Life on Track — A parallel universe
She had forgotten how these things worked.
Kamala seemed to be in a hurry , her usual self . She told the auto driver to hurry up, “I am already late !”. When she reached the destination, she saw an ocean of people walking in all directions.
Kamala opened her purse and took out her aadhar card. She was shocked to see that people got in without a security check. She started looking for gate numbers, the board displayed platform numbers. Confused, she went to the information desk to find out more. The clerk was busy and without looking said “ Madam, platform 7, climb that bridge on the right and second stairs going down”. The instructions confused Kamala further but she decided to try her luck. She looked around to see if she could ask someone else! Every one seemed busy talking and were always going somewhere it seemed. She moved in a frenzy, recollecting the instructions towards the platform.
She looked for a place where she could start working on that presentation she had to make. She walked the entire platform with her luggage and found people sleeping on makeshift beds or sitting on their own bedrolls/suitcases . She stood in a corner wondering what to do next.Started cursing her company and the pandemic for changing the travel policy, any journey less than two hours of flying time now had to be done by train/road. So many people speaking at the same time and a vendor passing by her every few minutes with loud cries of “Kaapi ,Kaapi chaiya chaiya “ started to give her a headache.The vendors would holler just in time when announcements of trains were made. She strained her ears trying to listen. Was it her train ? Was it on time ?
She checked her watch again for the hundredth time. She started missing her espresso or the occasional single malt she imbibed as a treatment for her headaches. She gave in, and had her milky sweet chai after several years. The chai took her back to her childhood and several memories of journeys they had done as a family. When was the last time she was on a train ? How her father planned all vacations and her diligent mother made so much food including snacks to she liked for the entire trip.She put on her newly purchased AirPods, Bob Dylan’s Nettie Moore started to play. Lost in her own world and time seemed to come to a standstill. A train with its loud hooting started to roll into the platform. She had to look for the second AC sleeper. This time she wasn’t in a hurry to get there and started moving slowly towards the coach. She confirmed the coach position with a co-passenger on the platform and got in. She looked for seat number 17 and found someone already occupying the seat. She looked at him and the ticket once more !
To be continued …..
