bangalore to chennai

I prefer travelling in train. Convenience and comfort i find in train makes me feel good to select a train journey rather than a bus or any other medium of commuting. Am a student from a renowned engineering college at Chennai. I travel tobangaloreevery fortnight to meet my cousin who works for a software company inbangalore.

 Sun, January 9th 2011, i boarded the train tobangalore, and this time i preferred my travel to be in first class seater service. Seats are good and on a hurry i packed my biscuits and a litre of drinking mineral water from IRCTC canteen. These days most of the railway station based canteens are owned back by IRCTC and they do prove that they run it neat and clean.

 5 past 8 i boarded by seater coach on time at central station. Was in search of A1 – 23. I am sure that this is a window seat as when booking in manual IRCTC counter at station i specially requested the booking officer telling that i get bored of train journey when my sitter option is not a window one. My PJ did not work out with him and he threw the ticket on me. I clearly noticed his work stress and my poor joke adding extra pounds to his stress.

 I reached seat number 23 and cool, a big glass window is beside me to give me a aerial view of the journey. It was a four seater cubicle where two seats face each other. Beside me was an old man in 70s and he was already in his short nap [seemed like a long nap though]. I took my seat by disturbing him a little and he never cared for that. Making myself comfortable i found a good looking decent lady sitting before me in the opposite seat. Her seat number was 25; her age must have been the same.

 I could not control myself looking at her. I just wish i should not have struggled for a window seat as even after the train has already started i found seat number 26 empty. She was wearing a dark blue salwar which matched as a perfect contrast for her fair skin. She was wearing a black heals, a gold plated designer watch and a Black Hand bag.

Half an hour past 8 and i would have stared at her more than i did through my window seat. I wish i should have a coffee and a talk with her. I quickly called the chaya wala, and ordered for a coffee. With an expectation that she will look at me getting the coffee i was leaning forward towards her side to get the coffee. Yes, She did stare at me and then at the chaya wala. She was not willing to have a coffee so i took chance to interrupt her silence offering her a coffee.

She happily rejected my offer which made me unhappy. Now, with a coffee in hand and a broken offer i started giving her strange looks as to how to create a chance to break her silence. I looked through the glass window constantly, trying to perceive the reflection of light from her face. I calculated from the image through window that not even once she has minded to look at me. Very sad.

Luck was a fail for the past 1 hour. I decided to initiate a fresh talk with her. The old man near my seat was always sleeping and we both never minded each other. I asked her name and surprising she pretended not to listen to me. I forced my question and i got an unwilling answer telling Shweta. I found her very much disturbed when she answered her name.

I found that this is a waste of time and luck. I pretended not to notice her thereafter and started listening to music in my mobile. As i know that i will not be able to concentrate on my music, i started worrying about shweta a lot. I look equally good and am not self discouraged with my appearance though as to why she ignores me. I took my guts again and went forward for another question from my list. I asked her where she is travelling and she repliedbangalore. Good with the reply i moved forward to another question but her phone was ringing. She picked it and left the seat empty.

I stood myself and walked over to the pathway and found that she was talking over phone. She noticed that i am watching her. I managed myself to cross her over to the rest room in order to listen to her conversation. I found her telling that she is on the way and she will be there in another 3 to 4 hours and was desperately asking some one to take care.

I walked along with her enquiring is she ok on phone?!. She denied replying no. I continued my talk enquiring about her home atbangalorewhich she replied that she is from indira nagar. We both reached our seats and i tried to continue my efforts of developing my intimacy with her. To my surprise she enquired my name. After naming me as Raj to her i showed a ton of happiness in my face to her and thanked her for asking my name. She gave me a decent smile.

As i was continuing my talk, she got another call and she again left the seat empty. I confirmed that it must be her curious boy friend trying to make sure that she is not chatting with a stranger like me in a train. I wanted to take out that phone and throw it away. Well, till now not even once we had a fun talk which i was expecting for the past 2.5 hours. 3 hours more to reach bangalore, i was not able to keep myself silent whereas the lady i like do always runs behind her mobile calls.

This time when i initiated my talk she did tell me that she wants to rest for a while as she hasn’t slept properly. I told her that she can chat with me for a while till she gets sleep. What nonsense have i told?!. It was not bothering me to take an offensive chance with her. But she was really disturbed this time to hear me and said it strict on face that ” I don’t want to waste my time chatting with you. Better be yourself on your journey and let’s try to part ourself as strangers”.

I kept my silence for a while and she was sleeping. I was irritated with her reply and wanted to irritate her back. I removed my headphones and increased the volume of my mobile to play my song. She indeed was disturbed and asked me to use headphones. It’s my turn now and told her “Am trying to be myself on my journey and its none of her business”. Being happy that i knocked off her, i still felt bad that she is not talking with me.

Ticket was checked for me and the inspector did find that she is travelling her journey on a ticket name of her friend. Surely there was a discussion and she pretended that she is travelling on urgency and she is ready to pay the fine. Penalty was just double the ticket amount and she casually picked it from her handbag. While picking the bag she unknowingly dropped her mobile off her seat and i helped in picking the same for her.

After that she was worried a lot about the fact that there is no network coverage on her phone, while my phone had the same. I offered her my mobile and she rejected. It’s now confirmed that she is willing to talk to her boy friend. I enjoyed joking at her telling that “tell to your boy friend that am your brother and he wont annoy you!!”.

She felt so bad about my comment and she warned me telling “You have no rights to talk about whom i am calling and what for i am calling?!.” She did enquire me what’s my intension of talking to her like this. I proudly told that i want to become her friend. She did tell me that it’s certainly not possible and asked me to leave it.

This time with guts to play little with her, i challenged her that next time she will never be able to attend any call from her boyfriend. She warned me again not to behave like this to her. 1/2 an hour to reachBangalore, i found that the lady was busy over the phone on the pathway again. When she came back she kept the phone on her handbag and was looking for her call phone leather cover. I informed that she did take it with her when she was on call, which is a lie and i was having the cover. She went back to the path way and was trying to search for the same. With the old man still sleeping, and no more neighbours i managed to take off her mobile out of the bag and put back the cover into her bag.

She came back and declared that it’s lost and closed her handbag. I used her phone to move it to silent mode and had hid it below my seat with the face of the phone facing the floor. Half an hour to reachBangalore, i was enjoying her seriously searching for her mobile while she was able to get only her leather cover. With a serious trembling face that indicated that her boy friend would have given 100 calls she now turned to me and with a shivering face asked me  “Whether you are playing with my cell phone?!”. I replied with a vengeance in my voice telling “Am behaving as a stranger in my journey and it’s not my duty to take other’s cell phones”.

She searched throughout her cabin and finally asked me to ring her number which i denied telling her “I don’t encourage dialling stranger’s numbers”. I made her to beg at me to dial her number and inform her that it’s ringing and some one would have stolen it. She started enquiring poor chaya walas and she was ashamed to do so. I wanted to extend my game till i reachbangalore, but was tensed to see that she had already burst out into huge tears running down her dress.

I managed to tell her not to cry and offered her cell phone which she grabbed it fast with an annoying smile at her face and unlocking the phone to see it. Surprising to me and to her there was 37 missed calls from the same number named “Hubby”.

She called back to the number and she was astonished. She cried a lot and she threw the mobile on me, banging herself to the side on the train.

This day i came to know how bad my behaviour is. I realized the value of social responsibility and behaviour. I understood the meaning of life and its importance.

I did the biggest mistake of my life in playing with a stranger without knowing in what situation they come from.

Prashant was admitted in a hospital after a head injury and a crack on his ribs inBangalore. He was admitted on Sun, January 9th 2011, early morning 6:25 and was still in ICU till 13:45. By 7:05 he was able to recognize him after the accident but situation was bad enough for his life to be brought back.

After continuous requests he was arranged to talk to his wife using his mobile phone which he wished would heal him better than the medicines. Even though doctors had confirmed his non-helping situation he was feeling better within himself to talk to his wife on phone for every 5 minutes. He had tried 37 times to reach his wife before he passed away by 13:45 the same day. I took shweta’s mobile by 13:40 and i returned the mobile to Shweta by 13:46. She did hear that her husband cried a lot to speak to her before he passed away.

Shweta left the train station atBangaloreafter losing her lovely husband with whom she had been married on the same day a year before.

I felt Ashamed!!!!!

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