Am not gonna start off with a ramble about why this post has been incubating in the distant corners of my machine. The new title to my blog roll is what would best describe the current state of affairs... So Shall It BE!!
Certain moments make me pause and wonder about the contrary emotions that the same situations trigger in our lives. A little train journey out of town to a megalopolis had shoved a host of ideas and thoughts, too much for the over clogged mind to handle.
I think back at train rides in India, the sights and the smells that came with it. Staring out of the barred windows, letting the wind mess up the hair was a pleasure on its own. It brought with it tales of far away lands, dreams about warriors and heroes mounted on horse backs, hills and falls spun out as a mega movie released by the mind. A quick peak out had the charm to drain all the noise innate to the train journey. With vendors and hawkers selling their goods at fair-like proportions in the little passageways winding through the train, there was always something to keep yourself interested in your journey if the world outside the window wasn't promising enough.
A quick memory of a sweltry summer afternoon flashes by, when a deep nap in the upper berths of the train was broken by a sudden fall down heights of the berth. The entire coupe had gasped in concern of a broken bone or a bleeding face, only to be faced by a tooth mouthed grin. I had barely felt an inch of pain at that point and it still leaves me shocked. Other times that I remember are bullying the little one to get hold of the much coveted window or putting up a sorry face to the old man opposite, to win his sympathy and eventually the priced seat.
Meals packed especially for the journey were a feast in their own sense, the smells of the food mixed up in a cosmic melange with the inborn smells of the train were a pleasure. All washed down with the in-house coffee or tea, served in the true-to-its-spirits disposable cups, was the perfect end to a perfect journey.
As the scene quickly faded by, large stretches of land, complete with the pasteurs and their bovine friends, zipped past, standing proof to any law of science quiestioned by mankind. A fleeting smile flashes through, as I remember trips recounted by friends. Stories complete with the women living in a man's body making passes at them and the excuses thrown out to turn down the proposal. Amusing times of men blushing to pink for once and living the life of the fairer lot. There were other stories from friends of love storied begun and end in those dingy seatways.
A jolt gets me back to reality and I notice the train stop. How unusual it is in this land of the technology for the beastly train to halt for a minute, the unease that it rains on its occupants!? Hours standing on tracks in no man's lands were spent taking a quick stroll out in the open or gazes till the end meets the eye.
The trains here, miles from home, leave a very mechanic feeling in my gut, a strange reluctance in me to unite with the system that it has built for itself. The tight shut window panes, letting the steam filled air cooled and circulated within have an effect quite contrary to the openness of the panes and the hearts I felt back home. Distant journeys paid for the first class and spent at the door, half hanging out of the train is so unimaginable in this side of the world. I confess it is a pleasure I miss a ton here.
As the train rattles in to its destination, three stories underground and years of technology and science behind it, I quietly pray for the beasts back at home and long for the life that they brought with them.
Certain moments make me pause and wonder about the contrary emotions that the same situations trigger in our lives. A little train journey out of town to a megalopolis had shoved a host of ideas and thoughts, too much for the over clogged mind to handle.
I think back at train rides in India, the sights and the smells that came with it. Staring out of the barred windows, letting the wind mess up the hair was a pleasure on its own. It brought with it tales of far away lands, dreams about warriors and heroes mounted on horse backs, hills and falls spun out as a mega movie released by the mind. A quick peak out had the charm to drain all the noise innate to the train journey. With vendors and hawkers selling their goods at fair-like proportions in the little passageways winding through the train, there was always something to keep yourself interested in your journey if the world outside the window wasn't promising enough.
A quick memory of a sweltry summer afternoon flashes by, when a deep nap in the upper berths of the train was broken by a sudden fall down heights of the berth. The entire coupe had gasped in concern of a broken bone or a bleeding face, only to be faced by a tooth mouthed grin. I had barely felt an inch of pain at that point and it still leaves me shocked. Other times that I remember are bullying the little one to get hold of the much coveted window or putting up a sorry face to the old man opposite, to win his sympathy and eventually the priced seat.
Meals packed especially for the journey were a feast in their own sense, the smells of the food mixed up in a cosmic melange with the inborn smells of the train were a pleasure. All washed down with the in-house coffee or tea, served in the true-to-its-spirits disposable cups, was the perfect end to a perfect journey.
As the scene quickly faded by, large stretches of land, complete with the pasteurs and their bovine friends, zipped past, standing proof to any law of science quiestioned by mankind. A fleeting smile flashes through, as I remember trips recounted by friends. Stories complete with the women living in a man's body making passes at them and the excuses thrown out to turn down the proposal. Amusing times of men blushing to pink for once and living the life of the fairer lot. There were other stories from friends of love storied begun and end in those dingy seatways.
A jolt gets me back to reality and I notice the train stop. How unusual it is in this land of the technology for the beastly train to halt for a minute, the unease that it rains on its occupants!? Hours standing on tracks in no man's lands were spent taking a quick stroll out in the open or gazes till the end meets the eye.
The trains here, miles from home, leave a very mechanic feeling in my gut, a strange reluctance in me to unite with the system that it has built for itself. The tight shut window panes, letting the steam filled air cooled and circulated within have an effect quite contrary to the openness of the panes and the hearts I felt back home. Distant journeys paid for the first class and spent at the door, half hanging out of the train is so unimaginable in this side of the world. I confess it is a pleasure I miss a ton here.
As the train rattles in to its destination, three stories underground and years of technology and science behind it, I quietly pray for the beasts back at home and long for the life that they brought with them.
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