….contd
I went to bed and though I was tired like hell I just could not manage to sleep. I was not thinking much or probably didn’t think at all, only abstract thoughts. I saw as the night turned from pitch black slowly to a bluish morning sky and then when the first glowing rays of sunlight pierced into my room I knew it was time for me to get up. I got ready and didn’t even bother to think about breakfast I had a train to catch. I went to the station and having traveled in these routes for many a times now I didn’t need to ask anyone. I found my compartment, kept my luggage, and since there was still time for the train to leave I got down to grab a quick cup of coffee. I had a reservation for sleeper class but just to be extra sure I thought I would check out the list outside my bogie and found my name missing. I didn’t panic cause I knew exactly what had happened as this was not the first time. The Indian Railway started this new system of upgrading passengers from sleeper class to AC section if the seats were left empty. This happened to me the last time while I was going from Delhi to Guwahati and it happened again what can I say luck was on my side and I was not complaining. I took my berth and thought of what kind co-passengers I would have to deal with and didn’t have to guess much as I soon found out. An aunty with her daughter and her brother hopped in and started having the robust of all discussions I have heard in my life. The girl was very exited as she was about to get married and her mother just couldn’t seem to get over the thought that her only daughter could manage such an accomplished groom(I began wonder what was wrong with the girl) who is a navy officer and earns Rs.21,000. And how did I know all of that well they spoke or rather shouted so much that it was tough to ignore and I have every possible reason to believe that even the driver knew about her marriage. To my relief though they got down at NGP station and I could not help but thank God. The new dwellers of my compartment were a Bhutanese family, whose daughter had met with an accident breaking one arm, fracturing both her legs and her spinal cord and was undoubtedly in a great amount of pain. I had my dinner and spoke with the father of that girl asking him how it all happened and came to know that while riding her new bicycle she came across the edge of a cliff and forgot to pull the brakes. I went to my berth and got into a slumber only to be woken up by a half hearted shout and found my next compartment swarming with police officers. Some passenger’s bag has gone missing and the GREAT INDIAN POLICE instead of helping the poor guy and trying to find out the baggage was pinning the whole matter onto him for not being too careful and by doing so they wasted enough time and lost all possibility of a search. I tried to speak to the guy who seemed devastated as if he had lost his wife but I found out that the bag didn’t have any valuable thing in that except his mobile and the numbers along with it. I didn’t sleep after that and as day broke I managed to get a news paper and found that the Left was still opposing the nuclear deal. All day long I kept on watching the hundreds of kilometers of farm land and once spoke with an air force officer who seemed very upbeat about the fact that the government was about to come up with the sixth pay commission. As they sun began to set and the fields looked more golden than ever I saw the farmers slowly returning and could not help but think what exactly were they thinking at that point of time. It was January and after dusk the air became more and more chilly, I switched on my cell, we were entering New Delhi Railway Station. My brother-in-law(I call him Jij) had come to pick me up. I helped the Bhutanese family to get their daughter off the train and was on my way to Didi’s place.