Its a crowded train. Damn you it is! What else do you expect during Diwali. Everyone has to get home. They have wandered for long and the festival is calling them home. They have waited till last minute to bag a train reservation. Some adventurous to venture without one. Some carrying far more luggage than they ought to and are keeping themselves busy counting the baggage for fear of loosing behind any. They crib, they fight, they try to make things right. They sing, they hum, they listen to some radio song. They look outside the window, they try to catch some sleep, they want to hide their boredom but just can't. Its festive time and getting home is all they want to do. There also seems to be exist a vigilante group staring at the door and shout at people who leave it open. They need to feel that ac on them. They have paid for it and want to vasool it. I will try to close the door if I go through. Don't want to be lashed at in a language I don't understand.
I try to make sense of the chaos. Put the equation together, but fail. Sleep will elude me, comfort will betray me and dare I say the AC of the compartment has already given up on me. Darn travelling cheap has its perils. I know somewhere that Channel V bai will be laughing at me. "Itna paisa mein itnaich milenga"
Oh what wouldn't I trade for an oasis of serenity and take me away from this bizarre reality. And when I loose all hope, I catch a glimpse of her. Just the eyes at first, staring out into the night. There is not a thing to be seen and all you manage to catch is a reflection of the train and its eclectic bunch. Gazing at the same chaos reflected in the windows does little to comfort me. But the gaze in her eyes gets me hooked and soothes me somehow. I am curious to have a look. The distance between our seats and the occasional sideways rocking of the train has only afforded me a stealing glance at the eyes, the rimmed glasses, the ear rings, the colour streaked hair but not the whole face. Putting together pieces of this jigsaw puzzle is no fun since I know I have a very short attention span. Any more of this hide and seek and I would have moved on!
But curiosity keeps getting better of me. And I seem to be drawn into some oblivion. Suddenly I don't care for the chaos around me. I don't care for those vigilantes shouting at random strangers, mostly hawkers, to shut the door. Frankly the hawkers don't care either. But that doesn't deter the vigilante. They seem to have found a purpose for the time they are on this train.
The glimpse of a scarf brings me back to the oasis of serenity I had been searching for so long. Seems the AC is working its charm, why else would the unknown stranger put it on. Now there is a sense of mystery to the plot and oblivion has pulled me in even further. I can't complain and want to know what lies ahead.
The next I see is a book, which has managed to engross my muse into reading it. The gaze of the eyes, peering out of the train and into the night, was now fixed onto a novella or sorts. Well, reading is good! Maybe we have an intellectual on board the train. The composed articulate type. I am on the edge of my seat now. How I could wish away all that’s blocking my view. That would mean that a backpack, a purse, a lunchbox, a sweet grandma, a weird bald guy and numerous train seats would have to just vanish.
The train rocks sideways again and so does my view. I swear I could get through to the title of the book. And what is this I read - The presumed articulate lady with the scarf and glittering ear rings and sexy rim glasses is reading 'Half Girlfriend' by Chetan Bhagat.
Oh snap! Get me out of here. I don't believe myself. I followed the white rabbit into wonderland only to be tricked like so. Lady that crap of a book is the deal breaker. I no longer care how you look, I don't even want the whole picture. Ugly duckling or a beautiful swan.. its a moot point now. A picture speaks a thousand words and a glimpse of that book had made me run away like crazy.
What matters now is how do I snap off this dream. A shrill "chai chai" seems to be the kick I have been waiting for. That synced with "samosa le lo" and later by "col drinx" should get me back to the crazy reality I have been trying to run away from. However bizarre it may be, its the only one I have. I tried getting into an alternative reality for a while and was welcomed by a "literary genius" and so next time I think I will pass.
