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Monday, April 19, 2010

31st Dec,2009

2008 xmas was supposed to be spent with my parents at singrauli………I had to return back to college and join on 2nd Jan, the reopening day , which if missed is like a violation of the policy of our so called school………………I had my tatkal tickets booked from Bhopal to Bangalore on 31st December, which means I had to leave home on 30th and an overnight stay in Bhopal to board the train next morning i.e. on 31st ……..My father wanted to see me off and had come down to Bhopal with me…………..


31st morning ………all plans changed………..heavy fog leading to delay of train’s arrival led to see my father off………..and I was waiting there for the train to arrive…….it came at 9:30 a.m, some two and a half hours late ……………...I got into the train and found out my berth, to realize that someone was already there on the berth………………is it your berth? Bhaiya , kya yeh apka berth hai? Cheta , ee berth chetande anno?...........tried in all three languages but no way the man didn’t reply…………………an uncle from the next berth said…………..Wo kuch nahi bolta……………I was wondering why? But my priority was to find out what was wrong and what was he doing there when I had the ticket in hand that claimed it to be my berth………..But then that uncle told that the TTR had come the last night , as the train starts from Delhi and had checked his ticket too…………….Another girl spoke ,’Jara ticket dikhana’……………….She found out that even though the boarding date was 31 Dec ,the arrival date at Bangalore was shown as 2nd which could happen only if I get on the train on 1st Jan, which means on the train which starts on 31st from Delhi and she said that it had once happened to her too in case of having booked tatkal ticket……………………Confused na……….even I was…………..so now what next…………….All of them asked me to get down the train as me being on the train would be like travelling without the ticket………….But the train had already started moving…………….but someone pulled the chain somewhere , and the train stopped………………that day I hated trains to be having these curtains hung in the cabins which were all falling on my face as I rushed towards the door and that uncle came to help me get down or rather jump as the train had already left the platform and height difference looked to be huge……….


The train had started moving again by the time we reached the door………..Uncle kept saying ‘jump beta’……but I was thinking, what if I jump and land up between the rails, will my parents ever get to know that I am dead and even if that happens, I will never be able to justify that it was not a suicide attempt…………….Having grabbed up all the courage and using my NCC skills in jumping heights I landed safely on the ground from the running train and thanks to that uncle, whose face I hardly remember for having helped in getting down my luggage………Having jumped I didn’t know what to do…………..the very question ’ what next ?’ was dancing in front of me………….I walked back to the Bhopal platform…………….tried calling mummy…………….but its truly said ‘Jab bhagwan deta hai to chapar phad ke deta hai’ or say ‘mongan erunna nayayude thallayi tenga vennathu pole’……………………I realized for the first time that there was something wrong with my mobile’s outgoing ,while on roaming…………….But had to keep going………………….Courage sometimes comes up when in need………………Gave a call to mummy from a booth leaving her shocked and speechless and about to faint…………..never told the jumping incident though………………


Now when I had a whole day left with me to roam around Bhopal , as my train would come the same time next day……………..I decided to find out and fix both the issues, the ticket as well as my mobile……….went to the enquiry and the station master and checked online to find that it was the mistake of the person at the booking office who had not changed the boarding date……………..good…great Indian railways…..what else to say………….Had I got that person in hand…..urghhhhhhh…………….


Came back to waiting room and thought of hunting for Vodafone assistance…………Vodafone advertisements were hung all around the platform ………but every shopkeeper said they didn’t have Vodafone come into Bhopal till then and they couldn’t help me with the recharging or say anything…………..landed into a shop…………….explained the whole scenario and said ‘bhaiya kuch to solution hoga’………he said he could help me get the mobile recharged with the help of his co-partner in Bangalore but I need to pay something extra…………got it done…………….now was waiting when I got a call from my mummy…………..Some cousin of mummy had been in Bhopal whom I had heard of very often but had never met……………..She said that they would come and pick me up………………But I wondered how would they recognize me………………..they came by noon but there in something in my family I guess, we get to know that we are related as we all have something similar with the eyes……………Went with them to their house and had the new year i.e 2009 being in Bhopal with new people………………….One thing is for sure, the very incident has led me to double check my ticket before leaving and to be extra cautious…………….And not only that , the previous day I had told my father that I had never been to Bhopal other than the station and now it all came as if a dream come true ,as my cousins stayed in the other side of city and so to get from the station to their house was like crossing the entire city……………..Sometimes you just wish and you get it but I wish it could have been in a better way………….ha ha ha…………….after all the train jumping and hunting ,it was rather earning it………..

3 comments:

  1. As the saying goes every incident in life has a moral.............
    So the moral of the story is as rightly put in by you............
    Well glad u did survive that jump!!!!!
    NCC cadet at her best

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  2. Ende ammo, nee kollamalodi... jump anupa jump :P

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  3. Had I not jumped, I would have been asked by the TTR to jump when the train would have been in full speed........ke ke ke........then this blog would have had a different scene altogether and even the author would have been a different one too, if at all written ......

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