me wonderful images that I can never erase off my memory.As I walked through every section scanning for new books, a book named Chai Chai- Travels in places you stop but never get off, caught my eye. The author's name was very familiar. Bishwanath Ghosh rang a bell in my head. I kept moving from section to section flipping through books trying to recall who Bishwananth Ghosh was.

Finally, I bought some stationery and decided to leave. As I stood in the queue waiting for the items to be billed, I saw a stand with the latest magazines and papers. There was cosmopolitan, Femina, Star Dust, Madras Musings, and then Indian Express. The moment I saw the New Indian Express, it struck me who Bishwanath Ghosh was. He was a famous columnist. He wrote a column called sunday spin which I never missed. I have some of his articles neatly cut and clipped in my cupboard.He was my inspiration. It was he who made fight for breaking "The Hindu" tradition at home. Although the tradition of "The Hindu" never broke at home, a new tradition of buying the Sunday express followed. Now for a long time I neither saw the name Bishwanath ghosh nor the Sunday spin column.Quietly I came out of the queue and ran to the new arrivals section. I took this bright yellow book in my hand and straight went to the billing counter. The last thing Bishwanath Ghosh could do was put you to sleep. This faith made me buy the book with all confidence.

Chai Chai describes the journey of the author to the big railway junctions in India. I never knew so many even existed. He starts off from Mughal Sarai in Uttar pradesh. Ghosh describes the train journeys so vividly that you recall some of the best train journeys in your life. He tells you the different ways in which different people in India travel. How south Indians make it a point to carry Idli's on the train while Marwari's bring five full meals neatly packed.

The author takes you through the journey of almost the entire length and breadth of the country. He starts from Mughal Sarai trvels to Jhansi,Itarsi,Guntakkal,Arakonnam and finally ends his journey at shoranur. He describes the life in these cities and his experiences there. No traveller would ever explore all of these places. No news channel or paper would cover these places unless there was a bomb blast or train accident.

As you read Chai Chai you'd notice that the author expresses his love for whisky quite evidently.This doesn't make the book shallow or a bad read. A perfect mix of facts and entertainment, I would call it. This was one of the few travel books that wasn't filled with facts and eight letter long words, which would take me at least ten minutes to figure out if it were an adjective or adverb. I would have definitely missed a good read had I not picked the book that day.Now I know why the railway system is the spine of the nation.Now I know why we have a separate Railway budget. Now I knew how some cities in India would be non existent if the railways wasn't there. He's given travel writing a new dimension, I must say.

And next time when I'd travel on a train, I would recall Bishwanth's journey more than mine.