God's own Chariot!!!

"Sometimes it's not about the journey or the destination...

But the people you meet along the way."

18th October 2013, just another day for me as it started. Getting up early morning to the sounds of chirping birds and religious hymns being recited on TV. Day started a bit early than usual due to a scheduled interview. Got ready,had breakfast and left. Gave my interview which was great indeed. The next thing on the plan was to head towards college as usual. Reached station and boarded a slow train from Thane station. Crowded doorway and somehow managing to get in is something what a daily routine is of any person in Mumbai who travels by local trains.

Somehow i managed to get a seat and my earphones plugged in i enter into my own world of thoughts. Watching ladies talk, buy stuff from the hawkers, and everything which i notice everyday. On and off i keep replying to messages on my phone and i reach my destination without even realising. Stepping out of the train, i rush towards the stairs realising i am a bit late. Exiting the station i approach the road to quickly get a Taxi and reach college as soon as possible. 

I stood there for a while but could not get a Taxi as there were others standing and waiting for the same. Suddenly i notice a Taxi coming and before me even waving, it stopped in front of me. The taxi driver who was a White bearded sikh man who would be around 60yrs of age, politely asked me "child where you want to go". The shine in his eyes and the charming smile made me think for a while actually where i wanted to go. I got into the cab and told him my destination. He smiled looking at me and said you would reach. 

For a moment i forgot everything that was on my mind. I sat quietly and he started asking me about me and my family. He suggested that you should go to gurudwara(sikh temple) and i happen to think how come he knows that i don't go there often. After long convictions by my mom i would someday go and attend the prayers. This man was having some power. He made me think on a lot many aspects. While he spoke, there was a big traffic jam a little ahead of the station road. He said looking at the stranded cars "this is the situation of many,who get stuck in the race of reaching a place where everyone wants to be but in the due course there are things left behind and you cannot take a U-turn." He pointed towards the responsibilities towards parents and the family. In just 15 minutes of my commute in this Taxi, i was made to rethink on my own beliefs.

Somewhere i felt the journey should not end. I wanted to ask him so many things which were obviously related to what he spoke about but definitely would have given me a clearer view of life. We were just about to reach the college gate and i started looking for my wallet in the bag. I took out money to give him and he said he would not like to accept it from me but somehow i convinced him to take it. He returned me the change and told me to wait for a second. He pulled out a pack of biscuits from the dashboard and handed two from it to me saying eat it as an offering and he drove ahead. I stood there watching him disappear in the traffic ahead.

This was not something that happens often with me. It was an incident which certainly changed me a bit if not fully. Whole day there was a thought coming in my mind that was he a human or an avatar of God. Whatsoever it may be, i feel blessed to have come across such a being and my belief in humanity is regenerated. If everyone tries to be a little like this man amidst the dense concrete forests, world would become a heaven to live in. 

A Dry Cry

"Someone asked her what was wrong, she smiled and said Nothing, as she turned and walked away, a tear ran down her cheek as she whispered to herself...Everything!! "

This is a story of every other woman you would meet on the go. Some are better at hiding their feelings behind a fake smile while the others fail at it and end up crying. While she is doing things making someone else feel happy,somewhere she is burying her own happiness. There is always some or the other thing which keeps on taking her mind in a whirl and bothers her. All she needs at times is someone who would just listen to her without any judgement and for the same there exists best friends. People say when you have a partner to share things then you don't need anyone else. But the truth is that most of the problems are such that cannot be understood by them.

I always notice the women around me. While going in the train each morning, there are women who are smiling at each other, some who have kept places for there friend who would get in at the next station, and the journey begins. But behind every smile, there's a hidden sorrow. A pain that is well hidden by some and others make it quite visible. Some discuss the fights they had with their mother in law the last night and some are full of the marks they had on their body given by their husbands. Every eye tells a different story of sadness and despair.

In a second class ladies compartment of a train, you would find some of the amazing personalities that give you courage at times when you are depressed. Once i saw a lady crying and wiping off her tears as she listened to songs on her cellphone. Then the other day a middle aged lady discussing her day over the phone with someone and telling how its been difficult to raise her children and making them stand independent. In the morning there are many mothers accompanying their children to drop them to schools carrying their heavy bags on shoulders and protecting the kids from crowd.

In a ladies special, there is a different environment altogether. Ladies getting in the train in groups laughing and giggling. Sharing mature jokes and laughing off things. Some discuss their daily chores and different styles of cooking a vegetable. There are ladies who seem to be so frustrated with their lives that they tend to throw tantrums at anyone who would even happen to dash them. there are ladies who have started their businesses through these ladies special trains. You would notice ladies with catalogs selling dress materials. You just have to order from the catalog and the dress would be delivered to you the next day in the same compartment of the same train. You would also see ladies with catalogs of Tupperware,Amway,Oriflame and so on. Some female hawkers who sell Kurtis,earrings,bangles and similar stuff. Ladies on board have developed such a rapport with these daily sellers that they have a competitive advantage in bargaining as compared to the new ladies who travel less often in these trains.

There is one particular lady i notice on the matunga station. She gets in the dadar train from matunga and sells bhel puri to the ladies and gets down again at matunga station and waits for the next dadar train to arrive. She prepares everything needed at the station itself while waiting for the train. When asked whether she does this the whole day, she said "I just come in the evening by 4:30 and do this work to earn some extra income to raise my children. I work till 9 in the late evening or sometimes even 10. My husband's income is just not sufficient to fulfill today's needs."  and then she resumed cutting onions to serve her customers in a while. And i entered a world of my own thoughts. In our world where we would just burst into tears when something is not going right and in front of me a very simple lady who is working without a single trait of sadness on her face.

Such are the women of India. They would just go on and on without a sigh or complaint about her situation. Maybe we are raised this way or gradually we develop these skills to keep walking and finding our own ways in the darkness of this world. the modern day women who are taught to be independent and live fearlessly in this modern world, are also undergoing the same kind of trauma in some phase of their daily lives. Though the situation has changed a bit from the traditional society but then too emotionally women would be women. That is the reason i prefer travelling in a second class compartment of a local train as i get an opportunity to get exposed to so many different beings who are just like me but yet so different.

Walking Away

She's gone,she walked away,

Her heart was broken,but not in a sway.

She fell in love being unknown,

But all she got was sorrow and frown.

She got through all hurdles to keep it going on,

but now she can't handle it and moving on.

She never knew her lover was so ignorant,

That the moment she gave up,he walked away as a valiant.

But it hurts every time she look's back,

Thinking when she would again be on track.

She cried her heart out to the almighty,

But the only answer she got was to walk for her entity.

She picked herself and stood up with courage,

With the belief that her heart will soon recover the breakage.

Today she stands up high with a cute smile,

As now she knows being sad is not worthwhile.

The joy ride

I can't imagine how my life would have been without the local trains of Mumbai.Getting up early morning and rushing up in the bathroom, get ready have breakfast and leave as soon as possible to reach college.I would always be late of course if i would not be having my savior activa to help me reach station on time.Rushing up and parking my vehicle,I proceed to the platform 1 of Thane station where i see the 8:08 A.M CST train halting and ready to leave.Taking a deep breath of relief I move towards the ladies compartment and if i am lucky sometimes get a seat too.

The advantage of staying in thane i find is that you can get a train which starts from here and so is comparatively less crowded than the one's which come from kalyan or badlapur side. You can even take up fast trains which do't stop at small stations and promise to reach faster than the slow one's. However it does't make much difference as fast trains are crowded as hell and your luck if you even get a place to keep your foot.

Sitting in the train and hoping it starts soon,i always imagine how the others would have struggled to get on here. The school children,office going ladies,college girls and even oldies. Sometimes even the beggars who irritate and leave only when you give them a rupee. It has become a routine to see all these things around in a local train. As the time passes the train is full till the foot board and you cannot see outside.People then too step in somehow to reach on time. Its 8:08 and the train whistles and leaves. A sigh of relief and as the stations pass by people keep on getting in even if there is no space. Everyday i get to witness at least 2-3 ladies fighting for a seat and sometimes it gets worse that a lady cop has to be called in. Women curse,humiliate and sometimes it even gets to pulling hair.

somehow all these things have become a part of routine for me so it really doesn't matter.Once in front of me two women were fighting and just a minute after they were normal and started making fun of the whole thing. So its just not a travel but its a medium to learn many things by just observing and interacting with different people from varied walks of life. The ladies who travel together from years form groups and play games and even some of them have kitty parties arranged. Some you would find sharing their life sorrows and some would just go on asking for seats.

 The whole 45minutes ride of mine has too many things to learn from. But its worse experience when there's no seat and I have to stand the whole journey. I can't fight like other ladies around which is a disadvantage but somehow i happen to grab a side of the door to stand safely. Stations pass and the 10th station from thane is Matunga. I get up after d previous station passes and breaking through the crowd reach the door and stand behind the already standing women to get down. After getting down the first thing is to take a deep breath and see the train moving. 

I have become so used to travelling by train in the past 5 years that now seeing the traffic on the roads i wonder if i would have gone by train. Its not just that its a medium of travel but it has become a part of life. You do face problems when there are heavy rains or breakdown when trains are late and you are stranded between stations for long duration but in these conditions too you would find great things to be learned. 

.....DISTANCE.....

Its been long since we met,

But den too i haven't forgotten a single word of your's yet.

It was so that you were too busy,

But as i cud understand it i took it easy.

Sometimes it happens that i want you with me here,

But den i feel i cant and drop a tear.

I hope i could have a magical power,

So that i cou;d have you always and forever.

you cant Even know the extent of my love,

Its farther than the reach of wings of a dove.

How can i tel u how much i miss u,

As you are the dearest to me of the selected few.

Ma every minute goes in your thought,

and with it the sweetest memories get caught.

I think our loev is so stupid,

that whatever happens everytime we are blessed by a cupid.

No matter how much we fight,

But you would be the sweetest person in my sight...