The Train!

Hey!!

I don't know if you people are still enjoying my stories..but I'll keep writing ;)

It was as if I was waiting for such a chance to share my silly stories...anyway it feels really good to know that atleast some of you are enjoying reading this...Thanks a lot for your comments...Do let me know your opinion about my blog..it means a lot to me :)

I felt really very happy when I saw my Amma reading my blog and laughing!!It was an honour :)

So this time I would like to share my "great"experiences while travelling by train!

When I was small(not that I'm big now,I meant age!),I used to love going to the railway station.That chance came twice a year.To pick my aunty who came from Mumbai and to drop her back there after vacations.

I just used to love that atmosphere..the "chai chai"(later it used to give me a headache),the samosas and other food items which looked absolutely yummy(which its not!appearances can be deceptive!)the coolies in red shirts(Wow!!soo colourful!)and above all the wonderful feeling of meeting your loved ones after such a long time(not to mention the great dresses my aunt used to bring from Aamchi Mumbai)

I don't know why but the recorded voice of the lady who used to give train timings used to sound sooo soothing that I was always the one who phoned up the automatic enquiry(I don't know if my family thought that I was mad to always volunteer to call enquiry whenever someone mentioned it!!)

Then maybe seeing my love for railway stations,God decided that this girl deserves more and I ended up spending most of my days in the railway station and trains(No people..I didn't end up being a TTR..I just ended up travelling by train more often :D)

My longest journey by train was to Delhi and that journey taught me 2 things-
1.Rummy
2.Never travel long distance without a book or music player.There are chances that you may suffer from an acute case of boredom ;)

The shortest one was in the Mumbai local-in the ladies compartment and in that journey a fat lady who was unaware of the size of her body tried to kill me.I don't blame her!Thanks to my height,I didn't come in her normal sight of vision and she didn't see me and was falling on me!!Thanks again to my height,I pinched her hard and even today she doesn't know what happened to her that day because she didn't see me ;)
#advantages of being short ;) you can always hit and run and people won't even know something went wrong-experiences of a guerilla attacker ;)

So about travelling by train..During my college days I used to travel by train every other weekend to Calicut.So as I mentioned in my earlier blog,none of the college beauties travelled by train and so we were targeted for ragging.

So one such incident was so:
We were on our way to Palakkad(that's where I spent 4 years of my life)and I was seated opposite to a man in white.So I was in 1st year and a serious disorder I suffered was DOUBT(No misunderstandings..I never had a single doubt about any concepts they taught in college ;)) I used to feel that every guy or girl I saw on train is my senior and I wasted a lot of respect on total strangers ;)

So that day,this man in white(he had white shoes and I had this intense desire to make it brown ;))was staring at me!!(He did have the guts to look at me for more than 5 minutes!I appreciate it ;))I was feeling uncomfortable and I shifted to an opposite seat to find myself seated next to a GUY!!I started panicking..Is he from my college?OMG!!
And came the question I dreaded-"Excuse me,ethu collegila?"(which college?-Guys and gals,this question sounds good only in the santoor soap ad.In this condition,I was soo tensed that I wished I never went to college)
And things took a different turn-he was not my senior..was from Coimbatore and he was shocked at the great respect I gave him before he said he was not from my college.I ended up explaining how we get a bit of shock treatment from train.
Then came another twist..Gayathri..seniors are calling you..I turned to see my friend who looked like she was given a good shake..I got up and went to get my quota.

They were 3..senior girls..This big fat me was given very limited space to sit(or float?)and guess what?THEY ASKED ME TO SING!!{Inside story-I've sung thrice from college.I didn't hear all three of them,thanks to the booing crowd.People don't appreciate talent,you see!!}
I started singing Dil hai chota sa because that was the only song of which I knew the lyrics!!
I don't know why I felt like the ladies sitting nearby were searching bags for coins ;)
The song sounded more like the"Pardesi pardesi" and "O Saathi re" we hear in trains..
But I sang..
Not one..but 2 songs..
Kudos to those 3 seniors!!
Now the twist..
They were scolding me as they felt we,the first years were over smart and arrogant and I silently heard whatever they had to say...and then came a sound,"Gayathri!!"I looked up to see my not-my-senior Coimbatore friend standing there..(My heart sang"Tu mera hero No.1")
He had this angry face and he said"Come,Gayathri"
I got up and the seniors were scared"Who's that?NSS?Senior?"I replied,"No,that's my cousin"(All Indians are my brothers and sisters and cousins too")
"Okay,you can go!"
Chalte chalte..mere yeh geet yaad rakhna..kabhi alvida naa kehna ;)

That was one great experience..For the first and last time..saviour!!Mr.Stranger..thank you :)

But my happiness didn't last long.The next week we were standing in the station waiting for our train when two guys came to us.No beauties in that group but they came and asked us where we were going.
We didn't answer for some time but they didn't go and so we answered.Then it was a rapid fire round and we managed to get some answers right.But when they asked why don't we travel together,the "angry young girl" in my group(Not me,I was busy shivering!!) said(in an angry tone)"We know to travel by ourselves!"

Have you seen Sethuramayyer CBI?
Or any such movie?
Some stranger comes and asks you questions and you finally get angry and ask,"Who the hell are you to ask me all this?"and they pull out their ID card and say,"I'm Sethurammayer from CBI!"

Similarly,they said,"We are your seniors from NSS."followed by,"My name is XYZ and he is ABC"(Just remember that!)

How I wished to melt into the ground?(Why does only Goddess Sita get to do that!!We are in an extremely bad situation!)

The story ended with my angry young girl friend singing Jana Gana Mana from the train!!We got a good dose of ragging till Shornur and in many days that followed!!

Don't trust strangers!You may know them :D

Train journeys during our first year at college were really memorable as we used to be "busy"being targetted for ragging.
I pity the bored seniors who were kind of forced to call us for ragging ;)(The pressures of handing down to future generations what you got from your ancestors!In this case ragging)
Another time I sang,and my voice broke when I was at high pitch and the senior had tears in his eyes when he told me that it was the best song he ever heard!!That was the last I saw of him..I know theres magic in my songs!! ;)

You got time for one more important train journey?Which was my last one I think...Shornur to Hyderabad..with a Muslim family.Dad,Mom,Daughter1(D1),Son-in-law(SIL),granddaughter,Daughter2(D2).

They were on a tour to Hyderabad.And I could see that the parents adored the SIL.And he was also a very nice guy.

That night,everyone was ready to sleep.I was in the middle berth and being very frank with you all.Any berth other than the lower one scares me.I don't trust these upper berths to hold my weight.And believe it or not I breathe with extreme care and also stay put for the entire time I'm on it :D

And above all,the Mom who was sleeping on the berth below me was going on asking her daughters if my berth will fall on her!!!(What an insult!!She herself would break any berth falling on her!!)
Soon everyone fell asleep and I was using my loud heartbeat as a lullaby when it started..The Mom was wailing..Saying that the AC was cold!!(!!)My Mom who was in the berth above me and my Dad who was in a different place were sleeping peacefully and their one and only daughter who was scared to death about falling down couldn't sleep a wink!
The Mom started wailing and I managed to put all my courage together to peep down to see D2 peeping outside the window and enjoying the view and D1 dozing off in the sitting position!
Mom's cries grew louder!AC is cold!!I will die now..someone save me!Why did I even come!!(Don't ask me.PASS!)
And the loving daughter told her Mom"Please keep quiet Mom,my child can't sleep!"
I'm sorry to tell you,but I felt like laughing!Her Mom's dying and she's bothered about the child's sleep??
The Dad's snores grew louder!(Why did it sound artificial to my ears??)
And thanks to God..hero arrived..ie SIL and took away Mom.The devoted SIL asked them to increase the AC Temperature and he took Mom outside the compartment.(Aaha!!Yeh bandhan tho pyaar ka bandhan hai!!)
The next day dawned bright and clear and the first dialogue I heard was by D1"Dad,your wife didn't let my husband sleep yesterday"
You all are lucky that I didn't fall off from the berth out of shock and by controlling my laughter!!

People are soo crazy!!And funny too..
You open your eyes and observe them..one thing is for sure,,you'll enjoy it!!
Especially during train journeys,when you are jobless!
Even the lady seated opposite to you, sleeping open mouthed and snoring will have some story!
I'm not being philosophical but such small things provide more entertainment than you can imagine!
Don't let people catch you staring at them!But just observe them..you might enjoy :D

Sounds crazy na??

I'm like this only...