My Leap of Faith Journey

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 .