It’s been a topsy-turvy roller-coaster ride of sorts and you could throw in a
bathroom sink and we’d still not be done with this awesome ‘Hindi-ishtyle’
kahaani.
My day
started at 9 a.m. on April 30. I decided I wanted to have pancakes before I head
to Calcutta or Kolkata in the evening. Everyone, from the squirrels
to my nana loved the batch I made even though it wasn't my best. I call up the
travel agent next to ask him what time is the train leaving and he says I have
to come and collect the ticket as it leaves from Kurla (LTT). I have no idea
where that even is.
So at
11:30 a.m. I head to Kurla to collect said ticket noting that I had yet to pack
my bag, iron clothes, buy snacks etc etc. The entire journey to VT or CST station takes me
a good three-and-half hours. I rush to get back home after being told by the
ticket agent not to leave the house till 18:30 p.m. which is when I would be
given my berth and boogie number. The train is at 20:35 p.m. Considering
I don’t know the central part of Mumbai I guess I didn’t realise how close I
was cutting it.
I left at
18:45 p.m. after the call from the agent. Surprisingly Edison came
home on the day I leave for his hometown. That’s how much Kolkata was in the
air I guess! It was such a lovely coincidence and he and dad dropped me in the
rickshaw and he even waited at home till he knew I had boarded the train. Dad even
asked me if I would consider taking a rick to Kurla directly but ever since the
rick fares have sky rocketed and knowing I would be travelling during rush hour
I decided going by train would be quicker. One of my not so smart ideas ever.
Here is
when the fun begins:
19:05 - I
get into a slow train heading for Churchgate.
19:40 -
Reached Dadar and crossed the bridge to the West. I spoke to a girlfriend from
work Harsha for directions and she told me a cabbie would take me there in 15
minutes and it would cost me about Rs 60 max. I said that was fair enough. By
the time I sat in the cab it was 17:50 and he told me it would cost me Rs 400
as it was really far away. Say whhaaaaaa? Shit. I asked another cabbie and he
confirmed the same although after talking to Harsha now she says they must have
been scamming you. So I decided to take a train and ran back with my
trolley and knapsack. Luckily Harsha told me there are Thane bound trains which
begin from Dadar and there was one at 20:01. I was cutting it even tighter but
I had no choice.
20:05 -
The train FINALLY begins to move and I’m trying to keep calm and wonder of wonders
being successful at it, after all, this was my Leap of Faith journey. I didn’t
bother with a ticket to Kurla. I’m sorry. Lol.
20:18 - I
reach Kurla and literally barge into people with my trolley over their toes all the time apologizing and yelling ‘excuse me, excuse me, sorry, sorry’. Get
out of the station and I spot a rickshaw. When I tell him LTT he says it’s a
sharing rick for 3 at Rs 20 each so I said I’d pay for the other two passengers
as well. He tells me it’s a 5-seater rick. I was like fine Rs 100… is fine. He
wastes precious minutes trying to start his rick and I yelled so loudly finally
hitting panic mode – KYA KAR RAHE HO! MERA TRAIN JAYEGA. (What are you doing!
My train will leave!!!!!) He warned me not to yell otherwise he’d ask me to get off.
Gosh, I just went quiet after that, really I had nothing to say and trying to get
myself calm again. I apologised and sat silent until we reached LTT Terminus.
20:40 - I
reached the platform and miss the train by 2 minutes. TWO MINUTES. In the history of travelling by Indian Railways when I have always been ON TIME and the train has either been delayed or halted for longer this was the ONE TIME they had to go ON TIME. I stand there totally
numb not really taking in the extent of the predicament I am in. Tears were
somewhere around the corner but they weren’t ready to flow.
20:42 – I
have a cabbie guy saying he can take me to Igatpuri for Rs 3000. I just gave
him my – 'why don’t you just get lost before I burn you down with my super power stare' look. I told him sod off but he kept saying
that we would reach well in time and if by chance we missed the train he would
get me back and not charge me one single rupee. Standing next to him listening to the entire conversation is the guy
I refer to as the person who made me transition into the ‘Leap of Faith’
moment. He had just dropped his brother in the same train and sympathised with
me. After telling the cab guy also to shut up he says, “Listen, you can still
get the train at Kalyan. I can drop you by bike but we will have to leave right
now.” I do not know this guy from Adam but in the 30 seconds that I took to decide I said, “Okay,
let’s go."
20:45 –
With my trolley on my lap, knapsack on my back, we head off. My dad's frantically calling and I am conveniently not picking his call cause I know what his response is going to be - You get your sorry behind back home right this instant. Nothing doing. I decide I'll call him while I am on the bike. Smart move I must say :D
Trust me when I
say, I have not the remotest clue how far Kurla is from Kalyan. This guy just
zooooooooommmmmeeddddd! And how! If you know me, I am petrified of bikes or
basically speeding ever since coming back from Canada. Total
wuss. He was cutting through traffic like it’s a free-for-all zone, zig-zagging
through trucks, missing all the horrible bumps on a dimly lit highway, in other
words doing all of this at about 11-110 kms/hr. If there was a lion roaring in
him to reach me to Kalyan there was a mouse sitting behind him just too numb to
talk.
To put it
mildly I was blown away by his riding skills. I would also like to officially
thank the people or the municipality of the central side who maintain those roads and thank the cops
especially for not being anywhere during my 37 minute ‘Almost Stairway to Heaven’
ride. I had tears in my eyes as we raced past; I didn’t even bother with trying
to hold my hair. Good thing I cut it short and straightened it eh?
I just
throughout that ride – from lonely empty roads to one highway after the next,
it was complete faith which was getting us there. Cause at the end of the day,
this is what Kolkata was gonna be for me. There was a point when I prayed that
if we did meet in a head-on collision (Knowing how optimistic I am) that I would die on the spot but he
be left unscathed and his bike too. This was my prayer for my good Samaritan.
If you’ve
seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – at the start of the movie when
Harry is behind Hagrid on the motorcycle in the air and the Death Eaters are on
their broomsticks, when Hagrid hits the button which lets out dragon's fire and
turbo boosts them ahead. That was what I experienced. God’s honour.
21:27 –
We are outside Kalyan station. I can’t feel my legs all thanks to the trolley and he tells me to get off
as he needs to find a place to park. I somehow managed to disembark from the
bike willing my brain to reactivate my dead thighs. So much for all that
marathon training. I also remembered the taxi chap at Kurla station telling me
the train reaches Kalyan in 35 minutes. Also I had no idea how long it would
halt here. I know you must be wondering why we couldn’t have spoken to good Samaritan’s
brother since he was on the train? Problem is – his cellphone was a piece of
junk. Hence, worthless.
Anyway,
he grabbed my suitcase with both hands and yelled at me to run. I looked like Gollum
running. Seriously. He pushed people aside and me behind him yelling - sorry,
please move, maaf karo (forgive me) with whatever little energy I had left.
None of the indicators on the bridge mentioned on which platform the train had
halted. I just don’t know how but again LEAP of FAITH. He decided to run down
to platform No. 3 and we see a huge train out there. By then I’m just blindly
running after him and he halts in front
of the train and goes...
GYAAANNNNEEESSSHHHHWWAAARRRRIIIIII!!!!
We just
stood there for 5 seconds taking the train in before he started running again
asking me which boogie I needed to board. The train begins with the general
class followed by the Tier-I. I was in Tier-3 but I just dumped my luggage in
Tier-I and decided to walk through all the boogies. But before that, I got off the
train and hugged my real life saviour, good Samaritan and a true gentleman.
Huge bear hug in front of everyone out there. So grateful and totally humbled
and I hope I repay his kindness in some way someday. I took down his number and
promised to meet him when I got back. I still have to make that call but I
will.
Once I
sat down it all just washed over me and I sat and wrote down every single
thing, every feeling, every emotion, every thought running in my head because -
a) I was
glad to be alive
b) There
are amazing people out there
c) You
just have to learn to trust and
d) Take
that leap of faith as often as you can
These are
my moments. One of my Many Many Mumbai Moments.
P.S: In
those 37 minutes we did stop to fill gas just FYI :D
 |
| At Howrah Station, Kolkata . |
