Reflections / Writing Challenges

Transient 

Prajakta36 Comments


Train journeys in India are my favourite. There is barely any scope for boredom or monotony. There is no telling what you may catch from the window – it could be a smiling child at a sleepy dusty station, or a boisterous family of ten people or a runaway couple embarking on an adventure. 

Landscape changes every few minutes, showing distant signs of abandoned villages or brimming towns, of fields run astray with weed and scrub or of clear lines of cotton. These images are flashing through your eyes, a never ending kaleidoscope that is almost meditative. Maybe you stumble upon a secret not meant for your knowledge but you can bask upon. 

A train journey in India will change you and stay with you as a palette of colours that you can never completely identify or count. It is never completely yours and is shared with hundreds of others. But you can be assured that for those fleeting breaths, it was wholeheartedly for you to consume and dive in.

Written for: Transient

36 thoughts on “Transient ”

  3. Gosh.. i must admit.. i am raised
    A Stone’s throw close enough
    to Railroad Trestle Across an
    80 Feet Deep River
    that shook
    stone block
    held up wooden
    Floors as Thunder
    Lizard Dinosaur
    Trains tall
    and
    long….
    No Internet then
    No Black and White
    TV until age 7.. Trains then
    were huuugggeellly interesting
    then and sure the Nostalgia they
    BRinG back to me.. As an original
    Lionel Train Set brought so much fun
    to me at ages before School.. perHaps
    way after yes and always fun.. most of all
    the ImaGiNaTioN and Creativity of MaKinG
    More out oF thaT Train Trestle than what wAs iS
    tHeRe.. Yes.. Brutus Lived under that Dark Bridge
    With Warning Red eyE LiGhtS and Popeye
    And hey.. i even married
    Olive Oil too.. haha..
    SMiLes.. mY FriEnd..
    for today.. Prajakta..
    you are a
    Train Ride
    in India who
    BRinGs these Beautiful
    Memories and FeeLingS anD
    SensEs to me.. even though
    Your Train ride is now and
    Mine is IMagiNary LonG
    pasT..
    StiLL
    PreSent NoW
    As aLL is alWays
    NoW.. Beauty of the
    Internet.. A FeeLinG TunnEL LiGht
    SenSinG TRain oF HuMaN heART..
    NoW as alWays thank yoU mY Friend..
    And yeah.. what i was/am gonna originally
    admit is i’ve been on only one train ride when
    very small.. iMaGiNAToN No Bounds of Tracks
    SpiRaL
    oUT
    WiTh
    CreaTiviTy
    MoRe HoLDinG SPiRiT SoUL..:)

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    • Ha ha 😀 I am surprised they didn’t wake you to feed you. I never carry food for long-distance journeys – I know I will be well-fed 😀

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      • Food reminded me of another interesting story. Once, I met a couple was carrying chicken curry in an open pot. Whenever their kid cried, they served him a piece of chicken. I better not mention the origin point of the train. :p

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  7. So true 🙂 there something about these long train journeys 🙂 if you love observing things, trains are best to travel by 🙂

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  11. I enjoy road trips. I enjoy air travel. But, there’s something about train rides – much like what you’ve described – that lend it a different kind of charm. Sometimes, I start feeling as if it’s been too long since I’ve been on a train ride and that it’d be nice if life produced an opportunity for one.

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  13. That’s right… Train journey is always exciting and sometimes adventurous as well… I like it and also particularly the never ending conversation among people sitting nearby… Well written… Liked it a lot… 🙂

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  15. This content is relatable. Train journeys are just like that. But when you travel everyday by train. You forget this part of the journey sometimes. Because we are engrossed in our own world. But it’s beautiful when you look at it in this perspective. ❤

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  19. Wow, what a great expanded description, building on what was shown on screen in the film “Lion”! If only the main character hadn’t been a small lost child, I think he might have been content to just stay on trains, crisscrossing your country, for a while longer!

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