JOURNEY BACK TO ROOT-MY TRAIN TRAVEL

It was 10:20 pm when i reached Secunderabad railway station.As i got down from cab and started my way to platform #3,only one sentence came out of my throat "ohh i can feel now population of India is over 100 million".My husband re framed my words with his wit "you mean you have started feeling suffocation now" and with laughter i said yes.

To give some details,it was my train journey after travelling in flight for long time.Well idea was mine to take train as i believed it's going to refresh our golden memory of old time.Four years ago i was an intern doing my training at outskirt of Hyderabad earning Rs15712 per month,travelling to same secunderabad railways station for one hour roller coaster ride through deadly crowded city in Lalpari(then i had named APSRTC red bus) #279 happily,landing to station with full luggage on my shoulder(i never hire kuli-mission saving my bucks ;) ) and making my way to almost equally crowded railway station,travelling in sleeper class.Never having a slightest complain about anything and never thought myself any less than Bill gates ;).Now i am earning towards the upper end in 5 digit chart,but that feeling of being at par with Bill gates have gone.

Train was already on platform so we entered into our compartment,all seats full so we sat down on our respective reserved seats,feeling completely claustrophobic and too shy to eat our packed meal in that crowd.Then train started rolling,relatives started running on platform to get last glimpse of the person they have come to send off.Cloud of laughter,tears and many feelings charged the whole environment.

Once we have settled i started observing people around us.There were a couple in front two seat with their 1 year old baby,one elderly uncle,one middle aged man,one more couple at side berth with around 8 years old son and we two.Slowly that one year girl was centre of attraction for all of us,we are laughing with her laughter and trying to make her smile when she is crying.Every action of her is story for us.Now that elderly uncle playing roll of grand father and teaching that girl about how dog and cat makes sound,that small boy was playing with small girl and amid conversation trying to remember names of ocean and continents he had studied in his text book(what kids at that age boast on-as i did in my time,never leaving a single chance to show my knowledge and talent ;) ).So 8 unknown people become a family know.Suddenly train attendant,rough in look appeared to give us bedsheets,towel and blanket and his Bihari accent he was offering "lijiyena,aaphike liye hai" what made my silence turned into laughter.It actually brings one question to me,in flight when last time i have heard local accent in English?Where air hostess in perfectly manicured look talk in polished language,which more sound like prerecorded tape than talk from heart.

After an hour of this show everyone retired for sleep but my mind took me to the journey of past.For more than 5 years(year 2003-2008) i had constantly travelled in train,mostly alone,being awake in night to see beauty of trees and mountain in dark,sometimes putting hands outside window to catch some rain,being early bird to watch my train going through mountains covered with clouds,sometimes seeing peacock dancing in those jungle,sometimes flock of dear grazing there and many more.I remeber stories of Agrawal aunty from kanpur,Dhillon uncle and his medicle shop,bubbli didi  and her college stories and almost all companion i had met in train but even after stressing my mind i could not remember name or face of one single person i have met in my flight travel,then suddently I realised Indian railways is something lives in our root,we can never escape from it,it keeps us grounded and runs in Indian blood so now again i am back to same person enjoying my travel no matter where and what situation i am in,never complaining and again not thinking myself any less than Bill Gates.This was my lesson in this travel.
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