Reminiscences

I reached the station well on time My train had arrived and stood ready The place by then had become a sea of men The crowd steadily swelling into an eddy With my bag and baggage tucked under my seat I waited impatiently for the train to leave The departure, scheduled for early morn at four Without any further delay, the engine started to heave I sat lazily looking out, watching in the glare The landscape gaining speed behind Like a stallion, my mind raced back With memories blowing in like wind Yesterday evening the house was full Many had come to see me off My mother briskly moved up and down Serving tea and snacks, ignoring her cough For the first time, leaving the comfort of my home I was venturing into the shark infested waters And going to face life squarely Wondering how my stay away, my life alters By evening when everyone had left I sat with my parents for an early dinner The sumptuous meal so thoughtfully served In no way, did my appetite trigger Silent moments skipped by The laboured attempts made by my Dad To make the scene a little lively didn’t help But to the grim air, did a pinch of melancholy add After dinner with a heavy heart, I withdrew to my room upstairs. While still engaged in the last minute packing I just chanced to look back unawares There stood my mother behind the curtains Looking at me with eyes welled Under a strange urge I ran to her In a tight embrace we stood with moments stilled Kissing me a warm goodnight Silently she walked away without a word At the thought of a long separation Unable to wink an eye, I lay unspeakably sad I don’t know if I fell asleep! When it was still dark, my mom woke me up May be with the first ring of the alarm And springing to my feet, I quickly got dressed Gettting into the taxi waiting down And waving an abrupt bye, Ignoring the two sets of misty eyes To an unknown destination, I did fly With a jolt though the rumbling behemoth Came to a halt, picking men from another station Those, office bound and travelling far It started once again chugging off to its destination I knew it was the wee hours of the morn Sunlight sneaked in through shades of grey I could still feel the residual chill of the night And couldn’t say if my mind was sad or gay