Disclaimer: All characters in this story are
fictional and created purely for entertainment. Any relation to person living
or dead is completely coincidental.
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“Did you see the email from thesis
committee?” Krissh said out loud still staring at her computer screen. I was
reading an article on ‘Why it is important to be stupid in science?’ and was
startled by that question.
“No! What does it say?” I asked in an alarmed tone.
“Oh… It’s a reminder about the thesis submission deadline.
It’s in 3 days”.
“Okay. How does it matter to us? We did that one year ago.”
“I know...time flies fast!” she said with a sigh, staring
into infinity.
I continued to watch her wondering what was going on in her
mind at that moment. Then suddenly it all came back to me, flooding me with
memories from the past, the adventurous train journey the two of us were a part
of along with two other common friends after the thesis submission. My face lit
up.
“Krissh! Do you remember the train journey from last year? The one where we were going back to ‘Pune state’ after thesis submission?” I could see a grin forming on her face and bringing her back to reality.
“Krissh! Do you remember the train journey from last year? The one where we were going back to ‘Pune state’ after thesis submission?” I could see a grin forming on her face and bringing her back to reality.
March 2015
It was scorching heat in the peak of summer when Krissh and I
got out of a rickshaw at the Nowantpur railway station, sweating and
panting. We had a train to Pune state
at 13.50. We dragged our luggage as we walked into the station to find our
train. We were returning to the place where it all began after spending almost a
year in the garden city of the country. We had arrived an hour early than the
proposed departure time and had to patiently wait for our other two friends, Ratna
and Prabha to join us. Having found our compartment in the train and secured
our luggage under the seats, we stepped on to the platform to wait for our
friends.
When it was fifteen minutes to departure, I checked with Ratna
to find out where they were and when they would arrive. They were stuck in a
traffic jam at Mathicare, less than
two kilometers from the station. I assured myself that there were fifteen more
minutes and they should be able to make it on time. I went back to our
compartment to watch over our luggage, all the while talking to my parents over
the phone. Ten minutes later, Krishh who was still outside gestured to through
the sealed window that our friends are still stuck in the traffic jam. I immediately disconnected the call,
promising my parents to call them back later, and ran to the platform in a
state of panic. I searched for the ticket examiner (TT) to enquire whether the train
was by any chance delayed. Unfortunately for us, the answer was in negative and
the train would depart as scheduled. I
was sure my expression mirrored Krissh’s expression of hopelessness. Suddenly, Prabha
called us to say that the traffic had cleared and they would need our help with
their luggages which was (just!) 7-10 bags. Sending a porter to the entrance
seemed like a more practical thing to do, considering there were just a couple
of minutes to departure.
When the train started to move without any announcements signaling its departure, we had to quickly consider whether to move to Plan B- Pull the chain, stop the train and pay up the fine. As the train started to accelerate, we asked the TT in our adjacent compartment as to what to do, but he put up a sad smile and responded ‘Ab train tho choot gaye’. We then spotted our friends running towards the train from the entrance. A man who was standing near the other door watching the entire drama as it unfolded, suggested we pull the emergency chain and bring the train to a halt. The TT in an official manner said we would have to pay a fine of more than RS 2000 and warned us of the consequences. Given Ratna’s and Prabha’s history with general clumsiness and sporting abilities, respectively, and their alternative options to reach Pune state, I turned to Krissh to ask her what she thought. With one look we both knew we were thinking the same thing and ran to the nearest emergency chain, which for me involved jumping over two other occupants and pulled the chain with all my strength. I looked around to ask whether the train had halted and indeed it had. As Krissh ran to help our friends, the TT warned me to stay in and not get spotted by the officials who will be on the lookout to see who pulled it. And he stepped out to do his “duties”. Five minutes later, the train started moving, the TT asked me with a smile if our friends got the train. Before I could answer, Ratna and Prabha walked in with a lot of luggage looking like they were being chased for life, the TT just said “Looks like they did” and walked away.
When the train started to move without any announcements signaling its departure, we had to quickly consider whether to move to Plan B- Pull the chain, stop the train and pay up the fine. As the train started to accelerate, we asked the TT in our adjacent compartment as to what to do, but he put up a sad smile and responded ‘Ab train tho choot gaye’. We then spotted our friends running towards the train from the entrance. A man who was standing near the other door watching the entire drama as it unfolded, suggested we pull the emergency chain and bring the train to a halt. The TT in an official manner said we would have to pay a fine of more than RS 2000 and warned us of the consequences. Given Ratna’s and Prabha’s history with general clumsiness and sporting abilities, respectively, and their alternative options to reach Pune state, I turned to Krissh to ask her what she thought. With one look we both knew we were thinking the same thing and ran to the nearest emergency chain, which for me involved jumping over two other occupants and pulled the chain with all my strength. I looked around to ask whether the train had halted and indeed it had. As Krissh ran to help our friends, the TT warned me to stay in and not get spotted by the officials who will be on the lookout to see who pulled it. And he stepped out to do his “duties”. Five minutes later, the train started moving, the TT asked me with a smile if our friends got the train. Before I could answer, Ratna and Prabha walked in with a lot of luggage looking like they were being chased for life, the TT just said “Looks like they did” and walked away.
After settling down Ratna
began ‘Arey… you know what happened?” and continued without any response from
us with ‘We got out of the cab and saw the train moving. Then I shouted ‘Kisine
train kho rokho’ while running towards the platform” (I was so right about
her!). Prabha interrupted her with a huff ‘This woman just left me behind with
the cab driver who wasn’t ready to help me with my luggage and I had so many
(She did. 7 huge and heavy bags!). Ratna
seemed unperturbed by that and continued from where she left ‘so then I saw the
train halting. I looked back at Prabha and shouted “The train has stopped”. We
jumped over the fence and got into the platform. Some people waiting at the
platform came forward to help us and one of them said ‘Aaram se, Madamji. Lagtha hai train aapkeliye rokha hai!’
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