But the seemingly endless stretch of paddy fields are still visible in the decreasing twilight from the window.We are on a train, travelling from CoochBehar to Calcutta;it is the post pujo rush and the train is thick with passengers.I am on a seat by the window, sitted in the direction of the moving train, which, has come to a halt now.My ears still feel dizzy from the wind whereas I look out at the railway station and the paddy fields beyond it.
I get down at the station to stretch for a while and sip a cup of tea from the nearest chae wallah.I walk up to a stall selling “railway special” omelettes, dosas and vadas. Somehow the taste of these can never be replicated elsewhere. I get reminded of those days when we as school boys used to go to the New CoochBehar railway station after the classes to have Masala Dosa.In a railway station, things are always over priced and always more tastier.There were times during college years when at times I could not manage to get a direct ticket back home.So, getting down at New Jalpaiguri Railway station, the first activity used to visit the railway canteen for breakfast. Tea, Toasted breads with butter, omelette and a smoke later(with due permission) used to be routine.
I see the guard flash the green lights and hear the whistle next as the train slowly inches away. I get up and reach my seat.The lights inside the train are on and the darkness outside seems more pronounced now. When the wind gets colder and unbearable I bring the window down. And nothing else seems to be visible now, excepting the reflections of the berths and the co-passengers on the glass windows.
There is a chit chat going inside and I open a travel magazine.I am in a Side Lower berth so, that means, there is light on half the page and the rest half is dark,the light being blocked by the upper berth.The cover story of the magazine is a trek, set in the Zanskar valley with its barren mountains and ink blue skies.After a while I get tired and settle for a little nap.
(To be continued..)
