the airline boom
well i am on a train right NOW!!! which is quite a thing because with lowering airfares air travel seems to be the popular choice... my friend in bangalore( an iiM student ) toh did NT even know eXactly how far the train station was from his place... that goes on to say how things have changed since the past few years ( with the airline boom )... well, why am i on the train ??? coZ i doNT think i have an option... as in the place i am going to (bellary) has a poor air connectivity & train seems to be the better option... i took a flight down from ahmedabad to bangalore earlier in the day... well... air travel is simpler, faster... NO need to be checking ticket status, waiting list, blah blah blah & one gets decent enough deals on short notice on air travel these days... this is what air travel generally is : you check in your stuff, security check, boarding, sitting on the plane, reading/tv/sleep & the food & the coffee & you are there... the only thing that s left is to claim your baggage & DONE with...
train travel on the other hand goes on & on... ( i remember me still shaking at the train s rhythm till two days after the journey got over)... but there is one thing that over weighs all other in train journey, at least for me... the disconnect from the present... it is like you are moving ahead (in time & actually towards one s destination) but actually you are still there (both spatially & temporally)... NOW that is a major problem these days it seems... one always needs to be in touch with what s happening, what s going on, NO one can seem to afford to miss a moment... huh! but is NT this moment is all we actually need... the moment of nothing ness in which you can actually contemplate as to what you are doing & you are ready to see where you are & ...... the concept of nothing ness (the first blog entry @ the bottom of this page) especially in the fast drawn life NOWaDAYS, does NT one need to STOP! & slow down to look back... does NT it all seem to be whiZZing past so fast... & what better than the train s speed... the slow forlorn speed... i dunno about everyone but train journey s are the one time that i think most about what s happening... or maybe even in vacations... this slow inconsistent shaky movement where you are actually NOT moving actually sticks you to a space & time & yo are just stuck there... in its own world... have you ever stood by the train door (or sat there for that matter) & seen villages & all passing by... its magical...its like life whiZZing past... & you getting to see it whiZZing past but you being stuck there where you were... so that yo can take a third person s POV... also just the beautiful imagery of stuff passing by... like even on a drive or a bus journey... i believe one gets to nothingness kinda thing in a bus journey also... more so, coZ most of the time yo caNT read a book or anything...
i dunno what all has happened to me in my train journeys... how many train journeys i remember & cherish... from the time when i first, as a kid,so wanted to be & was on the upper birth alone, i was afraid that i might fall while asleep, so would sleep on the wall side or would sleep & would keep checking the length of my body with the gap between the two supporting chain/rod thingy's... to when my whole family was traveling & the train was more than 8 hours late & the whole family sat there at the station for more than 4 hours (the train delay kept on increasing)... to the time when i was going to give my entrance eXams with a very dear friend, this was the first trip i was doing alone (i:e; without parents or graduation) the train was packed like hell , but we had shit loads of fun... the whole damn train was full of students... singing, chatting, dancing, talking, preparing for eXam, flirting... & the world was ours it seemed... to the time when i was traveling with my first gf & we kissed... to the time when i met my gf's mum (that was a disaster ;) )... to the time when i was supposed to meet a very dear "friend" (we both liked each other but ...) & when we met @ 7 on bombay central we didNT know what to do... to when the family used to travel (when i was kid) & we would play UNO... & be having mungfali... to so many others....
well, but NOW we doNT have time for all these things... we gotta rush up to the destination... i gotta go, check if i am there or NOT... stay connected... THE AiRLiNE BOOM iS HERE..
