Travel with me — Exploring the beauty of train journeys

Traveling alone as a small town girl who is also the only girl who moved out of her city for further studies is pretty liberating. I appreciate my efforts when I take the local bus instead of a cab, when I manage to carry all my bags on my own, when I order food for myself by myself and when I find the train on time, get perfectly seated, and again, all of this, on my own! It is normal, I understand but I’m 18 and I’ve never done it before because I always had my parents and someone else to help and make sure I’m safe but this time, I took my responsibility and I did it. What makes journeys more chaotic but in pleasant way are people. There are so many of them around all the time and when I say that I pay attention to details, I mean that I don’t forget people’s actions that easily and I’m too sensitive for train journeys because I take so many memories with me every time I travel but this is the beauty of it.

When I took a train for the first time without my parents, my dad couldn’t come to the station because he got sick. I was in the middle birth, right in front of my perfect boyfriend who I knew would take care of me throughout the trip and that wasn’t very independent of me but I loved relying on him as I’d grown tired of being strong all the time. So, right under my birth was someone’s grandmother and her granddaughters and her daughter came to drop her off and say their small, cute but very emotional bye’s. It reminded me of my grandma and how worried she could have been if she was still here today, seeing me living alone away from home. The daughter of that lady looked smart and she paid a man who was traveling and had his seat right under my boyfriend’s birth. His job was just to make sure that grandmother aunty reaches her destination safely. I wonder what was going on but more than that, I just cared more about that grandmother’s safety and health and those granddaughter’s future with her because I have and I will be experiencing both stages someday or living in the nostalgia after seeing pieces of me in other people’s bodies.

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Then, at the stop where we are supposed to be careful because a lot of thieves enter there — an old man came and settled himself on the birth above mine. Now, fun fact about me — I have trouble getting on any birth other than the lower one so first, I was just worried for him but he did an exceptional job by getting up there smoothly by taking god’s name once or twice. It looked like his seat was also reserved by his child because as soon as he laid down on his seat, he made a call, telling them that he found his seat and that he is perfectly seated now. It was 2 AM but I couldn’t sleep and neither did I shut up about my past traumas in front of my boyfriend. That’s when I mentioned the same to him about that uncle but in English, so he wouldn’t know that we were talking about him. He also sounded content and proud when he made that call, like sitting on a third-class AC train was an achievement and maybe it was for him and I’m glad he had his chance.

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This one time while sitting in my hostel room, I read the news about a girl who made a new account just to make a tweet about a creep who just wouldn’t stop making her uncomfortable by staring at her even after multiple warnings from her and her father. She got help at the next station and I felt safer for my next train trip but incidents like this always make me wonder how I could have been there. This also gave me flashbacks of the time when a man, dressed as a priest kept staring at me on the train and one time, another man on the bus. I just remember that uneasy and suffocating feeling. Nothing else. But I still try to believe in humanity and think of those two hardworking brothers who waited with me for my bus on the highway as it was 9'o clock and it wasn’t safe for me. They first assured me that they didn’t want to hurt me and then offered to drop me till the next bus stop but when I refused, they maintained their distance and made sure I took the bus safely. Who were they? Two villagers who were already too tired after their day jobs and hours of traveling in the city but they still waited with me.

So, this time when I was at the railway station almost hours before my train’s arrival, I found a seat, looking all confident so no one would even try to approach or hurt me. There was a stall right next to me and a man was seated there and multiple other people kept coming and going while making small talk with him. And after an hour or so, two men came and sat next to me on the seat. None of them made me feel uneasy in that environment and sadly, I have to be grateful for this bare minimum in this country where I deserve to feel equally respected and safe but that’s not the case.

(Picture credit: Parth Khadolia)

After a while, a drunk man came and literally just tried lying on my whole seat, meaning him lying on my lap so I shifted uncomfortably and the other two men did too to make sure that I feel safe. And that stallkeeper also stood up to make sure that the drunkard doesn’t cross his boundaries so, within a minute, he was asked to leave. The other men didn’t ask me to sit between them because that wouldn’t make me feel safe but they also made sure that my bags and I got enough space to sit even when it meant that they had to sit in a little too less space. I also noticed porters while this, with a thick thread tied on their elbows. I wondered why it was there, to help them deal with the pain that they will have to go through all day? This one porter was so kind and came to drop off many bags of this old, confused couple on his cart. But not even once did he get annoyed and helped them with all the questions they had about their train. That uncle reminded me of dad when he bought some chips for himself and his wife while roaming around, like he was curious and couldn’t sit still.

When they left, I saw a mother see off her daughter for her first solo trip. She shed a few tears in presence of her younger daughter, son, and her older daughter’s boyfriend after the train left but she looked proud and I just couldn’t stop thinking of the purpose of her journey. It could be anything, right? Someone starting a new life or taking a break to get closer to themselves. Her mom must be finding it hard because it was her first time or because she is scared of new habits she will have to get used to, which includes her older daughter’s absence. I didn’t see my mom leave when she came to drop me off because she left a little early and I’m glad she did because I was already on the verge of a mental breakdown.

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My train finally arrived but while I waited for it, I saw a couple bitching about their group they abandoned to take this trip. A trip to my hometown that I don’t wanna go back to but here they were, hoping to make some amazing memories and I hope they make the most out of their time. I gave them a few tips and introduced myself as a localite even though I have spent so less time in the town because I preferred being in my home only. But the conversation went smoothly as we used the language English. Another couple was sitting behind us with a baby daughter and boy, she didn’t stop crying even for a second and all I could think about was how I never wanna have kids. All this while, I missed the only person I’d ever traveled with because this time, he didn’t even have an idea that I was doing it for the first time, and that too on my own.

In my cabin, there was a lady with a few teenagers and a man with some pre-teenaged kids. They were annoying and also wanted to make everything about themselves. Do you know those people who think they know everything? They gave off that vibe and I didn’t have the energy to deal with them so even though they wanted me to adjust I just asked them to vacant my seat so I could lie down comfortably and my introverted self was extremely proud for communicating this without hesitation. I could hear them even after putting my headphones on but they left in 5 hours or so and after them, came a family of all adults who were extremely immature because all I asked was to keep my bag in front of me so I could keep a check on it because it was under my seat at that point but all they responded with was “we have too many bags of our own”. And I just wanted to say “thank you for being so not understanding and helping an 18-year-old who is traveling alone for the first time but it’s not like I need your help. I just wanted you to be decent enough as fellow passengers and you clearly didn’t meet the expectations”.

(Picture credit: Pinterest)