Journeys.

When I was really small, they meant mind numbing boredom in the car, lots of sleeping, and an irritating amount of motion sickness in the hours that I was awake.

A little older, and journeys meant lots of sleeping(again :P ) amidst the gentle, constant movement of the train,scouting for children in the compartment, hours of looking out of the window, conjuring up random stories about the people I saw and long spun yarns about making my house when I grew "old" ( I just realised , I still use " when I grow old" for any random thing that I am too lazy to think about right now, I really wonder if it ever goes...!) on a train that went to nowhere.

The charm of trains grew over me rather fast, and I never did take to plane journeys as well as I would have assumed. There's just something very constricting about having to sit on your seat, not being able to move around when you want, not being able to get down at the station just for the heck of it , not even being able to daydream because as soon as you do find yourself settling into a comfortable chain of thoughts, there's always the lovely "tea or coffee/ veg or non veg call to shake you right up.

Journeys ... now are what constitute a major chunk of my life in Bombay. They've become more economical of course, with taxis being a luxury, buses the norm and local trains an odd source of comfort.

I love the local trains. I love seeing Darwins theory being proved right every minute I sit in the train. I love the show of strength. I love the clamour for space. I love the way I have to concentrate more intensely than I ever have, just to hear myself think.

Climbing onto that train, making your journey in one piece in that chaotic , crowded excuse for a space, that can make you feel more independent than any over hyped first salary or job will.

Theres something to be said about looking at the world as it goes past, of having the luxury to be a part of those random, disconnected lives for a fraction of a second, as they carry on without the slightest of an idea.

Theres a solidarity, as unwilling and forced as it may be , with your fellow passengers, faces that you vaguely recognise from the 7:04 fast train, theres an isolation , of your thoughts,observations and introspections.Its fun, charming and taken for granted.

Journeys in general, have to be the most underrated teachers of all times. They become monotonous, a mundane burden and soon you shut off.

Thoughts are now replaced with a much needed shut eye, buses are treated with disregard and trains with contempt and distrust unless an absolute necessity, the unwillingness for the journey to halt is now replaced with a huge sigh of relief.

Then again , I see the definition changing for me once again , ever evolving as is everything else in life.

Journey...Its a word I think of often. A word to whose importance I still am not doing justice( due to sleep deprivation , a general lack of practice in writing and plain old laziness , I'm inclined to think). I find journeys comforting. Travelling is that inconsistency , and break in time that we all keep wishing for. It gives you time to delay, time to put off something you dread and time to savor something you're anticipating .

And so I end, with disoriented , confused thoughts about so many journeys on so many levels that we make as we go along life, with a an abrupt rather dry entry that leads you to pretty much nowhere, and with a writer(or perhaps not) who's wistful , lost and very sleepy..

Till later( which should hopefully be soon )

Nikho**