i finally hummed!

I find shatabdis totally frustrating. Granted, they make complete sense for these one day trips and save you a lot in terms of time and money but sitting at one place for 4-5 hours at a stretch is not something I look forward to. I could get up and move around but I am a little paranoid when it comes to leaving my belongings under someone else’s care. I am already prone to losing things/having things stolen / dropping things and just leaving things around and having them picked up is not something I would want to add to the list.

So I caught the morning shatabdi to Ludhiana and was planning to stay there for a day. But surprisingly I got done the very same day and decided to leave for Delhi. Getting a shatabdi was impossible so I decided to just take a general ticket and get on any train that would go to Delhi. I met a TT at the station who was very helpful and told me to get on some train he called “Flying”. The train was already at the station and because it was unbelievably hot and humid and because I was carrying way too much luggage to check anything else I simply got on it. After it started moving and after talking to fellow passengers I was told that the train would take 6 hours to get to Delhi (a shatabdi usually takes 3.75 hrs). I wasn’t really looking forward to this. Somehow, the TT found me a seat in AC II Tier. I started making PC with him. He told me about his 23 years as a TT and how he got an MA. (I really wanted to ask him why he would choose this profession after he had an MA but I controlled the urge) He then went on and on about he practically knows the whole of Punjab because of his profession and everyone remembers him every time. Not surprising considering he had the most endearing way of talking in Punjabi and making one feel at home almost instantly. He left after a while and I tried to read/watch a movie. 

Something that I haven’t mentioned till now is that there was a 20-year-old boy/ man traveling with me. I guess I didn’t bring it up till now is because he was almost not with me. He never uttered a single word throughout the trip. He accompanied me on this trip to get trained on-the-job. Anyway, the only reason I am even mentioning him is that I was able to move out of my seat because he was there to take care of my belongings.

And I ended up leaning out of the main door throughout the entire trip. Now if I was a good writer I would definitely mention, in detail, how crisp and fresh the air was and how beautiful the surroundings were. But well I am not. All I can say about the journey back that throughout I was grinning like a lunatic while leaning out with the wind tangling my hair like crazy(I still haven’t been able to sort them out). Oh and I also left my phone inside while it was getting charged. I had almost forgotten this feeling- the one of being completely relaxed and not having a care in the world. I started humming without even realizing it!

The TT used to come out once in a while to check if I was still around. We even got chai from one of the stations and had it in those “kulhars”. He used to get off at every station and make everyone quickly get in, even the ones without a ticket, ensuring them that he would make sure that they were comfortable throughout the entire ride. I am so used to dealing with the corrupt TT’s that this come as a pleasant surprise. I almost hugged him. 

The train dragged on the last coupla stations. I really wasn’t looking forward to the journey ending so I didn’t care if we were late. Usually , I cannot wait for it to get over. 

Maybe I should do this more often. 

(Faith in humanity partially restored)