En route to Delhi (Part 1)

Reached an hour early at the station, located my compartment and finally found my berth after colliding for the umpteenth time with a 40-something formidable lady, who seemed to be in a hurry lest the train departed early.

“Sorry beta”, she said in an unapologetic, casual tone.

This one was a massive blow in my face which resulted because she was throwing a bag to her husband who was sitting in the side upper berth, right above her. How could someone be so thick? I turned around exasperated, “No problem, why don’t you hit me on the other side of the face too”, I wanted to say, but decided to drop the sarcasm, and ended up with a more civilized “its ok.”

After keeping my luggage, I went in search of a coke and a polo mint…my regular companion in travel. I checked the reservation list for my name. Vaikunth Sinha and Tulsi Sinha occupied the side berths. I went on…Ravi Malhotra, Preity Sabarwal, Visha…wait wait… Preity Sabarwal.  It was interesting because I met many Preitys before but for the first time I had found a Preity Sabarwal,21 occupying the berth right opposite mine.

I came back hoping that she would be cute but she had not arrived yet and considering the fact that the train would depart in ten minutes, she was late.  I was sitting looking at the passage and in five minutes, a curly haired girl came and sat opposite me. Elegant in a maroon salwar, she looked at me while adjusting her luggage and smiled inadvertently, which I returned rather formally. I thought of talking to her but then I am awful at starting a conversation. Usually I fall short of topics, and am better off at listening to others talk. I was still researching ways when I saw a guy coming towards me. He was ludicrously dressed.

Normally, we dress for comfort for a long journey but he wore a body-hugging t-shirt and jeans that to me resembled like someone had sucked the air out of it after he wore it. A pair of sport shoes followed. The most interesting part was his hair. It is not that I found everyone’s hair interesting because I have a hair that is neither too curly nor too straight, and an unbiased attempt at describing it perfectly will definitely reveal my linguistic limitations. Well, his hair was spiked and the spikes were to a large extent overdone. I don’t understand why salons spend so much effort in doing this typical hairdo, when a deliberate 220V at the posterior end would have sufficed.

Horror of horrors, this funny character sat right next to her without hesitation and she smiled at him too. Must be her boyfriend, I thought. I closely looked at him now and my eyes caught something, aha…gotcha….definitely a Kolkata guy, an electronic wristwatch handpicked from Esplanade displayed itself proudly. But he had got a damn good physique, a single punch and I would be moaning like a baby. Forget about talking to her, I restricted myself from looking at her.

The train had travelled a good 20 kms. She looked at me and smiled again. A bit fidgety, I looked at him; he wore his sunglasses in a deft movement. Now I won’t be able to follow him and sit virtually defenseless. One more smile and I am dead, I thought. I clutched my coke bottle; a hit with the cap on the bottle should inflict some pain, provided I hit the right places.

All of a sudden, the guy inched forward and stretched his hand towards me for a shake…

“Hello, I am Vishal”, he said in a friendly tone.

I introduced myself and looked at her.

“I am Preity”, she extended her hand and smiled which concluded in laughter as if she knew my train of thoughts. I joined her in it, and he gave us both a void look.

For the next half an hour, I learnt that they were going to Delhi for same reasons as mine and the fact that they were cousins goaded me to smirk. We became friends and are in touch till date.