I, am a common man. Thousands of faces I see, in the bus, in the trains, on platforms and everywhere around. Everyday, I travel, from CST to Panvel in my scheduled train of 0740; everyday, I see, thousands of faces, telling million different stories. On one of my most busy days, I see men, who have all the time in the world, spending their journey laughing and talking to friends, playing cards, calling it a field day.
In my spare time, I see children, writing and studying, doing their final hour preparation. I can see the terror in their eyes. I can read their minds.
What if this question is asked for eight marks? What if I am unable to complete my paper? After all the preparation, I afford to lose a single mark. They think.
I can see men drowsing, some, after their night shift and others, resting before their day ahead. I can see faces, some terrified, some gay, some tender with the day ahead. I can hear them too.
Everyone in this train, has a life of their own, full of struggles, having multitudinous number of problems to face. Everyone here is of different age, different generation, different caste and religion, some poor, some rich and still we are all the same.
Every single person in here, might have to face the nightmare of waking up this early and getting on with the day. Few, I see, are so close to their lives ones, while the others, as distant as a lost star of the universe. Some are accepted and some abandoned.
To distract myself from their life, I look out if the window. There, I see many souls, unnerved, unsatisfied. Different stations telling different stories, of stampede, lost lives and terrorist attacks.
The transition from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai ends with a bridge and in that bridge, I find a gap of generations. Passing above the Creek, I see the vast waters, connecting to the oceans, bearing life and nourishing them; I see the horizon, indistinguishable in the winter mornings, shining in the summer heat and separating the sky and waters with a single line. It teaches me, that there is no limit to anything, you just have to make your way, through the bushes, through the sunrise and the sunset, through the dark thundering clouds. It teaches me to move on. The train, at times, stops for signal at unknown places, but the wait isn’t too long. I get frustrated, like many others, when already late and the train has to wait for signal, but, waiting there in that situation has taught me one thing; life may show you a red signal and force you to stop, force you to be anything but you, it may force you to stop and weep on the past and upcoming horrors, but, it if you stay calm in those situations and solve one problem at a time, no signal can stop you.
This reminds me of the proverb: If going through hell, keep going.
I keep going, through a tunnel, around the grasses and away from a thousand lives every second on my journey, and yet, I cannot stop myself from thinking about them.
I, am a common man. Thousands of faces I see…