“Train No-12526 Mumbai-Latur express is shortly
arriving on Platform no-4”. A hustle finally started on the sleepy platform of otherwise vivacious
Pune. I had gobbled up a whole pack of Kurkure imagining it to be ‘chicken
legs’ from my favourite KFC and the train had still not arrived! It
was a complete 2 hours late. Never in my life, I had such a chance to observe
people on the platform. They are all the time incessantly eating or drinking
while waiting for the train to come; may be one reason for rising obesity in
India could be late running of the Indian Railways!
Even after the announcement, it took a complete
15 minutes (17 to be exact) for the train to reach the platform. Till that time
I quite resembled a “Chocolate Brownie”, my hands and face had become as
cold as the ice-cream, head hot as the cake and chocolate sweet feeling of
finally getting into the train, phew!
“Excuse me, what seat number is yours?” I tried to be as ‘loudly polite’ as
I could be. All the seats had already been pulled up, and half of the people
were asleep. ‘This seat number 46 belongs to me’, I said with a temper
which was just rising underneath my cool exterior. A sleepy teenager yawned at
me and told me to check my seat number again. I pulled him up and asked him to
show me his ticket. Surprisingly seat numbers on both our tickets was the same.
‘Lets go out and check the charts’ I suggested. ‘Are you traveling
for the first time in a train? This is my seat; I am sure either your seat
number is different or you are on the wrong train!’ was his curt reply. That was it! I could no longer take any more
non-sense from this kid at 3 at night! Then something struck me! 3:00 AM it was!
Technically this would mean the next day; and I was supposed to board my train
on 18 Nov, 12:45 AM whereas here I was holding a ticket of 17 Nov! The train
had started to move and a TT came into the compartment. I was in a complete
soup; and this one was going to be ‘HOT n SOUR’, I was sure! He checked
my ticket, and looked puzzled. “How could I tick the seat number, when I am holding
the ticket for the same berth now’? Then, he suddenly realized my folly.
TT: ‘Sir, do you know you are on the wrong
train?’
Me: ‘Actually I think my ticket is wrong,
not the train’ Just after I spoke this, I realized my cheekiness could land
me in trouble today. ‘Being shocked’ would have been a better option, I
guess! But how could I shut up?!!
But it was correctly the opposite reaction! He
smiled at me and said ‘What do you expect me to do?’ I blurted out,‘How
do I know? You are the one who had studied for it, you decide. I am NOT a ticket-less
passenger, just a passenger with the wrong ticket! Such a rude yet
straight-forward reply from my side was either going to kill me or make my day!
‘Your biological clock seems to work a day earlier than ours’ he joked.
But the joke did not end there. He asked me to pay for the ticket which was a
complete Rs 996. I looked at him with great guilt; the same expression as a
child is caught eating chocolate cookies which Mummy told not to eat! ‘I
have no money’ I told him. He laughed again. ‘Surely sir, you don’t want
me to believe it’ He said pointing towards my laptop and Air-India tag still on
it! I pulled out my wallet and showed him the last 150 bucks in it. ‘Sir
the fact is that I don’t even have money to buy a general ticket in this train
till my home’ His face got grim; and so did mine! ‘Sir, I ensure that as
soon as I would reach Latur (my home-town), I would get the money back to you,
please trust me.’ He laughed again, ‘Who in correct senses would get
back the money once gone out of station. That too the nearest ATM is only 10
kms there. People in our country aren’t as honest. But I like your sense of
humour, you can take my seat and continue the journey’ saying this he moved
on. This was not the first time, my fiery tongue and presence of mind had
helped me get off; it had always been on my side! Keeping my fingers crossed, I
continued on my journey home but I could hardly get any wink of sleep.
A knock on the door of restroom for TT was
answered with a puzzled look. . ‘Can I meet Mr Vishwanath Wagh?’ ‘The Look’
then turned into a smile then finally into ‘happy tears’! ‘Sir, I came to give the ticket amount; all
people are not dishonest in India
After reaching the last station, Latur, I had
taken the first auto and went to the nearest ATM (which was in fact more than
10 kms away). It was raining cats and dogs in the morning. By the time I was
back with the money (Total Rs 996), train compartments were empty and I was
totally drenched.
He could not speak for a while; hugged me hard
and then turned towards his colleagues, ‘See I told you he would turn up!’
I was welcomed in the room with a towel, dry set of clothes and tea (and
well Kurkure. Bet you can guess what I was still imagining them to be?)
My sharp mind and fiery tongue save me all the
time, but my honesty is what always helps me to sleep peacefully at night. Now,
with a pride on my tongue and a tale in my heart I continue cherishing life and
KFC!
