Chug Chugging along

My first rail post. And I have so been looking forward to it. Rail journeys are always momentous for me. So exciting and thrilling. No matter how many times I have traversed the same route. I feel so connected with the places and people around me at the stations, on the way, everywhere. I feel a sense of belonging , a loss of the sense of me as I am and an appreciation of the sense of being a part of the whole. People talking, walking, coming from somewhere going some place else. That is what I love about it. The continuity of being in a journey.
It is almost spiritual. This yearning to be a part of the crowd and to be forgotten. To be a part and yet not to be a part. The endlessness of journeys. The mystical feelings. The parallel with the real life.

I want to be a traveller. A life long traveller. Living, absorbing and immersing myself. Going on rail journeys to unknown and unseen places. Alone and Untrammelled by anyone. Just my eyes, ears, nose, mouth to experience. and my soul to absorb and retain.

This immersion in humanity. This being a part of the whole. A drop in the ocean. This is my destiny and my wish. Not just as a human, but as an Indian. I am complete when I am with my people, with my place. Nowwhere else, even with my so called family.

This time, I have been travelling between Bengaluru and Cochin. Every inch of land in the distance calls out to me and to the spirit within.What a thrill to watch the trains come and go, the awesome engines and their whistles. Watching people come and go. Meetings and partings. Waiting at the railway station for the train to come in. The train rolls in. People moving about helter skelter , searching for their cabins

The rocking and rolling of the cabins as the engine pushes them away from the station. I call it the Train Song. Soft, rhythmic, musical and such a lullaby.Watching the fields, trees, houses, whizzzzz by your window. A sense of ownership in your blood. A sense of pride. Trees of all kinds. Coconut trees in kerala. Green Lush fields. Small houses and huts dotting the countryside. I try to imagine the lives  and what is happening with people in their daily lives. The problems, worries, joys and sorrows. The smiles.

Drinking innumerable cups of teas and coffees and snacks. Being home with humanity. My people. I am with you. and These pictures I take with me where I go.

 

The shadowy trees

As I was passing through the road, I saw the shadows of the trees, which have accompanied me so far on my journey. They were there during the childhood, during the phase of journey so critical to life, called adolescence, during adulthood. I have been changing but the shadows are always there. Soothing, scary, keeping me company in the lone times. They wave, nod their head to and fro. Their leaves rustle, as they are played by the breeze. Their heads starkly contrast against the dark night sky. I feel safe and comforted.

They were the companions, the memories, the dreams, the objects of wonder. They were my silent listeners, my unacknowledged friends. I could throw any question at them and feel it rebound back to me. I could cry, speak, shout to and fro.

They will wave back and remain silhouetted against the sky. A question for a question.

Tell me, did you see all what happened in the past? and in the future?
Will you point out the direction in which I have to go? will you be there for me, when I need you?

Can I sleep under your shadows? My worries laid to rest in your arms
Can I use the soil on which you grow as my bed, to lay my tired head ?

Can i listen to the music of the branches , warning off intruders..
Can I see you when I go on the next place in my life?

Will you be there, for me, when I return,
Welcoming me with those gently swaying bodies and leaves?

My protectors, my friends, my gods, my faith, love and beauty, silent viewers and watchers of the life
Of the times..
The shadows of my past, present, future,
The shadowy trees