kartik kannan's space on the web

the city that never sleeps

yesterday i was waiting in central station for about 3-4 hrs tp pick me dad up from the station. I decided with so much of time in hand , i should have a good look at central station and it's adjoining areas . I was wandering from the higginbothams books stall to the end of the station traversing the platforms numbered from 2 to 6 . i found that this surely is a city in itself that is swarmed by people at all times of the day , with each person lost in his own small world of thoughts .

There are some cool fellas (like me) who do a last minute gallop towards the moving train , some sporting heavy baggage accesories , some group of children waving back to the parents on the eve of some trip of theirs, anxious parents sending of their son for higher studies, some people who while waiting for their train to bustle in, spend their time getting engrossed in worldy affairs all in the form of a magazine, some army JAVAN'S brushing general knowledge digest's to get selected in the government exams , some Iyer mami fuming that the sambhar or rasam from saravana bhavan didnt have the same taste as her culinary expertise , some old couple who didnt find a place to wait laying the bedsheet on the floor of the waiting room,coolies who rush upto u demading that u better give them the luggage !!, hundreds of people linded up in some hope that their waitlisted ticket is going to be reserved , some couples who are on their honeymoon and ..................... the list wud just go on ......... and on .............. .

It is indeed amazing to see that the gamut of life present here . I it was as if i was undergoing a course in seeing the time machine of the human being from being a kid to being a 70 something grandparent. seeing such viccisitudes of life certainly got me thinking as to pen down my experience tu all u people . I just got a feel of the frenetic city life and got a first hand access to see the various emotions and joy (encapsulated like a cricket highlights package) that go into making a train journey and i certainly had a visit down memory lane after my brief sojourn at Chennai central .

Seriously, however dirty Indian railway's may maintain itself , i guess my love for travelling in trains (with some one to talk to also!!) and making friends , wud never be eroded, by any level of modernisation.I would rate it a much better hangout than Ispahani centre and Spencers plaza . I like India for whatever it has , and accept it in it's present form , simply because i have a wanderlust for travelling and it's rubbed off in me writing this little piece.

If any of u have such interests in train journeys or anything that captures emotions or a fine xperience , pls do mail me at katchu21@gotmail.com , kartik_kannan@rediffmail.com