Every year after Ramadan, we the whole family travels to Peshawar to attend one of the main events of our community and for that, we save little by little for the tickets and all whole year. Most crucial time comes when it is to buy tickets, choose whether to travel by bus, train or plane. This thing required a lot of brains and tactics, calculations and much more. My Family gave this responsibility to me, to check online and plan each and everything, then we all sit and discuss on it and take final decision.
This year, we had a bit of change in plans. Whole family travelled by air and I will be travelling in Eid holidays due to workload. The only thing remaining was of return plan. I try my best to check each and every route and travelling option, try to find the best and suitable for the ladies and kids. Couple of years back, the train which I liked the most and travelled in it, was no more available, it has been discontinued and there are not many options left for me. Still I kept on searching and was planning to have bus route, a new kind, a sleeper bus but still I was in doubt if that will be suitable with kids. Finally, I took the decision and made my mind for train.
Now, its time to book train tickets. No doubt, online railway system is Pakistan is improved a lot and their App is very easy to use. I did everything right but in the end, they are asking for additional charges just because I was using my debit card to buy these tickets. It was around 1000 PKR. First I thought lets just book it online, why to bother for 1k but then, I thought its better to save as much as we can. I was a bit confused. Nowadays, crime rate is increased incredibly in the city and is not safe to have that much money in pocket and going all the way to station to buy the tickets. It was a tough decision to take but finally, I decided to buy tickets from Station in-person.
Coming back from work, I asked my colleague for the favor and he agreed. We went to the station after work. From nearby ATM at station, I had cash withdrawal and then went to the reservation office. It was crowded as lots of people are travelling in Eid back to their hometowns so it is not easy to find empty seats but I was there for return ticket from Peshawar to Karachi and I did my home work so I was a bit relaxed and not worried about seat availability.
I made my reservations, staff there is very friendly and in no time, he did all the work and handed over the tickets to me. happy moment for me, I felt so relieved and it was a nice feeling of saving some money. I took the pictures of our Railway Station. It is still the same as built by British rulers before 1947. The people with orange cloths, they have very popular name and that is Coolie. Every Bollywood lover knows about it because there are several movies on these characters and we often see Coolie in their movies. They are the porter, who carries the baggage and load to the trains or vice versa. They have a tough job but it’s a helping job and we all should respect these people. It is difficult to roam around with load in Ramadan, when you are fasting and the weather is bit harsh. It is good to see their smily faces and all were waiting for a train to arrive or leaving so can have more customers.
Today, I booked my bus ticket online for 8th of April. I am hoping to celebrate Eid with my family in Peshawar and will reach there by 9th April. Lets hope for the best.
All above pictures are taken by me through my cell phone Oppo A7.