The Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge

Mark_Lester

done,
you can call me Lester, I like it like that . (unless you're telling off, do that with a mark and a mail).

skk posted this on the blog, which I think is rel here
and my response

we dropped the “kids on board” idea after about 10 secs thought. andy thought of mascots, which i think is a fantastic idea, they make us a mascot, we carry it round and get it photographed next to station platform signs.
ideally we need a second group to do this,. I’ve treid starting a thread on indiatree but I dont thnk they want to run it.
rondel blew me away with her “oh i did one of those, 10,000km in 2 weeks, yeah count me in, 3AC right ?”.
but this is 11,500 and you get to do all the corners, so up yours anyone who thinks this is easy.
As for the class, I really do, and will do, as much of this in non AC as I can. Apart from anything else I want to be able to feel india on my face. It’s just when sleepy time comes round that it all goes wrong, as we all know.
Mick, my first taker, and who I think is our most senior (and judging by his CV the wisest) party member, has seen it and done it. If he wants to go club class then that's great. As it tuns out, the average age seems to be nearer 50 than 40, if this is an old farts gang then so far nobody is going to feel left out at the disco.


So, the challenge is, to gain the maximum number of “real india” points based on a points scheme yet to be devised. If you are still in your "I do india on 2 quid a day for months" mode, then all power to you mate. I'll buy your ticket if you do the whole run in non ac.
That's a very serious offer by the way if there any takers. If I get a flood of applicants it will have to go to a countback, number of chais drunk or something.

steven_ber

As the plan stands at the moment, it's going to be very hard to 'sell' it to potential sponsors, and I don't think we'll have many people turning up at stations to bring us food, it just seems like a good old 'jolly' at the moment.

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Mark_Lester

So how would you un-jollify it ?. Ban AC ?. tighten up some of the connections ?. Insist on doing the run to the NWFP border ?.

We are clearly going to hit 10+, I think 20+ at this rate. The idea of somebody turning up with some supplies went some time ago.
The corporate sponsorship angle will revolve around the charity link and the size of the group and the media exposure. If it's large, and has developed enough private donations, it's not going to be an issue.

R Murli Dhar

Hi Lester, I keep changing the way I write to people Gets me a reply ! No harm meant, no hidden digs! I don't do that. Thanks for your posting on IRFCA. Well, let's see. Given them some time. You will get responses, I think. They still have to get used to the idea of the whole circular journey. Anyway I know for sure VSP will be already activating his contacts.

As for your offer of paying the 2nd sleeper fare, I am game for it. Count me in. Out of pocket these days. I love 2SL or even the GS for that matter !2AC/3AC blows away the fascinating sights of the terrain, the signals, the diesels/electrics, and the sounds of the wheels, the laboring over the points, the oncoming train in the opposite side (on another track of course), et al. As for bathing and refreshing myself, used to carrying a mug with me, and having a dunk in the wash room itself on the train on the run ! Too much here... don't want to muck up the thread. Good wishes...

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Mark_Lester

OK Murli, as first taker I grant you the role of consultant on what, in the space of a few posts this morning in here and on my blog, has become a 2SL full run. I'm sure steve will be saying "that'll teach him" as I guess your fare will actually be more than mine, but work it out. If you decide you still dont have the time let me know and I'll offer it up to some 1st year UCL maths student (my mates will get that)
If we can get enough of us then I guess it should make the co-habitation easier.
Of course there are going to be some who just arent going to go for this, probably over 50% of the group to date. But if Steve and you will do it, (Andy will crease with pain when he reads this) then we have quorum for the "real india" party.
I am still keen to get as many people to do this, in whatever fashion they desire. In fact it would be a feature. And I'm still going for the best bed in town when we get to have a night off.

I also get the feeling that my obsession with food is giving this too much of a Jolly factor in the opinion of some. How does it go, "you can please some people all of the time....".
I like to come back from India nice and fat from all the good food I've been noshing. Living on the first thing that appears has never been my style. If you want to live on crisps for 2 weeks then you wont need to buy into any of the food discussion. This is not a sponsored fast.

gianni66

Mark, your obsession for the food is mine too... whenever I go when I travel to India, I always check if and how I will be able to get a good Indian meal for lunch and dinner! So, if I will take the mad decision to join the group, I will have the same obsession of you.

However, the food on Indian trains is always very good, I don't see the reason to eat crispies for two weeks or bring our own food on the train. Both the "official" pantry car food and the vendors' food are delicious and hygienic, and you can buy food at each train stop during the journey.

Rather, I wonder if we can find or bring some beer on the trains... I guess this is not allowed, right? And this will be a big problem...

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Mark_Lester

not according to the accounts on indiarailinfo it's not. there was a quantum leap in food quality some years back when the rajdhanis came out and free enterprise let in, but it's gone backwards since from what I can gather. I guess it's a bit like trip advisor, but you'll find some very negative comments about most trains.
Sure, we'll be getting stuff that works most of the time, but I'd still like to work out where the best platform food is.

Drinking beer is just not going to happen, alas. A sneaky nip from a hip flask might go unnoticed though . you might get the odd bottle, but no, we're not going to be able to have an ice box on the go, more's the pity (we dont want to get too jolly, do we).

steven_ber

The following thread may be a good place to start, I think I got the info from IRFCA a few years ago.

regional specialty food items railway stations are famous for

Mark_Lester

That thread was my inspiration for further investigation on our specific route.

So what say you, non ac sleeper class (which is actually all i've ever done in my half dozen or so long Indian train journeys) start to finish. Is that challenging enough ?. I did once think that THE way to do it would be the lowest possible class for the entire journey, but I'm just not up to it.
The challenge therefor is for anyone to go "light weights, I can go non sleep passenger the whole way"

Mark_Lester

sorry, correction, it was the irfca thread that gave me the inspiration, this thread is a lot more complete.


I'd just like to flesh out the route some more for the eager virtual traveler as much as anything else as I go into the second lap of my editorial cycle. Just about all my friends either would like to do it, and some dont even have a credible excuse and will end up having to come, or else they will be tunning in avidly to see what happens.

Scousermick

This seems like a 'chicken and egg'style debate. Does the group define the itinerary or the itinerary define the group? There is always going to be the danger that making the trip too cosy will deter the adventurous types while making it too hard will put off some India first timers and those of a more timid disposition. The itinerary has to fit with the lowest common denominator.

I think the ability to take two weeks holiday from work, maybe the only one they have, is going to be as big as, or bigger, deterent to potential Indian participants than matters of cost.There has been little interest shown on the IRFCA forum and these are the most likely people to join.I suspect that many don't see the point of such a 'challenge' and I have been asked by one knowledgeable contributer why we are not taking more interesting or scenic routes.

If me travelling a couple of the legs in 1AC or 2AC makes me a cosy middle aged man on a fun tour how does your travelling Sleeper class on the same train define you? We both make the same journey.If its a challenge you want travel on the roof or wear a hair shirt.I am all for democracy and if the majority want to make this a harder task then fine but I will be 63 by February 2011 and, when its my ass on the line time, I reserve the right to opt out! As Clint Eastwood says in one of the Dirty Harry movies ,'A mans got to know his limitations'.

The idea of taking children is a road to the land of nightmares.I think someone has been reading 'Third Class Ticket' but that was a group of adults. Having spent the last 40 years protecting children from abuse, possessing a recently renewed enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check and having taken numerous gangs of inner city kids away for holidays I can tell you that no responsible charity would let a group foreigners take a gang of vulnerable children away on a two week trip that is recognised as containing potential dangers.Years of paedophiles knocking on the doors of orphanages in Goa asking to take children out for the day has had some impact onthe more caring citizens. Also, forget the idea of getting any sleep 'cos you will be constantly playing the nursemaid/policeman role with children who don't speak the same lingo. If you lose one, or they run off, who is going to stay behind to find them? Worse still,if you kill one through negligence, who picks up the tab and bears the responsibility? Forget this one, it is the road to insanity.

Mark_Lester

Mick,
I'm not sure where we are with this kids thing, it got knocked on the head very early on once we'd woken up. There may be an angle with carers and stuff but they arent going to want to do much of it anyway. The mascot idea I think is great but I havent even discussed this with RC yet.

As for the class debate, I'm just trying to get as many people on the coach as possible. I seem to have snookered myself into the position of doing it in the lowest class that anyone else is going to do the full run, but it was my stupid idea in the first place. That said I'm still waiting for Steve to rise to the bait.
As far as I am concerned, anyone who is up for it is more than welcome to do this in any shape, fashion, degree, tenure, diet, or atire that you so wish.
The funding, with very little pressure so far, has generated just short of 700 quid in a week. My base target for the project is a million rupees, which at the last count was about 12 1/2 grand. I've got a whole stack of stunts, and strings, I can pull in the next 12 months to achieve that.

R Murli Dhar

Hi Lester, and everybody on the thread! Insofar as people travelling in different classes is concerned, let me assure you that most of the trains proposed are vestibuled: you can walk across coaches on the run and meet up in each other's compartments. That should not deter people from joining up. As for the food part, let me try and find people on the route proposed, who are rail fans, and some friends, who can help get some good food for us, especially on the longer journeys. As for resting places and getting a shower, et al. there are plenty of places. I just have to research them. So far as communication goes, being an Indian, I think I can intrepret for the gang IF I join it. I speak English, Hindi, Punjabi, UP style-Bihari style Hindi-Bengali, Bengali okay, and also Tamil which should do for the Southern States. And of course Mumbai language! For the children part, I think your charity cause is helped, we can take turns getting them into line, with yours truly helping intrepret. And I am sure if you take the permission from the authorities concerned, they will be persuaded. By the way, I know something about first aid and emergency medication, so that may help too. Another point: since you are doing it for a charitable cause and it is going to help the Indian Railways image, I think we can enlist the support of the Railway Board members.. we could think of writing to the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Indian Railways, Rail Bhavan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110 001, outlining your intentions, and I am sure they will be happy to extend a helping hand. No harm in trying. At best they will say NO. But what if they say "ok" ! Unless we ask we won't know ! Think about it, as I am also doing it, and maybe these initial birth pangs can be sorted out. Let's see whom I can remember who would be willing to be a sponsor from India, and what would be their terms and conditions. Good wishes.

steven_ber

I think I've been misunderstood here, I've not suggested doing the whole trip in Sleeper Class (I said if we take kids along it would have to be in SL), and as I said from the beginning, I don't think taking kids is a good idea. (but it's extremely media friendly)

Getting any money for charities is difficult these days, so let's look at this from a cynic's point of view, a group of mostly middle aged men going on a train tour of India, they've already decided not to do the outer circle, they're maybe not going to do the furthest north station, they're going to travel in the best classes available, and if there's any delay, they'll get a flight to catch up.

Where's the challenge?
500 miles a day on trains?

I'd find that hard to sell to any sponsors.

OK, this discussion has opened my ears to a different point of view, if we can attract the maximum number of people, we have a lot more opportunity to raise money for charity, and this is probably true, it's also true that the easier we make the 'challenge', the more people we can attract.

But I do wonder if we'll ever reach a point where we'll earn more for the charity than if we'd just given the charity the money we would need to spend on air and rail fares.

Mark_Lester

and he's railway mental.
The job is yours if you want it .
The group size at the moment is manageable, though probably already too large to feed entirely on handouts. If we get +20, and certainly if these media contacts I keep bragging about come off, I'm sure the railway will want to at least know what's going on, there could be a PR booby trap in here for them. They'll probably start insisting on editorial control of the blog!. I'm not even sure about my latest post which is why I woke up so early.

Even people doing the London Marathon, which on the face of it is virtually free, will usually spend far more in training than they will ever make from the sponsorship.

That's not why they run a marathon though, is it ?. It's not why people do Kilamanjaro, or Everest base camp. I assure you, if I get anywhere near my baseline target, and even get just a small amount of press, my charity will be sending us all a massive love letter.

But, there's a long shot that we get a really massive group, I dunno, 50ish. The bollywood boys pile in, and we get some camera crew doing it. The blog gets seriously advertised by the media channels who are now all part of the process, and, for the period of the trip with up to several posts an hour being made by my trusted editorial team, we get really serious page views. Believe me, I know people in the business who can sell the back half of that for real money.

So Andy is off the hook on doing it all SL, thats one happy northerner!. We had one suggestion of doing all the classes, perhaps we could devise a rota and have at least someone in all the classes all the time ?.