When laughter blew the smoke away

Whether or not you enjoy “regular” train journeys, travelling on a “toy train” has a special fascination for most people. Through the years, we have travelled on toy trains from Neral to Matheran, from Mettupallayam to Ooty, from Kalka to Shimla and in the Lake District of England, from Lakeside to Haverthwaite, with a steam engine that brought to mind the inspiring story of The Little Engine that Could.

On a recent trip to Darjeeling, therefore, we knew we had to experience the thrill of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), even if it was just for a short joyride to Ghum, the highest point of the DHR.

Predictably, we opted for the oldfashioned steam engine, imagining that we would chug along the edge of the mountainside, with spectacular close-up views of tea gardens with the snow-capped Himalayas as a backdrop.

Imagine our disappointment, therefore, when we realised that the joyride we had signed on for took us, for the most part, along the road that we had already travelled into the hill station, with houses and shops lining the way — along with the inevitable litter.

“We’ve seen it all already!” we protested. “We don’t want more of it!”

But the tickets were bought, so, still hopeful that there would be surprises along the route, we went to the little perfect station and waited for our train. Someone told us that it would leave from Platform No 1 and like sheep, when a train drew in there, we hopped in behind our leader.

The minutes rolled by and one of our group members was missing, so our group leader called him up and demanded, “Where are you? We’re due to leave at any minute!”

“Where are you?” the absent one countered. “I’m waiting on Platform No 2, where our steam engine has just pulled in. You’re in the wrong train!”

The loud “What?” that followed alerted all of us who had blindly followed our leader, and we jumped up in alarm. Seniors, some not as agile as we would like them to be, rushed towards the door of the compartment. Unfortunately, just then, the train began to move — and we were stuck, with no idea where we were headed and when we would get back!

We had wanted surprises, but was not the kind we had in mind!

Another group of tourists was as clueless as us and were trying to get out, like we were. Loud accusations and arguments ensued — as if we had been responsible for their presence on the train with us! Luckily, before anyone could come to blows — or collapse in tears, given the panic-stricken voices around us — the train reversed direction and drew into a siding alongside the station.

With huge relief, everyone started to jump out. Forgotten were stiff knees and hip pains and one of us who had been leaning heavily on her stick until then found herself practically leaping across the gap between the train and the ledge onto which we had to descend, her stick in someone else’s hand as we all hurried to make it to the right platform.

We did. this Just in time.

And when our steam engine began to belch smoke that would normally have us all coughing and cursing and covering our noses and wiping our eyes, we didn’t notice.

Because we were gurgling with laughter, holding our sides and not really seeing anything as we chugged through the narrow streets we had been through before.

Later, when the selfies began and other tourists started singing and enacting the 1969 hit song Mere sapno ki rani (The queen of my dreams) — from the Bollywood film Aradhana — that was shot along the DHR, we cheered them on, getting more than our share of enjoyment from that short journey by toy train.

■ Cheryl Rao is a journalist based in India.