JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME

I knew something unexpected was going to happen when a cat crossed my path. Damn pussy!! Its not as if I believe in superstitions but this was so like one of those days when you wake up with a strange feeling and each innocuous happening around seems as one big conspiracy against you. So much for my paranoid mind!!! I am already late. As always! And I am in a hurry walking two steps at a time desperately trying to avoid bumping into people especially the machimar bais and the gelled gay pickpockets loitering around at the station and like always there's too much of gardi.

Even before the train enters the station I can see people alighting and boarding, defying the universal law of inertia. But so is life here. A struggle against all laws -local and universal, legal and illegal. I need to act soon or I will be left stranded. I stand amongst the crowd and get pushed in without any effort of my own.

The mood inside is precipital. People stick in like maggots crowding in, holding on, hanging out. A fan blurs in above spewing out a hot torrent of air. A cacophony of voices fills in the crowded compartment as I try hard to get my bearings. Its only after a couple of stations past where more people get in reiterating the idea that space is infinite do I realise that I am actually standing on somebody's feet. But he has other things to think of for his face is being smashed between two smelly armpits. He reminds me of Shahrukh's character from his latest movie. This is the classic middle class man who leaves home in the morning listening to the tantrums of his wife and travels for hours in dingy trains suffocating himself to death, as his elder son surfs porn after smoking weed and his daughter is making plans of eloping with their call-center-employee neighbour, only to reach his workplace and be totally humiliated by his manic boss. As evening falls he makes his way back home to his dysfunctional family through the same frustrating bheed and as he lies down at bed at night, he questions his own worth in the world. This continues until he drops dead but it hardly matters. The world keeps spinning around.

Time flies to the tune of the clickety-click of the trains and I wonder where I have reached. I try hard not to give kamasutra poses but to no avail. Something hard sticks to my behind and before my mind can comprehend, the slick looking guy behind me whips out his blackberry from his front trouser pocket and holds it apologetically. Blackberry people traveling in trains too!! What has the world come to?! People lean left right and centre on me and there's this guy who keeps dripping spittle on my shirt as he sleeps nonchalantly amidst this chaos. Looking at his peacedom I hardly have the heart to wake him up. I let him dream on.

As the train chugs in at some station people gear up at the door and I get some place to breathe at the other end. And then I sight her. At the opposite station she stands, waiting for her train to arrive. I do not know who she is but she is just the sort of person I have been envisaging in my dreams each night. Clad in a bright red-orange salwar-kameez that accentuates her curves she waits, rather impatiently, with a hand at the hips. I love the way her nose crinkles as she looks at the far distance. I crane my neck to have a better view and she looks at me. For a moment our eyes meet and I feel a connection that transcends logic. Time stands still and the hullabaloo around fades away. Through her mascara eyes she radiates positivism and love which fills in each molecule of me. I feel my feet soar above the steel footboard and an aura of happiness envelops me. The train starts moving but our eyes stick to each other till the bend. Suddenly, I am not nerved by my surroundings. I feel like hugging each person around. I start hearing laughter around, which I had never noticed before. People in here, though quite stressed now seem joyous, as this journey is a part of their lives too. The physical exertion no longer tires me. The train crosses a river and a cool breeze wafts in and vivifies my senses. All of a sudden my entire outlook toward life has changed. That one moment has made me believe that there are better things in life to live for. I feel rejuvenated and refreshed and my zeal for life has doubled.

Babe, I don't care who you are but I am overtly thankful to you for making my day. Cheers!!