My train misses me
Day: Friday ,Time: 7:20 pm, Station: Bangalore Central, Month: August.
At the station
up and down
the platform go
those migrant bodies,
departing now
perhaps back to studies,
or to weekly work away,
missing family every day, or returning to their homes.
Break is over, check the phones,,
And ready to board the train.
19 hrs, the Engine driver set up the journey scheduled from Bangalore to Nizamuddin, slowly the train speeds up and I, so called Karnataka express coach no AC1 was once again with a fresh& elated mood ready to notice and feel the company of my travellers. This day the coach is full, I just started checking my boarders cum commuters, who were supposed to board my train.
Mr. Kripa Reddy, Subramanyum, Nagesh H.K. Poornima Devi, Christopher, Ashwin Thapa, Mangala G, Karthik S H, Chintamani P, laxami Gowda, Shilpi Kulkerni, Radhika Gupta, Sridhar Shastri, Amit Agarwal, Manish Poddar, Megha Singh, Sayed Khan, Sharmila Awasthi, Yogesh Mishra, Benjohnson, Somya Sharma Navya Sharma, Manohar Dubey……..,looks like a troop of different age group and from different states , obviously as my home station is a cosmopolitan station ,it is brimmed with people from all regions , people come and go from here to their natives.
Hustle n bustle started, ticket in hand and eyes on berth number,” it’s ours”, “Yes this is mine”, “keep the luggage under the berth”, mine is lower berth, “bye Appa”,”Take care” “Happy journey….”
Almost every berth and seat was occupied by passengers, bye-bye and hugs…were exchanged and here we go to travel miles crossing and measuring fields and junctions .The trees and the houses go wheeling back,but the starry heavens above the plain Come flying on our track.
. Gosh! What number 32,34 is looking unoccupied and lonely and here the train started to speed up. MyTrain has a rhythm. It begin gently, pick up speed, go clicked-clack, skim the rails, then reverse all that until you imperceptibly regain a state of inertia. Somya Sharma ,yes a woman of 40 years where is she, I waited for few more minutes but she was not there. looks like she missed her train. Her depot station is Bhusawal ,” Why did she book her ticket for this station” , may be its her native , or work place as per my wisdom and knowledge it’s not a great place to visit as a tourist but why did she book till there and why did she miss her train. Expansion of my anxiety started, by her age and name she looks quite exceptional, maybe she is beautiful, elegant lady in her forties, a fine, well dressed lady. I started missing her, if she would have been here then she would have sat on my berth, she would have read her best book, must have eaten some homemade packed food, spreading the irresistible homely rich sour aroma of pickles , or would have talked to her near and dear ones on her latest gadget , I started missing her voice and tone, she would had been my best passenger .
At night I would have admired this sleeping beauty, her smile, her style. I am missing her absence badly. She would have been a great listener, friendly and talkative. I would have listened to her stories and life experiences.
I started feeling lonely, there were so many other passengers in my coach, young, smart, beautiful, pleasant personalities, intelligent men and women but my plight was only seat number 32. Why this woman missed her train? I started developing concern and fondness towards her. I was sentimental ,I hope she is not stuck up because of bad health or some accident . May god grant her long and healthy life. 24 hours I was engrossed in her thoughts, I missed her so much.
It’s 5:20 pm, Day: Saturday, Place:Bhusawal.
I missed her getting down from my coach with her bag in her hand and frown of tiredness on her fair forehead and someone dear must be waiting to receive her whole heartidly to give her a welcome hug.
I prayed to God and wished that may be next week I may see my cherished and treasured passenger on the same berth , the most absent and wanting passenger in my coach.
By – Dr. Somya Sharma , Dept of English,. Govt first Grade college , KR Puram, Bengaluru
