Am I confused? Or is it really confounding? Or is IRCTC itself befuddled with how to function?
Now this is what is beyond my comprehension, the whole circuitous process of booking a Tatkal ticket. It is virtually a lottery system to book a Tatkal ticket. If destiny favours you and the Lady luck is on your side, you would be on cloud nine to get it booked.
Tatkal was a service introduced to facilitate passengers to get hold of tickets at end moment if some urgency presented itself that required them to travel. I really appreciate this effort but not until I got to know that IRCTC is a bit confused or maybe I am ignorant about its operations.
Firstly, many a times there have been changes in the days when the Tatkal service would open. Long back, it used to start operating two days before the date of journey. At present, it opens a day before. I am not opposed to this idea. However, there is a point of contention.
Today, I was actually doing a recce of sorts on the website. I need to book a ticket tomorrow for Tatkal. The time it starts working is 10 o'clock in the morning. Due to my weak and almost non functional MTS datacard, any site wouldn't open. Moreover, as I stated earlier, it all depends on how fortunate you are that day. IRCTC gets so much pressure from anxious passengers to get their tickets booked that it also gives up and chooses a certain few to be the prize (ticket) winners.
However, I should get straight to the point now rather than beating about the bush. In the afternoon, I checked Tatkal tickets for 1st of April, which under the regulations that I am aware of should open tomorrow at 10 in the morning. To my great surprise, there were trains flashing REGRET status in the screen for 1st as well as 2nd of April as if almost deriding me and my desperation to book tickets.
Now, my mind is perplexed after what IRCTC has done with me and this I say with greater seriousness.
I thus pray to the higher Being IRCTC, to take pity on this lesser mortal and change my fortune tomorrow so that I get a message of the ticket on my phone with flying colours. Amen!!
Alright. I admit, it was my ignorance that left me befuddled and not IRCTC. But the whole process of booking a tatkal ticket is no less than a mental trauma. It may lead to property damaging tendencies in a few, or acute disorders of various kinds, though it is an effective way to enhance patience and tolerance. This is how it is everywhere in every sphere of Indian life.
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