Itz was one of my initial night journeys.The train just left chennai central.All i knew was i didn't have a confirmed ticket to peacefully rest my torso on any of those berth's in that 20 + coaches chugging uselessly all the way to a neighbouring state.My ticket clearly read 'WL 43'.And the train charts reread the same to me :(.Pochu da sami itz gonna be another siva rathiri tonight i whined to dad.Being a helpless man all that he could do was put me in some coach where he anticipated me to meet some ticket examiner asap to get a birth under bribe,before he headed home.
I ended up encroaching a butterball's side berth.He wasn't impressing me from any angle to approach or request him to let me intrude his rightfully purchased side berth.He must have been in his late forties.Myself being a 20 something, i agree that i had attitude above the roof to talk to certain people at that age. I realised, at the cost of my sleep god kept my eyes opened that whole night.So in a way it was an eye opening night.The TT refused to even look at the shade of currency in my hand.I believe he was irked by others like me willingly wanting to bribe him for some help that he could render to no one.Ideally the only place where a WL passenger wouldn't be questioned by anyone in the whole train was near the restroom.Honestly i wasn't mentally prepared for that.
Though inflated,being a considerate man, our side berth uncle offered me half his berth.One can definitely not catch any decent sleep sitting in that half of side berth but can spend the whole night thinking and thanking a stranger who doesn't know anything about me to offer half his seat and accompany me to stay sleepless in the other half.I put myself in his shoes for a minute to ask if i would ever do this reward less help ?.He must be another man like one of my uncle travelling across cities leaving his family behind to get back to work next day morning.Everyone needs those few hours of sleep to even reach our workplace briskly the next morning.
I learnt a small but a worthy lesson that night in spite of my awful back pain & truly insomniac state.I scanned my time machine at least 50 times to chase the clock hands a few hours faster.It just didn't happen.We had ample hours left before the train could reach Bangalore.I couldn't see him yawning indefinitely above his sacrifice for me.If a 20 something back pains awfully,how awful it must have been for a 45+ tired looking man on just the other half of the same berth that Indian Railways had so uselessly designed for itz passengers ?.That night,that sleepless night i practically knew that side berths are just useless in any railway coach that the Railway Department manufactures.I couldn't find myself some other safe place either.
The night dawned on me eternally imbibing a harsh reality in life other than the fact that side berths are useless especially to passengers of height above 5 feet 4 inches.Back to my eternal night story ... I never met him again.Neither do i remember his face now.But that night stood eternal not just along that journey but for the rest of my life.All i knew was i wasn't the same person who boarded the train previous night when i got down in City station.Long live that Man & short live all the side berths especially the side upper(s).
I ended up encroaching a butterball's side berth.He wasn't impressing me from any angle to approach or request him to let me intrude his rightfully purchased side berth.He must have been in his late forties.Myself being a 20 something, i agree that i had attitude above the roof to talk to certain people at that age. I realised, at the cost of my sleep god kept my eyes opened that whole night.So in a way it was an eye opening night.The TT refused to even look at the shade of currency in my hand.I believe he was irked by others like me willingly wanting to bribe him for some help that he could render to no one.Ideally the only place where a WL passenger wouldn't be questioned by anyone in the whole train was near the restroom.Honestly i wasn't mentally prepared for that.
Though inflated,being a considerate man, our side berth uncle offered me half his berth.One can definitely not catch any decent sleep sitting in that half of side berth but can spend the whole night thinking and thanking a stranger who doesn't know anything about me to offer half his seat and accompany me to stay sleepless in the other half.I put myself in his shoes for a minute to ask if i would ever do this reward less help ?.He must be another man like one of my uncle travelling across cities leaving his family behind to get back to work next day morning.Everyone needs those few hours of sleep to even reach our workplace briskly the next morning.
I learnt a small but a worthy lesson that night in spite of my awful back pain & truly insomniac state.I scanned my time machine at least 50 times to chase the clock hands a few hours faster.It just didn't happen.We had ample hours left before the train could reach Bangalore.I couldn't see him yawning indefinitely above his sacrifice for me.If a 20 something back pains awfully,how awful it must have been for a 45+ tired looking man on just the other half of the same berth that Indian Railways had so uselessly designed for itz passengers ?.That night,that sleepless night i practically knew that side berths are just useless in any railway coach that the Railway Department manufactures.I couldn't find myself some other safe place either.
The night dawned on me eternally imbibing a harsh reality in life other than the fact that side berths are useless especially to passengers of height above 5 feet 4 inches.Back to my eternal night story ... I never met him again.Neither do i remember his face now.But that night stood eternal not just along that journey but for the rest of my life.All i knew was i wasn't the same person who boarded the train previous night when i got down in City station.Long live that Man & short live all the side berths especially the side upper(s).
