Monday, December 05, 2005

something about the train and me...

i was in the railway station this morning to receive amma (mother).
as i walked, i seemed to absorb everything about this place, even though it was the nth time i came here..??
the people sleeping in their make-shift sleeping spaces in a wait for their train to come and take them home;
the chaiwallah making for a fresh start to so many;
the coolie in anticipation of his early morning wins;
the sleepy-eyed, hair tussled passengers tugging along with fatigue and luggage;
the cartloads of 'goods' lying unceremoniously that are to be hauled onto the next 'goods train;
the newspaper and magazine stall with a just-now lit incense that wafts strong aroma and a thin, amoeba-like smoke ( i try to follow it but it vanishes into the air...)
the enginge honk and the chuk bhuk of the train that is changing tracks and the slow grace with which it carries its vast structure;
across the platform a nomad sits idle, gazing into nothingness;
the dog wags its tail and comes close to many. only to get shooed;
a train or two arrive in an announcing fashion, of its arrival..
the sound of its movement, the momentum of the moment, the intensity of the engine, the roar of the honk consume me completely.

what is it about trains and me?

on those long train journeys the speed and sharp direction of the train and the way trees and lakes, houses and mountains run past you (even though its me running away in the train), the sheernees of peering down that lake right under your feet!!
at most times its the people you get to see. their mannerisms and colloquialism,
what they speak and what their bodies speak, the way they eat make for an interesting time for any keen observer.

but its something about the train and me i cant figure out what.

wait a minute. could it be that it probably embodies for me, travel? new places and new people? a discovery of sorts?

i guess i quite know, now, why my heart leaps everytime i see a train pass by....

chuk bhuk....chuk bhuk...

hey, there i spot amma!

sleepy-eyed, hair tussled amma tugging along with fatigue and luggage??

5 comments:

wildpic said...

"It's only when we realize that life is taking us nowhere that it begins to have meaning."
~ P. D. Ouspensky

Apoorv Gawde said...

I agree, a train journey is wonderful indeed :)
Reminds me, one of my favorite movie scenes involves a train, the Scene from Swades where SRK is in a train and buys a pot of water from a boy for 25 paise. Brilliant.

Seemantini said...

true. that scene is so touching. actually, we all come across such incidents in our day to day lives. esp on the mumbai local trains- kids n old women begging, physically challenged people struggling to make a livelihood. but it somehow doesnt register in us. it just gets past us.

a post on mumbai locals is long pending!

wildpic said...

Drip Drip Drip On The Windshield
All The Cars Pass Me By
On A Long Road From Somewhere
In A Car With No Lights
But Jesus Told Me To Come Here
And Judas Says Its A Lie
And Maybe I'm Doubting Thomas
But Only When Peter Denies
Its Going To Be A Long Way Home From Here
Saw A Girl On The Roadside
She Was Holding A Book
She Read Me Chapters And Verses
And All The Things I Mistook Before
All The Things That She Told Me
Were Things I already Knew
She's The Perfect Reminder Of All The Things I've Been Driving Through

south - driving

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