Last week I had cause to travel by train to Kochi. Nothing exciting happened but a couple of incidents ignited some thoughts and I wanted to share with you...
I am not a voyeur nor do I poke my nose into other people’s affairs, but during a train journey lots of small incidents are played out in front of you and you can’t help but observe and sometime be part of them.
Chengannur is a small station around about the half way mark between TVM and EKM. Though a small town and an even smaller station, it is always a busy one. Lots of Chengannur-vasis make a living outside the state. When the train (a long distance one) chugged into Chengannur, there was this lady in her late twenties boarding with a lot of luggage. Looking at the folks on the platform I could guess that they were her mother, sister, brother in law and nephew. She was obviously very sad to depart and had her face away from them. Her eyes were red. It was sad to see this parting scene which got worse when the train started to move.
Fast forward to 30 mins later – we were approaching Kottayam. There were shrieks of laughter coming from the adjacent cabin – the same lady was joking with and chatting up her co-passengers.
I do not want to pass judgment or comment but the point I want to make is – the power of emotions is great but power of time to heal is even greater. The lady’s obvious sorrow at moving away from her loved ones was great but it took just half an hour to cope with it.
Last time I saw her and her new friends, they were having vada and pazhampori.
The other interesting thing that happened during the journey was that a differently-abled (the politically correct way of saying disabled) person was selling books. The books were priced at Rs 10/- and most of the travelers purchased at least 1 book. He would be earning a rupee or two at the most from the sale of the books but he was making living with dignity and that is much better than begging.
I purchased a coloring book for my daughter. Better that the person mentioned above benefits than a big retail giant.
Hey brother.. Loved reading this travelogue.. Keep watching.. and keep writing!
ReplyDeleteAs in before i loved one line in this.. "The power of emotions is great but power of time to heal is even greater!"
Seems like you are a subtle writer but some lines like these force into the reader and keep him thinking a bit too long..