What does the train know ??

"Hey Tarun, let's go to the railway station. Renuka Aunty and Pratima are coming down to Hyderabad to spend their vacation."

" Railway Station ?? Wow !!!! Wonderful dad !!!! I'll get ready in a minute !!! "

For so many years , the term 'railway station' either meant receiving relatives or setting out on tours.. The very phrase 'railway station' would unflinchingly trigger a rather unusual biological mechanism in my body, which would cause the flooding of the adrenaline reservoir , making it inevitable for me to flash a broad and toothy grin , and which would force me to let out a holler in supreme excitement..More fascinating and intriguing to me was the 'railway jargon', what I call.. The words 'arrival', 'departure' , 'platform number', ' luggage' , 'super-fast express' would sometimes oblige me to serenade even to the sorrowful muzak being perennially played on Doordarshan , so much so ,that I was gifted with a toy train with which I always played 'railway station - railway station'... :D

Those innocent days find a place in the first few leaves of my memorabilia. Over the past few months , the same railway station and the same jargon strangely don't bring about the same reaction in me !! Life is so uncanny I always thought..

Everyday here, I don't hesitate to take some time off to smoothly fly back to July 2nd'09 , Nampally Station , 8:30 pm , Platform Number 1. That day , it seemed to me, as if life was on the cusp of a very impactful change. I had my humongous luggage being stuffed and chained beneath the azure colored berths.. Lucky as I always consider myself, I had all my friends who had come to wave me good bye and to wish me good luck .. Sitting inside the bogie and looking through the window at my family , I realized that I wouldn't be coming back to Hyderabad atleast in the near future..I somehow knew that I wouldn't be able to spend the same quantum of time with my family as I always did.. !!

Finally the clock struck 8:40. The train started moving. I looked into the eyes of my parents. I could then feel a hurricane of emotions within me and my parents as well. I could catch a glimpse of them for a fleeting moment... But living that moment , stifling that hurricane in my heart, which continually threatened me of outbursting , imploring my tear glands not to squirt even a drop of it, atleast for that minuscule moment was so much of an ordeal !!

Not only this , but seeing off Sowmya (long before I started for Poona) and bidding good bye to Divya and Gayathri at the Poona Railway Station was an equally harrowing experience.

I now feel a question constantly irking my brains. 'What does the train know ?' It doesn't know how many hearts it breaks. It zooms its way completely being unconcerned about the despair of a mom who has always shared her grief and petty insecurities with her son and who has never imagined being distanced from him. The flea-ridden train keeps itself aloof from understanding the hassles of a father who is forever apprehensive about his son's well being. It cares a damn to the last warm hug of two lovebirds , who are being dragged apart mercilessly from each other for an unknown amount of time.. The dunderhead train remains unsuccessful in wiping out the tears emanating from the eyes of a dejected sister who'll be missing her brother..

I have now developed a sort of an aversion towards the train itself. I now don't feel an iota of excitement when I go to the station. All I can sense there is a miasma of downcast parents , disappointed friends and teary-eyed siblings.

What does the train know ? All it knows is how to hoot at ear-splitting decibels and carry people across different places.. All it knows is how to callously give a cold shoulder to all the emotional tornadoes happening among thousands of hearts everyday..

Dedicated to

my family,

Cnu , Anil, Bharath , Kiran , Kranthi, Srinivas Reddy, Annapurna, Kalpana ( my dear friends who came to see me off at the station.. My apologies if I am missing out anyone's name. I intend to thank everyone who saw me off that day)

And that enviable pair of lovebirds who got distanced after the training in Poona.