Today on April 21, we were to leave for Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia from Yogyakarta. We had made a reservation on a luxury train. This train was scheduled to leave Yogyakarta at 8.57 am and reach Jakarta at 4.52 pm. The railway station was only 8-9 kms away from our service apartment. Still we met taxi driver Mr. On the suggestion of Anto, the time of departure was fixed at 7 in the morning. He said that there is a lot of traffic going to the office in the morning, there are jams too, so the route can take one to one and a half hours. We got up at four o'clock in the morning and started preparing to walk. It started raining from 6 in the morning and by seven in the morning the rain intensified.
The train time was at 8.57 am and I was apprehensive that it might not happen, Mr. Anto did not come and miss our train but Mr. Anto arrived before 7 am. I loved seeing his discipline-lovingness. As soon as he came, he said - Mr. Mohan, it is raining and there is a lot of traffic on the road, so we should leave immediately. We were ready, we started immediately. I mr. Taking Anto's umbrella, he went to the front house to say goodbye to Miss Rogovita. A young man opened the door of the house. I said- 'We are leaving, your house was very comfortable.
We had a good time here. Please take care of the house.' The young man thanked me with a smile and said- 'There is no need to take care of the house. Have a good journey.' Mr. Anto was right. There was a lot of traffic on the road, the office hours here would have started early in the morning. It took us about an hour to cover the distance of 7 kilometres.
Mr. Farewell to the end
We reached Jogjakarta station around 8 pm. It was still raining lightly. Mr. Anto took out the umbrella but we refused. When we did Mr. The fare was fixed from Anto to the railway station, at that time we were about 30 kms from Yogyakarta (in Maspriyo's apartment) but at this time we had come only from 7 kms away. That's why the rent was less but we got Mr. Didn't ask Anto to reduce the rent and made full payment but to our surprise he put 25 thousand Indonesian rupees back in our hands. In India it is very difficult to do so. Mr. Anto is an educated, well educated, decent Muslim youth. If he wanted, he could easily get a white collar job, but whatever work he was doing, it was a matter of learning and understanding with how much he was doing it. In India, such an educated boy hardly works as a taxi driver. However, I have seen boys in Delhi who drive Uber and Ola taxis as part time jobs and earn a lot. His behavior is very courteous as compared to the traditional Indian drivers, although Mr. Anto is far ahead of him.
Inside Jogjakarta Station
The train by which we were supposed to go from Jogjakarta to Jakarta was named Argo Lavu. It was a luxury train for which we had reservation in executive class. We wanted to make our trip a memorable one. We knew that this train was going to pass through green plains filled with rice, banana and maize fields all day. That's why we had selected the seats near the window. For this the Indonesian government charged us a little more fare. It was just an hour before the train arrived, but the boarding had already opened for the passengers going on this train. It was the same arrangement as it used to be at the airport. We showed our boarding passes to the lady officers standing at the station gate. She was in a stunning navy blue color uniform. This type of uniform is worn by the officers of the Indian Navy in winter. The behavior of the lady officers was as splendid as their uniform. He politely asked us to show us our passports. The lady officers matched our passport with our boarding pass and requested us to go inside the station. They told us that our train would arrive at platform number 2. We went through the main building of the station and crossed platform number one and stood on platform number two. As Indians we were used to doing the same. To go from platform number 1 to platform number 2, one had to cross rail tracks. There was a narrow road between the two platforms for the convenience of the passengers. We didn't have to cross any bridge. Whereas at any railway station in India without crossing the bridge, one cannot go from one platform to another.
Platform number two was very narrow. Barely 10 feet wide. There were tracks on either side of it and a train was on the other side of it. We guessed it was not our train. It must have been two minutes since we were standing that a railway employee came to us. Like other officers, he also wore full uniform from p cap to black shoe very neatly. He came near us politely and asked- 'Which train please!' When we said 'Argo Lavu' he said- 'This is not (not) Argo Lavu. Come with me please.' We took our luggage and followed him. He again took us to platform number one and requested us to sit on the luxurious chairs kept there. We also found it very convenient as there was not enough space to stand on platform no. By this time it was half past eight. We decided to have breakfast there. We had already had breakfast when the same employee came to us again and said- 'Your train is coming, you may come there, on platform number you.' We followed him.
Argo Lavu
Argo Lavu is a wonderfully shining train. The AC chair car in which we had our reservation had two comfortable chairs on both sides. The cleanliness of the coach was made on sight. Its glass was completely clear and transparent, from which the view outside was very clearly visible. The train's speed, the names and cellphone numbers of the train's driver and the train's security officer were being displayed on the front-facing TV screen in the coach. The picture of the security officer was also being displayed on this screen. The train probably stopped at three-four stations throughout the route, but whenever the train was passing through a station, its name was also displayed on the screen. After a while a train hostess came with her trolley. It was wearing the same uniform as the air hostess and was selling the way the air hostess of an airplane sells tea and biscuits to the passengers.
We speculated that the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, probably wants to appoint a similar train hostess in the trains of India. They can appoint train hostesses, but in the trains of India, there is no space even for the passengers to walk, where will these train hostesses leave. The people of India cannot move forward two steps without peeling their shoulders. The shoulders of these train hostesses will be peeled and bled. A railway minister of India had even installed side middle berth between side upper and side lower in sleeper coach. After this, along with the shoulders, the knees also started peeling. The whole day Argo Lavu passed through the rice and maize fields. Coconut and banana clumps were also visible. It reached Gambiri Jakarta station at 4.15 pm.