24th February is my birthday. I was in Chennai this year and I was supposed to travel back to Bangalore by the late night train on 24th itself. The train was supposed to leave Chennai Central at 11:15 PM and I was at the station by 9 PM. As I went to check the platform number, I got a rude shock. The departure of the train was postponed to 2:30 AM because of a derailment near Basin Bridge. I realised that it was going to be a long night but didn't realise that it could become longer than expected.
I sipped some coffee and roamed around the station in the hope of killing some time. There was not a single empty chair in the waiting room. Some people left for Koyambedu in search of other means to reach Bangalore. The optimist in me kept assuring myself that the train will leave at 2:30 AM and I was waiting to get in the coach and get some rest.
At around midnight, we were informed that the train will leave not at 2:30 AM but at 5:00 AM. I was stuck in the station with no hope of going back home. With no place to sit, I just walked along a platform and saw that some people were actually sleeping inside a train which was going nowhere. Finally I found a place to sit and thought of catching some sleep. The thought disappeared as soon as the mosquitoes appeared. They were having an unexpected feast.
When you are bored and sleeping becomes impossible, even the most normal of things becomes interesting. A couple of dogs were fooling around, people were walking around as if they were sleep walking and an empty train stood there with no lights but lots of tired people inside. Suddenly the empty train started to move and the people inside had to gather their belongings and jump outside. Some who still slept inside would have got the shock of their lives when they woke up and found themselves in the yard. Finally it was 4:00 AM and time to check the platform number for the train.
As I went to check the display board I was in for yet another postponement - the train will leave only at 7:00 AM. This was a real test of patience for me and coupled with the lack of sleep, it was getting a lot worse than frustrating. Anyway the platform number was finally announced and I made my way to the platform after grabbing a cup of coffee - a cup of coffee is the remedy for frustration in any situation, anytime.
The train finally left Chennai Central station at 8:10 AM on 25th February - almost 10 hours behind schedule. I never felt so happy to be in a moving train. I promptly spread the sheets and slept off and got some "well-deserved" sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment