A Journey by Train
Ashim Kumar Paul
There is an inseparable relation between celebration
and communication. It becomes obvious if you, on the eve of a celebration,
meticulously go through the front pages of the newspapers or just watch the
snap-shots on news channels. Indeed, days before celebrations bring different
meanings and experiences to the people especially to those who stay away from
their home. On ahead of the celebrations, people, with their relentless desire,
rush to the bus stops or railway stations in order to book their tickets with a
view to reaching their ultimate destination. After standing in long queue for
hours some jump out with unbound ecstasy as they finally have gotten the ticket
while other people with dejected mood return without tickets. Though the sullen
station master bluntly tells you that no ticket is available for your desired
destination, you can find some clever people resort to managing tickets with
surplus money from a number of unscrupulous people who have bought tickets
through clandestine channels. However, those who can buy tickets, no matter how
much the price is, can feel happy that at least their way to their homes is
going to be smooth. But you hardly can sense more unwelcoming experiences are
ahead of you when you are on the move.
It was three days before Eid-ul-Fitr when I,
accompanied by my two friends, started our journey for home. The home-bound
journey was enriched with a series of experiences. That morning was soaked with
incessant flow of heavy rain fall. The streams of water left no option for us
to keep ourselves away from being drenched. As we were far away from the
station and time was running short, we had to hire a CNG-run auto rickshaw. The
driver was adamant enough not to go with meter and thus, we had to give in to
his illegitimate demand. But our hurry to reach railway station was not paid
off as the official concerned informed that the train would be late to arrive.
Thus, only roaming around the station was our only job but the shower of rain
refrained us from doing so.
Finally, our longing came to an end when the train
entered the station after around an hour. We felt unbound joy seeing the train.
But our ecstatic mood did not last long because the heavy gathering of the
passengers. Everyone rushed to the train. It was only after a long struggle
that we were able to get
into our coach and reach our seats.
As we were in, we forgot our grief and
began to speak freely. Within a short time, the cubicle got flooded with the
presence of bounteous crowds. The gloomy weather as well as the flow of people
who attempted to get in the train to reach their haven of happiness to
celebrate the upcoming grand festival turned the entire situation inside the
train very difficult. People who already gave up the last of their hope to be
seated, finding no room inside the cubicle, continued to stand up. After few
minutes, we discovered that the train was yet to leave the station. From an
official of the station, it became known that a very important person would travel
by the train and he had not arrived yet, therefore, the train was delayed to
leave. This knowledge irked the passengers albeit they had nothing to do but to
wait for a long time. The vexed travelers shouted, screamed and sighed. Some
elderly people began to curse upon the capriciousness of the authority that
left them in the lurch while others joined in their heated discussion.
Political gossip further loomed large in their talks. However, our wait to
leave finally came to an end while the guard blew the whistle and the train started to move
slowly and moved out of the station. The
wheels of the train running at a moderate speed convinced us that we would
reach our destination within a possible time.
It was after many days that afforded us the opportunity
to get together and so, we were engrossed in gossiping and recalling our golden
memories- the memories that reminded us how much grown up we had already been
and how many precious moments from our life had been lost into the cavern of
time. Our happy moment for sometimes came to a halt when the train with
shuddering and whistling stopped at a station. The number of people getting
down from the train was defeated by the stream of the passengers who were
struggling to get in. Around our seats were swamped by the flow of people and a
middle aged man clad in official attire stood by our seat. The day was hot
though a shower of rain drenched the earth before few hours. The man looked
weary and sometimes was dozing. All of a sudden, the man fell down on one of
our friends. We all were flabbergasted at the precipitous incident and got up
hurriedly to lift him up. He was found unconscious! With the flash of water and
fanning, he retained his consciousness. Probably, he had been keeping fast that
triggered his sudden breakdown. It was really a matter of grief that no one
sans we came ahead to lend him the helping hands. The power of humanity is
going through its erosion perhaps caused by the material pursuit and
self-centredness.
It is a common experience that if your ticket serial
number is somehow separated from that of your companion, the man who sits
beside your compeer would, without least squabble, assents to change his seat
with yours. So did happen to us. But a bizarre experience was noticed when a three-member-family
entered our coach. Due to technical reasons, one ticket was missed out from the
serial of other two tickets. So, the man requested the person to exchange their
tickets. Surprisingly, he denounced the request aloud and demonstrated a lame excuse
that triggered off both laughter and nuisance among others. But the
exasperating passenger showed no change in his decision and remained seated!
The value of journey is immense especially if one
can travel by train. The pleasure and delight one can get derives from the
journey by train. Besides, a journey by train is a most common event that
ensures less costly and more secured than any other journey does. But unlike
other countries where public comfort and safety always get priority, lack of
proper management and insufficient access to board a train in order to reach
your desired destination gnaw away the possible outcome of a train journey.
However, despite these facts, we forget our distress during a train journey
when we arrive at the door of our dear home and see the faces of our dear ones
especially on the eve of celebrations.
