That Compartment of Train Heres to the beginning, I am neither a writer, nor a traveler, I dont know who I am, I just

know that traveling and writing are two things which gives me a peace of mind I was unable to find in food, booze or girls. Over the years, I have used almost every available means of transport in our country, right from Bullock Carts to flights (not business class though ;)). But interestingly the journey from bullock cart was more exciting than that of a flight. In all of my journeys I have met thousands of people, exchanged smiles, angry looks sometimes, I cried and laughed, felt pain, joy and every other emotion that has ever been existed in human dictionary. Well, I am not saying that I want to explore the real India; I am not a reporter, not a rich brat even, so my concentration is always on traveling like if you are going for a picnic, to have fun. But I cant deny the fact that I belong to the so called Aam Aadmi part and being a common man I usually travel through the most frequently available medium of transport i.e. Railways the travelling life line of India. May the so called high society of India believe it or not but there can be no argument that a small journey in the general coach of a train can be the most memorable experience of ones life. It is only possible in India that a Bogey with a normal capacity of 72 passengers can accommodate more than 200 in it. Railways also give the facility of chain pulling to its passengers, so that if the train doesnt have a scheduled halt at their station, they can simply use it at their convenience. One can only feel the real essence of the nature while traveling through Rails, for e.g. if it is raining, no matter where are you sitting, you can feel at least a few droplets touching your face from here or there. If its summer season, you wont need to take a bath after reaching your destination as youll already be bathing in sweat. If it is winter season any one can tell the current temperature by merely touching you. Rest Ill leave on your imagination Now you will say that whats good in that, but thats exactly my point, why do we have to run after luxuries all the time, people should put their immune systems on test sometimes, and this journey might be an option? Jokes apart, but whenever I travel through a general compartment, I always prepare myself for a new experience, you simply dont know what youll encounter, it may be Indo-Pak wart for an inch of space in the compartment, or may be a street fight over a seat, you can see people laughing, sulking or sobbing. Happy faces, angry faces, sad faces, well its an enormous flood of emotions and feelings one can get soaked in or become an audience to. But as soon as the train starts its journey, it feels almost like we are going into a different world, people who were fighting over an inch of space are now talking to each other like they are a part of one big family, the street fight which happened over luggage is now changed into a game of cards, angry stares turns into smiles and laughs, strangers become friends, family, may be just for this single journey, but the time just doesnt matter here, does it? Now comes the time for snacks, everybody whos got any sort of eatables share it with others, doesnt matter the other person have something in return to give or not. The compliments for the scrumptious food such as, this curry is out of the world, I will never forget the taste of these Gujhias are given to those who were totally strangers a few hours ago.

At moments like these anybody who wants to see Unity in diversity part of India, must travel in these general compartments, where Aslam leaves his seat for a lady named Karuna by calling her Aapa jaan (elder sister), where Sardar Gurucharan Singh assures Joseph Paul that Tussi fikar na karo (Dont worry), I will take care of your wife and children during the journey. Where two friends Ram and Rahim share the same blanket while its cold at night. Those late night chit-chats over a cup of tea. Helping copassengers in unloading their luggage when their destination arrives, saying goodbye with heavy hearts to each other. Well I frankly dont know what I am writing; you just cant compare the small compartment of train to a country like India. But why not, after all, this compartment is a place which accommodates all the Indians without any reservation or barrier of caste, status or language. My point of writing this bullshit is very simple, whoever thinks that India is on the verge of a war between cast and languages; they should travel in the general compartment of a train sometime. And why only them, I would even suggest you who are reading this bullshit and smiling at my foolishness should do the same, you may be able to see life from a whole new point, you may have a new experience. Whatever, I guarantee you that youll have fun and remember if you doesnt like this journey you are not at loss because to stop the train you can always pull the chain