Roorkee2Mumbai via Delhi with Her

The distance appears to reduce half the original when you get someone’s company while travelling. Though, it’s a mere coincidence to get along with someone of the same age group and mindset, believe me, it does happen sometimes, giving you some everlasting moment.

Somewhere in the beginning of January, I was on my way back to Delhi after completing the necessary formalities required for admission. Being new to the city, I didn’t have much clue about the other means of transport except the train, which serves as a lifeline for Indians. Also, I couldn’t book the return tickets, primarily due to two reasons. The first one is quite obvious. Yes, I am talking about the unavailability of tickets whenever you try to book in times of urgency. The second one is that I wasn’t aware of how much time it would take in the admission process. Luckily, the process was smooth and I got free earlier than I expected. With meagre hope, I checked the availability of trains and to my surprise, two seats were available in the current reservation of HW- BDTS express which was scheduled to depart in 1.5 hours from then. I booked the tickets in haste and hurried off to the rly. station.

The train came at its scheduled time. The crowd was less in the station consisting of three platforms. The truth is that if you’re a resident of Delhi, the crowd of any city would appear less to you. I got in safely and tried to locate my berth. It was side upper. The side-lower was occupied by a girl, probably in her mid 20s. I threw my bag to the upper birth and asked;

“Hi! If you don’t mind, can I sit here for a while? If you feel drowsy at any point, just let me know. I’ll shift above”.

“Yeah! Sure”, She nodded and said in a voice which turned inaudible due to the train’s speed.

I took the other side of the seat in order to face her. After glancing at her momentarily, I shifted my gaze to the scenic view outside the window. She wore a fur-type cap, that arranged her black hair till her ears and after that, it was left to swing sideways. There was a willful avoidance of make-up except a thin layer of pink lipstick had been applied evenly to match the colour of the lips, perhaps to avoid clefting due to winter. She wore a pair of woollen gloves with which she was trying to cover her nose, which had already been slightly reddish due to the biting cold waves coming from the window of the sleeper coach. It appeared that the window of the sleeper coach hadn’t been closed properly. I would take a moment to appreciate the thought process of the railway engineers who designed these two berths. Doesn’t it promote interaction between the passengers? With this thought, I recalled some lines from one of my poems;

Before she peeped through the window

And gazed at orbiting trees, cattle and fields

Our eyes met for a while……

Before I could croon some more lines, something drew my attention. She was struggling to close the window; the air from which made her shiver. Sometimes, I feel that the weather is aping people. Both have gone extremist. Anyway, I leaned forward to help her. After struggling for some time, we were able to fit it in the place.

“Thank you”, she said in gratitude.

“I think it’s going to help me too. So, mention not”, I replied with a smile.

I often find it hard to begin a conversation with a stranger, moreover a girl, plus in a humorous way but I don’t know what drove me that day. Perhaps, it was the result of 6.5 years of grooming at the University of Delhi.

“Well, I never thought about that. But since I’ve already said, you’ve got to keep it”, she said and giggled at the same time.

“Chalo, rakh liya baba. Ab khus?”, I felt a bit embarrassed while replying.

“Yeah”, she grinned while saying. I could see her wisdom teeth along with a set of sparkling teeth that added an extra charm to her face.

“Where are you going by the way?”, I asked inquisitively to know more about her.

“Home”, she said.

“And where is that, if I may ask?”

I grew a bit afraid after asking this question. She might feel an intrusion in her privacy. On the contrary, it’s always difficult for me to swallow curiosity.

“Mumbai”, she said in the coolest way possible.

“To idhar kaise?”

I failed again to hold my horses.

“Ghumne”

“Badhiya. With friends?”

“Solo”, she replied instantly.

Ok!

I grew disappointed after seeing her response. Has she decided to reply in a word only? To look occupied, I took out a couple of books from my bag and tried reading them.

A brief pause

Perhaps she sensed my disappointment and added further, “I love to travel solo and click pictures from my DSLR. In fact, I have a drone but it got damaged when I was flying it at rly. station”, she elucidated.

Nothing attracts you more than a person sharing common interests and meeting them this way is even more magical. I became delighted.

“That’s great. Ya! Travelling all the way from Mumbai to Rishikesh in this chilly weather, that too, alone. Hats off”, I gestured to salute her and added further, “Can I follow you on the social network so that I can have access to your travel videos and pictures? I also love to travel and do photography”, I asked.

“Sure! But I don’t usually post there. I keep it as a memory”, she clarified.

“No issues! At least, we’ll be in touch”, I said and slid my phone toward her.

“Well, what about you?”, she asked while returning my phone.

“Came for admission and now going back to Delhi”, I replied in the minimal words I could.

“And these books? From when did a science student start reading literature?”, she exclaimed with surprise as she asked.

“Well, we’ve a Department of Humanities and Social Sciences here and I am a literature student”, I tried explaining to her.

“Oh! That’s interesting”, she said swiveling her head.

“Waise, which college are you in?”, I asked to take the conversation forward.

My uneasiness seemed to go with every conversation.

“I don’t go to college anymore. I am a practising CA”, she introduced herself.

“Wow! That’s great!”, I exclaimed with joy.

“It’s like another job. Nothing great in it”, she replied changing the expression on her face.

Is there any person on this earth who is happy with their job? I thought inside. While we were talking, the window again slid upward and we had to jostle with it again to bring it to its position. I think it kept us connected throughout the journey.

From further conversation, I came to know that her plan was instantaneous. She booked the ticket in waiting and luckily it got confirmed. She also booked the return ticket, which too was in waiting. She was hopeful that it’d also get confirmed but it didn’t and that’s how she landed into sleeper coach. On enquiring that did she consult with TT as she had to travel a long distance, she said that he only sent her here. On asking what if this seat belonged to some other person in the forthcoming station, she innocently said that she’ll take mine without knowing that my reservation is only up to Delhi. To sum up, she was travelling without any ticket on a long journey of almost 3o hrs. Kaha see itna courage laate ho yaar? I made her aware of these possibilities, but she was so casual about it. I also thought that since she is a traveller, she must be experienced in dealing with such situations. Amidst these conversations, scenic beauty and books, about 3.5 hrs of my 5 hrs journey passed swiftly. She wanted to take a rest. Hence, I jumped to the upper berth.

The conversation only resumed when the train was about to reach ‘Chandani Chowk’ rly. station. I was about to say goodbye to this beautiful journey and her, of course. Though I met her only a few hours back, I didn’t know why I became emotional when I was about to get down. It happens with very few people. Also, there was the uncertainty of meeting her again. At such times, this quote always inspires me;

चिरागों को आंखों में महफूज रखना, बड़ी दूर तक रात ही रात होगी

मुसाफिर हो तुम भी मुसाफिर हैं हम भी, किसी मोड़ पर फिर मुलाकात होगी।

The train had a stop of 5 minutes. I asked her if she needed anything but she replied in negative. With the promise of meeting again, I bid her ‘Good Bye’ and ‘Happy Journey’ and strolled toward my destination.

While I was en- route to my flat, a message popped up on the screen.

Hi Shashank,

Kairavi here!

My seat had been taken by someone. It is reserved till Surat. I also asked TT to help me but he said that all seats are full currently and will be available only if someone doesn’t turn up. I also can’t locate any vacant berth around and am unable to look in other coaches leaving my luggage here. What should I do? I am feeling lost. Can you help me in whichever way possible? I still have to travel for 25 hours.

(…….to be continued)

-Shashank