My Journey...A Tale!! (Part 1)

While in an evening walk, while in a crowded bus or a train, while at a library searching for your favorite book or at your favorite hotel for a special dinner, while at the marriage of your distant relative or in an unknown forum over internet,...you meet people! You might give them a smile! You ask for their help, to find a book or your way or the time or some place, unknowingly many a times. You talk to some and listen to a few. Who are they? They are strangers. The same strangers whom your Papa must have warned of to be careful about. And many of those strange friendships or strange-ships lasts no longer than the dress  we wear. This being a small script cooked up in my mind, thinking of those strangers who had helped me expecting none in return, shared their simple and humane thoughts with me and even those who had nothing to give but a nice smile.

Krupaya dhyaan deejiye! Gadi no 6248 Thiruvanathapuram se hokar Manglore tak jaanevali Parashuram Express platform no 2 par aa chuki hein….

This sound of the railway announcement woke me up. I looked through the bars of the window and found that the train had reached Ernakulam Jn station. The hanging televisions in the station played the trailer of an up coming Mohanlal flick which is to release coming Friday. The sound of the video was only vaguely hearable courtesy the loud cries of the Chai-wala's and the murmurs of anxious and impatient passengers. My watch said it was 11.42 AM which meant i had slept for like 3 ½ hours. I bought a newspaper from one of those bookstalls in the platform. The front page was filled with the news of India winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup.


I was reading an article when i noticed that a uncle who sat opposite to me was starring at my newspaper and i offered it to him and he smiled and thanked me. I smiled back and glanced at the people in my vicinity. An old lady with a spectacles was reading a thick covered book, a middle aged man in a t-shirt and jeans was sleeping and another person was reading an Outlook magazine and he had a blue tooth device in his ears. All of passengers seemed to be content with their own mobile phones and books.




I looked out through the window and enjoyed the green-Kerala. There were this beautiful sight of paddy fields and coconut trees besides the track all over with occasional railway crossings where vehicles waited in long queues for the gate to be opened. There were these loud whistling/horn of the train occasionally and i was tuned to this rhythmic beat of the mating between the rail track and the metal wheel. A number of thoughts went passing through my mind and i wondered how many times have i boarded this same train. I remembered this incidence of how i knew Italy had won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

( Scene: Same train Date: Some-time in mid Aug 2006 )

I was boarding this train from Trivandrum and was already late that i couldn't read the newspaper before hand. I entered the bogie minutes before it left and luckily found myself a seat beside the window. At that instant i saw the picture of Italian Soccer team with the cup in the front page of a newspaper and out of anxiety grabbed the newspaper from some one whom i had never ever met. I was just reading that article when that man grabbed the paper from my hand and scolded saying "Excuse me, who taught you these manners?? .. can't you see that am reading it young man??" and i was embarrassed in front of rest of the passengers.

For the comfort of reading, I've split this into 3 parts. So continue reading in the next post!