Nostalgia in a bottle

"For her the coming of tunnels meant she was home. They followed one after the other, three tunnels, black as existence, red streaks from the tunnel lights giving everyone and everything a tinge of unreality. The little boy in the berth looked particularly unearthly as he squirmed about,excited by this sudden darkness that descended on the compartment. A never ending darkness, while the train went about its determined way, and then sudden daylight, as if the tunnel was a dream."

Every time I see a rail neer bottle, nostalgia engulfs me.  I spent 2017 in a daze, one train journey after another, going from Bangalore to Hoshangabad and back for a course in Children's book illustration. Months, as short as they are, really did run like rabbits, with one week spent in Hoshangabad and the rest of the time spent catching up with work and classes back in Bangalore. So, I could say I spent at least four - five  days a month in trains. A kind of home. Not to mention the countless hours spent waiting for trains to arrive at the railway station. My journey took me through Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. I have seen beautiful sunsets, changing landscapes, hills and valleys and lakes that mirror the sky. I have seen quaint stations like Jolarpettai that have made me want to get off the train, because they look so inviting. 

Indian trains are peculiar. I have never traveled abroad so I don't know if this comparison is right, but I don't think any other railway system in the world can quite capture the family feeling of Indian trains. Boisterous as they are, people in India are warm. In long journeys, it is impossible to not make friends, or at least get acquainted with other families. I have had kind families offer me the food that they had packed. There was this one Tamil uncle and aunty ( who called me 'baby') who gave me the most delicious puliogare I have ever eaten. I still go weak in the knees when I think of it. Or that nice doctor who treated me to chai and paneer pakodas and gallantly carried my suitcase and saw me off at Hoshangabad. Or the numerous attendants who have treated me to chai and spoken to me of their lives. 

I have met and observed interesting people too. Like this Jaipur bound middle aged couple who had their elaborate meal in this huge box - there was paratha and one sabzi for breakfast, paratha and different sabzi for lunch and dal. Cucumbers and namkeen and a separate pack of salt and red chilli powder for the cucumbers. Some sonpapdi for dessert. Some churmuri for which she grated all the veg  to make fresh food and serve. Some khakhra in the evening with chai. (Don't ask me what I was doing watching them! They were right across me! ) It was quite interesting.  On the other end, there were so many travelers, especially youngsters who didn't eat anything in 2 days except for one packet of  potato chips. I asked one of them how they managed. She said, "The train food is really bad and expensive. Besides, I sleep a lot. If you sleep you don't feel hungry." Yes, she would have given a koala bear a run for its money. 

Many funny things too. Like this old gentleman who pulled the chain to stop the train because a friend had not been able to make it in time! Nobody lost much time in berating him. Finally he got off the train, his friend not having come despite his show of friendship. Or the old grandfather who gathered up a different passenger's slippers, covered it in his towel and made a makeshift pillow to sleep on! Later in the night, irritated voices could be heard and lights were turned on. A young man was looking for his slippers. Eventually, the old man woke up and gave the young man his footwear.  It was time to get down at the station otherwise the young fellow would have surely given him an earful. 

This was also the time, my inordinate love for mango pulse candy began. It was the only entertainment I have had when stuck in the middle berth. It was so frustrating that everyone only wanted to sleep all the time, and I was stuck in that god awful middle seat where you can't do anything except, well, sleep. You can't watch anything on your phone for long, you can't read. The only thing you can do is stare at the upper seat and ruminate on life and philosophize.I think I've had my share of philosophizing for one life, thank you very much. I have been in overcrowded trains, empty trains and I have loved the atmosphere in both. I have seen  people behave differently when they board the train and differently when they are about to alight. A curious thing I have always noticed in all of my train journeys is that even taciturn, quiet or reserved people become livelier or chatty when their station is close. Maybe it's the relief that you won't be seeing these strangers again combined with the relief that the long journey has come to an end. Whatever it is, everybody is much more cheerful and friendly when it is time to get down.

I have had my share of intrusive, annoying encounters too. Some people just do not get the concept of boundaries, most often, men. If you are civil to them, they seem to believe that anything goes. I can't tell you the number of times I have been told  - You should stop studying so much, and talk to us ( Itna padhayi mat karo) when in fact I would be reading a novel. Reading for pleasure is an alien concept. Or this particular train attendant who talked non-stop and didn't leave me alone, so much so, that I had to pretend to go to sleep! I did fall sleep and when I woke up some half an hour later, the man was still around. He grinned and said to me ' Kya madam, aap kitna soti ho" and settled down to have a good chat. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry!

 In your life, have at least one train journey that will take you two days to complete. You will get a new perspective on life. Time really stretches in the train. Like how, for two days, your existence is wiped out. There is often no network and it feels like you have lost connection with all the routine things that make you who are as a person.You have to survive a kind of loneliness and find ways to entertain yourself.