A tribute to the Indian Railways
...Abdul Wajid Parray
It was summer time and I was happy as a clam. Well my joy was obvious; I was going back my home, Kashmir, my paradise. I was happy because I was returning to my heaven after very long plus I had tolerated enough of the scorching heat staying outside Kashmir and it was now the time for me to rejuvenate my lost ATPs.
Feeling so joyful, I full-heartedly send off an "adieu" to my college mates and to the sizzling-hot Kurukshetra, the place where I study my academics.
With each passing second, my excitement kept aggrandizing endlessly alas my delight didn’t last long. I had no idea that my enthusiasm will die up very soon following some discontented events that I experienced during the course of my trip.
The reason for my anxiety was that I had no plan to go home so early so I had made no reservation for my travel. At first I was of the opinion to go by air but I needed some deep pockets for that...Ha-ha. My second option was by bus but I hardly ever opt for that since I am not comfortable with the boneshaker machine. I usually prefer to travel by train because it is the best option you can have following airline and most of the times it comes in handy when your fortune is penniless. But this all works only if you have a legitimate pass because if you travel without a pass and don’t know the arithmetic of dodging the Ticket-Collector then it is for sure that you will be deeply in hot waters, I must say. In worst case you may end-up in a jail also. Having the sense of all these facts I left no stone unturned to get a ticket for myself but everything that I tried seemed a failure. Even the Tatkal (emergency reservations) proved helpless. Despite of all such odds I overlooked the downsides and decided to go home anyway, by hook or crook. I made the decision without much intuition probably because my extreme fervour for going back to home had sealed all my thinking gateways. I failed to see anything except my home and the only thing that kept circulating my head was home, home and again home.
