On 25th July, 2013 I boarded a train alone for
the first time, at the ripe old age of twenty-four! I was going home from XIMB,
to spend the weekend after the mid-semester examinations. Yes, my stay at XIMB
is the first time I am away from home, ever! All my life, my schooling, my
engineering under-graduation, my job, everything was based in my home city,
Kolkata. On 9th June 2013, I boarded a train, not alone, to come to
XIMB, which is my home now and will be for the better part of the next two
years. Needless to say, this is the longest I've ever stayed away from home. So
when the time came to go home after six weeks here, it was new experience for
me. I told myself, “How hard can it be?”, and plunged into it without
hesitation.
On reaching the station, I realized just how uninformed I
was about travelling in trains. I did not know previously that train coach
numbers came up on electronic boards on the platform. I had asked at least five
different people how I would know where the compartment was where I had to get
on. The waiting time was just five minutes in Bhubaneswar, so I was worried
about missing the train (your regular ‘Jab We Met’ moment).
After getting on the train itself, there was another
surprise waiting for me. The train was the Puri-Howrah express. So, it had
already travelled one and half hours before it reached Bhubaneswar. The time
when I boarded the train was just before twelve o’clock. What greeted me in the
compartment was darkness! Everyone had already made their beds and fallen
asleep! I don’t think I have to point out that life is in full flow at any B-School
at Midnight. So, in six weeks here at XIMB, I had gotten used to that lifestyle
as well. Unfortunately, I had no option but to tie up my suitcase, make my bed
and pretend to fall asleep. Sometime later, a serious looking Ticket Checker
turned on an overhead light and asked for my ticket. On being satisfied by what
I produced, he left, leaving me, again, alone in the darkness. I knew there was
no way I would fall asleep that early. So I decided to spend some time playing
Blobby Volleyball on my cell phone. Eventually, the phone started making noises
indicating low battery, so I had to give on that avenue as well. I resorted to
looking out the window. It was raining.
I could make out that there was a strong wind blowing from the way the
trees were moving. I saw some headlights but couldn’t make out if they were from
a car or a tractor. Eventually, I grew tired of looking out into the darkness
and decided to call it a night. The time was almost 2 a.m.
When I woke up the next morning, I had almost reached
Kolkata. The weekend which followed was refreshing. I caught a train the night of 28th
July for Bhubaneswar, my second train journey alone…
