*STATION ANNOUNCEMENT SOUND*
When one expects the train number to come after that sound, there comes the “Manapuram Gold Loan” advertisement. After removing his earphones, Charan waited patiently for the announcement of the arrival of Kaveri Express but it was about a passenger train that was coming just before his train. Never in the history of Indian Railways, one has heard the announcement pertaining to the train, which they were about to travel, the very first time. As soon as he realized it was not for his train, Charan moved towards the display and mentally noted the platform number on which Kaveri Express arrived. He adjusted his backpack, picked up the handle of the trolley and moved towards Platform 1.
The side of the platform which was not occupied by the track was jam packed with shops ranging from Higginbotham to the tea stall undertaken by Arenco and traversed by the railway catering workers selling different items during different parts of the day. When your train arrives in the morning, you can hear ‘Idly Dosa Pongal Vada’, the same guy will be selling ‘Veg Biriyani Egg Biriyani’ in the afternoon and ‘Chappathi Thair Saadham(Curd rice)’ in the night. The Aavin kiosk was with its own customers for the famous Badam Milk served by the vendor, whose attitude will be sky high. Nothing was out of the usual for Charan, who walked past the Railway Police Station to the position of D5 coach, noticing the numerous posters that mentioned the missing persons and the large ‘BEWARE OF THIEVES’ banner which had photos of the local persons suspected to be pickpockets. On reaching his coach position, he placed his backpack on the trolley and awaited the train’s arrival.
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The wind was blowing fiercely through the rusted window panel, where Aditi sat watching the landscape as the train rushed past it. The distant mountains, with clouds resting on it and the segmented agricultural lands below, dotted by scarecrows here and there, offered a pleasant view. But, Aditi couldn’t help noticing the amount of garbage, in the form of plastic bottles and cups, that was getting collected right next to the train track. It was also thrown towards those lands as the train crossed with high speed. She closed her eyes in regret and the mild rocking movement of the train accompanied by its rhythmic sound made her doze off only to be awakened by Ranjith’s shout from the nearby compartment,”This train doesn’t have Pantry car!!”. “You cannot survive without food for a few hours! Can you?”, jested Preethi. “No! He cannot! Can’t you see why?”, asked Pradheep climbing down from his berth, pointing towards Ranjith’s body. Ranjani burst into laughter only to be accompanied by Jagan, Preethi, and Madhumitha. The situation became merrier when they saw a Samosa vendor entering their coach. The vendor had a big basket in which he had arranged two varieties of samosas in a neat pile. The basket was supported by a belt which passed around the vendor’s neck so that he can handle the samosas with ease. In one side of his basket, he had arranged the old weekly magazines, which served as the plate for customers, along with a mug filled with green chilies, served as a side dish along with the already spicy samosas. As the group was busy having a small snack, the train came to a halt in Jolarpettai Junction to have Charan on-board.
To be continued…
Sriram Radhakrishnan 