“Over the years, I’ve travelled via public transport a lot. Although I have many unforgettable memories, there’s one that’s close to me.
I had my engineering entrance examination, and the centre was in a remote place in Darbhanga, Bihar. I received the admit card at the eleventh hour, leaving me no time to plan a proper itinerary.
The exam was on a Sunday at 10:00 AM, and the centre was about 200 km from my hometown. I boarded the train on Saturday morning, hoping to reach by the afternoon. The plan was to look for someplace to stay for the night and appear for the exam the next day.
The Indian Railways was not as efficient as it is now, or maybe it was my bad luck that the train was getting delayed. I was so worried that I ended up ignoring the person sitting beside me who wanted to start a conversation.
I reached my destination around midnight. The station was small and deserted. There was no waiting room, and the single road leading from the station had worn a blanket of darkness.
The only other person who de-boarded there was the one I had ignored the whole time. He was a middle-aged man, not so well-dressed. He looked at me for 2 seconds and then went ahead. I was alone at the station — hungry, sleepy, and afraid.
A couple of minutes later, the same man came up to me and offered to let me stay at his place which was about 3 km away from the station. I couldn’t say NO, but I could feel a nervous tension that came perilously close to fear. All the stories I had heard over the years flooded my mind, and my bowels had turned to water.
We began walking towards his home in the endless darkness. Every minute felt worse than the minute before. We did not exchange a single word. There was an edge to this darkness that made my hackles rise. We reached his house about 45 minutes later, but it felt much longer. A middle-aged woman opened the door — his wife — and two small girls (his daughters) were sitting on the charpoy studying under a lantern. I took a sigh of relief and stepped inside.
I was delighted and grateful for the warmth I received. I will never forget their kindness.”
This #CommuteKahani was sent in by Vijay Ranjan and we really enjoyed reading it! :)
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