Train journeys

College, Pa's office, my office - i have always travelled by trains. Being the most reliable and speedy mode of transport, i have always preferred going by train.

When i was in college, chatting with friends, gossiping and talking as if no one's around used to be the ritual.

When i was going to Pa's office, reading, listening to music on the cell phone was the ritual.

Now, reading and observing people is the mainstay.

Sometimes in second class, mostly in first class, myriad experiences are attached with the train travels. Striking, recent and old ones with my perceptions & judgments of it, listed here -
1. A really fat, good looking, fair girl reading the autobiography of Muhammad Ali - the boxer. Very likely that she or some of her family member would be associated with boxing.

2. A brand conscious girl wearing Nike floaters, Esprit Bag, Levi's Jeans, a huge Diamond ring, Sprint sunglasses engrossed in her book. i saw her a couple of times and the elite struck each time.

3. A girl boarding the train at almost the same time as i do, stays near my area, as 'healthy' as me, remains aloof, looks introverted like me. i always think we should be friends but never take the initiative.

4. Educated, high-paying job holding, smart, English-speaking, modern women throwing leftover food, food packets, wrappers outside the window unabashedly. i keep staring at them and giving them looks that should make them feel ashamed. But, they just carry on and i don't gather the courage to tell them anything.

5. Middle class women trying to take full advantage of travelling in the first class compartment.

6. The struggle visible on the faces of middle class women who have travelled in second class all their life and can now afford to travel first class.

7. The loud chatter of Gujarati, small-time businessmen playing cards and discussing their moves in a typically irritating manner.

8. Young Gujarati fellas making a loud, irritating show of their stupid ringtones thinking girls get impressed by such antics.]

9. Women informing some unsuspecting and some intentional women passengers getting on the first class compartment about their folly. The undertones range from concern to show-off.

10. Few women trying to seem cool by looking into their books and from the corner of their eye watching who's noticing.

11. Number of women asking one by one where i would be getting down, so irritating.

Everyday the experiences get richer and educative by more observations. If you want to read and know more about human nature, you have to take the train ride. Easily the most educating, the hundreds of human emotions and feelings get displayed here every single time. Some days, i just observe each one of them putting down my book. Guess, they educate too.