India In General

25 April 09 was a day of question marks. I had not the faintest idea which train to catch, as I woke up at Consti's Bandra home @ 4:30 am. Or what time it departed. Not a clue which station to catch it from. Didn't bother to ask beforehand. Freedom tastes best when you don't know what to do with it .

What I did know was that the train was going to be my friend. In fact one of the many friends I would make that day. As it turned out, the ticket-vendor at Bandra was the first.

He guided me to Borivli station instead of Mumbai Central as I would miss Gujarat Express from there. My second friend - the Gujarat Express.

Not in bad meaning, but in an inter-state competition on creating maximum commotion without reason, Gujaratis would have the cake with the cherry on top. Funny how I've grown to just love it all these years.

As I stood there waiting on the platform, all the hitess-bhupess-jigness-kamless were "bake"in my life. Confusion born out of false rumours on the train finally approaching reigned supreme. Someone shouted that all standing here were fools and the general dibba would arrive at the front instead.
Babies cried and children screamed "mammi susu lagi chhe" and "icecream joiye chhe" to no heed from frantic parents.

I felt a unity in all the confusion, a one-ness I escaped everyday while sitting in silence in my bus, waiting for office to arrive. That bus could provide convenience, I thought ... but never comfort.

There came my third friend- the general dibba. With all the suitcases, rucksacks, farsaan-jalebi-gathiyas, children , men , women, Patelbhais and Nimishabens, it made a record-breaking number of friends in 5 minutes. Should surely make all the other dibbas madly jealous.

Thus began my journey, hanging out of the general dibba into India's arms with just one foot on the footboard and the fresh early morning wind in my face. I remembered Steve Jobs' Stanford Speech ... "You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." Steve Jobs was spot on. My heard told me this was the best way to travel . Probably Jobs must have tried travelling in an Indian general dibba someday, with only his shorts on.

The people hanging from the footboard were getting pissed off big time now ...their incessant complaints finally paid off. 8 people inside were forced into the toilets - 4 in each , to make way for us footboarders after much grumbling and arguing. I was very much in Gujarat Express now. Soon I'd be in Gujarat.

Quarrels are a part and parcel of general dibba life, specially at a station. New boarders broke into petty fights with other passengers, unwilling to let them in. Onlookers took active interest( with nothing better to do) , some of them adding fuel to the fire by shouting "maro ! pito !" from far away. Soon it became a question of survival of the fittest .. push you survive, get pushed you perish.

The chaiwala evoked an instant uproar with his arrival ... no place to stand, let alone drink tea.
I looked on as he managed to make his way in and sold tea to the same people who protested his entry. He must fight hardest everyday.. no wonder he's the fittest. Fight to be fit - what an invaluable lesson he had taught us that day.

That day I saw Indian hospitality at it's best where one would least expect it - a total stranger buying a foreigner a cup of Indian tea and asking him to taste Indian tea. No question of the tea being adulterated.

By now I had managed to get a seat. I looked up and saw a man gesturing towards his forehead, speaking but too weak for words to come out. He was about to faint. I offered him my seat. His enemy from a minute earlier, (both had had a heated argument) fished out a water bottle and poured some down his parched mouth. My last remaining hide-and-seek biscuit was thrust into his hand. I felt really guilty I'd already finished the rest. Once he got back to normal, the person insisted I get back to my seat.

Another lesson learnt - fights and quarrels not withstanding, in times of adversity people stand united.

I looked at the people around me and pride filled within me for being part of them. They would fight with you , push you, shove you, yet they would take your hand when you needed it. They had nothing to lose. You had nothing to lose.

I saw a totally different picture from the one normally painted - of corrupt , immoral, communally torn-apart India.
I saw a goodwill in India I had never seen before.
We had all taken a pledge ...

"All Indians are my brothers and sisters... "