Travelling with your pet dog via train(IRCTC) in India...(Intercity travel with Chetak, the German Shepherd.) Part 1/n-Ticket & Coupe booking

If your pet is very young i.e a puppy/kitten etc, who can travel with you in a small basket & you take proper care of your pet, then you & your pet can travel together in a train however, there is some constraint about the maximum permissible weight of your pet. You will need to inquire about it with the authorities...

If I begin by saying traveling from one city to another in India with your medium-sized or giant breed dogs like the German Shepherd whom you love as a family member is an arduous task thanks to the senseless rules of IRCTC, it will be an understatement.

Let's start with the ticket & coupe booking. I am only talking about how difficult it is or how unfriendly the rules are for the pet & the owner who wants to travel with his pet with him in the same coach & not siphon off the poor soul in the dark, stinking, unhygienic luggage van. How difficult & stressful it can get for your dear pet is something that's totally beyond words. The English language is deprived of words/adjectives to express the sentiments & trauma of the poor creatures.

I will give an account of a 2 seater coupe booking at Bombay Central I did while traveling from Bombay to Delhi. It was a harrowing experience.

I had gathered this info that if you book the travel of your pet in the luggage van which is a closed, dark, non-ventilated, dirty, ill-kept coach your pet may not even reach its destination in a fine state. In some cases, pets get robbed or they suffocate & don't even reach their destination alive. Hence it's much better to travel with your pet by your side in the same coach which is only possible when you book a coupe(cabin) in the 1st class AC compartment. You can get a coupe when you book at least 2 or 4 seats as there are only 2 seater or 4 seater coupes

I started enquiring & running around more than a week before the travel date to confirm a coupe booking in my name against the 2 seats I booked in the First AC of Rajdhani Express. Harrowing is a soft word to explain the experience. 

The procedure is that you have to submit an application with your PNR number & photo id proof at the main station, Churchgate-in my case. In this application, you need to explain why do you need a coupe- a separate doored personal cabin? You can address it to the Chief Station Officer, submit it from 2-3 days before journey date up to 2 hours before the seating chart of your train is out on the date of the journey. You will get a ticket for your pet dog at Bombay Central only, that too couple of hours before your journey begins. You cannot board the train at Borivali which could be nearer to your home & easily accessible compared to Bombay Central- I was told this explicitly by the person who would issue my German Shepherd, Chetak's ticket, at a later date. The staff will first check if you have been allotted a coupe & then give you your pet's ticket. This makes your pet eligible to enter the train(Rajdhani Express train no. 12951 in my case), with you.

The farcical content of this scene is even after you have submitted an application, you are NOT guaranteed a coupe. The logic which the IRCTC authorities gave me was if any MLC, MLA, MP(politicians) etc are traveling on the same day, they will be given a preferential allotment of the coupe. The preposterousness does not stop here. You will only get to know whether you have been allotted a coupe or not once the seating chart is out i.e 3-4 hours before the start of the journey. Once the chart is out, you can cancel your journey, but you are not entitled for a refund if you cancel your tickets. You could be on your way from home to the boarding station with your pet dog as you need to reach there 2 hours before the departure time to complete some formalities. Thus your trip from home to the station with your pet could be totally futile courtesy some foolish rules being followed by IRCTC- the Indian Railways system.

Let me add, the vet whom Chetak, my German Shepherd has been visiting since more than 3 years, told me I would need a fitness certificate to travel. He said he will charge INR 400 to 500 to issue a fitness certificate!!! What the hell? He was talking about the same fitness certificate which we used to present in school/college when we used to stay at home to watch a cricket match, go to attend wedding ceremonies, receive a friend/relative from airport/station etc. It used to be given free of cost by our family doctor, isn't it? The vet was treating Chetak(for vaccination, deworming, supplements etc) since I got him home when he was a 30-day old puppy, should he be charging me just to scribble 3-4 lines on a piece of paper? Was it ethical?

The anxiety caused by the uncertainty in getting a coupe was killing. Imagine, you could be traveling alone with your pet dog from one city to another. But to get a coupe you have booked another seat(which will remain vacant) just to be eligible for a 2 seater coupe booking as in my case & because of some idiotic rule implemented by IRCTC you are never sure whether you will be able to even start the journey with your furry friend...

Ultimately with repeated follow-ups, some pyrotechnics & dramatics, we got a coupe booked, a ticket for Chetak, my German Shepherd was issued & we started our journey. 

I have attached the ticket issued for my pet & a video link when we just entered the Rajdhani Express train. More about the journey after the journey started, I will possibly write later...

I believe the IRCTC should not be so myopic when dealing with people traveling with their pets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3eQHYVTY0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vZemGA-Y8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBIbcH1rq2o

India vs Hong Kong Cricket match & it's impact on India vs Pakistan in 2018 Asia Cup

Indian cricketers were given a real run for their money, or that's what it at-least seemed like in last night's encounter with Hong Kong.

First about India's batting:- Indian batsmen never got going. This, one would believe is a full strength side in the batting department. Virat Kohli has been rested, but then India is not just Virat Kohli. 11 players or rather 5-7 top order batsmen make your batting line up. In IndvHK(India vs Hong Kong), either all the batsmen were in the mindset of slowly accumulating runs, getting match practise OR pitch was not conducive to batting when India batted. Astonishingly the same pitch became impeccable for stroke play when Hong Kong batsmen like Anshuman Rath etc were batting.

Indians could not accelerate. One would never really get to know the reason why Indians could not switch gears & slog when less than 50 runs were scored in the last 10 overs. Were the Hong Kong bowlers so disciplined? We are talking about Dinesh Karthik, Ambathi Rayudu, Shikhar Dhawan, M.S.Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav. These batsmen were batting in the middle & final stages. These same batsmen were smoking boundaries at will in the IPL 4 months ago... It looks weird that none of them could accelerate & the inexperienced Hong Kong batsmen skimmed the Indian bowling with ease, on the same pitch.

India's bowling:- We had Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. These bowlers keep international hard hitters tied down & quiet in IPL. But they were made to look absolutely stingless & ordinary. It was a pathetic display in front of batsmen with no experience of facing quality attack, who were batting under pressure of chasing almost 300 against India, the Cricketing Giants, a side that's been amongst the top 3 cricket playing sides in the world since quite a while.

Even the tail end Hong Kong batsmen smoked sixes. As India won the match only by 26 runs, with just a little bit of luck Hong Kong could have easily caused the biggest upset of the Asia Cup 2018 tournament.

Only inclusion of Jaspreet Bumrah will be the discipline enforcing factor in today's India vs Pakistan match. Either Ravinder Jadeja or Hardik Pandya could get a look in depending on the contemporary match/pitch scenario. India's batting line will mostly be the same as yesterday.

One big factor, probably the most decisive & impactful factor would be the disciplined, left arm pace & swing bowling attack of the Pakistanis in IndvsPak game. Couple it with Pakistanis treating UAE, Dubai, Sharjah as their home grounds, the crowd support. The mental & physical exhaustion due to back to back matches of Indian players.

It will be a real test of stamina, physical endurance, mental strength of the team & leadership skills of Rohit Sharma to motivate his team & get the optimal performance out from every individual to compete fiercely & win this match...

Boss = owner of organization

This is a part of the MNC culture. The corporate world. I have heard it zillion times either when my colleagues would discuss it among themselves or talk to me on same lines..."What did your Boss say?", "My Boss is late", "It's difficult to get Boss on the same page", "My Boss won't agree", "His Boss was being unreasonable" ... etc.

I cannot get myself to address my reporting manager as "Boss", I also found it difficult to comprehend the reason as to why do my friends, colleagues address their reporting managers as Boss? Factually, it's unfathomable for me & I personally believe it's absolutely ludicrous of them to do so.

Boss, by definition, is the owner of an organization. Boss could be the owner(sole proprietor), or one of the partners with the majority stakeholding in the firm. Boss is someone who does not take orders from anyone.

I just don't understand why do people address an ordinary salaried employee(just like themselves) as Boss?

The intent is not to disrespect someone. We do give the immediate senior or those above us in the hierarchy his/her share of respect by addressing him/her as Sir/Ma'am.

But unless you are talking to the Owner, Founder, Co-Founder of an organization, I believe, it would not be appropriate to address the individual as BOSS !!!