I railed

Trains should have an enchanting aura around them.As we see these chugging beasts huffing and puffing their way through picturesque forests and enviable travails, we want to be on them, but the trains should have impressive personalities of their own.Otherwise, i soon realised, It is just a wait for the picture perfect moment,for the saving grace in an otherwise forgettable, unremarkable journey.

Maybe because i travel alone, mostly.But thats the point.When you travel in company, the train is just means of conveyance.When you travel alone, you interact with your surroundings more.You develop a rapport with the train, with its people, with its sounds and moods and colours.I traveled from bangalore to bhubaneswar recently.The train took 32 hours for a journey of 26.pain.

There is this old lady from puttapurthy.Her grandneice was getting married, so she had come to bangalore.I now know that she has 3 cows and 2 goats and her husband suffers from arthritis and diabetis.Her children are all over the country with one of them in the gulf.Her smile is infectious and disarming and her unassuming happy declarations about life, children and god are warm and draw me in.But musing on those is another story...

It must be nice, aging gracefully with your partner and near your beliefs and your god.And there is this another guy sitting opposite.Pods in his ears he is oblivious to the worlds.He is reading gokulam.I used to, when i was a kid.I especially liked the general knowledge portions.Now i wouldnt be caught dead with these.Either the guy is much younger than he looks or he does not care what people think seeing him read a children's book.

My earphones are broke.So i cannot listen to music.After puttapurthy, after some other destination, all my companions are gone and there are new ones.The train chugs on.In the midst of a cacophony of vendors' calls and children crying and boisterous males in the next compartment, i sleep.This journey is not the one that goes into travelouges...It is one of the countless ones where you go into a trance of sleep and non-sleep and are happy when its over.It is one of the 'other ones' which are forgotten.

This particular journey is all about reaching the destination.This particular train has no character.So, i rail, to travel another day.Another place, another train, maybe...