“Train No. 2926 New Delhi-Bandra Paschim Express is running late by an hour. Inconvenience caused to passengers is deeply regretted.” so blurted the public address system at New Delhi railway station.
He was to take that train to Mumbai but now he’ll have to wait for another hour, may be more. He made his way through the crowd to platform no.1. It’s 4 in the noon, Delhi can be brutally hot on a July afternoon & today is one such day. He entered the waiting room & searched for a place to sit. There were people all around, more on the floor than on the chairs. He looked around for a while and just when he was about to turn & get out in despair, Public Address System came to his rescue. Some train, which was running 6 hours late, is finally going to arrive on Platform no. 5. A sudden activity caught the waiting room as soon as the announcement was made. Bags started getting packed. People were shaken back to life from their afternoon nap. It seemed as if the whole waiting room was waiting for this train to arrive. He knew that this is his chance, get a place now or never & then he made a dash to his right where an elderly couple has just got up. Luckily for him there were no competitors & on reaching the chair he himself felt embarrassed for the haste he has shown.
It’s after taking his seat that he first noticed her. She was sitting pretty near to him. He was sitting on last seat of the row & she on the second of one right in front. She had earphones plugged to her ears and was probably listening to some music. Hers was one of those faces that always turn few heads and soon he noticed that there are more than one head turned towards her. Dressed in a faded blue jeans & a strawberry colored T-shirt with hair left loose, she instantly grabbed his whole attention. Her black sunglasses, which for some strange reasons she had not taken off even inside the waiting room, were complementing her fair complexion suitably and were adding to her charms. He kept looking at her for a while, for once he was not complaining about lack of punctuality of Indian railways.
On the floor, near her, an old lady was taking a nap, the sweat gleaming on the old woman’s face suddenly made him aware of the heat & humidity. He strolled out to get himself a coke but he came back fast. There was not much activity now in the waiting room lots of people were having their nap. There were few who were listening to music & few others reading. And rest of them, were just wearing bored expressions. He has resumed both his seat and his vigil. The old lady at her feet in the meanwhile got up. She rubbed her eyes, looked for her luggage and then she asked her the time. Oh so finally he’ll get to hear her voice. He waited but she didn’t respond, probably she is listening to the music quite loudly. The old lady touched her knee & asked her again. Now a reply will come for sure & sure did it come. He expected a polite voice telling the time but instead what he heard was “I don’t know”. It was polite no doubt but it was not the way it was said but what was said which shocked him. He looked at her wrist she was not wearing any watch but then all this while she was looking at nothing else but the big clock in waiting room on the wall right in front of her. She could have told the time & she should have told the time. By now, the elderly man sitting next to her had told the time to the old woman. It was 4:30 pm.
It was a small incident but suddenly that lovely face ceased to be an object of admiration for him. Her behaviour towards the old lady has shaken him out of his spell. He even rebuked himself for getting swayed by her looks. After all, what makes a person beautiful is their character and not just cut of face. He felt a little better after making these lofty conclusions. In ten minutes since that incident he has already pronounced her guilty, pronounced himself an accomplice to the crime and then let himself off with a warning. He was feeling like a man who has just been told that he has been granted a presidential reprieve - sorry but relieved.
He looked at her again. Her face has lost none of the charm. Shades on her eyes still have all the prominence & her smile was as beautiful as before but as he looked at the old woman sitting on the floor combing her hair, all the memories of that incident came back rushing. And those memories were not disturbing him but rather making him feel good. He was priding himself for the fact that he still valued the character of a person more than the beauty. He was patting himself for how he genuinely revolted against her haughty attitude. He basked in the glory of being a perfect hero who didn’t let temptations get better of his values. Biggest of egoists would have been surprised with the ease with which he was finding one reason after another in to indulge in extended self admiration.
His train of thought was brought to a halt by public address system when it roared, “Train No. 2926 New Delhi-Bandra Paschim Express will be coming on platform no. 3 in few minutes. We wish you a Happy Journey.” He checked his ticket and put the bag on his shoulders, he looked at her to steal a final glance. But even she had got up, her back was on his side, he wondered if they would be in the same train. Elderly man by her side picked up the suitcase and the two bags they had, so she will not even help pick any luggage, he sighed and pitied her upbringing. But he still waited for her to turn back before he makes his way out of the waiting room. She turned, her black glasses were still firmly on her eyes but there was something new in her hand - a walking stick. The old man helped her out of the room as she felt her way out with the blind stick. Old woman on the floor got up and took her seat. Wall clock struck 5 right then. He stood there still for a while, held back may be by the weight of his perceptions and prejudices. But then he hurried out, he didn’t want to miss the train; he had already missed enough for the day.
He was to take that train to Mumbai but now he’ll have to wait for another hour, may be more. He made his way through the crowd to platform no.1. It’s 4 in the noon, Delhi can be brutally hot on a July afternoon & today is one such day. He entered the waiting room & searched for a place to sit. There were people all around, more on the floor than on the chairs. He looked around for a while and just when he was about to turn & get out in despair, Public Address System came to his rescue. Some train, which was running 6 hours late, is finally going to arrive on Platform no. 5. A sudden activity caught the waiting room as soon as the announcement was made. Bags started getting packed. People were shaken back to life from their afternoon nap. It seemed as if the whole waiting room was waiting for this train to arrive. He knew that this is his chance, get a place now or never & then he made a dash to his right where an elderly couple has just got up. Luckily for him there were no competitors & on reaching the chair he himself felt embarrassed for the haste he has shown.
It’s after taking his seat that he first noticed her. She was sitting pretty near to him. He was sitting on last seat of the row & she on the second of one right in front. She had earphones plugged to her ears and was probably listening to some music. Hers was one of those faces that always turn few heads and soon he noticed that there are more than one head turned towards her. Dressed in a faded blue jeans & a strawberry colored T-shirt with hair left loose, she instantly grabbed his whole attention. Her black sunglasses, which for some strange reasons she had not taken off even inside the waiting room, were complementing her fair complexion suitably and were adding to her charms. He kept looking at her for a while, for once he was not complaining about lack of punctuality of Indian railways.
On the floor, near her, an old lady was taking a nap, the sweat gleaming on the old woman’s face suddenly made him aware of the heat & humidity. He strolled out to get himself a coke but he came back fast. There was not much activity now in the waiting room lots of people were having their nap. There were few who were listening to music & few others reading. And rest of them, were just wearing bored expressions. He has resumed both his seat and his vigil. The old lady at her feet in the meanwhile got up. She rubbed her eyes, looked for her luggage and then she asked her the time. Oh so finally he’ll get to hear her voice. He waited but she didn’t respond, probably she is listening to the music quite loudly. The old lady touched her knee & asked her again. Now a reply will come for sure & sure did it come. He expected a polite voice telling the time but instead what he heard was “I don’t know”. It was polite no doubt but it was not the way it was said but what was said which shocked him. He looked at her wrist she was not wearing any watch but then all this while she was looking at nothing else but the big clock in waiting room on the wall right in front of her. She could have told the time & she should have told the time. By now, the elderly man sitting next to her had told the time to the old woman. It was 4:30 pm.
It was a small incident but suddenly that lovely face ceased to be an object of admiration for him. Her behaviour towards the old lady has shaken him out of his spell. He even rebuked himself for getting swayed by her looks. After all, what makes a person beautiful is their character and not just cut of face. He felt a little better after making these lofty conclusions. In ten minutes since that incident he has already pronounced her guilty, pronounced himself an accomplice to the crime and then let himself off with a warning. He was feeling like a man who has just been told that he has been granted a presidential reprieve - sorry but relieved.
He looked at her again. Her face has lost none of the charm. Shades on her eyes still have all the prominence & her smile was as beautiful as before but as he looked at the old woman sitting on the floor combing her hair, all the memories of that incident came back rushing. And those memories were not disturbing him but rather making him feel good. He was priding himself for the fact that he still valued the character of a person more than the beauty. He was patting himself for how he genuinely revolted against her haughty attitude. He basked in the glory of being a perfect hero who didn’t let temptations get better of his values. Biggest of egoists would have been surprised with the ease with which he was finding one reason after another in to indulge in extended self admiration.
His train of thought was brought to a halt by public address system when it roared, “Train No. 2926 New Delhi-Bandra Paschim Express will be coming on platform no. 3 in few minutes. We wish you a Happy Journey.” He checked his ticket and put the bag on his shoulders, he looked at her to steal a final glance. But even she had got up, her back was on his side, he wondered if they would be in the same train. Elderly man by her side picked up the suitcase and the two bags they had, so she will not even help pick any luggage, he sighed and pitied her upbringing. But he still waited for her to turn back before he makes his way out of the waiting room. She turned, her black glasses were still firmly on her eyes but there was something new in her hand - a walking stick. The old man helped her out of the room as she felt her way out with the blind stick. Old woman on the floor got up and took her seat. Wall clock struck 5 right then. He stood there still for a while, held back may be by the weight of his perceptions and prejudices. But then he hurried out, he didn’t want to miss the train; he had already missed enough for the day.
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