Bihar Travelogue (Hajipur - Ekma - Sitalpur)

Hajipur – Ekma
I didn’t have a ticket for this leg of the journey. So I went about looking for the ticket office. Got a ticket on an express train (Barauni-Varanasi Express). I waited at the platform for my train and had some 3 hours to kill. Quite suddenly, I felt weak and realized that I was running a fever. I sat in the shade and drank fluids hoping that I wouldn’t fall seriously ill. I remembered everyone advising me against going on the trip for fear of falling ill and suddenly felt stupid at not having listened to them and being more careful. After what seemed like eternity, my train arrived. I got into a reserved compartment which looked less empty than the others. I am a big believer in sleep and water being a cure for almost everything. So I found an empty seat and immediately dozed off. In sometime, I was rudely shaken awake by the ticket checker. Turned out, I had a ticket that only allowed me to travel in the unreserved compartment and I had gotten into a reserved, sleeper coach. I paid a fine of 200 rupees to continued rest of the journey. I was extremely embarassed at breaking the law but I couldn’t pause to understand this hierarchy in ticketing system in my delirious state. I dozed off again and remember being oddly comforted by the fact that rules do exist (and are enforced) in Bihar unlike what is given to believe commonly. Reached Ekma station at 3pm and my fever had subsided.

Ekma - Sitalpur
My maternal grandfather’s younger brother (called nana henceforth) had come to receive me at the station. He didn’t know which train I was coming by, just what time my train would arrive. After a bit of a search I located him. Since I was meeting him after a long time, he took me to a mithai ka dukaan to buy sweets. I ate some random sweet that was supposedly rasagulla. From Ekma, my village (Sitalpur) is a further 6-8 kms and the most common mode of transport is a tuktuk. Tuktuk in Bihar (unlike Bangkok) is a horsecart. I started moving towards the tuktuk stand but turned out my nana had got a cycle and had planned to take me to the village on his cycle. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it didn’t seem right to argue. So I balanced myself on the cycle carrier with a suitcase in one hand and a bag in the other. After what seemed like ages of delicate balancing act on a rough terrain under a scorching sun, I asked him to stop the cycle. I couldn’t take it anymore, my butt hurt like it had never before. My nana seemed sympathetic and after a short while asked if we could proceed. I hoped we were halfway to the village and asked him to confirm my hopes. Apparently, we had just cycled around the Ekma station and to prove his point, he pointed to the station building. I was most disappointed and tried to think of a way to get out of riding on a cycle. There was none so I resigned to fate and sat back on the cycle. On the way to Sitalpur, this incident happened atleast 5 times – me requesting to stop the cycle and my butt numb with pain, nana giving an update on our location and patiently waiting till I got back to senses, me getting back on the cycle hoping for the pain to end. Eventually, we did reach the village in one piece at 4:30pm when it was still quite hot.

The house was crowded with lots of people whom I hadnt met before. Again, no electricity. I thought it was a routine power cut but apparently electricity is available only during election times. Hence people hope for frequent elections. I freshened up and went on a small walk to the village temple. Everyone seemed to know each other and asked nana about who I was. He introduced me to some old friends. I visited a few relatives’ houses after sunset. They were drinking chai in the light of lanterns. As we were talking, I saw something move in the bushes. It seemed like a dog. But my nana informed that it was more likley to be a jackal, since there are a lot of them around the village and they move about during the night. That night I slept on the roof with some 15 other people since the house was stuffy. I fell asleep while trying to identify different constellations on this cloudless, still night.

Next morning, I went to the village market to buy vegetables and lazed around during the day after that. In the evening, a few children were playing cricket. I joined them and was made to keep wickets. It started getting dark and the children decided to go home but I hadnt got a chance to bat yet. When I asked them, they made excuses about how their mom would scold them if they didn’t return immediately and hence couldn’t wait for me to bat. In a matter of minutes, I was the only one left standing by the stumps, bat and ball having been claimed by their owners. So I went to the village and made a few STD calls from the lone phone in the village.

Sitalpur - Ekma
I had to catch a train to Varanasi from Ekma at 9am next morning. I somehow managed to convey to nana that I couldn’t possibly ride on the bicycle again. So we waited for the Trekker to come and pick us up. But the trekker was delayed and nana panicked that I might miss my train. He asked his son to get the bicycle since there wasn’t any other option. I was really scared and fervently prayed for the trekker to just appear. Seconds and then minutes passed with nana worrying about missing the train and me worrying about more immediate matters. I opened my eyes hoping to see the Treker, but saw the dreaded cycle instead. There really was no option now, my God had let me down. I climbed on to the cycle and immediately memories of the previous experience came rushing back. I could have cried. We reached the end of the road when suddenly the trekker miraculuously appeared. I quickly got off the cycle and hugged the trekker with a feeling of relief and happiness. I took nana’s blessings and was on my way to Ekma in a comfortable trekker.