Watching the trees passing by, came the Mugolsarai station,
with people selling bangles, sohan papdi
and yes the delicious smell of puri aloo
filling the air. It was while getting all this picturising in her mind frame, Urmi’s
baba brought the same aloo puri for
her. Her mumma distributing it to them, making her to go and wash the hands properly.
Both urmi and her baba walking down
the whole boggy and then returned chirping all way back talking about the Mugolsorai
as a city. It was utter bliss for Urmi, listening to stories of history which
her baba used to tell her with so
much zest that even if it was fiction she got it registered as a fact.
It was AC buggy and one could easily imagine its condition
in the summer that too in the month of June. They were going to their home town
in Bengal and it was a Bengali thing that when they meet another Bengali they
just could not resist to talk with them about their culture of Aloo poshto and maacher jhol. Urmi’s mummy
baba also got stuck with that genre of their culture and started their chit
chatting with other family travelling with them in the same boggy.
Urmi brought up in Delhi had a mixed feeling of both having
a Bengali culture yet the urban thought of getting irritated with the way her
parents are discussing about her with others, yes Bengali though.
Getting up on the upper berth, her favourite place to dig
her face in the pillow and getting away from the scene or as she says hiding to
get more embarrassed. Though with her naughty, curios mind peeking from there
to notice what all they are talking about and getting them registered in her
mind to complain and to tell her mummy later “ki dorkar chilo bolar”.
Soon it became dark, may be because she got asleep thinking
of what all to ask her mumma papa. And a strong jerk which made her jump off
the upper berth right away. She is always afraid of these jerks as if the train
just will get offtrack like what she has read in her newspapers of various
train accidents and have seen on television. It’s Adra they have reached, with
her parents now asking her to check if she has got everything back in her
backbag and getting ready to get off. It was while packing her stuff she saw
him first time, with his geeky looks and confused state of mind, so that he
does not miss the station he will be getting off. She sat just opposite the
direction of his seat just to peek in and have a glance of him. She was
noticing him, his looks, his bags getting her mind engaged with what age he
will be of and what profession he will be into and hoping to have a direct talk
with him once in life time, whether it be of any topic, atleast to ask the time
itself.
Soon all the passengers for my place gathered at the door
with their luggage ready in their hands and each of them including Urmi’s
parents getting excited seeing the known buildings and places. Even Urmi could
not deny her excitement as she is also going to meet her thamma after so long. But her heart skipped a beat when she saw
that boy standing just next to her with his backbag, just one thought in her
mind, “Damn, is he also from here and yet confused”, not moving a inch from her
place and kept a pace while getting deboarded from the train. Skipping a moment
from her parents while they were getting the luggages down and looking for her
elder uncle at the station, even Urmi could not answer what guts got into her
that she herself asked that boy of his name and what is he doing in this place.
He very excitedly answered her of his travel to see his fiancé to her place for
the first time and a cherished smile broke of in both of their face.
Urmi did not looked back where he was standing but had a
smile on her face and getting one thing imprinted on her mind that even her
would be will be coming to see her at this place one day.