Rail Snehidham

I like to thank the lady who made me to sit in this late hour and inspired me to narrate this sweet incident.

‘’Nothing is Random in this world, everything follows a sequence, even Life’’

The above statement is really true and in my case it’s even worse; my Life goes rotational :-( having the same schedule all through the year. I spend all my time in university and work. I am desperate to have some change :-(. I live in a place called Upton Park located in east London, I work part time in a place called Richmond which is actually located in west London. I have to spend nearly 1.5 hours in the underground rail in order to reach my work place. Even my studies don’t bore me much when compared to the idle time that I spend in travelling.

On 03 March 2008, I started from my home and reached Upton park station by 1.15 PM. To my luck within a minute or two, a train destined to Richmond came to my platform, if not I need to make two interconnections to reach my workplace. As the door opened I rushed inside to get my favourite one seater (An isolated seating marked for handicap and elderly people). But all the one seaters were occupied and so in disappointment I sat in a two seater near the window. I immediately worked out my first time killing strategy which is noting but reading newspaper. I took ‘’Metro’’( a free newspaper) from a seat and opened it. As I grazed through the pages, I can see only the routine article related to Beckham, Victoria, Britney, Amy Winehouse, Football and Oscar. It took only 5 min to go through the paper and in frustration I kept that beside me and moved to my second strategy. I took my favourite time killing gadget from my jacket (IPOD) and started listening AR Rahman songs. Richmond is the 29^th stop from my station and it’s a long way to go, so I gently closed my eyes to concentrate on music. But whenever I hear the door opening my mind automatically starts counting the number of stops like a prisoner counting the iron bars in his cell. Nothing worked out well and so I thought to work out my next powerful strategy Code Name: FB (Looking for some hot chicks) and so I opened my eyes near Embankment Station (central London) and wondered if any girl will come around. The door opened and a white lady with a pop hair in a blue gown came towards my seat. She had shining blue eyes and by seeing her wrinkles I judged that her age should be around 70.I dint mind her and so I kept my eyes on the window. My inner conscious told that she is looking at me and so I turned towards her. Yes my conscious is true, she was looking at me. It made me uncomfortable but still we shared a smile and I wondered what will be her next move. Rather than taking a seat opposite to me, she jumped towards the seat next me saying ‘’this is my seat and I love to be here’’. I know it’s her second childishness stage and so I smiled and said ‘’the seat is all yours mam’’. She sat happily next to me. I again turned towards the window to make her self comfortable. My inner conscious prickled my mind again and so I turned towards her. Looking at her sharp blue eyes I can clearly understand than she wants to converse something and so I dropped my right ear phone so that I can hear what she is about to say. She smiled and asked ‘’Are you listening to music’’, I just nodded my head and before I could turn back she came up with the next question ‘’Can I hear that too??’’, I said ‘’sure’’ and kept my right ear phone on her soft ear gently moving her hair aside. I played the Signature Tune. She listened to it and commented that the tune is so soft and wondered how guy like me listening to soft music rather than Rock music. I said ‘’I love to hear soft and melodious songs’’. She smiled and said ‘’that’s good’’ offering the head phone to me. I plucked my head phone again and turned towards the window.

I don’t want to converse further but my inner instinct asked me to do it. For a minute there was a small fight with me and my instinct and as usual I am the loser. So I turned towards the lady dropping my ear phone and asked ‘’where are you going?’’, she gently whispered minding the other passengers in the compartment ‘’Oh me, I am going to Kew Gardens. I am bored of this city life and so I need to see the nature every week. That’s the secret of my happiness’’. Kew Gardens is just one stop before Richmond and I know it is one of the famous natural reserves in UK. I found her self interesting by the way she speaks and was curious to hear more from her.

She asked whether I know about the Stephan Hooper who is running the botanical garden. I really don’t have any idea on him and so she started explaining about the activities done on the royal botanical garden. I can understand only bits and pieces from her speech but the way she explained it, the caring words she used, the interest she took to explain this to a naïve impressed me more than the content. I know am a good listener and so I allowed her to speak further and carefully watched her expressions in her face. She seems to be so excited and her blue eyes shined more than before. She told me about the trees, lawn and lake. For her, Kew garden seems to be a divine place out of the material world where she can be in a harmony with the nature. She also added that she is still alive only because of that. I wanted to build the conversation further more and so I asked so many questions. She answered to them politely and from her answers I can diagnose that she is living alone in a flat in central London. She lost her husband 5 years before. A dog is her only companion in home. She is a great nature lover. She wants to travel a lot but unfortunately she has crossed the age to travel abroad. She spends most of her time alone and she started to love that too. She travels to Kew gardens every week to walk near the lake. I found a great sync between her character and mine. I am also a great lover of solitude even though I like spending time with my friends. Like her Kew gardens, I too have so many places where I love to spend my time alone. In my home town Gobi I like to be alone in Pariyur temple and near the river bank, In Coimbatore during my college days I prefer ISKCON and Perur Temple. In Chennai I prefer beach and St Thomas mount. Now in London it’s the Greenwich Park. Whenever I am in a dilemma or depressed I want this loneliness to heal myself. I was so happy to see such a person in my life. I imagined that I too will be like her in my older days.

Sun slowly started sliding into the clouds. It became cloudy and she was so worried that her plan is going to ruin. I comforted her saying that as per the weather forecast there is no rain in London so there is nothing much to worry. I promised that she can still enjoy her walk. My instinct asked to share my experience with her and so I told her about the scenic beauty of Scotland, Greenwich and of course about Indian forest. As I uttered the word India, She too started talking about the coconut trees, boats etc.. She said that she has visited some places in south India with her husband 20 yrs before. I helped her in identifying the place as Kerala. Now there is nothing in between us, no racism nor any communication gap, I felt like a single soul residing in two different bodies. She grabbed my hand and gently held it on her hands. I can still feel the warmth of her in my hands. Now we both became childish. Sitting near the window we found a new horizon to enjoy nature. We found even a mother moving with a Baggage, architecture of the buildings and road traffic as wonderful. But every time when the train door opens I feared that we are going to part soon. For the first time in my life I loved her company more than loneliness. I am sure that neither my friends, parents nor my future wife can comfort me more than her. My mind also planned a way to skip my work today, but I am sure my manager won’t allow that as we were out of staff in our store. As her stop approached she looked into my face with disappointment, I looked into her eyes for the last time and said ‘’I love to accompany you now, but I can’t skip my work now, sorry about that’’. She smiled and said ‘’don’t worry Darling, I will be fine’’. She gently touched my shoulder and descended out. I was looking at her through the window; she went out and turned back. She gave a small smile. Her eyes lost the shine now. She waved her hands. I was so depressed but managed to give a smile. The train started, now everything seems to be alien for me. I don’t want to switch on my Ipod . I need silence; I can still feel her beside me. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I want to be alone. I prayed god that she should live long and the climate should be good enough for her to enjoy the walk. I scolded myself why I dint get her address or phone number, but I knew that we both were in a different world and we had no time to share our contact number. I consoled myself and wished to see her soon. I thanked my instinct which made this event possible. I felt more satisfied as if I discovered myself with her thoughts refreshing my body and mind. As my train stopped in Richmond I came out confidently as if I am reborn to tackle any pressure in my life.

It’s true that our life goes smooth by learning from our own experiences and also by listening to the advices from our elders. But we can find even a better exciting life by just listening to our own instinct. Always be yourself.

‘’♫ If I try to be like him, who will be like me? ‘’

Ask this question to yourself and I am sure you will find a better solution.

Its getting very late now it’s almost 4.00 AM. I need sleep. I think my body will shut down even before my PC shuts down. I am sure today in my dream I’m not going to see any of my friends, parents or some naughty girls, I’m going to see her with her shining blue eyes. Holding her hands we will have a nice walk along the Kew gardens Lake.