Metro railway certainly has made the travelling fast but each station has its own stories. The gate opens, the electronic lady voice declares the name of the station , the writing of the name in the station itself in very old familiar font playbacks the memories of each one. I don't know how many people have ever thought of this or are connected with almost all stations in some way or the other. Certainly few are such which have a lot of memories bonded with the name itself.
On one such rainy day , I had been travelling in the metro almost late evening. I had to go for a training and stay in the north Kolkata for 2 days. The known facts about the metros and its repetitions make me more and more confident about this conveyance. For example people rushing out of the metro as soon as the gate opens and running towards the outward gate without even knowing actually why they are saving few minutes of their life when they actually don't know where they will end up. The people rushing in without even caring for the probability of lesser than 10 percent chance to sit and that too when they know they will arrive in the next 15 minutes. More to that they rush in without even caring for the people to get down at the first place as if each and every person is important only to themselves.
On that heavy rainy day people entering in their wet clothes and shoes easily told me how much it was raining , outside every station. It was not the same everywhere, so I wished it does not rain so much at my destination. Having said that , I also felt that the same wish had been done by so many people inside the metro , already drenched waiting to be drenched more. Its a difficult task for the almighty sometime. Its not that I don't like rain but I feel it rains only when I am not prepared to enjoy it. Or maybe I am one of those who is unknowingly running , not ready to stop and feel. I don't know. Nobody told me that.
With the opening of the gate at every station and by reading the name I could sense silence inside me despite the busy vehicle and the people making fuss about that stupid rain although some joyous couples seemed to enjoy preety much. Why did my brain had to be so smart to play the slideshows of the memories automatically ?
Many happy go lucky people play games in the mobile phones and tablets and many shut off the noises with their headphones on but my favourite activity is to watch people and guess about their life. Kind of cheap maybe but yeah its true. I like observing and reading people. But that day I was more busy reading myself.
As the stations were crossing by and I was near to my destination I could feel my heart beat then. The greatest memories were connected to my destination. I was a frequent visitor of that station once upon a time and after so many months I was visiting it once again but the purpose was different now. I would not have chose to come if I had some choice. Its not that I did not like it anymore , but the memories make me numb , I can feel my pulse yet an inertness acts in me.
I reached finally. It was raining heavily outside. I was standing at the main gate , waiting for it to slow down a bit. I din't expect it to stop. My eyes were busy looking for the bus that goes to my training centre but it would not be honest if I tell that I did not look around in the footpaths or the close by shops to search someone who was the reason for all those memories. A part of me wanted to get a bus as soon as possible and another part wanted to step outside , stand in the forceful gust of wind and rain and get drenched with a hope that it washes away the pain in the memories , it pacifies my heartbeat and it removes my inertness. A glimpse of the ' reason of all this ' would not cause any turbulence in me - that is all what I could wish.
The bus came and I was walking fast towards it. Just near the footsteps I felt that across the street I saw an umbrella and a familiar image of someone walking fast down the street. Just a glimpse , not very sure but strong enough to make me halt. The conductor waved his hand fast and wanted me to get in quickly. Ignorant of my life and busy in his own world I felt he did not have time for me to wait much. I could not see any more of what had stopped me. The umbrella just vanished in the rainy streets and running people. I got in the bus and conductor welcomed me with his irritated look as I have wasted his few seconds deciding to board the bus or not.
The bus moved on. I wish I could too.
This post is linked to 3 Word wednesday
Also linking it up with the theme of ABYSS by THEME THURSDAY
On one such rainy day , I had been travelling in the metro almost late evening. I had to go for a training and stay in the north Kolkata for 2 days. The known facts about the metros and its repetitions make me more and more confident about this conveyance. For example people rushing out of the metro as soon as the gate opens and running towards the outward gate without even knowing actually why they are saving few minutes of their life when they actually don't know where they will end up. The people rushing in without even caring for the probability of lesser than 10 percent chance to sit and that too when they know they will arrive in the next 15 minutes. More to that they rush in without even caring for the people to get down at the first place as if each and every person is important only to themselves.
On that heavy rainy day people entering in their wet clothes and shoes easily told me how much it was raining , outside every station. It was not the same everywhere, so I wished it does not rain so much at my destination. Having said that , I also felt that the same wish had been done by so many people inside the metro , already drenched waiting to be drenched more. Its a difficult task for the almighty sometime. Its not that I don't like rain but I feel it rains only when I am not prepared to enjoy it. Or maybe I am one of those who is unknowingly running , not ready to stop and feel. I don't know. Nobody told me that.
With the opening of the gate at every station and by reading the name I could sense silence inside me despite the busy vehicle and the people making fuss about that stupid rain although some joyous couples seemed to enjoy preety much. Why did my brain had to be so smart to play the slideshows of the memories automatically ?
Many happy go lucky people play games in the mobile phones and tablets and many shut off the noises with their headphones on but my favourite activity is to watch people and guess about their life. Kind of cheap maybe but yeah its true. I like observing and reading people. But that day I was more busy reading myself.
As the stations were crossing by and I was near to my destination I could feel my heart beat then. The greatest memories were connected to my destination. I was a frequent visitor of that station once upon a time and after so many months I was visiting it once again but the purpose was different now. I would not have chose to come if I had some choice. Its not that I did not like it anymore , but the memories make me numb , I can feel my pulse yet an inertness acts in me.
I reached finally. It was raining heavily outside. I was standing at the main gate , waiting for it to slow down a bit. I din't expect it to stop. My eyes were busy looking for the bus that goes to my training centre but it would not be honest if I tell that I did not look around in the footpaths or the close by shops to search someone who was the reason for all those memories. A part of me wanted to get a bus as soon as possible and another part wanted to step outside , stand in the forceful gust of wind and rain and get drenched with a hope that it washes away the pain in the memories , it pacifies my heartbeat and it removes my inertness. A glimpse of the ' reason of all this ' would not cause any turbulence in me - that is all what I could wish.
The bus came and I was walking fast towards it. Just near the footsteps I felt that across the street I saw an umbrella and a familiar image of someone walking fast down the street. Just a glimpse , not very sure but strong enough to make me halt. The conductor waved his hand fast and wanted me to get in quickly. Ignorant of my life and busy in his own world I felt he did not have time for me to wait much. I could not see any more of what had stopped me. The umbrella just vanished in the rainy streets and running people. I got in the bus and conductor welcomed me with his irritated look as I have wasted his few seconds deciding to board the bus or not.
The bus moved on. I wish I could too.
This post is linked to 3 Word wednesday
Also linking it up with the theme of ABYSS by THEME THURSDAY
interesting perspective makes me want to know more about the life that he can't move on from
ReplyDeleteSure would love to share some day..... thanx for ur visit and lovely comment
DeleteWhat a beautiful nostalgic monologue. It was so easy to live that scene with you and feel that longing for the past. Excellent work.
ReplyDeleteThanx a lot for your lovely comment. I apologize for my late reply
DeleteHere in SoCal, we tend to live in our own world of cars when we travel. Only a small percentage take public transportation, mostly because it doesn't exist where we are traveling. But this story reminded me of when we lived in Panama and would take the train from the one side of the country to the other side. At times one was surrounded by water on each side and you did feel like you were on a boat. It was pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteI really could see how interesting people can be but I also saw the loneliness one could feel even if surrounded by others. But then the feeling of loss could be felt, and the few seconds of hope dashed. Then life goes on because we have no choice. Great story!
Happy Theme Thursday! Thanks for playing.
God bless.