With the roaring engine, uncontrolled commotion I started my journey from Mumbai to Ahmadabad, my this journey was quite different from others, this time rather travelling in a luxurious A.C. coupe, I got tickets of general boggy, thanks to my uncontemplate decisions but I wasn’t repentant. I blurted out the moment I entered the coach” what the fuck? ‘one birth, seating capacity-5’ but what I witnessed ‘one birth, the same seating capacity but 9 people acquired that single birth and two peoples among them not even able to sit properly but still contrived to sit. But thank god! I got mine seat and the interesting part is I was the 9th person.
The vital thing which makes crowd of general compartment to stand away from the A.C. coach crowd is their perspective towards life; you won’t find the people with the pretences but with the true and austere image. I was the only one with the unusual attire, all the ogling eyes around me seems to be x-ray machine, only the printer was missing. After few minutes a short sleep camouflaged me, but this new commotion could not let me go on sleeping, few peoples carrying bags were relocating from one compartment to another in haste. Desperately I asked my fellow passenger “what’s all that about?” he told me that it’s the essence of the general boggy: FERIWALA’S, BHELWALE BHAIYA, aye juta paalish (COBBLER), KHILONEYWALE BHAIYA etc. these are the common names by which passengers call them. In that 7 minutes, that person who was selling something enthralled everybody around him and try his/her best to convince the passengers to buy something worth rupees 10/-; so he can fetch his/ her children. And the other people who were not contemplating about buying anything surveyed them narrowly, like an old red-eyed crow watching something easy to get its beak into. Then a person sitting couple of a steps away from me with a haggard, stubble face and torn up shirt which speaks of his financial status won the haggle which bought him a chain of around 12/- bucks, passengers sitting around him start praising him as if he bought 21” LCD plasma.
Rest of the thing was fine except when it comes to lavatory. I want to address one thing that your journey in the general boggy would go smooth unless until the nature call dial yours belly number. I went to lavatory section to attend the call; once again, I was shocked. Three peoples in their graveyard age were sitting inside the lavatory smoking the fags. They ogled at me with 12X zoomed eyes as if I am an intruder and interrupting their meeting. I asked them I have to attend the call and they crossed me by commanding me to put it on hold for another half an hour till train arrives at Surat. I was left with no other option and I put it on hold which embarrassed me when my stomach automatically switched to vibration mode.
After a journey of 7 hours I reached Ahmadabad. While taking the meal, my thoughts lost their way in the overcrowded general boggy. After a long time, I saw the real image of a common man. That aura was mesmerizing, everyone was damn happy, away from the suffering of the world. It’s not like that they do not have grievances but they are self-satisfied. I don’t know what made them smug but they were. Lots of eyes, lots of dreams—some achieved some broken but all of them were satisfied. All of them taught me a beautiful lesson of life- always accept what life give you, respect that and should thank the god; than life will provide you more opportunities.
