AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 104 of 237 Day – 6 Our train finally reached Guwahati around 1.30 p.m. It was late by only about seven hours. Those days the train services in North East was very pathetic and the joke that used to go around was that, whenever anyone asked at the station enquiry counter about the arrival or departure of a particular train, the counter question was “Are you asking about yesterday’s train or today’s train”. After reaching Guwahati we still had to continue with our journey to Jorhat. Jorhat is connected by rail from Guwahati but those days the train services were suspended due to gauge conversion. So the only option was to travel by bus. Bus service from Guwahati was only during day time and due to ULFA activities bus services after dusk was not permitted. So we were forced to spend one night in Guwahati and we moved in to the Transit Camp. It is a multi-storey building and the facilities available in this transit camp were very impressive. Hot water in bathroom, comfortable beds etc. Day - 7 This after all this was going to be the last day of a long and arduous journey and we were eagerly looking forward to it. We were up and ready by the first light and Harsha went and got a couple of cycle rickshaws to cart our luggage and ourselves to the bus stand. We had no fancy AC Volvo buses those days. They were the normal State Roadways buses, old and rickety over crowded ones. We finally reached Jorhat after a seven hours back breaking ride in an overcrowded bus with a two-month old infant. It was very tedious sitting with an infant. My heart goes out to my eldest one who at some point of time must have felt neglected. At Jorhat bus stand a few officers and families came to receive us. We were too happy to reach our destination. The long, arduous and physically draining was finally over. Thanks to the Almighty none of us including the new born had any health issues over the last seven days of rail travel. The journey ends As I think back today, after nearly 27 years, after undertaking that long and tedious journey with an infant, I am left with some unanswered questions: