A journey so enlightening!

The giant clock outside the station showed 8:45PM, which meant my train would leave in next 15 minutes and I had to buckle up. Though my luggage included only a laptop bag and I have a clean tar-free lung, running always makes me breathless.  Panting and gasping for breath, I finally made it to the platform and darted towards the sleeper coach I had a reservation in. I was lucky enough to board the train just 2 minutes before it blew the horn.

Unlike amorous dreams of having a young debonair gentleman as company, I always have the fate of ending up with three categories of people. First, large boisterous families who feel it their birth right to talk at the top of their voice, caring little for fellow passengers, followed by army men who turn into gapeseeds, ogling hungrily throughout the journey.  And the third category is usually reserved for lecherous uncles with mid-life crisis, whose uncomfortable stares make their voyeuristic intentions palpably transparent. My current encounter entails brush with coxcombs of the third category who have absolutely no qualms about betraying their prowess of being complete perverts or their extinct knowledge of general awareness.

I finally made it to the seat and upon placing the luggage dialled the phone number of my ‘worried’ boyfriend who did not want to waste his time, energy or money in purchasing a platform ticket to see me off but was very keen on learning if I had reached safe. Amid an animated conversation of my solo struggle to catch the train over the phone, my eyes caught the attention of three men, perhaps in their late 50s, gawking at me. One of them hinted at his desire of wanting to strike a conversation, which I casually ignored. After making three calls back to back when I finally disconnected and started enjoying the trails of lights of the distant factories my train crossed, one of the three finally came up and asked, “Would you mind exchanging your Upper Berth with my Middle?” I courteously denied citing safety issues and started checking messages on my cell phone. Almost half an hour passed and I could sense their restlessness of learning of my whereabouts. My patience had nearly given way of their stealing glances and I decided to excuse myself to the Upper Berth. My mental calculation was again interrupted by the same man. However, this time his question not only showed keen interest in knowing me but his and his fellow companion’s pathetic general knowledge.

Just as I got up to climb to my seat one of them questioned, “Are you from Nepal?” ( A question I frequently come across in my own country owing to my Mongoloid features) I looked at him for a while and blatantly answered, “No, I am from Bhopal.” Of course this was too trivial an answer to quench their irrepressible hunger of digging out more about me, for reasons I just couldn’t fathom! My fellow companion made it quite clear with his statement followed by another question that he wouldn’t let go off me unless his enquiries were put to rest.  “You don’t look like you are from Bhopal. (Obviously people of Bhopal have big eyes that like ogling; very long nose that they enjoy poking into other’s business and of course a large mouth that cannot stop from asking stupid question. By this standard I surely did not fit the bills. ) Where do you stay in Bhopal?” I had decided to answer one last question and so I replied bluntly, “I am from Assam, living in Bhopal for some time.” With these words I jumped into the berth and snuggled into the warmth of my tiny red blanket.

However, failing to catch sleep in the rowdy milieu, I was compelled to pay an ear to their discussion, one that could send any North Eastern into hysteria. The discussion that unfolded was, “Dekha maine kaha tha Nepal ki nahin hai, Assam ki hai who aur Assam Tripura mein hain,” said one of the three buffoons. Another one was fast enough to correct him impromptu. He showed his brilliant knowledge and said, “Arrey nahin, Assam Tripura mein nahin, Sikkim mein hai. Waha Darjeeling se jaana padta hai aur wahan ke log Manipuri bolte hai!!”

Well, this was my saturation point, I guess. Eavesdropping into the conversation of such ‘enlightened virtuoso’ could be detrimental for my sanity, I decided. So, wasting no more time I plugged the earphones, hibernated into the blanket and dozed off for the night. Thankfully it was an overnight journey and by the time I woke up the train had already made it to the destination, leaving no room for any further discussion!