From my childhood, when we used to visit Kolkata, I desired to be up on a "Tram" and roam about. But unfortunately I could not for some reason or the other.
After coming and settling here, that desire was nipped with all the hassles of life and job. Running all the time from office to home and home to office. And if there was anything else, it was always about reaching to some destination within time. The Tram - the small train running on the roads of Calcutta never passed for all these rush.
And then the repair and renovation of the tram lines started at the Tollygunge - Kalighat - Hazra stretch. As with the PWD, these repairs left the trams stranded in the sheds for a couple of years. I thought to myslef "The wish of getting up the tram is never to be". Although few trams did run at the Park Circus stretch, but being always in rush from a bus or taxi, I just stared at it, wishing to climb on it some day .... some day when I wont be running to achieve the targets of time.
But then they started again. From Tollygunge to Kalighat and back. My wish still remained as I rushed to office and rushed back home looking at it longingly. The stretch from Tollygunge to Kalighat is a short distance and by bus, without any road blocks and signals, it takes less than 15 minutes, and it was 30 minutes journey walking. Also the fact that I didn't know when the trams left their depot added to the list of not getting up on it, because that meant waiting for the tram maybe for a long time till it comes out. Again this short distance and the long wait was not qualifying in my rushed life to get on the tram.
And then it happened yesterday....................
I left early from office and went up to Hazra to get a bus. As I was waiting for the bus it striked me that I can take up the tram TODAY. And why not? A few days back I saw a tram on its route towards Tollygunge tram depot round off at 7 :15 p.m. and it is 6:20.m right now. So, most probably the tram would leave the depot by 7:00 ??? Lets take a chance.
I walked up to Kalighat Tram depot and had just reached there, when a tram en route from Tolly depot entered Kalighat depot. SO ... One Comes In .. The Other Comes OUT.
I was inside the tram at 6:30 p.m at Kalighat Tram Depot. I was a bit excited about it. My wish coming true. The tram has Two coaches .. 1st Class and 2nd Class. I couldn't at first understand the difference as it looked same to me from outside. But Class I gives you fans and Class II doesn't have any fans. I had climbed on the first coach ... and so it started chugging off. It was a really funny feeling. Sitting in a train in the middle of the city. Passengers started climbing in way. I took out a few pictures too.
The FAN at CLASS I coach
There was not much traffic yesterday, and since it was slightly windy and people don't board the tram much it was spacious and didn't even feel warm.
The TRAM Driver
Chugging through the city, I reached Tollygunge tram depot within 20 minutes.
CLASS I COACH
Well, I was dissapointed ..coz the journey ended too soon ... But I was happy that it Happened after all.
The City from a Tram at night
