Gods must be crazy

I am a frequent traveler between Chennai and Bangalore. By routine, will take the 3:40pm Lalbagh from Chennai and join the family on Friday night. Will return on Sunday and catch the 2:30pm Brindhavan to Chennai.

I always book ticket through internet and of course select the window seat. The purpose is that there will be quite a movement through the aisle due to vendors, beggars, and eunuchs. Quite a disturbance and I hate them. Always demand the window, engross on a book, put the music through the i-pod and I will have a happy 6 hrs journey.

Last week was memorable. I boarded the Lalbagh at Perambur. Upon boarding the train, I found my companions have fully occupied my seat. Two hugely built middle aged ladies comfortably occupied the 3-seater. Well, still I demanded my seat - window seat, you see is mine. They gave to me of course and I fitted in. I am not a lean guy anyway, I need some space. Hardly, I spent half an hour, I could not bear it. My upper body was inside the window space though my butts were on the seat. My muscle started cramping. I had to get up immediately to get a relief. So, I stand up and ran towards the door and did some stress relieving exercise! I then started standing near the door. The women must be happy now, they are comfortable at least. An hour passed, I wanted to sit back. But the thought of getting squeezed came again, and I decided not to venture.

Another hour passed, a man came and asked me to occupy my seat. He is the husband of one of the women. I asked him where I shall sit. He again pointed to my window seat. I said no and told him that I am comfortable standing. The man returned and sat on his seat. Though I liked his gesture, the sad part is that he is not willing to part his seat and sit with his wife which is adjacent to my seat. Well, he is also heavily built and I can understand that he cannot even attempt to squeeze his butts into the gaps!!

So it went… 5 ½ hours standing to Bangalore. Curse whom? Railways or our beloved passengers ?! In fact, I wanted to take a snap through my mobile and send an email to GM, Southern Railways. But had a second thought not to hurt our fellow passengers.

Well, my onward journey was a standing one though I had a reserved seat. But God decided that I must stand during my return journey too! But this time it is different and I was willing to part my seat.

I boarded my train at Cantonment railway station, Bangalore. To my luck, the whole 3-seater was empty. I occupied my window seat, plugged the i-pod into my ears, took the book (The rise and fall of the third Reich). I was in an interesting page as Hitler orders his troops to march to Poland - the first real action in WWII. Within minutes, a young couple came and occupied the remaining seats. They had a baby, hardly a year old. The woman, though beautiful was stone faced. Showed no reaction or emotion. All the time, she was attending to her baby with some cotton, sponges and clothes. She was carrying a big box of the above inventory. It was odd looking.

Few minutes passed, her husband asked me to give some space by sitting straight. I obliged with some irritation, though the man was very polite. The women kept her baby down on the seat in sleeping position, removed the wrap on the baby’s stomach. I saw a portion of the colon (or anus) was out and was coiled on the side of the baby’s stomach. The women wiped the feces from that colon with the cotton she carried in her special box and then wiped/washed that portion with another cloth and then wrapped the stomach with another. Dump bounded I asked the man, what was this all about. He said, the baby cannot go for motion and hence a surgery was done. It will take another one year to go for one more surgery to rectify the problem. Till then, they need to go with this ordeal. It must be very painful for the baby and he gave a painful cry that no mother can hold. But she was stone faced, did all the work like a robot. What is more, the man said the baby suffers from dysentery quite often. God…human suffering has no limits.

I then rose from my seat and started standing near the door, so that the couple can be comfortable. After few minutes, the man came and asked me to sit in my seat as the baby was taking rest. But that lasted only few minutes, the baby called again. The couple really needed the space. I stood up and decided not to bother the couple again. But, if I stand in the coach, he is going to call me, which I know. Hence, moved to another coach and found some space to stand. Never returned, till the train reached Chennai.

At Perambur, I had to return to my seat for my luggage. The man asked me “why”, but thanked me by holding my hands. The woman looked at me with thankful eyes. I searched in her face for a smile that she must have lost for quite sometime. It was not there.

It pains me still. The pained cry of that beautiful baby and the hard faced woman still lingers in my thought that I cannot forget.

Gods must be crazy…!