We are like this only!

I just came back from my short yet sweet trip from home. The train journey was long, but was traveling with friends which made it bearable. But on the train a strange incident happened which many of us have come across but have blissfully ignored. We were sitting amidst the cacophony which erupts whenever the train starts running, kids crying, hawkers rushing to alight the train...amidst that din was a distinct voice. Not pleasant. No. Something which we wish not to look at. Something we believe to be the utterances of a mad man. We ignored it at first, like all normal citizens, believing that it would come down..but it persisted. A little enquiry later we came to know that he was protesting the entry of the travellers without a valid ticket (read waitlisted ticket). Normally, such cases are not allowed to board the reserved compartments, but a few cases are ignored on humanitarian grounds.
So this person, lets call him Mr. X for convenience, didn't seem to have a humane side, and was fighting tooth and nail to get them out even when the Ticket-checker was not interested in doing anything about it. The noise subdued, and calmness descended upon the compartment.
It was around 0130 hours. Sleep has agreed to pay a visit after a much tenacity on my part. And that noise exploded out of nowhere. Don't ask me what ran on my mind! It was already worn out waiting for sleep. And again the same old yak-yak.And this time, he even pulled the chain...the train didnot stop, eh..due to some technical snags..but that is a different story. And it went on for a good two hours before we got some respite. But it was a short lived dream as the sunlight heralded the clamour. I must admit, Mr. X did get them out of the compartment. And peace prevailed.
An anecdote I shall be narrating for a long time. Not for the reasons which you might have picked up along the way, but the effect it had on me. Here is a question for you:
Was Mr. X right?
Simple...is it not? Not quite. On one side, we say 'What business did he have running after the ones without a valid ticket? Why can't he look after his business and let truth prevail?' And contrary to this, we say 'Yes, he was right! So what if he gathers the ill wishes of others? He was doing the right thing upholding what was right!'
Yet, that day, the former argument seemed glorious, when no one came to his support. In fact, the fellow travellers were maligning him.
We talk of seeing change in the country. We talk of making the start. We talk of doing our tiny bit that would help the country move ahead and not back in time of the dark ages. But we are not ready to come out of our zones of comfort, where we do not have to raise a voice for what is right, a place where everything stays in equillibrium. Why this complacency with the wrong?
Humm...there could be a reason which is so well imbibed in our system that now it seems a part of it, grows with it. Right from the childhood, a child reads books of great heroes who have fought against the wrong, the evil. But is advised to move along the crowd when faced with adverse situations. The child is asked not to stick its neck out and correct the wrongs in the system. The child is not encouraged to say No, but to 'Yes' everyone throughout his life. Pray pardon me if i miss a few exceptions who have gone to make their mark in the pages of history. On the whole,

We are like this only!

But the question is...Why?

Elysium...continued.

Thanks to the sweet reminder of a reader, who i must say is very thoughtful, I would like to add a name to my previous post. Yes, I am talking of the samose-wala just 3 minutes away from home. And let me tell you, those angelic samosas are like medicine for me. My love for samosas go long back in time. And the the samosas which are an apotheosis in themselves have brought the quintessential bliss in this place.
And miss Anonymous, with more help from you, I am sure it would not be long when I shall be penning my memoirs. Would like to thank you once again, and do bring to my notice any other entity you may find amiss. Would be grateful if you accept this little token of appreciation. :)

My Elysium

Hi, first and the foremost, want to wish you all a very happy and fruitful new year. And don't complain for saying this after 2 weeks. Its a whole year, right? I don't understand why do we all need to wish the whole world happy new year right on the first day (the telecom cos share my opinion i bet). I mean, its not like a birthday or some other annual event that need urgent attention. And I feel the same for all these 'special' days viz. the Valentines day, Children's day, Ground Hog's Day, X day, Y day et al. If one really cares for the person they are celebrating the day for, they can do so the whole year, right? Well, that's what I feel. But that's not why i am writing this post. Lets not go ashtray and come back to my thoughts for the past month.

Well, am here after a really long time, almost a month (more than that i guess). Well, not that I have not been thinking of penning down some thoughts. But most of them were very haphazard, more of an abstract painting. And only I would be the only one able to decipher that. So i waited. And then the excruciating end-term exams came along. It went, well...to put it mildly, like a hurricane. And in between came the new year's eve celebrations. Being a part of the cultural club, I was handling the music. And was it demanding? You bet. Now i understand the plights of DJs. And that when the music is really good, the jockey cann't even jump on the dance floor. But i tried to handle both. I tried. The repercussions were felt the next day. Not going to that now, am putting up some pics of the celebrations...

The new year celebrations faded away, exam got over. Now it was time for the much awaited break. Planning...Packing...Panicking... What to take...how to spend the holidays...went to the library and spent some time there in introspection. Finally picked some books for the holidays. Bid adieu albeit a short lives one, to the campus and friends, and embarked on the journey. The journey was fun with friends taking turns to pick on some unfortunate fella.
Finally after two trains and almost 30 hours later, was in my own room. There's nothing like lying on your own bed in your own room, the room which has seen me grow up. I instantly went into Flashback sepia mode. Forget all the plans made for the past one week. I wiped the slate clean and decided to relive that holidays the same way I used to, my own corner, the favourite presets on the radio, the unkempt bed, and driving ma and pa crazy. God, did I miss all this? And in no time, it was dusk. My walks to Parle Market, to get tiny weeny stuffs. Here I was, walking on those familier streets, that phool-wale bhaiyaa on the corner. Not much has changed in these years. I went to my favourite place, the used-book store. Found a long time friend there. He still wonders when will I actually buy a book. Most of the times, I just came to enquire about some title he had never heard of. Then the stationery shop nearby. I just love to stroll in these places now ecthed in my memory. The lonely street which provided me with the silence to talk to Sugar on the phone, it was still like that, soothing. Sugar, if you are reading this, I promise, will take you to this place in the near future. Then the road back home. How can i ever miss walking on the same road I met the love of my life. That park, although closed still brings the pleasant memories. And that house still seems to be looking at me from the corner of its eyes. And t still scares me, dunno why. hehe... I reach my home. These seemingly inanimate objects may hold little value to others, but I have woven a relationship with them. The roads, the corners, the buildings, the walls. They make me feel safe. I have heard people say that there is heaven some place or the other. But i say that the place I grew up is my heaven and haven. My Elysium.

P.S. : I had one more surprise in store upon my arrival. The new members at my home. :-)