I was traveling this week, mostly by trains. Long train journeys are some times very boring but pretty memorable most of the times. This time too, I had several memories to take away; I would share one here:
The train started 6 hours late. It covered some 4 hours lag in the way, and it reached a station very near to the final destination just 2 hours behind schedule. It was a nice morning and all passengers were waiting for the train to reach the final station while watching the greenery outside. But in an anti climax, the train stopped at 4-5 places, and took 4 hours in covering a distance which should have been covered in at most one hour. This made many including me restless and annoyed. But they were just as fine.
The couple was young; but the eldest of their 3 children seemed to be around 13; indicating their early marriage. Their rural look confirmed that. They had 2 confirmed seats, thought they were 5 in number. But they never gave slightest indication of being uncomfortable at any time. They all had accommodated themselves on a single berth and during entire journey of around 1.5 days; they kept discussing, talking, chatting, and story telling. The laughter of the kids made others take note of them. Very often, the father would comment and then the children would make fun of him. See a sample:
Father: "See, this (something good) has happened only because I am on this train"
Son: Yes, that is why the train got late by 6 hours at the starting itself!
Laughter followed.
The two daughters were well mannered. One had kept quite make-up, with all bangles, bindi, and mehandi. The son was naughty, but obedient. The children never cried, or never made a scene for some ice-cream or nuts. The parents didn't control the children physically. I don't come across such good rural people very often.
They were one happy family.
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