I am Safe

I was a kid. Indian Railways. I still remember myself travelling with my family in the Sleeper class. Four of us. Two lower, Two middle, We preferred. Nights were the best. Me and my brother opened both the shutters of the window – the glass and the aluminium – and flew paper planes. They were always sucked by the screeching wheels of the train. So we tied once a plane to one of the thin rods of the window. To make it fly. Forever. Plane tied to a Train.

With great hullabaloo, I managed to lift the backrest of the seat to make it a bed. Middle Berth. I hopped on it. Lights switched off. I could touch the top rod of the window from my bed. Air gushing through my hair. Cool Air. And a Plane tied to a Train suffering the atrocities of committing a crime as big as taking help from a Train to fly. Doomed it was, hitting the outer walls of the coach. Fluttering in the tearing storm of death. Darkness everywhere. Die, you plane. Die.

I woke up. Was it some hair caressing my face? It must be a long hair. With darkness everywhere, I peeked out of the window with sleepy eyes. Paper Plane was suspended in the air outside the window. I held the hair with both its end. As the train whistled through a deserted railway halt with a light, I saw it. The thread was on my face. Chooock-Chooock-Chuck-Chuck. Trains make funny noises. Paper Plane was flying along the train. Without the thread. With great amazement I touched my nose to the rod and took a closer look outside. In the moonlight, I could see nothing. Except large stretches of fields sprinkled with trees. Eyes stare down. Rail lines running parallel are interesting. Meeting and Emanating. Meeting and Emanating. Parallel. Meeting and Emanating. Parallel. I saw them standing on the parallel rail lines. Women. Legs on either side of the rail. At ‘one-hand-distance’ away from each other,  they just stood staring down. Train running. Chooock-Chooock-Chuck-Chuck. There were many of them. Hundreds. I wanted to shout. Could not. And then, all of them lift their faces. Within a flick of time, they were at the window. Standing outside and Laughing. Chooock-Chooock-Chuck-Chuck. No. Running and Laughing. At the speed of the train. They stared at me and laughed. All of them. I closed my eyes. Unknowingly.

Today, I travel alone. I travel a lot. The Side Lower in Three-Tier AC Coach is my favourite. Wide window, like a widescreen television, all for myself. Midnight falls. My alarm rings. I wake up and soak the moonlight in isolation. The curtains do the magic. They keep the world inside the train out so that I can bring the world outside the train inside. Visually. Experientially. Mentally. Psychologically. Never physically. The windows are very tough. They keep the world outside the train out. I can see the Paper Plane but it can never get inside the train. The laughing women. They can run. They can stare. They can laugh. But I am safe. At this moment, in the midnight, on my way to redemption. I am safe. They are thumping the window. Silent thumps. Grinning and Running at the speed of the Train. Plane hovering over them. I am safe. Moonlight. An unknown station ignored by the train. Chooock-Chooock-Chuck-Chuck. Large stretches of field. Silent thumps. I am safe.