"Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, like blind led by the blind"
-Katha Upanishad
Part 1: He tweets and believes
Everyday he boards the same Mumbai local train from the Ville Parle station and stands at nearly the same spot close to the gate leaning on the seats. He would take out his mobile phone and open the twitter app. Everyday, without fail, during his daily travel, he becomes a social media warrior, vehemently commenting against anyone who had tweeted against the current Indian Government. He is a die-hard fan of the current Indian Prime Minister and is one of his biggest silent crusader on social media. His everyday thirty-five minutes local train journey is his tribute to the nation and in making this country a better place. At least that is what he firmly believed!
Part 2: They play and hope
The two boarded the same Mumbai local train from the starting station and that is how everyday they managed to get a corner seat by the window. Everyday on their fifty minutes local train journey, they would play ludo on their mobile phone. At times she would win and at times him. And in that losing themselves in the losses and wins, they would hug, peck, pat, emote. Few times, celebrating his victory, he would kiss her on the cheek and she would nudge him by reminding him that they were in local train and not some private space. And in love, playing the game of luck, they would reach their respective offices (probably same or different) gleaming in hope of a common destiny together...
Part 3: He sells and prays
He would board the train relatively for a shorter period of time. He had the loudest voice of them all and wore even a louder sandalwood paste on his forehead and neck. He had a melodious voice as often he would sing hindi religious bhajans to himself. And in between the bhajans, he would take out his phone and put his tiny earpods which were so invisible that if anybody didn't know that earpods existed would think that he was crazily talking to himself. Most of his phone calls were sales calls where he sold expensive flats to people. He would negotiate hard smooth-talking, exaggerating, cajoling and once his call was over, he, like a devout, would touch his forehead and then his heart as if asking God to intervene and help him close the deals. And then post his mini-prayer, he would mumble few abuses to his clients for being stingy and few to the Government for killing the real estate market in Mumbai. Finally when his destination came, like a daily ritual, he would again touch his forehead and heart, walking back to his office, hanging his lunch box, singing his bhajans and praying for a sales closure...
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Epilogue:
And in this daily clutter of life, she reflected on her life and realised her sense of loneliness in that endless ebb and flow of that crowded local train. She smiled at the thought that each one of us are ultimately islands, in our universe, running to barely manage our own businesses of living, far beyond the grasp of others, hoping, thinking, praying for solace from these daily ephemerals..
