“Excuse me Mam, May I see your identification please?”
She was broken out of her reverie by the Train Ticket Examiner, as he checked her credentials.
Back to her thoughts, she remembered her first trip alone on a train.
Trains are the Flights of the Middle Class in our country.Though the Indian Railways is not as flashy,clean,regular compared to the other nations, it’s the bread and butter for the other 99% in our country.
Being a single daughter of very protective parents had many plus and minus.One of the minus being, being allowed to try new things.But this particular “new thing”, she had to sign up for,as her her future education depended upon it.
She had gotten used to being alone in her own family circle. In fact she preferred it. But this ! This was a whole new level.
Her parents helped her board the train with tears and promises to visit often.But her heart began to pound as the train started moving.Thoughts like “What am i going to do?”, “How will i look after myself?”, “What if something happens?” stormed through her.
She had heard many stories from her father about what happens to girls who travel alone.He just wanted to caution her but it had the opposite effect instead.
As she walked to her seat, she could feel many pairs of eyes on her.She wondered what they might be thinking , “Are they planning to kidnap me?”, “Do i look weird & ugly with the marks covering my face?” These thoughts slapped her.She never knew she was this insecure.
Climbing onto the berth,she smiled,remembering the times her dad made the berth,making it comfy for her to sleep.She was never felt more grateful for it.She always thought it was the duty of a father.
Looking around,she could hear the rattling sound of the train,the cheerful laughs from a group of friends,the laments of an annoying kid,the snuggling love birds,the continuous cry of an infant,the rebellious family trying to have dinner.
When it came to food, thoughts ran to her loving mother, who always tried to make her whatever she demanded,no matter how impossible she sounded. Tears threatened her eyes when she knew she wouldn’t be dining those scrumptious meals for a long time.
As the train slowly quientened to a peaceful rhythm of rocking back and forth,she laid back on her berth to sleep,checking twice if she had the time right for the alarm.But as her eyes closed drowsily,her mind opened them in a flash. She kept looking for the “Random Rapist” who preys in girls who travel alone, the one her dad had warned her about.
She looked and looked, but he never came,only dawn did.
As she got down on the platform at her station,she braced herself with the thought “Change alone is the changeless law”,the very first quote her dad taught her.
It was true,she had embraced the change.Now,on her way towards her HOME, she couldn’t feel more relieved.
She made it!! She smiled as the train came to a halt at her station, about the things that made her heart pound and her hands sweat,didn’t anymore.
She wasn’t just a single daughter to her parents anymore. She was an adult,ready to take on the challenges life throws her 🙂
—x—
~Masha
Unstoppable Thoughts 
Very aptly expressed!😘
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