She looked out of the glass window trying to see where they were. But the glass window was more keen on reflecting what was inside than performing its primary duty of transparency. So she pressed her face against the window, curled the palms around her face to focus on what was outside.....
It wasn't nething spectacular....Just small hills and trees , farms and villages, as it had been throughout the journey. But now that they were far off from the city even the small villages were becoming rare and this one where the train had stopped also seemed very small. It was probably not even a village. Just a few huts around a farm. In the dark she couldn't make out whether there was a farm or just fallow land. But about 400-500 m away she saw a few huts. She could barely make them out because of the light lit in those houses. Was it an electric bulb or lantern , she thought. How can people stay like this in isolation? What do they do for living? Do the kids go to school? Where do they get water from? Just one look at that small group of huts and this and many more questions raced through her mind.
Then a small jerk and train had started again. She turned her attention inwards and found people getting ready to sleep and some already probably in their dream world. She looked at the watch. Her cellphone showed the time: 20:00. Most people just sleep away their time while travelling, isn't it?
"Ma....the train left", boy said a little disappointedly and then sat down. There was a long silence and then he spoke again,"Ma...would somebody have seen me?"......"I waved to them....last week an Engine Driver waved to Bhima, he told me."
"Eat now......" Came the reply from the other end. Looking at his sad face, she said " We are quite far away and its dark....Otherwise I am sure the Driver would have waved to you too..... but they must have seen the light in our house." Boy spoke as if after thinking hard, "I am going to become an engine driver one day."
*********************************************************************************
That was an abstract piece that came to mind.Nothing travels faster than our own thoughts and I don't know how my Train of Thoughts stopped at this.
Whenever I travel long distance by train I am always taken aback by the vastness of the world. In our day to day life we are so absorbed in one kind of world that we feel as if nothing exists beyond it. When I see small villages that we come across while travelling, sometimes I can't even relate myself to them. I can't imagine myself in their place. I wonder what kind of dreams they have. Do they have different ambitions? And if yes.....do they get fulfilled.I just hope they do...
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7 comments:
True... I always wonder how it works for everyone but thats our mindset.We conveniently ignore the real world outside...We dont want to think about it unless we face them...Those hard facts of life..we read them everyday morning in newspaper.. it has its impact on our mind ..but may be for an hr ...to few days. We forget them so easily because we think we are 'safe'...
Does this mean that we are socially insensible/irresponsible people ?No..we do think further and ask ourselves 'can you change this?' 'do you have the power to do anything'...ans comes 'NO'.We are so helpless...arent we? Those who answer 'Yes' to above questions are gr8 and nobel minds..
So in general anyone can not afford to loose his /her comfort in whatever condition he/she is. Everyone has its own beautiful world..he nurtures it by dreaming about good things ...he lives on hope that one day his life will be better...that keeps us alive..if we keep on thinking on what I mentioned as hard facts of life (rather disturbing) then it will be difficult to live even for a day.Let it be anyone..a kid from that hut waving at you..or person in deep sleep in your compartment.Everyone wants to keep their own world beautiful ..dreams intact...hopes alive...In this process he becomes conveniently ignorant about disturbing things..nothing wrong in it..nothing wrong you stopped you train of thoughts at that line..
@Manasi
Nice entry. We all are a myriad set of worlds living in a larger world which we call as universe, and these small worlds can be strangely different. Not only us but every living being as well as non-living things have their own worlds which are differnt, may not be entirely.
This difference goes on increasing consequently making the larger world mind-bogglingly vast.
(Perhaps thats how the universe grew from a point in big bang :) )
@Mandar
Nice comment to read. Regarding your last paragraph, I remember Paulo Coelho writing in 'The Alchemist' :
"It is the possibilty of a dream having come true that makes life interesting."
-Onkar
nice blog....i simply liked...'his' mothers answer...her attitude to console young chap..and let him be in his dream world...just too good to read..
I think the train of thoughts stops there for most of us... The world (and the universe, in a much general sense), is infinite dimensional. Each creature has it's own views of it, it's own opinions, it's own reality. If one's universe consists of everything that one perceives, then each creature has it's own universe to itself! Our universes might overlap, you occasionally get a window through which you can strain your eyes and see a glimpse of the other person's universe, but still, they're essentially different universes... The complexity of this concept has always baffled me, that we belong to a single physical universe, the Cosmos. Still, the mind is such a complicated object that it makes it infinite-dimensional.
Top notch entry ! A thought that has rankled me since ages and so very well brought up by you! I could actually see myself thinking through those words. I have taken such a similar train of thoughts a few stations further than you did and came up with pleasant, assuring results on most occasions. As Sunil has pointed out, there are different universes existing in different minds within a small space and the size of that space is itself a variable. Most of the times, we tend to relate that universe with ours and use our own parameters to weigh and judge the quality of that life. But, thankfully, it turns out that something which might seem as an extremely testing situation to us, is not all that bad for the person living in that universe. I have seen, especially in small villages around my native place and my native place as well that inspite of an acute shortage of the amenities, that we deem to be absolutely important to lead a happy life, the residents never complain about anything and they are far from being unhappy or discontent about it. Infact, they always look more cheerful and more satisfied to me than their counterparts in well developed cities. They have their own parameters defining their social life, their routine, their work, their happiness, their problems, methodologies to solve them etc. which are quite different from ours. The quality of life in that subset, as it seems to turn out, is quite similar in pattern to the one that we experience. We have made similar observations whenever we have gone for any trek or expedition to remote places along Sahyadri. I am sure, Vishal would resonate with me on this thought. Sometimes, I wondered if only I got such disturbing thoughts and it was soothing to know that many more think like that. Thanks !
nice blogs...everybody has the right to dream whichever world he/she belongs. All of us, like that small boy have some dream in our mind..whether it will come true or not, it atleast serve as a hope that we can live for.
its all a matter of confort zone. you don't want to step out of it.. and all that you desire and want only serves to strengthen that zone. nothing wrong with it.. that human nature.. in fact, observe closely.. you clearly dpicted two sides of the coin.. and every one is comfortable in their own zone.. wondering what it wud be like to be sitting on the otehr side of the fence yet working always ina direction which only strengthens rather fortifies their existence in tehir side of the fence...
funny yet beautiful thought process of the mind isn't it??
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