"Kaveri Express..swalpa samay mein...platform number......" could not hear the rest amidst the symphony of languages in the City station. I reached the station an hour early. It was nothing short of a record, for my punctuality never adheres to any timezone...a sad aspect which, the harder i try to overcome tougher it becomes.
I boarded my compartment after giving a rundown on who are my co passengers. As usual it comprised mostly of "Youths" in their early 60's-Courtesy Collective Curse of my friends, whose BP touched stratospherical levels, because of my timelines. I always carry some book or other and if i donot read one paragraph atleast before the train moves, the journey simply doesnt happen for me.
I lookedup to the elderly male voice which asked "Excuse me...is this S 8?"...
it was almost immediately accompanied by an impatient lady's voice which silenced the male voice with .. "How many times you will ask the same question".....
The old man had a pitiable look on his face and looked slantingly at me to check whether i am watching him...felt a bit relieved to see me not paying much attention...his ego/pride was clearly hurt by that comment.
The elderly couple were soon joined by one guy in his late twenties or early thirties...who hurriedly checked the baggages....spoke something in rapid tamil to his mom...gave his dad a irritating look and rushed out....somehow he was in a hurry from the moment he boarded the train...
"hey ramesh...remember to meet them before you go da....."
the lady repeated for the third time to Ramesh (the angry young man)....
"You wait here while i go and check with them and come..."
"Latha...i want milk...my throat feels dry and i need to take my tablets...come fast"
"Haah.....you are worse than a kid...always want something or other to eat n drink...wait..i will go chk with them and come..." the harshness in the voice wud've carried all the way to the engine.....
With that angry comment that old lady went to meet someone...the old man now looked clearly defeated and remained with his head bent and looking outside the train window..avoiding the eyes of rest of the people on the compartment..
"Chaaai garam..Chaaai garam....Coffee cofeeeee....." came a boy...i asked him if he has hot milk...he said yes...by that time the lady returned.....the lady was looking angry...dunno what happened on the other compartment...
"adada....u wont keep quiet for few mins is it...how much is the milk.."
"Five rupees"
"haaa..hmmm...ok...give two cups....in chennai..for ten rupeess you can get one litre milk....anything in blore is very expensive"
The train jerked and the old man spilled some milk on his shirt...
"Aiyooo...r u a kid...u dont know how to hold a cup after all these years is it..." and with that started a big wail of outburst from the old lady which clearly left the old man embarrassed....
Ramesh entered hurriedly again...said something quick to his mom and shot a "i-am-going-you-take-care" look to the old man and vanished...maybe he felt embarrassed to be seen with his parents...
The oldman now visibly hurt...mumbled something and looked straight at me...somehow i felt i knew him personally...felt very sorry for him...i immediately disliked the mom and the son for so shabbilly treating that old man...though i knew nothing about them it was very clear from his physical state that the best part of his life has been spent on the welfare of his family and he was clearly in the final leg of his ardous journey....
For the rest of the journey no one spoke...soon we all slept and those elderly couple left before i woke up...
I got down from the train....my dad was waiting for me at the station...his face bloomed on seeing me..."how was the trip..you slept well?had dinner?"
"How many times i have told you..dont ask so many questions the moment i get down...Who asked you to come to the station...dont i know how to come home..." i asked in the most irritated tone i could muster...immediately his face lost color...
Somehow...he resembled that old man on the train...
I boarded my compartment after giving a rundown on who are my co passengers. As usual it comprised mostly of "Youths" in their early 60's-Courtesy Collective Curse of my friends, whose BP touched stratospherical levels, because of my timelines. I always carry some book or other and if i donot read one paragraph atleast before the train moves, the journey simply doesnt happen for me.
I lookedup to the elderly male voice which asked "Excuse me...is this S 8?"...
it was almost immediately accompanied by an impatient lady's voice which silenced the male voice with .. "How many times you will ask the same question".....
The old man had a pitiable look on his face and looked slantingly at me to check whether i am watching him...felt a bit relieved to see me not paying much attention...his ego/pride was clearly hurt by that comment.
The elderly couple were soon joined by one guy in his late twenties or early thirties...who hurriedly checked the baggages....spoke something in rapid tamil to his mom...gave his dad a irritating look and rushed out....somehow he was in a hurry from the moment he boarded the train...
"hey ramesh...remember to meet them before you go da....."
the lady repeated for the third time to Ramesh (the angry young man)....
"You wait here while i go and check with them and come..."
"Latha...i want milk...my throat feels dry and i need to take my tablets...come fast"
"Haah.....you are worse than a kid...always want something or other to eat n drink...wait..i will go chk with them and come..." the harshness in the voice wud've carried all the way to the engine.....
With that angry comment that old lady went to meet someone...the old man now looked clearly defeated and remained with his head bent and looking outside the train window..avoiding the eyes of rest of the people on the compartment..
"Chaaai garam..Chaaai garam....Coffee cofeeeee....." came a boy...i asked him if he has hot milk...he said yes...by that time the lady returned.....the lady was looking angry...dunno what happened on the other compartment...
"adada....u wont keep quiet for few mins is it...how much is the milk.."
"Five rupees"
"haaa..hmmm...ok...give two cups....in chennai..for ten rupeess you can get one litre milk....anything in blore is very expensive"
The train jerked and the old man spilled some milk on his shirt...
"Aiyooo...r u a kid...u dont know how to hold a cup after all these years is it..." and with that started a big wail of outburst from the old lady which clearly left the old man embarrassed....
Ramesh entered hurriedly again...said something quick to his mom and shot a "i-am-going-you-take-care" look to the old man and vanished...maybe he felt embarrassed to be seen with his parents...
The oldman now visibly hurt...mumbled something and looked straight at me...somehow i felt i knew him personally...felt very sorry for him...i immediately disliked the mom and the son for so shabbilly treating that old man...though i knew nothing about them it was very clear from his physical state that the best part of his life has been spent on the welfare of his family and he was clearly in the final leg of his ardous journey....
For the rest of the journey no one spoke...soon we all slept and those elderly couple left before i woke up...
I got down from the train....my dad was waiting for me at the station...his face bloomed on seeing me..."how was the trip..you slept well?had dinner?"
"How many times i have told you..dont ask so many questions the moment i get down...Who asked you to come to the station...dont i know how to come home..." i asked in the most irritated tone i could muster...immediately his face lost color...
Somehow...he resembled that old man on the train...
Comments
i think this is the best post i have read in your blog :-)
Just so you know, I have been to kutcheris and concerts in India. And enjoyed it too !! So it is not a new thing that I am doing in the USA by going to the opera !!
Please feel free to delete this comment. I was too lazy to type out an email and so I am posting in your blog.... Go figure !! This comment is as big as an email !!
Vidya
What goes around comes around, doesn't it ?
Vidya
nanri nanri
@vidya:
hehe...it wasnt meant to irk u..actually i was curious to know ur taste for indian music..but after sending tht comment only realised it might be viewed differently :) anyway this is also interesting
@vidya:
hmmm...but do we realise it?? thts the question
Good poat, This is common in most of our middle class families.
And you were right we(guys) dont give that importance to dad as mothers.
The hard part his, our Dad loves us so much but just dont know how / when to express.
Good one Gilma, please keep it up!
Srivats
think what srivats meant is true. in a way, this trait is truly a middle-class one, cause in middle class families there are very few things which matters as much as 'people'. i really dont think the richer or poorer sections of the population could associate this much importance to relations than middle-class. this is some generalization i am making, but i got to say it kind of makes sense.. think about it..
it s real strange how we take relations for granted .. when in the end of the day, it is the relations which matters to the core..
i say, relations matters cause we really crave for attention/recognition and it is these folks next-to-us who really do that for us..
in a way, i dont mind fighting with my brother/sister/parents for sure, cause they really forgive you for whatever wrong you do them.. it s so simple.. they dont care how you react.. they will still do whatever they can for you.. fantastic na?
but...
'Kaveri Express..swalpa samay mein...platform number'
sure you heard that right???...perhaps swalpa is kannada! ;)
ilada.somwhow i cudnt accept the fact...wat does being rich or poor got to do with how u behave with ur parents...therila..anyway..nice comments..i can understand ur feelings...unna vachu maykkanumna kastam thaan...un family memberskaga kovilay kattalaam :D
@olivoyl
well said...taken for granted...my history teacher used to say familiarity breeds contempt!!!
@sat
yup..kannadathaa..blore city stationla kannadalathaana solvaang ;0)
@sat
:) no wonder...inimay satuku badila.."BUCKS" enru u r rechristined...Arise...ms.Bucks :D