Sounds of a journey

Bhootanatha sadananda, sarva bhoota dayabhara, raksha raksha mahabhago, shastre tubhyam namo namaha
dingingingingingingingin
Swamiye sharanam ayyappa

That meant, our trip was about to start. Every trip, appa would deeparadhana to the gods, prostrate and ask for blessings on the way. In a small way, I do it too, even today - stop for a moment, do a namaskara and leave. 

Dhupp, went the door.
Click went the latch. 
Bloopik went the key. 
One more lock to be done.
Clickicik.
There. Finally. 

Auto...
Chembur station...
Teen VT…(appa had a pass)
pooon pooon poooon…zzzzzz…platform number 2 ki gaadi VT ke liye slow local hain...the local train would come in to the station..
bzzzz, it would start…zooooooooo the DC motor went each time the local train accelerated...
In about 35 minutes we were in VT waiting for the train at platform 12

Tiditinting tidinting…
the softdrink vendor went many times past us. He did not know. Appa wont buy anything. So, he went many times past our thirstily looking faces. But no luck. Appa was made of tougher material then. Puppy faces and thirsty faces meant, he will point to our big water bottle. Actually, we wouldnt even ask - we would just drink water anyway. 

Chai..koffeee…who would want chai kofee at 230 in the afternoon...
Garam Batata vada…Vada pava garam ...no worry, we told the vendor (in our minds of course), we have enough food to last a famine..you can stop circulating around us...

Baju baju…the porters as they made their way with the luggage to the luggage van
dadadadadadada - some of these newfangled travellers had wheels on their luggage…we sat on our trunk

Baoaoaoaooooo…came the shunting engine pulling our train backwards...

click thunk…as the door opened...
23, 23, 28, 29…where is the seat…my window..MINE
click click - appa, fan is not working...
wait..the main engine has not yet come
dhup…we sat on the berth..
drag…pushed the luggage into the spaces…made ourselves comfortable...

Tiditinting tidinting…that guy did have hope…but yes, only we were not buying. The entire train had bought softdrinks…how does that tiny cart never get empty?

Limca, goldspot, thumsup, thanda, meetha piyo…boo…go away..father wont buy anything...

Who wants idli...
I am not hungry amma
Dont worry, whenever you are hungry you get this only...

Thud….the train moved..yay…engine is here...

38 hours of tadak tadak…tadak...bwoooooon…khorrrr…tadak tadak...

And Chai…koffee..Vada pav Batata vada changes to kaapi, kaapi, chaaya chaaya…and Idli Vada chatneeee



And we reach Kerala….

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time

Time. Remembered as seasons. Season of rains in Mumbai. Of puddles everywhere. Of squishy shoes and dripping clothes. Of buses splashing water as they go past you. As the benches joined together in the classroom. As the soggy notebooks being taken out of the rainy walk to school.  Of summers. Of pickled tender mangoes. Of the drying karuvadams on the terrace. Of the sweet smelling night jasmine that we would pluck early in the morning. Of the wafting fragrance of the nandiarvattai. And the mangoes, oh the mangoes, dripping through the fingers and sticky afterwards.  Of the smell of the soil after the first drizzle. Of the feeling that summer is approaching and vacations are around the corner. Or the approaching winter with that nip in the air.  Time. Remembered as days. Days you cannot forget. Days of happiness. Days of joy. Days of sadness. Days of despair. Festival days. Celebration days. Winning days. Exuberant days. Comfortable days.  Time. Remembered as moments....
Read more

On Techno savviness

Today, we are all techno savvy. A child of three can use a camera phone. By five, they can focus, defocus, apply filters and create a wedding photoshoot. And you can see the evidence. At the next wedding, you will see that amidst the few, professional photographers is a bevy of people young and old - but watch out for the youngest. The fact that we consider ourselves techno savvy in using a device that is designed to be easy to use for the lowest common denominator tells us a lot about ourself on how low the human race has plunged. Not for a moment do I say that the child is unintelligent, but that the child (or all of us) are capable of way beyond using a mere tool in our hands that actually requires very little real skill. We live on planet earth. The sun rises and sets each day. As does the moon. But look up and you will see so much more in the night sky. You will see more in the day sky - but I will let that pass for now. The night sky has stars, planets, constellations and ot...
Read more

Brown

Brown. This shoe was my last big purchase on a corporate salary. Cost me 10k. As I purchased the shoe, I thought, should I be buying it, considering I am stepping into a role from scratch soon? The salesman won over the budget in the end - with all the features and benefits he listed. And so brown came home. Brown was my companion as I navigated through the corporate carpeted corridors. Brown was with me while there were designated cabs waited me at the airport. And then the transition happened. Brown was with me on my first client meeting - waiting on the dusty roads -for the bus to take me home. Brown was with me as I shivered in my first ever presentation to an alien audience. At the night of the first presentation where I felt I had flubbed badly, and the night meeting on how to salvage the situation - it wasnt that bad, but brown was there. And the next morning when we performed and came out with flying colours.  Brown was with me in many of those meetings that neve...
Read more