Saturday, 24 May 2014 00:00
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It was 5 o’clock in the morning. The calendar on the wall was turned to the month of May, the fifth month of the year. I jumped out of bed when I remembered that I had ordered a meter taxi, to come to pick me at 5:55 a.m., to take me to the Fort Railway Station. I needed to catch the 5th Bradby Express to Kandy, to witness the 2nd leg of the 70th Bradby Shield Encounter, the traditional rugby rivalry of Royal College Colombo and Trinity College Kandy. After all, it was the Train of Victory!
The taxi arrived sharp on time. I did not carry any bag as I knew that all I needed on the journey was available on the train at a reasonable price. I double checked if I had the ticket for the train and the ticket for the match. Last time I was not lucky enough to buy a coveted Bradby Express T-shirt. This time, buying one had been my top priority and I was proudly flaunting one today. When I arrived at the station from the D.R. Wijewardhana Mw. entrance, Platform 9 was already a sea of Blue and Gold, as it had been over the last four years.
Members of the organising committee of the Royal College Group of 2007 were busy running around the platform, shouting orders and instructions to each other. They all wore a tag blaring the number 5, distinctly visible from far. Of course, they were a proud bunch to show off that they reinvented the logistics associated with this massive festival on wheels for fuve consecutive years.
If one saw them five Bradby Expresses back, when they were barely legal 21-year-olds, one would presume that they were attempting to impress the fairer sex among the crowd on the platform. But now, the evolution in their lives is evident as I catch bands on some committee members’ wedding fingers. The task has always been a tiresome and involved one. Five Bradby Expresses carrying 1,000 fully satisfied passengers each year, while safeguarding the bygone traditions with modern concerns, are still an achievement par excellence to these 25-year-olds.
I watched the fully fledged blue train arrive at the platform, from the bridge that connects Platform 12 with the rest of the platforms. Last year, the modern blue train shifted the passenger experience from a more traditional one to a more modern one.
Concern for safety and friendly care
The organising committee and Prefects had to give their maximum to keep the youngsters safe distance to the edge of the platform. The concern for safety had always been the top priority. As always, the brightly decorated train had neat labels to help passengers find their compartment and seats.
This was in addition to the friendly ‘Passenger Care Officer’ from the organising committee on each compartment. They would look in to the necessities of the passengers throughout the total 250 km journey up and down. It took only a few minutes for the passengers to board the train. Of course the younger ones were still dancing on the platform to the beat of the papare which had been a spectacle to the ordinary passengers at the railway station since early morning. The bird’s eye view of the Kandy bound train was eye-candy.
After the locomotive was connected at the opposite end of the train heading North, the loud horn and the green flags of the guards signaled the departure of the 5th Bradby Express from Colombo Fort Railway Station.
The tune of the papare was never subdued by the roaring engines. It shrank to a fainter melody in the distance as the train chugged forward. The station suddenly fell silent and the awestruck ordinary passengers on other platforms turned to look at the time to their trains with smiles in across their faces. Truly it was a show worth watching.
Why was I still on the bridge? The rays of the Spring Sun were shining in my face as I woke up from my dream in the ‘far far away’. It was only then I realised that I will never be able to ride the 5th Bradby Express! But a thousand passengers, young and old, will get that opportunity today.
R-O-Y-A-L!
Today, those who would be lucky to board the train I saw in my dream will be screaming with their lusty throats R-O-Y-A-L! throughout the journey. They will share their cheers with the few daring Trinitians in their red, gold and blue t-shirts, with an occasional T-R-I-N-I-T-Y! One or two Prefects will sneak out of their Prefects Compartment to check if their girlfriends in the other compartment are ‘OK’.
The Old Royalists young at heart, accompanied by their wives will be merrily recalling the lyrics of the baila they cherished singing decades ago. The Papare bands in every compartment will keep their beat and the melody. Young ladies, while taking part in a song they loved singing together, will enjoy the scenery of the Bible Rock as the train climbs up the Kadugannawa Pass. The chill of the upcountry winds will sweep the hearts of all those who are in the train.
The students, in their usually jam packed compartments, will forget the rivalry to be witnessed at the Pallekele Grounds for a few brief hours and sing their hearts out with freedom and lightness in heart while their teachers too will be singing along, two compartments away. The watchful organising committee will guard the doors (for safety) while providing food and beverages to the passengers.
Train’s sea of blue and gold
The Kandy Railway Station will feel the reverberation of the approaching train’s sea of blue and gold when the train crosses the Mahaweli River at Peradeniya. Since the venue of the Kandy Leg of Bradby Shield was shifted to the Trinity home grounds in Pallekele, Bradby Express will be the major attraction in the City of Kandy from the time the train reaches the railway station.
The crowd will have an undying spirit on the shuttles from Kandy City to Pallekele, at the match and on the way back. Of course they will be tired by the time they reach the train, but the dinner that will be served by the organisers will keep their spirits high and the papare will pierce the darkness back to Colombo, probably with the Bradby Shield on board!
It is an experience of a lifetime, not worth missing. It is a day full of high spirit you would want to relive every year to come. It is a carnival on wheels; an easier transport option without the hassle of parking and traffic; a reinvented tradition of the past generation to be re-lived by all young at heart. Hail Bradby Express! Floreat!
