Successful Tatkal IRCTC Booking #GoodLuck

It was during my M.Tech. at IIT Kharagpur that I came across the usage of IRCTC Tatkal Booking very necessarily.Owing to the fact it was my ever first time I had moved out of my hometown Jaipur ,my heart craved for home as and when a few holidays were declared in the institute.Since the leaves were unknown to us during the first semester,all I had to do to go home was take support of Tatkal Booking Facility by IRCTC.

A whole  week holidays were declared for Durga Pooja which was celebrated in West Bengal ,and which we Rajasthanis were completely unaware of.Although this time is celebrated with high joy in West Bengal and is worth watching,I wanted to anyhow meet my family.Not just me ,every hosteller from far away wanted to grab this oppurtunity to enjoy a week again with their loved ones.So,we all decided to get up early,try booking a tatkal ticket.We ignored the fact that  slow working of Tatkal Booking in IRCTC can get on anybody’s nerves.7:45 A.M. all kids ready,laptop with IRCTC portal open.We all saved our passenger details beforehand so that we can get ticket quickly as we get a chance.At 8 AM we were all logged out by IRCTC.That was the convention followed.All of us quickly logged in back.All chose the destination,filled travel details.Till that point  we all were together.But, then, fortunately I could make it to BUY ticket button.YES,I had got it.The third A.C. seat,confirmed.!! Exactly as I wanted. And in flashes of seconds, moved to Payment Gateway.My ecstacy had no limits.I was going to meet my family after 3 long months,from whom I had never been separated for more than a week for a friends trip.I really enjoyed the whole week with family after reaching Jaipur.It was rejuvenating.My other friends coudnt visit home as I was the only lucky one to get the tatkal tickets.Going back to Kharagpur,I carried sweets for all of them to give a homely touch in hostel.

After that incident,I  always took advantage of Tatkal IRCTC Booking whenver I planned a vacation or a fun trip.Be it visiting B’lore and enjoying at my sister’s place or some random KGP to JP runaways to meet family . So this tatkal facility became a quick ,easy source for me to enjoy and meet my family.

It is a real good luck because The whole of IIT Kharagpur PCs,Laptops work with a single IP address of the instituteLAN. And the first time holidays came in Dec2012 ,I thought of giving it a try to book tickets by laptop rather than standing in a queue to book Tatkal Tickets.To,my amazement,I could get a third A.C. seat exactly as I had desired.From then on,whenever I had to travel during my Mtech at IIT-KGP ,I used to book my tickets in the morning at 8 a.m. using Tatkal .

Ofcourse ,it was a stake as I could have returned empty handed from IRCTC Tatkal Portal too.But, suprisingly whenever I have whole-heartedly planned for a journey and tried tatkal booking with full vigour ,I got a 3A.C. Tickets.Sometimes, the tickets came up as waiting WL/53 and a coach of another 60 seats was added to the train.In all these ticket bookings I consider myself LUCKY. We come across a lot of statements about the slow functionality of IRCTC Portal.About how people lose hope they can get a tatkal ticket themselves,without consulting an agent for the same.Of Course,there are a few techniques that are to be applied.I can share a few here.Always fill all your passenger details prior to booking.There is a link provided in IRCTC Portal to save data about travelling people.Keep your ID Proofs Handy.You gotta be quick. Even if you get a WL/6 or WL/7 wait.It might upgrade or a new coach may get added.

P.S: I first got to know about Ashwin Sanghi when he visited Literature Fest in Jaipur 2015 and he also talked to students in Wonder of Words Event held at a university in Jaipur.One of our student gifted him a pencil-sketch of him.From that student I got to know he’s also called “The Dan Brown of India”. A big title even Chetan Bhagat coudn’t grab.And by Wonder of Words we really got to know of some of his great works.

Megha Garg

https://twitter.com/meghagarg1990

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You can also WIN Ashwin Sanghi’s book ’13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck’
by posting your #goodluck story on trhs!

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