An unexpected train experience

26th January 2025 will always be remembered; it was an unforgettable experience. ❤️

Special thankyou to the Indian Railway. 😂😂😂 

So I and Ashish had to board the Vande Bharat Express at 5:30 AM from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Mumbai. We reached the station around 4:50 and proceeded to the platform. We were comfortably sitting on the waiting chairs when 3 foreign tourists, 1 man and 2 women, came with their heavy backpacks and stood near us. 

I was talking to Ashish; when I noticed one of the foreign women looked very tired, so I offered my seat to her, and we shared a casual smile. The clock struck 5:30, our train had still not arrived, and an announcement was made that due to a major block, all the trains, including local trains departing from CST, were running late. Slowly and steadily, as the announcements were being made, more and more passengers started to interact with us, and our small group of 9 members was formed. ☺️☺️

When the clock struck 6 AM, an announcement was made that due to some work on the tracks, all trains were running late. This created a slight panic among the passengers. As the announcement had only been done in Hindi and Marathi; those 3 foreign guests were not able to understand anything, so I helped them by translating the announcements to them. Initially, they got worried to hear the news, but I assured them not to panic; everything would be fine soon.

When the clock struck 7 AM, this created a panic among passengers; not a single train nor any passenger, had moved at all. Everyone was losing patience, and we just needed to know what was happening. At 8 AM, an announcement came that our train would depart from Dadar. That's all; no details were shared ahead of time; we didn't even know what time the train would depart from Dadar. Everyone at the station got into a panic, and there was loads of chaos; no one knew what to do. 😱😱

I and Ashish told the 3 foreigners, they should not worry; just be with us. Our group instantly decided to book 2 XL taxis and head to Dadar station. I, Ashish, and the 3 foreigners were in 1 taxi. DueTo the 26th celebration, no local train was available, and the roads were just filled up with taxis, autos, and buses. After 25 minutes, we reached Dadar around 9:15, but due to traffic, our driver dropped us on the road, and we were forced to walk the road and head to the station. When we reached the station, we were thrilled to see our train; we picked up our luggage, climbed up the bridge, and successfully reached near the train. Train doors were open, so we jumped into the coach. Before finding our coach, we ensured we hunted the coach of our fellow foreign mates and made them sit comfortably in their seats; later we hunted our seats. 😊😊

We were so happy to board the train nearly after 5 hours of waiting; it gave us pure joy and sense of victory. Finally, the train which had to depart at 5:30 AM instead departed at 9:30 AM. 😂😂😂 

This year 26th January was indeed very special; I met 7 strangers, and within minutes we made an awesome bond, and yes, those 3 fellow foreign mates, I was so happy to help them out too. 😍😍

When we met the 3 foreign mates they expressed ,'It was a pleasure to meet you both! ❤️Thank you again for your help; we would have been so lost without you guys. 😬😂