Swarnim was very excited as she was about to embark on a train journey after 5 long years, as she was travelling back home for the festival of Diwali. She had avid memories of railway trips during her graduation days.
While she was preparing to take the trip, the only contention that was worrying her was a term unknown to her, which was RLWL 3 mentioned on a crisp ticket and not a berth number that she was expecting. She reached out to her uncle for an explanation, and he explained that RLWL is an acronym for Remote Location Waiting List, which is a reservation quota for passengers boarding from an important station between the origin and destination stations. He further explained that passengers on RLWL are considered for a separate quota and their confirmation is decided 3-4 hours before the actual departure of the train from their respective station.
While she got a clarification from her uncle, she also got a shocker that her ticket could also end up under a Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) status, which meant that she would have to share a Side Lower berth with another passenger, who would also be under RAC status, and that they would get individual berths is some other passenger did not travel or cancelled their trip.
Her happiness had no bounds when she finally received a message from the portal stating that her final berth number was A1-10, and her anxiousness vanished.
She packed her bags with the gifts bought for Diwali and reached the station 1 hour in advance. Being a marketing professional herself, she was in awe of the numerous brand ATL( Above the Line) marketing campaigns in almost every nook and corner of the station premises.
She boarded her designated coach and started enjoying the rhythmic movement of the train. The TTE(Travel Ticket Examiner) greeted her politely and marked her arrival on a Mobile Tablet, refreshing her memories of bundles of colourfully marked sheets that they used to carry previously. Digital Revolution at its best, she sighed.
She was also surprised by a text message from IRCTC prompting her to order food and get it delivered to her seat at the upcoming station. This was similar to the BTL(Below the Line) campaigns that she devised for her organization to promote user signup and improve sales. Despite the digital transformation, she noticed good traction for over-the-counter (OTC) sales for shops on the platform.
As the train stopped at an intermediary station, she observed the onboard TTE bringing the new officer up to speed with the waiting list status on the coach and handing over his responsibility.
During the trip, she befriended an elderly couple who exclaimed in excitement at the progress made around him and, at the same time were sorry about the apathy of people towards the environment despite tall claims of environmental and Social Governance(ESG) initiatives and RRR (reduce recycle reuse) framework.
The couple also explained an analogy about life: the origin and destination are like life and death and the passengers are similar to the people we meet. They further explained that the train coach types are like our economic status, with each of us aspiring to move up the ladder.
As the train was reaching her hometown, she gasped at the beauty of life that she had just discovered. She bid goodbye to the elderly couple and mentally decided to behave just like the train by being diligent and enjoying the journey that she was on, being kind and helpful to the people she met and most importantly letting go of the mental baggage and being agile just as the train would be ready for its next trip immediately post this trip’s completion.
