Local Train
The Navi Mumbai train route is usually not as teeming as Mumbai’s. I exploited this fact to my full potential! A journey from Vashi to Koperkhairane would often turn into 15 minutes of rumination, or sometimes it would come as an extension to my sleep. For a lady of my age, working in an IT company is always a dreary task. My Office was pretty close to my residence, and this was the very reason I used to get late.
Today was nothing special. Usually getting up late meant my daily schedule had to undergo a 1.5x speedup. Reaching office even a minute after 10 o’clock meant a sacrifice of my Saturday shopping. The stringent tenet of our company was flouted, and you had to pay a heavy price for it, literally.
It was 9.10, the 8th iteration of my snooze, when I came to life. The Alarm Clock is the worst nightmare of a night-fantasist! However I feared another such horror show was on display for me later in the day, perhaps around or after 10.00. Being the ‘better’ of the sexes was no success when it comes to dressing up. There were a few necessary formalities that you had to follow, unlike Men who could finish their grooming within 15 mins, don’t know how!
I reached Vashi at around 9.45 knowing that I had missed my 9.42 last-lifeline. While stepping into the colossal station premises I realized another 10 mins in the ticket queue was destined. However I bypassed it, when I heard the next 9.50 train roaring to leave its den. I realized that if I had stepped in the queue, my boss would give me a holiday. I wished I was P.T. Usha!!
It was there I saw him. Supporting a superb black suite, a ‘tall, dark and handsome’ gentleman was standing just near the gateway of the station. I noticed him while entering the platform. He had acknowledged my smile; and for a moment I was translated to eternal ecstasy, only to be pulled down to earth by the final roar of 9.50. I entered my usual compartment keeping his vivid picture in my mind.
I reclined to my window seat to see how the world had changed over 24 hours. To my astonishment, I saw him in the same compartment as mine. Perhaps getting up late sometimes comes to some use. I exchanged a quick fire glance with him. He surely must be holding a high position in a big company, I wondered. I started fantasizing; a big office, a bungalow, a car and ‘the’ bachelor status was all I desired. Aah, he had made my day!
It was after the train took off, he noticed me. He did look in my direction and it was like a jerk to my neck. I immediately shredded off the stare, else he would have caught me guilty of romanticizing him. He walked in my direction and took his seat right in front of me. It was a picture-perfectly crafted situation for me. However a rush of adrenaline followed, which forced me to behave strangely. I didn’t want to lose the plot, and I trembled to control myself.
Only a conversation was remaining, and it was destined. He bent his back to make his words audible. Meanwhile Koperkhairane had reached, perhaps 10 minutes before time! “Let’s Go!” he said, smiling. It was like a Hindi Romantic Film experience, where the ‘Prince of your Dreams’ comes to take you to a dreamland. I just couldn’t comprehend what he meant. Sometimes too much of an exhilaration can overcook a plot, but I was ready for it.
Sometimes the climax of a film turns out to be an anti-climax, it may sound bizarre but your heart still desires the climax while your brain sees an anti. It was the silvery shinning trinket that he produced from his pocket, that decided whether the word ‘anti’ should have been interpolated or not. However one thing was for sure, he had won the game and I followed him to his heaven, ‘e’ missing for me though.
"Life of a ticket collector is not the best", he exclaimed.
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