Because of the bandh in Bangalore the day before the conference started in Chennai, I decided to fly there, but return by train. (Bandhs are political protests in India where all business is shut down for a day, and political rallies are held to show support for the undesirable activity of the day. In this case, the government of Karnataka, Bangalore's state, objected to being forced by the central government to release water from the river Cauvery to the next-door state of Tamil Nadu. Trouble can occasionally be whipped up, which leads to stone-pelting and rioting, so most people stay home for the day.)
Our train left from platform 1, and since I was required to wait on the platform until shortly before the train was due to leave, I saw a lot of life! There were many people sitting along the side of the platform, who appeared to have been there for hours. They were chatting, eating, snoozing away while they waited. I provided quite a bit of entertainment, but they were all quite friendly. Many large bundles passed by on their way to the goods carriages, fish (judging by the smell), post, and other unknown items.
We were traveling 2nd Class A/C, which was very comfortable, once we got on board. It was a hot and sweaty wait, though!
Although the train was a day trip (6 hours, approximately), we had sleeper accommodation, with sheets and pillows (very, very small). The a/c worked well - a bit too well, really - and we had time to get tea or coffee along the way.
We stopped at only a few stations on the way, and the scenery was very beautiful for much of the journey. At a couple of the stations, people got onto the train to sell tea, coffee and snacks.
We arrived in Bangalore a little late, but it was a very pleasant journey.
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