Deccan Odyssey Day 1: The Dance of the Deccan
A luxury palace on wheels expedition into the tourist heartland of Maharashtra is met with legime players and pelted stones.
Just before Kalyan station on the Central Railway, as Deccan Odyssey, Maharashtra's luxury palace on wheels train slows down for a signal, someone standing by the side of the tracks, a disgruntled youth they say, wearing a half-sleeved yellow t-shirt, jobless possibly, certainly someone firmly ensconced in the gap between those who ride a train with a fee of USD $5000 and above for a room, and those who stand by the side of the tracks watching, threw a stone.
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The outer pane of the double-glazed window cracked. The inner one held. The passengers, amongst them some of the 300 international delegates from the first-ever Maharashtra International Travel Mart (MITM), a three-day B2B expo that the chief minister of Maharashtra hopes will help attract tourism in droves from foreign shores to Maharashtra, travel agents, hoteliers, some from Australia, Japan, others from Delhi and Ahmedabad, jump out of their seats in the lounge car, where it hits.
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Then, the splatter of glass becomes an object of curiosity, gathering a small crowd that tsk tsks and tells the story of the dangers of travel and the ills of unemployment as the train picks up speed. "Jealousy" the train's genial general manager, Prem Devasi, attributes it to, telling the story of 13 glass windows broken on one of the train's trips to New Delhi. Someone wants to stop the train and call the police. Others look at him like he does not know that people who do luxury don't do those things. The tensile strength of the glass is marvelled at, and then, equally strong coffee, with pakodas, is served. And the man on the side of the tracks with a stone in his hand, probably still standing there with his quota of rage for the day, is forgotten.
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On Day 1, as the beautiful deep blue coaches of the Deccan Odyssey pulls up at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the rhythmic clangs of the traditional dancers of the lezime dance, clad in yellow navvaris, chime along to the toots of the tutari players, according a traditional welcome to the train's curious clientele.
Gaarva, Durg, Pankh, Abhang, Kinara... the coaches carrying deluxe and presidential suites trundle.
Each, unlike anything else that runs on the Central, South Central or Western lines that exit Mumbai's three major stations every day, is carpeted, spotless, personal butler equipped and uber comforting. The restaurants, Waavar and Utsav, serve Indian and Continental cuisine on gilded and silver cutlery in the dining carts as a world apart passes by on the journey towards Aurangabad where it will function as a stationary luxury hotel for tourists to visit the Ajanta & Ellora caves and the Nashik wineries.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, speaking at the inauguration of the MITM said on Monday, it took for him to visit the Dunhuang caves in China for him to realise that the Ajanta and Ellora were made by monks who travelled there along the Silk Route and brought the knowledge of craftsmanship back home. "Confluence" he said, "is what we are made of and what we must showcase". It marks the beginning of an injection of much needed self pride alongside an alternative boost to an agriculture-beleaguered economy.
Swati Kale, General Manager of Maharashtra Tourism and Development Corporation, on board the train with her guests, says things are changing. "We used to be invested and focussed on ownership, now we are moving to be facilitators" she says. The government is calling in those who would like to start bed and breakfasts, homestays, provide food and allied tourism supportive industries.
The cheek-by-jowl shanties argue for space with illegal constructions and skyscrapers outside. At the few stations the Odyssey halts at, vendors on the platform peer in to its darkened windows curiously, at this train that, for now, provides no one buying their wares. What does it bring for them?
The hope is young men like those standing by the side of the tracks will start to see the train trundling in as a welcome sign, of change, of dollars that are part of the tourism pie coming their way, and stand there with garlands instead. Much has to change for that.