Somewhere along the Karnataka-AP border
8th August, 2008
I’m writing this from the Kacheguda Express. Tomorrow morning, I will be in Hyderabad after a very long & tiring 18 months. Listening to my music and taking in as much of the sights as I can, I feel an inexplicable joy. Not just a calm, the relief that comes with a welcome break from the hectic Bangalore life or the happy thoughts of visiting the vibrant city of the Golconda. It’s a feeling that encompasses all that and much more- a feeling of pure, inexplicable joy. I do not know the reason for this immense joy. I’m just glad that a train journey still excites me, the same way it did, ages ago.
My sisters have been the freaky ones in the family who, till date, go gaga over the distant hooting of a train. But again, how many 21 yr olds still retain the passion for something they adored as 5 yr olds? I, on the other hand, still am a little awed at the sight of the huge, metallic engine, hissing menacingly as it approaches. It is the train journey that I am a sucker for.
Nothing but a train journey gives the opportunity to revisit the relationship one often forgets to nurture with the inner self. For me, this is a time for introspection- a mental stock-taking time. A time to be thankful for, for the big and the small ways in which life has changed since my last stop at Kacheguda.
The various personalities, each with its own eccentricities and mysteries that one gets to observe and meet during the trip are one of the delights that come with a train journey. Some fellow travelers prefer to keep to themselves, content with their books and music, and I probably belong to this set of people now, as I try to marshall my burgeoning thoughts onto paper. There are others- constant observers and always ready with a helping hand, but still a little too shy to venture beyond the smile that escapes them everytime you catch their eye. Then there are the gregarious, talkative types- thankfully milder versions of Geet in Jab We Met.
No matter what the category of people, there is the wonderful element of non-commitment ingrained in the relationships built during a train journey. The feeling that any interaction holds good only till the train comes to a stop. Destinations, work lives and even life histories are exchanged. Then sweet words are spoken, false promises of keeping in touch are made and people part. So very alike the bigger journey each one of us undertakes.
Not all go through life with the same excitement and joy they have when they start off. Somewhere along the line, they seem to forget that happiness is, but a state of mind. So many are too pre-occupied with the nitty- gritties of life; they forget to savour the experience of the journey itself. The shy ones want to get so much more out of life but are unable to cross the self-drawn boundaries of doubt, inhibition and ego. Then there are the over-enthusiastic ones, who, in their eagerness to get as much out of life as possible, often burn up their energy before the journey is half gone by. They forget that not all the best experiences of life need be the most exciting or adventurous and miss out on the smaller pleasures, which are often the best things in life.
These thoughts and many more, will continue to chug along as the fields, trees, hills and clouds disappear into the fast approaching dusk. Right now, I am determined to enjoy them before they get enveloped by the velvety darkness of the night.
P.S. Take a break. Take time to “…stand and stare….” . Go and get yourself a railway ticket to a place you’ve always wanted to escape to. And rediscover the delights of the train journey.
8th August, 2008
I’m writing this from the Kacheguda Express. Tomorrow morning, I will be in Hyderabad after a very long & tiring 18 months. Listening to my music and taking in as much of the sights as I can, I feel an inexplicable joy. Not just a calm, the relief that comes with a welcome break from the hectic Bangalore life or the happy thoughts of visiting the vibrant city of the Golconda. It’s a feeling that encompasses all that and much more- a feeling of pure, inexplicable joy. I do not know the reason for this immense joy. I’m just glad that a train journey still excites me, the same way it did, ages ago.
My sisters have been the freaky ones in the family who, till date, go gaga over the distant hooting of a train. But again, how many 21 yr olds still retain the passion for something they adored as 5 yr olds? I, on the other hand, still am a little awed at the sight of the huge, metallic engine, hissing menacingly as it approaches. It is the train journey that I am a sucker for.
Nothing but a train journey gives the opportunity to revisit the relationship one often forgets to nurture with the inner self. For me, this is a time for introspection- a mental stock-taking time. A time to be thankful for, for the big and the small ways in which life has changed since my last stop at Kacheguda.
The various personalities, each with its own eccentricities and mysteries that one gets to observe and meet during the trip are one of the delights that come with a train journey. Some fellow travelers prefer to keep to themselves, content with their books and music, and I probably belong to this set of people now, as I try to marshall my burgeoning thoughts onto paper. There are others- constant observers and always ready with a helping hand, but still a little too shy to venture beyond the smile that escapes them everytime you catch their eye. Then there are the gregarious, talkative types- thankfully milder versions of Geet in Jab We Met.
No matter what the category of people, there is the wonderful element of non-commitment ingrained in the relationships built during a train journey. The feeling that any interaction holds good only till the train comes to a stop. Destinations, work lives and even life histories are exchanged. Then sweet words are spoken, false promises of keeping in touch are made and people part. So very alike the bigger journey each one of us undertakes.
Not all go through life with the same excitement and joy they have when they start off. Somewhere along the line, they seem to forget that happiness is, but a state of mind. So many are too pre-occupied with the nitty- gritties of life; they forget to savour the experience of the journey itself. The shy ones want to get so much more out of life but are unable to cross the self-drawn boundaries of doubt, inhibition and ego. Then there are the over-enthusiastic ones, who, in their eagerness to get as much out of life as possible, often burn up their energy before the journey is half gone by. They forget that not all the best experiences of life need be the most exciting or adventurous and miss out on the smaller pleasures, which are often the best things in life.
These thoughts and many more, will continue to chug along as the fields, trees, hills and clouds disappear into the fast approaching dusk. Right now, I am determined to enjoy them before they get enveloped by the velvety darkness of the night.
P.S. Take a break. Take time to “…stand and stare….” . Go and get yourself a railway ticket to a place you’ve always wanted to escape to. And rediscover the delights of the train journey.
