Tuesday 3 June 2014

2951 Down Rajdhani Express

It had been boiling for a while and then one day I bit the bullet; I took a train journey from Mumbai to Delhi. Living life in the fast lane had meant that trips were always planned at the last minute was always at a premium so flights had become the norm. But this time due to a combination of factors the train journey was on and am I glad I took it.

There are many things that link us to our childhood or to a time when the pressure to maintain a lifestyle and a career path were not the dominant forces of our life. For me, a trip on the Rajdhani express was one of them. It was the train that brought me to Bombay from Delhi as a 23 year old; the premium train that only the “rich” took on their trips between Delhi and Mumbai and the cream of that rich travelled 1st AC and that is what I booked for this trip. I was ready to connect with a time gone by.

The first whiff of a fuming railway station and I knew this would be a fun trip. The coolie who used to charge 50 INR to carry my bags to the train was today asking for 120 INR. I was happy to pay him 200. His name was Mahendra, 56 years old, had been working at Bombay Central for the past 23 years and in all probability, had seen many youngsters like me come to Bombay for the first time. Every wrinkle and bead of sweat had a story to tell.

The hooting of the horn and the train was off at exactly 16:50. Like clockwork things started to happen in the train and the first thing I looked for and found was the emergency chain. The chain that you saw people pull to grind the train to a stop in Hindi films but in real life you never really dared to do. It was there, at the same place where I had last seen it…. still, I guess, waiting to be pulled.

Then came Md Hamid, my train attendant and like I had seen my Uncle do it, I gave him 500 INR, he used to give him 50 INR. All the rules after that were non existent for me, I was allowed to smoke standing at the door of the bogey, I could mix my drink in the bottle of coke that he got me and I was given two extra pillows, things that I considered royal during our growing up years when we saw them happen.
Standing at the door smoking a cigarette you saw India once again, the villages that passed you by, the tractors carrying people home from work, the lone station master at a small descript station that passed you by as he waved the green flag allowing the majestic Rajdhani Express to pass, the lights that came on as the sun set in small houses that dotted the horizon, the train guard who got ready to offer his namaaz as it became 7.30, the attendant letting you know that the train was running 20 mins late but “raat ko cover kar legi”, families travelling together for summer holidays and the kids excited to be sitting with their grand parents going back to their “native” place. It was like getting in touch with a part that you hardly get to see as you live life in the fast lane. The food still tasted the same as it was when I last took this journey, generous helpings and smiles as they train staff fed you happily, the joy of getting an extra helping of grilled chicken…It all felt the same.
In hindsight, the tomato soup tasted even better than before, maybe because it was seasoned with so many memories.

And then the night came and like clockwork again the families got ready to sleep. It was just 9.30 p.m. A time that seemed alien to me but for everyone else it was time to tuck in and I stood at the door once again just looking at darkness going past. Everything moving yet calm and still. Everyone, I’m sure, had worries and troubles but life seemed more peaceful in the small towns and cities that passed me by.

What is about train journeys that fascinates me...

Is it the silence from the world that it gives the mind which is craving for some quiet moments
Or is it the peace the eyes find when they sight the landscape passing us by opening their arms for us

I sit there..looking outside as my soul tries to find a meaning in the passing world ..it tries to connect with every passing tree ..with every passing hill top

In every sight I try and find a glimpse of my past ..events that have made me who I am..the person that I have become

I look at my co passengers ...sitting in silence as they move from one place to another in this train with me

Everyone has some place to be ..someone that is waiting for them to arrive..another destination to reach ..another person to meet

With every station a few people get off and some new ones join In..carrying with them the same desire to be somewhere ..leaving behind old memories and making new ones

They sit and watch the same sights go past ...Everyone making their own impression with every sight and with every passing station...

What are they thinking I ask myself ..are they taking in life's beauty as it unfolds with every  revolution of the wheel ..or are they just counting the minutes it will take for them to reach their destination

Is the meaning of life being seen in the never ending landscape that passes us by ..or are they just hazy images that our mind makes nothing of ..

Why is that person sitting across me smiling looking deep in thoughts ..why does the woman sitting away from me have such a sad look on her face ...co passengers with their thoughts

I look at them ...wanting to strike a conversation ..wanting to share my thoughts ...tell them what I feel ...listen to them talk to me ..but I stop..letting them make their own journey for themselves

I sit in silence ..looking outside ...waiting for the next sight to unfold ...like life ...till I reach my station ..not wanting this journey to end ..even though I know it will ..for someone else to start theirs ...as I end mine

“There were things that gave me immense happiness and pleasure when I didn’t have the money and stardom, why should they stop being pleasurable now when I have the money and stardom” a line Shah Rukh Khan had said to me during one of my interviews with him. It was a line that I lived today.

Take a break, reconnect with a time gone by, in any way that you can. Believe me, it was a much happier place.