Vidhu opened an eye and glanced lazily at
the time on her mobile. It showed 6.45 AM. She turned her gaze towards the
window and was surprised to see that it was still dark outside. She clambered
out of bed and stood gazing out through the window. The tall apartment building
that she could see from her window situated just half a kilometer away was not
bathed in golden sunshine as it usually was. Instead, heavy dark monsoon clouds
loomed low and large over the horizon. The vast vacant plot of land with verdant
greenery spread out just below her apartment contrasted well with the dark
clouds. Vidhu felt a sense of peace and calm settle over her.
Heavy monsoon showers over the past two
days had made water collect in stagnant pools in the verdant green plot of land
and Vidhu noticed a white stork winging gracefully in a lovely arc and swooping
down to catch tiny fish from these stagnant pools. There were a lot of storks
and herons who come back every year to make it their home during the monsoons.
A few of them could be seen settling happily on to the backs of buffalos having
a swim in the pools.
Vidhu made herself a piping hot cup of tea
and settled down on the window sill to watch the birds and buffaloes, while
casually turning the pages of the Sunday papers. She felt a kinship with the
buffaloes, lazily grazing away with not a worry in the world. The entire day
stretched ahead of her and she was undecided as to what she wanted to do the
whole day. Half her mind craved for some fun and spontaneity. Vidhu moved towards
her bookshelf lined with all her treasured collection of books by her favorite
authors. She lovingly traced the outline of the well catalogued books with her
fingers until it stopped at one titled’ The Night Train at Deoli’ by her
favorite writer Ruskin Bond. She stood stock still as a seedling of an idea
formed in her mind. Yes. Trains. That was what she wanted to do for the day.
She decided to take a local train from Chetpet and go all the way up to the
last station, meander around for a while, getting lost in the milling crowds
and then come back home..
Until just over a year ago, Vidhu had been
working for a magazine at Adyar, and she had so loved commuting on the trains.
She had loved the journey, taking in the essence and soul of the people who
travelled with her, the sights and sounds, the vendors on the trains, all of
them had been fodder for her writer’s soul. With her husband away on a business
tour, Vidhu had the entire day to herself. With her mind made up, she quickly
showered, changed into a baby pink salwar, grabbed her purse, mobile, glasses
and her journal and made her way out.
As she approached the station, there was a
loud clap of thunder, and it started to pour. Oops! In her hurry, she had
forgotten her umbrella. ‘Was it a bad idea to have come out in this rain?’- she
brushed the thought aside.
Vidhu waited patiently in the long
meandering queue to get her tickets It was raining cats and dogs and she felt
the cold seeping in to her soul and dampening her enthusiasm.
“Gosh! I am hungry, lonely and to top it
all I have forgotten my umbrella too. Silly me’- she berated herself. The train
chugged in to the station and with a resigned sigh she got in and thankfully
found a window seat. It being Sunday and a rainy day at that, there weren’t
many passengers, and that made her feel all the more alone and depressed.
As the train rattled along, the rain
dwindled to a mere drizzle and her mood lifted slightly. But she realized with
a jolt that she had missed her breakfast entirely and now she was ravenously
hungry. She hoped that a vendor would come in at the next station selling
fruits or her favorite butter biscuits.
As the train stopped at the next station,
instead of a vendor, a tall, well built handsome young man sporting a white
long sleeved shirt and blue jeans alighted on to the train. He strode
purposefully to where she was seated and sat opposite her. He had a back pack
straddled on his back, a camera, handicam, and a huge lunch bag. Vidhu felt a
smile tug at her lips and she turned away and kept looking out of the window.
From his backpack he took out a book, his mobile, a newspaper, and with just a
nod in her direction he went on texting someone. A keen observer of human
nature, Vidhu turned her focus on to the young man and started studying him
surreptitiously.
All of a sudden he glanced up at her and
smiled. Mildly taken aback, yet Vidhu smiled back. He resumed his texting.
After a while, he took out a tightly rolled parcel from his bag and unpacked
it. Vidhu noticed that there were rotis and homemade pickles which he attacked
with gusto. She felt her mouth water, and could even feel her stomach growl.
Feeling embarrassed, she turned away from him and kept staring out through the
window.
“Care to have some of my home made rotis and
pickle? My mom is an amazing cook’- the young man spoke to her with a smile.
She smiled back but politely declined. A
moment later, he brandished an orange and peeled it. He handed her half of it
and said,” Of course you can’t say No to an orange. It’s great for warding off
colds in this weather’.
She found it immensely funny and biting
back a laugh, she gracefully accepted the orange. Next, he unpacked crisp
kakras, sprinkled peanut powder on them liberally and handed one to her.
“Oh no…
I don’t want these”- Vidhu exclaimed.
‘Come on… this is a North Indian delicacy.
I am sure you would love to have some khakras in this weather. They are homemade
ones. Please have some.”
Vidhu’s stomach took precedence over her
mind and she found herself tucking in to the lovely khakras. Both of them
shared a companionable silence while they ate.
‘I am a software engineer, but on weekends
I pursue my passion, and that is photography. “- smilingly explained the young
man.” I freelance quite a lot, and for a lot of travel magazines and blogs. I
have my own blog too.’
Vidhu smiled back and introduced herself as
a freelance writer and novelist in the making.
“Are you going someplace to meet someone?
To write about them? I am sorry if I am being inquisitive”- the young man
smiled apologetically.
“Well, I love commuting by these local
trains, and travelling on them inspires me a lot and gives me ample material to
weave into my writings’- explained Vidhu.
“‘Great... By the way, I am Naman. My wife
is away at her home for her delivery. Felt bored being at home all alone and
decided to come out with my equipment to capture pics for my next project,
titled the Monsoon Reverie.”
“Wow! That’s fantastic. I am Vidhu . My
husband too is away on a business tour and I too responded to my impulsive
adventurous instinct.”- Vidhu felt an easy camaraderie developing between them
both.
They continued talking about books and it
was easy light hearted yet intelligent banter. An hour later, it was time for
them to both get off the train.
“Well, I am getting off here. I t was nice
meeting you’- smiled Naman.
“Me too. It has been fun. And thanks for
the food. I was truly ravenous.”
“My pleasure. I just responded to your
stomach’s rumbling for food”.
She looked up startled and noticed him
sporting a mischievous smile.
She too chuckled happily.
“Well, I am gonna randomly walk around
shooting pics. I have no special agenda in mind’- Naman
Do you need me to find you a cab to take
you some place? - queried Naman
Vidhu hesitated-“Well, I had no agenda at
all. Actually I too had thought of randomly roaming around the whole day,
taking in sights and sounds and losing myself in anonymity.”
“Why don’t you join me for the day? You
know, it sounds strange, we have just met, nut if you can trust me enough, we
can both go around this place randomly shooting and observing. Your writer’s
keen mind will help me spot god pics to be shot as well”- Naman looked
expectantly at her.
“And…”- Naman drawled
Vidhu looked askance at him.
“Don’t worry about food. There’s enough
food to feed an army in my back pack”. Vidhu burst into laughter at that and
Naman grinned impishly.
The duo continued towards the exit in
companionable silence.
Outside, Naman got busy with his camera.
Thankfully the rain had abated for a while, even though the sky was heavily
over cast.
In the little town of Chenkalpet, Naman
went wild with his camera, shooting pics of cycle rickshaws plying slowly in
the rain, children splashing themselves in the puddles, share cabs plying
packed with passengers and making their way slowly in the already flooded
streets. He shot pics of vendors selling hot cups of tea, coffee, and spicy
bajjis crisp samosa, and masala peanuts. A remote and less travelled side
street had a slowly ambling bullock cart making its way towards the main road,
and the man inside was smoking a hookah, and Naman ‘s camera went crazy mopping
up all these shots.
Vidhu found these interesting and immensely
fascinating as he followed him around,. Nothing seemed to miss Naman’s keen
eye; a flower blooming amidst a thicket with rain drops clinging to it thrilled
them both. A shaft of sunlight streaming in through the branches of a tree at
noon time; women clustered around a stove and gossiping while cooking
fascinated him and they smiled shyly at him while he snapped up their pics.
“Whew…’
Naman and Vidhu plopped down on a bench in
a way side park. Vidhu took out her journal and scribbled fast in her journal,
eager not to miss out details of this amazing day. Naman meanwhile fiddled with
his camera.
“I am hungry. I have some delicious
mushroom fried rice, pappads and raita. Let’s tuck in. There’s a lot. Mon still thinks I am a growing boy ‘- Naman
unpacked the lunch bag and they shared the lovely delicious food between them.
The wintry skies watched over them and send a refreshing breeze on its way, to
cool them and Vidhu closed her eyes in absolute contentment.
“Now for a fruit. Catch”- Naman took out
two apples from his backpack and threw one at her.. Vidhu caught it deftly and
bit into the succulent fruit.
While they ate, Naman spoke about his
family, his wife, mom, sister and Vidhu felt as if she had known them all
along.
After a while he lapsed into silence and
said, “You know something? The day has turned out fun and interesting, thanks
to you. Just this morning I was hoping that something interesting and out of
the blue would happen and it has!”
“Yes, for me too. If not for you, I would
have taken the next train back home”- smiled Vidhu.
They cleared out their lunch and then
strolled down lazily down random streets.
Near a small temple under a banyan tree,
they spotted a kili jyotsiar, (an astrologer cum palmist with a parrot to
assist him). Catching sight of them, he offered to read their palms. Naman
brushed his request aside with a smile and wanted to just shot pics of him and
his parrot. The fellow posed for Naman and he was even paid for posing for the
pic.
They worshipped the banyan tree Ganesh and
then Naman said-“It is nearly 4.30. Shall we have some tea and then catch the train
back home?”
“Of course yes. I need to get back home
before it gets too dark”- Vidhu agreed.
I t started drizzling mildly and
immediately the pedestrians opened out their umbrellas. It was a colorful
scenario with lots of umbrellas of different hues opening out and Naman went to
work shooting pics.
They made their way to a cozy tea shop and
ordered hot tea and plates of crisp masala dosas.
While they ate, Naman said,” You know, I am
glad I followed my instincts. “
Vidhu concurred with a smile-“ I too was
thinking on the same lines. If I had decided to stay at home, I would have
missed out on this beautiful day. ‘
“Yes”- Naman smiled. ‘I read a lot and a
book I had read recently says that whatever we ask of the Universe, it
provides.”
Vidhu’s eyes twinkled in amusement. “I
guess we both asked the Universe for some amazing fun and adventure”.
“Yes! You said it , and we got it”- Naman
guffawed loudly.
They walked to the station, alighted on the
train and for the rest of the journey back home, they caught up on discussing
about books, music, and friendship and surprisingly they found that their
interests matched.
“All good things come to an end”- sighed
Vidhu as the train chugged into Chennai.
“Not necessarily. Here’s my card with my
number. Let’s keep in touch Thank you Universe, for a great new friend”- smiled
Naman as they shook hands and parted ways. Vidhu handed him her card too.
Naman helped her into a cab and as she
settled back in it, Vidhu felt as light as the rain drops falling all around
her outside.
“It pays to listen to your heart, to your
instincts’- Vidhu smiled to herself.
Her mobile tinkled. She looked down and
noticed a text from Naman. “Thanks for a beautiful day… and good things do not
have to end.. It goes on..”
She texted back-yes, it goes on… forever..”
