There are a few things that I CANNOT travel without. My
wallet, my ticket, my phone, my music and/or a book are my primary necessities
on a journey. It so happened very recently on an extremely last minute journey
back home that I forgot two of these pivotal things – my music and my
literature.
And so it came to be
that I was sitting at the window in a rather empty train with absolutely
nothing to do sharing my seat with an elderly man who did not seem very
friendly. After a few minutes of wringing my hand, fixing my hair and reading
and re-reading ancient texts in my inbox, I gave up and decided to escape into
my last refuge-sleep. I had only just dozed off when another man walked in.
Middle-aged with a make-shift French beard and wearing formal clothes, we’ll
call him Mr Unemployed. Now, Mr Unemployed starts a conversation with the
unfriendly elderly man who in fact turned out to be a politician. So Mr Unemployed
and Mr Politician start talking about the roads in Kerala with Mr Politician
defending his beloved ruling party in every way possible. Perfect!! And then
the tea-vendor comes and they buy two cups for themselves. Nothing abnormal
there. Mr Politician says Thank You. Hmm, Mr Polite Politician. Has a ring to
it. The vendor leaves and Mr Polite Politician realises that he has been given
extra change in return. He gets up immediately, runs after the vendor who is
already on the platform and returns what is not his. Mr Polite, Honest
Politician! They both finish their tea. Mr.Unemployed promptly throws his cup
out the window. Mr Polite, Honest politician decides to wait till the next
station, detrains and throws his cup in the dustbin there. A politician who is
honest and polite and has a civic sense! Now, I’m impressed!
And then Cool Student
walks in. Faded jeans, a random graphic tee and headphones in his pierced ears.
Mr Politician gives him a disapproving look. Mr Unemployed promptly starts a
conversation with him too. So it turns out Mr Unemployed was working with
something and got laid off during the financial crunch they faced. And after
the 15 minute answer he gave to Mr Politician’s query as to what he does now, I
figured he just didn’t bother looking for another job. Probably has enough work
managing his French beard (which I noticed was dyed black with one strand of
white hair left out to add the contrast). Mr Honest Politician detrains and I’m
a little disappointed. I direct my attention back to the conversation between
Cool Student and Mr.Unemployed. They talk extensively on various subjects of
primary importance to every ‘Malayalee’ with Cool Student talking in Manglish
(Malayalam with a little bit of heavily accented, grammatically incorrect
English thrown in)– only I was just not interested any more.
That’s when Orthodox Pop-in Law walks in. He does a recce of
the surroundings, shoots disapproving glances at Cool Student and signals
someone waiting behind. In walks, Shy New Wife with Extremely Young Husband.
Clad in a burqa that covered every inch of her body except her eyes, she sat
next to me coyly as if she was scared to move or talk or show any sign of life
whatsoever. I tried desperately to make eye contact with New Wife. Her eyes
were fixated on the floor. After a few attempts, she looked at me. The shock in
her eyes! She took one look at me in my T-Shirt and tights with my legs propped
on the seat, loose hair all over my face and looked down so quickly that I
immediately regretted trying to mingle with her. Young Husband, on the other
hand, amused me to no extent. He would wait till his father’s eyes shifted from
his general direction and then slyly, put his hand on his new wife’s hand, rub
his feet against hers or simply look into whatever was visible of her face. It
was a scene right out of a cheesy Mallu movie.
Around the same time Cool
Student tries to start a conversation with me. “Where are you going?” “What do
you do?” “What is your name?”- (runs his hand through his hair Shah Rukh
style)- “Malayalee ano?” Disheartened by
the one-word replies, half-hearted nods and grunts he gets in return, he gives
up.
A while later, my
station arrives. As I get out of the train to meet my brother and a few
cousins, I realise that the journey didn’t seem so long after all. I guess our
peculiar fellow-humans are the best entertainment available to us. Each
different, each new. For what can a Sherlock or a Bourne do that Cool Student
can’t!
