23 hours of solitude….
I have two other friends who are from my city and study in my college, yet every time I go home during the holidays, I have to travel alone. Of all reasons- attending summer semesters, not wanting to go home, or a trip to Agra with friends (or Lucknow or any god forsaken place) -this time I wasn’t graced with their presence for the worst reasons of all-they missed the bloody train.
Most of the time I have a smooth ride home owing to the delay in the arrival of trains. No, I’m not trying to sound ironical-when my train from Allahabad is late, it actually shortens my journey-coz the time gap between the two trains which take me to Rourkela is reduced. But this time the impossible happened-the train reached before time at both the stations-which means I reached Bilaspur at 3:30 in the morning, and my next train was 7 hours later. To make matters worse, I had forgotten my earphones at my hostel….music, my faithful companion had ditched me this time.
The first hour passed with me trying not to fall asleep….then the tea stall opened-and I don’t know what the owner put in that small cup of hot brew but it kept me awake for the rest of the journey. I didn’t go to the waiting room as I was afraid I would step on the numerous people sleeping on the floor. And I didn’t go outside coz my luggage was punishingly heavy….how did one laptop and 6 pairs of clothing weighed more than a 7 year old is another story. Not to forget I needed protection, coz two months of hostel food had made me hollow from the inside. So there I sat… surrounded by hundred different kinds of people yet alone. And then I observed very interesting event…..
I was trying to find if my e-mail about a Michael Jackson article had made it to the ‘Your letters’ section of the latest issue of TIME magazine I was holding when I saw a young kid dressed in what appeared to be very old t-shirt with a printed message: ‘I was born intelligent but education ruined me’. He was holding a broom in one hand and was possibly waiting for a train to make money by sweeping the floor. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten for days….he sat with the bridge of his nose tucked between his knees and I saw his that forearms were unbelievably thin. I had a box of fried rice I bought from a takeaway restaurant at the Allahabad station and was about to reach for it when a generous looking woman offered him a 5 rupee note. He looked her in the eye and replied ‘hum unke jaise thodi hai aunty, kaam karlenge phir dijiyega’ pointing at a beggar woman(I am not like them, pay me after I do my job). The ‘aunty’ guiltily withdrew the money. The box of food was in my hand. I put it back, returned to my magazine and let the boy have his moment of pride.
I have two other friends who are from my city and study in my college, yet every time I go home during the holidays, I have to travel alone. Of all reasons- attending summer semesters, not wanting to go home, or a trip to Agra with friends (or Lucknow or any god forsaken place) -this time I wasn’t graced with their presence for the worst reasons of all-they missed the bloody train.
Most of the time I have a smooth ride home owing to the delay in the arrival of trains. No, I’m not trying to sound ironical-when my train from Allahabad is late, it actually shortens my journey-coz the time gap between the two trains which take me to Rourkela is reduced. But this time the impossible happened-the train reached before time at both the stations-which means I reached Bilaspur at 3:30 in the morning, and my next train was 7 hours later. To make matters worse, I had forgotten my earphones at my hostel….music, my faithful companion had ditched me this time.
The first hour passed with me trying not to fall asleep….then the tea stall opened-and I don’t know what the owner put in that small cup of hot brew but it kept me awake for the rest of the journey. I didn’t go to the waiting room as I was afraid I would step on the numerous people sleeping on the floor. And I didn’t go outside coz my luggage was punishingly heavy….how did one laptop and 6 pairs of clothing weighed more than a 7 year old is another story. Not to forget I needed protection, coz two months of hostel food had made me hollow from the inside. So there I sat… surrounded by hundred different kinds of people yet alone. And then I observed very interesting event…..
I was trying to find if my e-mail about a Michael Jackson article had made it to the ‘Your letters’ section of the latest issue of TIME magazine I was holding when I saw a young kid dressed in what appeared to be very old t-shirt with a printed message: ‘I was born intelligent but education ruined me’. He was holding a broom in one hand and was possibly waiting for a train to make money by sweeping the floor. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten for days….he sat with the bridge of his nose tucked between his knees and I saw his that forearms were unbelievably thin. I had a box of fried rice I bought from a takeaway restaurant at the Allahabad station and was about to reach for it when a generous looking woman offered him a 5 rupee note. He looked her in the eye and replied ‘hum unke jaise thodi hai aunty, kaam karlenge phir dijiyega’ pointing at a beggar woman(I am not like them, pay me after I do my job). The ‘aunty’ guiltily withdrew the money. The box of food was in my hand. I put it back, returned to my magazine and let the boy have his moment of pride.
