Train ramblings

By sheer chance, I reached early today at the train station. In the past few days, there has been a crazy churning of thoughts and ramblings in my head which find an outpouring here, somehow on the train platform whilst waiting for the train. It got me thinking of the many moments and years of train travelling where there wouldn't be enough time to ponder upon all these thoughts. My twenties were spent in a hectic train travel where the journey would be either spent reading or sleeping. Since it took a good two hours minimum for travel within the city, this little break was essential for recharging the energies. The winter seems brutal this year with temperatures dipping down and me, who hasn't ever experienced the coveted "mumbai winters" find myself adjusting to the chill and foggy landscapes. The foot fracture has been troubling me. Cold has seeped into my bones and made walking painful. The inflammation makes it difficult to traverse long distances or stand for too long. My struggle with getting in and off trains while trying not to land forcefully on the foot has been little successful. It's a wonder how I always took being healthy granted. Never did the thought of being indisposed or less able to counter the daily living challenges cross my mind. The train is scarcely crowded today. Women are all covered in colorful scarves, sweaters and shawls. They are huddled as close to each other as sheep in a herd. Yet I see many young girls braving the cold with their stylish outfits minus winter wear. The faint sliver of sunlight coming through the window panes is a beautiful sight. I always liked sitting in the sun everyday in my grandmother's yard during vacations. A place bereft of the concrete mess and solid blocks of houses from back in the city where I lived. Whenever someone asks me to narrate a favourite childhood memory, I go back to the days of lazy summer afternoons reading books in my grandma's fruit orchard. The winter mornings were spent snuggling in the still warm blankets while the other older women went about their daily chores. Years later, work mornings in winters were spent mostly sleeping in trains, cuddling the books I were reading then. As I think more about a significant portion of adult life spent travelling in trains, I am surprised by the many memories of people met during that time. Always a joy to see familiar faces and then someday, an old friend would light up the journey with their talks and laughter. I also greatly enjoyed albeit anxiously my train journeys in Europe. I was always quite flustered at missing out on my destination. So many people there read on trains. That was a source of delight having to see people's noses buried deep in books. The train journeys were much quieter there. I remember my fancied expressions each time the window bought pleasant landscapes and vast green fields all over the horizon. I remember thinking to myself that I would miss this quiet once I was back home. Everything felt so disoriented after traveling with the chaos and crowd two months later after returning home. As I await to get off at my destination, I think - Of the endless trains of the faithless, as Walt Whitman wrote!