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Train travel is always nostalgic to me. It takes you back to a memory lane you have long ago visited in your life.
I clearly remember that day, when I first wrote about something while travelling on a train. I was hardly 7 or 8-years-old. We were headed towards Punjab, and as the train slowed down while it crossed through the yellow carpet of nature (Sarson ke khet) I could not stop admiring nature’s beauty.
It was all green and yellow everywhere, a natural pleasure to the eyes, the breath of fresh air: unforgettable.
I have always been a nature lover and I was so mesmerized with the scene that I wanted to stop, get down from the train and admire the beauty a little more. And that was the first time I asked Deda (my father) to lend me his notepad and a pen as I wanted to write about what I had witnessed, I wanted to capture that moment in words. I wanted to define beauty in my own words.
I scribbled something about the beautiful experience, and I didn’t realize when I fell asleep and when I woke up, I hurried to find my little notepad, which slipped from my hands while I was asleep. I picked it up quickly, as by that time we were already at our destination.
Back in the 90’s we were not blessed with the phone camera, neither was the usage of an traditional camera so common, but trust me when I say this, I still have that image clicked in my mind, which no mobile phone would have been able to hold and take backup for over two decades.
Today I am 34, and again I am travelling in a train, crossing similar terrain. It’s 9 pm as I am writing this, and all I can see is a view full of darkness from the window. And it reminded of this small incident. It also led to me to thinking about a few things, which could be termed as late-night thoughts, travelling thoughts, or fleeting thoughts. But read it carefully.
As we grow up to be adults, we see things differently, maybe there is still that carpet of yellow flowers behind this darkness, maybe the flowers are just as fresh and fragile like they were, but as adults, we have stopped looking at the brighter side, we have stopped smelling the roses and appreciating its beauty.
We have put layers and layers of conditioning within us, we see things opposite to what they are. And that is living un-mindfully. A tender soul once saw beauty even in darkness as it held light intact within itself and it basked in its’s own glory, diffusing the shrines of its mindful abduction.
Now we can hardly observe anything mindfully, we capture so many things that we forget to seize the moment. Carpe Diem, it is! We deliberately do things so that we can create memories, we live in a superficial world, which is built by excessive conditioning, parameters, judgmentalism, expectations, and renunciations.
A lot has changed in these two decades. I remember while just travelling through trains people found so many friends, even my mom and dad end up making friends with the co-passengers in the journey, sharing food, talking about kids, and sharing seats, it was all random act of kindness of signs that there existed humanity.
Today all I see is that 90% of my co-passengers have deeply buried their heads in their mobile phones, somebody is watching a series at Amazon Prime or maybe Netflix, with earphone tucked and laughing on its own. A lady sitting opposite me is watching videos on YouTube.
An old uncle is playing is Candy Crush in his mobile and having a gala time. A young man is simply gawking at his mobile phone since long, don’t know what he is trying to see in it.
The most urgent thing a guy did as soon as he entered the train coach was to find a mobile charging point, for that he was ready to give up his own seat so that he can grab a seat closest to the charging point.
Now my concern, what will happen when all these people who are enjoying their respective entertainment channel in their palm-sized world, will exhaust its power and will run for the charging point, in case they are not carrying their power supply bank? BOOM!
I wish I could capture the pics of the actual scene here and put it in this blog, but I will be killed if by any chance this post went viral, LOL.
My daughter is fast asleep, and I just could not resist writing something as I gazed out of the window. It is still dark, I cannot see anything behind the darkness, but yes, I have this known faith that when I will get up in the morning it will be only a sky sonorous of sunshine waiting for me with a different perspective.
I enjoyed writing this post, hope you all enjoy reading this post as well.
Now let me sign off for the day and keep my belongings safe before I sleep, as a few things (public stealing) are still unchanged while travelling.
A version of this was first published here.
Image via Youtube
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